Come on in...

...the water's fine.

As the warm summer's sun of August comes to an end there is just about enough time to squeeze in one final update regarding my 'coffee table' board project.  Those that have followed the progress from the start will remember the catastrophe that befell my beloved creation as I poured a molten hot water effect over the board only to watch it dissolve before my very eyes.*

The level of support for my predicament was tremendous and I would just like to say thank you again to all of you that suggested possible solutions; they were all very gratefully received.

*'A Monster face palm' can be found here.

In the end I went for a combination of ideas starting by sealing the affected area with a quick drying satin varnish.  To this I added 'Vallejo Water Effects', a cold, supposedly clear drying paste.  On reflection I probably applied this too thickly as it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to cure.  As a result many of the newly applied weeds are still masked by it!

Impatience got the better of me and onto this still drying substance was layered 'Vallejo Still Water'.  I was relatively happy using this product as it had proved just the job for the muddle puddles along the path.  Each new layer was given a dash of coloured ink or wash to build up the colour; each time exposing more holes in my blu-tack shuttering that needed to be plugged! 

Finally, however, it reached a level that I was happy with and although not the prettiest solution, when seen in its timber frame and from the right angle the effect is pleasing enough.  The addition of life belt on the jetty making sure that the piece meets strict health and safety requirements.

(This can be removed for games set in era where the rules on personal safety are less stringent.)

The jetty legs and the sunken rowing boat were both from 'Archeotech.co.uk', which is run by Andy Slater who in turn runs TerraGenesis, a truly fabulous site chocked full of ideas for terrain.

(This is where I found the idea for the Birch Trees seen in 'The Wood from the Trees' and a link to the site can be found in my 'Links of Interest' list to the right of this pane.)

Both these pieces were just what I was looking for to lift this section of the board and I was really pleased with how they finally came together.  I should also mention the quality customer service provided by Andy too, his site is definitely worth a visit, it might just have what you ere looking for too!

So all that remains is to Varnish the sides of the timber frame to give it a bit more of a finish, but to all extents and purposes the board is finished and of course has already been Christened when the Romans and Celts ran amok over it while play testing 'The Dark Templar's' new rules, 'The Dark Crucible'.

So finally then a playing surface to bring to life some of my miniatures, particularly those girls from St. Trinians as they see off the hordes of shambling undead, but wait, what is that?  Just beyond the jetty, could it be?  Is that...

... oh yes, everything is definitely more fun with dinosaurs!