Tuesday 12 July 2016

Fields of gold...

...the build.
Now this was supposed to be a quick build to add a little depth to the gaming table, the wheat field adding cover, but at the same time slowing the advance of any miniatures travelling through it.  Having purchased a coir mat a month or so a go I finally got around to cutting an A4 sized section and et voilà, a wheat field.  The mat had a flexible rubber backing and so was, in effect done, but it looked like, well, a door mat!
A quick image search of the inter web threw up some rather lovely examples of crafted fields and one I particular liked*, showed a field that was partially cleared. In a fit of enthusiasm I decided that I would replicate this and set about the task in hand. First job was to locate a sheet of plasticard that I knew that I had kicking around, then made the edges look a little less regular, bevelling them with my trusty Dremel. I then simply hacked off smaller sections of the mat and placed these on the base. 
*Sorry I don't have a credit, but thank you for the inspiration!
The example I had seen had, what looked like, a path running through the middle of the field, so I tried something similar, but when placing my chunks of field onto the plastic base, I noticed that the height was far too regular for my liking and so starting to try and cut various sections down.  What followed saw an incredible lack of common sense as I reached initially for the dremel - idiot, then a tiny pair of scissors - again idiot, before finally stumbling on the most obvious of tools - the scalpel!  A fresh blade and I was scything through the wheat, perhaps a little too quickly as I managed to knick my finger at one point.**  Undeterred, I manfully continued with the job in hand discovering, again by accident that by rolling the pieces of mat up I could get the blade of the scalpel further into the field without the risk of further injury! 
**The 'Saintly Mrs. Awdry' made some comment about Poldark not needing a plaster when using his scythe, this was studiously ignored!
The field sections were then simply P.V.A. glued to the plasticard and then the area was give a liberal coating of texture gel and a couple of stones for added detail.
A useful byproduct of all this harvesting were handfuls of shorn matting, which I bagged for later use. I'm thinking loose stalks of wheat scattered on the cleared areas? The base is going to take a while to dry, but hopefully there will be a painting update before too long.

52 comments:

  1. Really effective already and it isn't finished yet. Keep it up!

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    1. Thank you Mike, hoping to get back to it this weekend.

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  2. Nice start, hope you did a H&S risk assessment

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    1. If only I'd taken the time to do a full assessment! Still healing nicely now, but no sign of any sympathy.

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  3. Looking good, I'm sure the finished result will be worth the effort!

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  4. While I do applaud this fine project and I do, I seriously do. remember it id easier to plough in a straight line than in a random pattern. I will say no more other that it does look very good indeed.

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    1. You are of course absolutely right and perhaps what I need to do is have a before and after field - two for the price of one.

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  5. Excellent work M'Lord :)

    With the cuttings, as well as using them for scatter, you could also make some "realistic" haystacks/strawstacks for farmyards

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    1. Haystacks are the definitely the way to go, but then I was on Warbases site and before I knew what was happening their resin versions had found their way into my basket!

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  6. Great start there Michael! I have the mat, I just need to move onto the next step!

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    1. Best of luck Rodger, my mat was starting to get a few unwanted looks from the 'Saintly Mrs. Awdry' so I felt it was time to do something with it or risk losing it altogether.

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  7. Creative and effective job!

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    1. Hoping to pull it together with the paint job.

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  8. Top job Sir M! And you got leftovers too!!!

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  9. Great idea cutting down the wheat, I'll have to remember that when I work on mine too.

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    1. It looks better in the flesh and I'm hoping when painted that the various in height become more apparent.

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  10. Great start Michael! I to got a door mat like this that I use a field ;)

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    1. Thank you Andre, hopefully I'll be able to finish mine off soon.

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  11. Good work with the combine harvester Michael!

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  12. Looking to be another fine addition to the terrain shelf! Those cuttings would also work wonders as hay bails I think!

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    1. Hopefully I will have it finished soon and I'm thinking along the same lines as hay bales.

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  13. A very effective and more realistic looking wheat field, Michael. Of course, you do realise that need at least one animated scarecrow for your field...

    http://www.rapierminiatures.co.uk/image/28mmWitches/WTC021.htm

    The one above would be my first choice...you might also find some more inexpensive additions for your Witch Hunter games in the same range.

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    1. Thank you Jez and I love the scarecrow, not seen him before - odd as I have bought most of their witches! Scarecrows will certainly need to feature and I have a cunning plan for a more static one in due course.

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  14. Very nice I just never got beyond the rather functional door mat look 😀

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    1. I'm starting to wonder why I made this more complicated than t needed to be, but hopefully it will start to come together soon.

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  15. Replies
    1. Hoping that some paint and a few finishing touches will help to bring it together soon.

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  16. Excellent idea, and gets past the boxy-ness problem I have with these mats on gaming tables by having the paths. Clever that man. :)

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    1. Thank you, but I can't really claim any credit for the idea - it was lifted from an image I came across.

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  17. Looking great Michael, and nice to see someone else who shouldn't be allowed sharp objects!

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thank you Roger, I definitely need to be kept away from dangerous things as I see to be getting more clumsy as I get older!

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  18. Great looking fields! The figures will love it!

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    1. I do hope so Jay, perhaps the pigs will pay a visit?

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  19. Adding irregularity really does seem to make the field much nicer looking! We've just stuck with regular height ones and they do sometimes look quite out of place.

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  20. Hola
    Que bueno y util
    un saludo

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  21. Pain is temporary. Terrain is forever.

    You're off to a great start, Michael.

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  22. Great idea, I might borrow it for the ACW project I'll be embarking on soon.

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