On The Bench: DIY tabletop gaming scenery - rivers.

I have had an on-and-off relationship with miniature figures and tabletop gaming since grade school (Airfix men and ROCO minitanks, homebrew rules), college (Minifigs, Grenadier, and Ral Partha for D&D), as a father with young boys (Games Workshop, primarily WHFB and WH40K), and the latest iteration (or come full circle?) of Bolt Action, 28mm tabletop WWII gaming. Throughout,  I've always been on the lookout for good scenery on the cheap, purchased or homebuilt. I feel it adds immensely to the ganing experience. In this case, rivers. I wanted a solution that met the following requirements:

1. Sectional, to be easily rearranged to meet the needs of many different scenarios.

2. Sturdy, capable of being used, transported, stored multiple times without damage.

3. Large enough to cross a standard 4x6 game area 

4. Capable of being laid out on top of a standard game mat while still giving a 3d appearance of depth

5. Using as much as possible scenery materials already in hand.

Like any old school engineer, it begins with a drawing...

What I settled on was 4" x 12" straight sections (6) and 16" outside diameter curves (6), a circle cut into 60 degree slices. In combination, enough to cover nearly corner to corner should I need to.

I have worked with cardboard and foamcore for scenery basing, and have had some issues with warping, so I chose to go plastic to reduce (but as we'll see, not eliminate) this problem.

I had on hand a partial package of plastuct .010 styrene, in 7 x 12 sheets. Using a 1/2" overlap, I used some Tamiya Extra Thin to make a single large sheet from which I could cut a 16 in. diameter circle. An exacto and a few minutes time and I had 6 60 degree arcs.

The six straights were cut from the full 7x12 sheets. Note, you'll need more than one package of sheets to replicate this.

Now for the river banks. Any of a number of materials could be used, but having just completed repairs on some model railroad scenery using a lightweight, flexible, air drying "foam clay" (my words), it seemed it could work. In reality, when I bought it, I had this in mind as well  ;-).

This material is light, easily formed, dries firm but remains flexible. It does not take fine detail, as it is resilient and springs back, but is fine for smooth, rolling features. If you want hard edges and fine detail, it can be carved when at least partially dry. It shrinks slightly, so plan accordingly.  I simply ripped off chunks and hand formed it to my taste, tapering to zero thickness at the edge, building up to ~ 1/2 - 3/4 in. at the "bank".

I had decided that to make them match up, regardless of how wide or narrow the channel, the ends of each section's "water" would be 3" wide, centered.

I have a 100+ year old home, whose cast iron radiators furnish a great drying rack, so off it goes...

Once firm, I reglued the edges of the "clay" to the plastic card with white glue, filling in gaps and securing and sealing the edges.  Once dry, it was painted with a dark brown acrylic paint (a quart of house paint from my local big box store, a lifetime supply).

Next, for the river bottom, a covering of sand, rocks, debris. I had a mix I made of building debris from a prior project, hammered into a finer consistency, made of paint-tinted joint compound, mixed with some model railroad track ballast. A variety of colors and textures, while remaining in the same pallete, appear more natural than monochromatic "gravel". This was sprinkled over thinned white glue with some dry dark earth pigment mixed in.

Note the middle section, I wanted to create a plausible "ford" so I built up the river bed somewhat with clay, and when dry, ran ruts into it repeatedly with a wallpaper corner roller to dent the still somewhat spongy surface. Not as rut-y as I'd hoped, have to finish the effect with Grass, or lack thereof.

Next, I used a two part clear resin to make the water. 

I closed up the ends of each section with blue painter's tape, and poured on a level surface, with foil underneath,  as some leakage will occur. This provides a clear, smooth "water". I am still seeking ways to create or add "current". After a few hours of curing, it's time for turf. I have accumulated a number of different colors and textures from both model railroading and figure basing. I mix colors and textures to get a blend I like; as with the debris, avoid using single color/texture, it will look unnatural. Daubing on the thinned white glue/pigment solution on the banks up to the top but not over the edge, keaving the inner banks the base "mud brown".

Shake off the excess, let dry. 

More can be done to add individuality and detail; rocks, ruts, log jams, etc. subject only to your time and creativity.

I still ended up with some warpage, the edges lifting up. Not too noticeable for pieces of this size, and probably only avoided by using much stiffer and/or thicker substrate.

On the whole, I  am happy with the result, and look forward to seeing tanks and troops deal with it in a game.

Now for some 3d roads ;-)