The placement of the roads was also something I gave consideration to and instead of running them parallel to the board edges as is generally done, I decided to set them at an offset angle from corner to corner. This makes it much harder for the eye to link them precisely from one board to the next and avoids the need to have all of the roads starting and ending at exactly the same points on all edges which I think looks very forced. Personally I also think it gives the table a more natural look of depth as it stops everything looking like it is artificially arranged to a grid pattern.

After cleaning up the resin road sections I salvaged from the old gaming boards, I mounted them onto the unpainted panels using a strong epoxy glue. The pieces of broken road and paving were then stuck down to randomly soften the edges where the roads met the edge of the boards. For the texture I mixed up some coarse gravel and fine sand into the consistency I wanted and then sprinkled it in place in between the road sections. Using a soft brush I then ‘swept’ it into the position I wanted it and stuck the resulting debris down with Woodland Scenics own terrain glue that I applied using an eye-dropper.

After I had given the glue a chance to completely set overnight, I undercoated the boards black and then painted them in exactly the same I did the previous four panels covered earlier before working on the road sections.

As the roads were already black from the primer I started by drybrushing the paving sections evenly with a 50/50 mix of codex grey and graveyard earth. This was then given a very light drybrush of bleached bone to finish, which I continued onto the roadway itself to pick up some of the highlights. To give the roadway a less precise finish I weathered both the paving and road surface using pastels. For the paving a very light coating of a light grey-blue pastel similar in shade to ghostly grey was dusted on and then a charcoal coloured pastel was dabbled over this to weather it and break up the uniformity. I concentrated in particular in areas close to the roadway and around drains and hatches. To blend the pastel smoothly into the paving and road I simply used my finger instead of a brush as it is a lot more subtle and controllable (plus it’s more fun and really unleashes your inner five year old!).

For the roads themselves I used my fingers to lightly ‘smudge’ some dark brown pastels into the centre of the roads and in particular around junctions where dirt and grit naturally tends to get deposited by traffic. This was then further highlighted with a final light smudging of yellowed tan pastel, again using a finger to lightly pick up a few highlights and further blend in the other pastels. To seal the whole finish in place I have the roads a few light coats of hairspray before a final spray coat of matt varnish to protect the surface.

After sticking down a few patches of flock, lichen and static grasses similar to those I used on the hill sections, the boards were more or less complete and ready to have war waged upon them.

In Review

Overall I am pleased with the finished result and am very much looking forward to adding some terrain to them to really bring them to life for future games. The whole process from start to finish taught me a couple of useful lessons also. Firstly, no matter how long you think a project will take, it often takes an awful lot longer. I had anticipated that it would take me perhaps a couple of weekends to complete all six boards from start to finish, however the reality was actually a lot longer. Overall, I estimated that I spent close to four full days (including drying time) on the initial four hill sections and an additional full two days on the flat road panels for the painting alone. Admittedly the whole process would have gone a lot faster if I had used larger brushes, however I wouldn’t have got quite the same end result I did using smaller ones.

The other interesting lesson was that the final result may not turn out exactly as expected. When I made a start on the boards I had an image in my head of a sort of arid desert wasteland. As I applied and painted the textures however, what started to evolve was more of a neutral scrubland that was neither strongly one thing nor another. This actually suited my purposes better as it meant I could tie in a far greater variety of scatter terrain to emphasise a particular environment. For example, ancient desert ruins and bleached deadwood to reinforce an arid theme or more lush trees and overgrown features for something a bit more ‘Mediterranean’.

Now the fun really starts as I can start to work on populating the boards with some varied terrain features that tie in with the colours and textures I have used so far. The finished boards above were set out with some of my existing buildings purely to give an idea of how they look with some basic terrain in place. To ensure the terrain and buildings in particular match the boards, my next task will be to revisit the entire current collection to bring it all in line with the roads and ruins. But that is not where it will end, as I have plans for a great deal more scatter terrain yet, including craters, rock mesa's, airfields, industrial complexes and some very special (not to mention large!) themed pieces. Finding myself bitten by the terrain bug once more, the next year is going to be a very busy one indeed.

Next: | Classic Epic scale ruined buildings |

| Back to Epic Armageddon Introduction |

Dropship fully supports Games Workshop's Intellectual Property Policy.

This web site is completely unofficial and in no way endorsed by Games Workshop Limited.

Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo, Epic, Inquisitor, the Inquisitor logo, Inquisitor:Conspiracies, Battlefleet Gothic, the Battlefleet Gothic logo, Necromunda, the Necromunda Plate logo, the Necromuinda Stencil logo, Mordheim, the Mordheim logo, City of the Damned, Blood Bowl, the Blood Bowl logo, the Blood Bowl Spike device, Fanatic, the Fanatic logo, the Fanatic II logo, Warmaster and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Blood Bowl game, Warhammer 40,000 universe and the Warhammer World are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2004, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. Used without permission. No challenge to their status intended. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners.

Contacting Dropship