Bushido: WIP Terrain Board

Ok, some backstory on this project. I'm into Bushido now in a big way... love that game. I have an idea for a series of linked terrain boards, the first being a beach board with a dock, village and other assorted features I'll save that for later. From this first board I would expand out the series but I know I need to up my game with rendering water. I have done more than my share of resin forming and pours for water in other projects and while cool and fun, they aren't very animated or alive looking. So I've been expanding my vocabulary with resin water elements through various techniques.

This is what an old, "finished" board looks like. If it was a restaurant it would be called, "Passables"

WAY back in the 1990's I completed four panels towards a 4'x6' river board for 40k. It wasn't very well conceived but it was well-made and survived intact after more than 2 decades of games, including use at a GW store. I still use the flocked side of one board for Strange Aeons games but that is about it. Since I managed somehow to hang onto them all this time and not use them and decided that I'd want to try out some of the water effects I've developed on my own and learned along the way from others. So, I needed to do a sketch or practice piece.

I am a full time dad, full time worker and part time Grad student, so I don't have time to burn but I do have extra terrain to burn.

So I took a good section of the river and re-tasked it towards trying out some water and at very least, it can be a basic Bushido board.

I scouted out a 2'x2' section on a 2'x4' board, similar to the one above. I then mounted the foam board to a 1/4" thick 2'x2' wood backer using Tub and Tile Liquid Nails (so it won't attack the foam) and spiked it with my nail gun. I weighted the whole deal down with furniture and such and then used a hand saw to trim off the extra. All told, an hours worth of work, vs starting from scratch.

Grit and rocks and glue. Sounds like a Friday night to me.

Next I trimmed some of the riverbank to look more gradual and worn, instead of a 90 degree drop from ground to the creek bed. The more you trim the shoreline on an angle the more usable table space for minis you lose. So I didn't go nuts. I then added a layer of "deck grit" in the riverbed; this is a product sold at DIY that is basically a super tough sand texture in paint form, it is very liquid and applies well. It also happens to be great for sealing foam against resin (which attacks the crap out of foam) so this is a great fit for anything that will have resin on it. Finally, I used Mod Podge as a layer and poured out concrete rubble from my broken front step. You can see I went for a natural lay out and only added one or two really large protruding rocks, which I hope to show current behind them, downstream.  A few coats of Leather Brown Army Painter primer (thank god for that stuff) and it is basically ready for paint. I am in the middle of converting a cheap aquarium bridge with balsa and Apoxie Sculpt. I made a balsa dock to go on the shore too.

So that is where I am so far, stay tuned for more progress! (edit: Part 2 is here)

New river bed primed and ready for paint.