Making Desert Terrain

[robotkarateman]

We use miniatures a lot in our games and, while paper minis are awesome for combat, paper terrain just doesn't have the same tactile coolness that miniature terrain does. I use paper print-outs for floor bases, but I sculpt and cast other terrain features when I have a scenario where the characters will be spending a lot of time.

The next story arc takes the characters into the plain of ghosts, and I've got cool little piles of skulls and mysterious evil-looking totems, but a paper ground base is actually detracting from the creepiness factor.

I'd like to cast some thin plaster terrain tiles, but I'm having problems getting the look I want. I'm trying to get a cracked, parched desert effect, but I can't reproduce the cracks. I've tried the foil-in-clay method and, while that makes interesting topography, it doesn't look like a desert. I've tried carving lines into foamboard and using an acetone spray to corrode it, but then the cracks don't look realistic.

Last night I made up a thin sheet of plaster which I cracked with a hammer, and then reinforced with another layer of plaster. That's currently curing in a 1-to-1 mold, so I'll see later how that turned out.

But I'm wondering if there are other terrain builders here and whether or not they've found a technique for good cracking.

Anyone?

[Ryo]

Have you tried using a heat gun or heat lamp (maybe a high walt bulb would work) to dry out some clay or curing plaster(play-do should work too)? To make cracks you want to quickly draw out the moisture.

[malyss]

If you can find some flat pieces of plastic (lids from yogurt containers etc.) to cut into the various shapes, then lay them down on a thin sheet of Styrofoam. Prime the entire plain in white, not black, unless you are going for a darker look, but from the photo I would stay to the lighter shades first.

Then basecoat the entire sheet in your main colour, which in this case would be the top surface colour of the riverbed in the picture. I’m not sure of the specific colour of your brand of paint, but I recommend doing some small test batches if it is important to get it bang-on for you.

Use an ink-wash in light brown (very light if possible – it is better to do two washes to get it dark enough than one that is too dark), then another much darker one in the cracks. Add a few drops of Jet-Dry (or similar surfactant) to the wash to help it run better.

Consider using some off-white highlights on a test piece to see if you like the bleached effect on the top surfaces. Don’t dry-brush; use a thinned application of your main paint brand. If you dry-brush, it will be a more subdued effect, but if you paint on the highlights in layers, it will pop more, visually speaking.

[robotkarateman]

Have you tried using a heat gun or heat lamp (maybe a high walt bulb would work) to dry out some clay or curing plaster(play-do should work too)? To make cracks you want to quickly draw out the moisture.

I haven't tried doing that with clay because the stuff I use for sculpting is oil based and doesn't dry out like that. Any suggestions on something that will dry well?

Over the weekend I tried flash-curing plaster in the oven and got some really nice cracks, but had a bitch of a time getting a mold off of it, so I'm all but ruling plaster out as a base material.

A friend turned me on to a paint used for faking stained glass windows that's designed to crack, but the cracks are really shallow. If I can find a small piece of glass to test it on I'll see if what comes out is deep enough to paint.

Use an ink-wash in light brown

Thanks. The painting isn't the problem, it's getting a realistic texture to cast a mold of to make tiles.

[Ryo]

Its been a while since I tried that sort of thing. However did you try playdough? You can make your own easy enough and in an oven it should crack.

http://www.playdoughrecipe.com/

Also have you tried cement? Make a small mold, let it dry then while still in the mold break it up a little. That should give a rough texture with cracks.

[robotkarateman]

I'll definitely give the Play Do recipe a try.

But I'm afraid with cracked cement I'd run into the same problem with the molding that i do with cracked plaster. I want to make casts of this to make multiple identical tiles, and MicroMark 1-to-1 doesn't like teeny tiny loose particles or too-deep crevices.

I wonder if I can do something similar to the first plaster attempt - over wet the cement and bake it to get nice cracks, and then set the loose pieces into a fresh puddle of cement to set up.

That's another option! Thanks!

[FrothyKat]

http://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-7970802-Creations-Venetian-12-Ounce/dp/B001UE7N3C

Dunno how effective this stuff is since I never used it myself, but I used to see it all the time. This gives you the texture, but without all of the work of trying to make actual cracked ceramics of any kind.

However, it's also flat, and so it won't necessarily have the dimension you might be looking for. Also, it is spraypaint, so you can't use it on styrofoam.

[Setherick]

When you finally make some of this terrain, make sure to post it in the Share Your Best Prop thread. I want to see how it turns out.

[robotkarateman]

Dunno how effective this stuff is since I never used it myself, but I used to see it all the time.

Actually, I picked up another brand of the same thing when I went looking for the glass paint. I'm thinking that a shallow crack will be ok, provided the 1-to-1 picks it up enough that a darker ink wash will show up.

I'm casting molds of both tonight, and I'll see how they turn out tomorrow.

[robotkarateman]

Update -

The glass crackle paint is cool, but it's weirdly uneven. I think that's because it was too thick in certain areas. But the depth is nice, and I'll retry to see if I can get it more even.

BUT

I ran to Michaels to buy a piece of glass for the paint crap and I found this stuff - DecoArt Texture Crackle. It's like a plaster with acetone in it. The cracks it makes are fantastic, but I'm having problems getting it to lay evenly.

Both are working really well, so as soon as I have one I'm happy with I'll make a mold.

[FrothyKat]

Woah, sweet, there you go!

Michaels always seemed to have solutions for craft problems if you were willing to spend a little bit of money and try something that was meant for cakes or framing.