GHQ Models Forums

When using the hex terrian maker system, what color or ground cover do most of you use for desert?

The base color and the also the ground cover?

Thanks for the information and much appreciated.

fullmetaljacket

I'm not familar with the terrain maker's colors, but depending on the area you want to model I would use the following: beige or tan base cover for the sand or dirt. for the scrub brush a light to medium brown. If you are doing an watering hole then the brush and palms would be green closest to the water and then fade to brown as you get further away.

IIRSH

I have some examples of my desert terrain using Terrain Maker here on the forum. I posted on the Show Us Your Games thread a couple of months back showing one of my North Africa battles.

For my terrain, I went with Sherwin-Williams Ligonier Tan as my base color, and used Sunporch for my roads which is a tad lighter and Eaglet Beige for the wadi which is even lighter still.
For my scrub bushes I used Woodland Scenics Coarse Earth which to my eye looks like an olive brown color and seems to look right at this scale.

Having all that, you may have a color that you like. Deserts are not all the same color so you have some latitude, although some shades may be more appropriate than others. Try not to get shades that are too yellow or too reddish in color. I have seen some games in which the desert terrain looks a bit too yellow or dark for my taste.

Pete - Binpicker, Out!

I use a tan liquitex paint ( has good texture) and then using the splotching technique described in GHQ's tutorials, I use woodland scenics' raw and burnt umber. Looks nice from a distance

I am starting desert scape as well.

How are soft sand hexes being made?

Rough terrain?

Couple of the websites obviously use some sort of very fine rock (railroad ballast?) for most if not all hexes. Is this done by most people? Thoughts on this?

I too had resolved to use lighter shades for roads and wadies (wadii?)

Seems most other folks are going a shade greener on the vegitation. Do you have a pic or two of the more olive version?

Thanks - A well timed discussion!

The finest tan ballast i can find is a bit too course for the light dusty sand you'd get in most african and middle eastern deserts. As a result I use the paint technique I mentioned above for most of my hexes, but any ditches or wadis, I add a light sprinkling of the ballast, and it seems to look pretty good.

The best thing I have found to add fine texture is the ultra fine sand that you can find at craft stores. It comes in several interesting colors, especially if you need to make sci-fi terrain in lime green, purple or orange, but it also comes in natural, brown and, wait for it, sand which is a yellow beige. They look quite good, especially if you blend and overlay them. You do need to apply either dullcote or a flat varnish because being natural sand, it is quite sparkly.

It also takes paint fairly well.

I make most of my desert terrain hexes using fine ground foam sprinkled on top of the hex and then painted over. This gives the hex a scale "gravelly" texture without being too uniform in appearance as I have seen with using fine sand - also much less abrasive.
Here are the steps I use.

1. paint the raw hex tan and let dry. At this time I paint the sides as well.
2. Put on a second coat of paint and then sprinkle earth colored foam on while in is wet. I usally thin the paint down just a bit to get the surface a bit wetter. I sprinkle the foam on which allows it to soak up the paint. Let this dry.
3. I use thinned paint in layers to build up the color gradually. This takes 2 to 4 layers of thinned paint. Let dry between sessions. If you want some darker areas, don't hit them with as much paint. This allows some subtle shading in the hexes.
4. Once you have the hex done add the ground cover with white glue. In my case, I use the Woodland Scenics Coarse Earth for most of my shrubs.

This process does take longer than the standard GHQ method but I am happy with it. If you want to see what it looks like, you can check out Page 28 of the Show Us Your Games thread. At the end there is a picture of the whole layout in addition to the close up pictures.

Pete - Binpicker, Out!

If you are looking for rocks for your terrain, I have gone to Walmart, or any other store that sells aquiraium stuff, and buy bag of rocks. Clean, and differnt color tint is available. Also, out side in your garden, but not as clean and tends to be larger rocks.

I think the above is less costly than buy gaming terrain rocks. $5 a bag maybe...it has been a few years. Also do not need to 'cast' any rocks.
Chris

Several years ago our game club made a convention demo gameborard for GDW''s Battle for Basra. We used a light tan latex paint and the finest grade sand from a prominent model railroad company. We also used a coarser grade of gravel in the wadis, with a very sparse scattering of foam vegetation. We had the advantage that one of our members had been a participant in Desert Storm: We had first hand information on what southern Iraq looked like from helicopter cruise height. Look up the area you are interested in on Google images: you are sure to find some good images.
Groundlber

Thanks to everyone for your help!

I hate redoing my work so I appreciate your advice and experience.

I am starting some flat hexes today and may experiment with a few ridges as well. I have never put pics up but will try it since you all have been so helpful and interested. Just dont be too harsh as I am pretty knew to terrain making and working in such small scales.

Thanks, again - off to the basement...

9 hours of terrain today.

Used light weight spackle on flats to cover up foam surface. Sanded smooth, then painted. Cut out some wadis but have not glued or plastered them yet as well as cut out some hills.

I dont like the hills. I was using the GHQ method. maybe I wasnt doing it right but they just dont look right. Any advice?

How do you do rock face ridges?

Hey Wolfman

I use a floral cutter for my slopes rather than a hacksaw. I also tried the hacksaw approach many years ago but never mastered it and ended up butchering my slopes. With the floral cutter, which is a hot wire, I have much more control over my cuts and have been very happy with it.

To make rocky slopes, I basically used the GHQ method of picking at the styrofoam and then I use a brown wash for the definition.

Pete - Binpicker, Out!

Hey Wolfman

If you check out page 17 of "Show Us Your Games" , the second entry down posted by Thunder there are some more pictures of another one of the North Africa games I ran almost 2 years ago. There is an example of one of my outcroppings and some "rough" terrain as well.

For the rocky terrain, I made one of my standard flat hexes and glued some Woodland Scenics small talus rocks down on top.
The wadi is shown again. I do still need to add some patches of rocks and some brush to it in order to really complete it.

Pete - Binpicker, Out!

I will check them out today.

I have a hot wire cutter but I havent had much luck with that cuting pink foam either. Maybe the white stuff is easier. I ran out of elevation hexes so will need to make another order to redo them.

Thanks for your help.