Namorra Prime Terrain - Tutorial Part1

The last weeks I spent my hobby time to create more terrain for the upcoming Ondroma event.
Last year I made the start with this project and build the first two simple tiles. Now it is time to continue this big project!

The Namorra Prime board will have the size of four two-player Kill Team maps, separated in 8 tiles and I tried to make the layout as modular as possible. Each tile is 60 x 40mm and build on a 12mm thick wooden board.

Building good looking terrain is not the hardest part. Making it good looking and actually playable was the hardest part for me. You need to find the right mix between a good looking realism and the purpose the board is build for - tabletop wargames. That means, you have to make the surfaces and objects rather flat and keep base sizes and possible movement ways in mind.

Without further ado, let us start with the tutorial or my how to.

The first step is to get some rough shapes. Just cut some hard foam in pieces and glue them on the wooden plate. I used 'no more nails' and PVA glue for this step.

To get the desired rock / stone look, I coverd the shapes with cork bark and continued to add more forms and define the shapes. 

Cork bark is available in different shapes and patterns. You can easily cut or brake it. I also used a knive to smoothen the backside and glued it with PVA to the foam.

I also used a 4mm cork plate to cover parts of the surface. This should underline the illusion of a rocky surface. Glued with PVA.

After this structure had dried, I wanted to cover the remaining gaps and fill some holes.

 First I used tissue paper, soaked with water diluted PVA.

This worked quite well, but I needed so much material and glue that I looked for an alternative and found a rock compound. Cheap and easy to use!

 Afterwards I used a modeling compound to create a nice surface and smooth transitions.

 When the compound was dry again, I started to add some details like small rocks and debris.

I used sand, fine and medium cork grit to achieve this. Just place a mix of these materials on the desired area.

To fix these areas I used a 50/50 mix of PVA and Water. First I soaked the Area with 99% Iso alcohol, and then soaked it again with the PVA glue. The Alcohol helps to breack the surface tension and I highly recommend it before adding the glue on top. 

After another drying time, I started to cover the whole surface with sand. I used that 50/50 mix of PVA and water and brushed it on the surface. I worked in small areas and did it part after part.

A very usefull tool is a sheet of paper. It helps you to reach areas without turning the complete board on the side.

 The sand was sealed with alcohol and a PVA mix. 3 parts water, 1 part water and 1 or 2 drops of dish soap (which also helps to break the surface tension). Soak the complete board and let it dry.

The last step before priming: Add a few bushes.

I add the bushes now, because I want to paint them later. If you want a green vegetation you con ignore this step ;-)

 I used superglue (gel) to place some bushes.

 Then I used alcohol and fluid superglue to seal the bushes.

Building phase completed!

It is my first big terrain project, so there surly is a lot space for improvements.I hope this tutorial shows you the process of building this board in an easy and understandable way.
I really tried to make it easy, effective and replicable for me.
The next part will hopefully be released next week and it will show the needed steps to make the board look like these two already finished tiles:

Thank you very much for your visit and stay tuned. A lot more updates and pictures will follow  soon!