Making Hills
by Avian
Wot ya need
- Styrofoam - about 3 cm is a good height for most regular hills while a sheet of about 60 x 120 cm will give you plenty of material
- Quick-dry spackle
- Ordinary PVA glue
- Flock
- A long, thin and sharp knife
- Some very big brushes
- Felt pen
How ta do it
- First you've got to decide how big you want your hills. I made one very big (ca 35 x 50 cm), three big (about 30 x 30 cm) and three small (about 15 X 15 cm). Most of the small can fit onto the big ones and usually one big and one small can fit onto the very big. I suggest you start with the big ones and make the others afterwards. That way you can make sure that they are stackable.
- Draw the rough shapes onto the styrofoam. There are many shapes you could use; round, oval, crescent, pear, L etc. Remember that the sides will be sloping so that top will be a bit smaller than the bottom. As a rule no part of the hill should be narrower that 12 cm.
- Cut out the hill cutting straight down. It's not that important to follow the lines.
- Cut the hill so that it slopes. Making the slope possible to stand on for the minis is pretty pointless unless you're making a tiled board. On each side the hill should be about 2 cm wider at the bottom than at the top.
- Cut the top of the slope so that you get rid of the sharp edge. This makes the hill look more natural.
- Cover the entire hill in a thin layer of spackle to smooth the surface. Dip your fingers in water and use your hands to make the surface completely smooth. The spackle is there to make the surface more even and to make the flock stick better. Wash your hand before proceeding.
- Flock the surface. Since most hills are pretty big this should be done in sectors - each sector about 10 x 10 cm - to prevent the glue from drying. Use a mix of glue and water (about 50% of each) and spread it on with a big brush. Be sure to wash the brush thoroughly afterwards or it will be ruined. Dipping the hill in the flock will be pretty hard unless you have heaps of flock, so pour the flock over the hill and keep something underneath so that you can gather up the flock that doesn't stick. If you do several hills at the same time you can let each one dry while you work on another.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
- You will get a lot of static little pieces of styrofoam when you cut it. Be prepared for this!
- If you're making stackable hills make sure that the minis have enough room on each step - 3 cm should be a minimum.
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