The River Yonne

Ok, so I know that you prefer to see painted soldiers, but there's a couple of terrain orientated postings coming along!

After painting on three coats of acrylic varnish on the river sections I wasn’t happy with the finish I was getting – it didn’t have sufficient reflective shine to look like substantial flowing water. So I switched to painting on yacht varnish – which is always the recommended option from others who have made terrain. It has been brushed on as a thicker coat; it’s a brighter gloss finish and has darkened the colours a little to add some apparent depth. The trade-off is that it takes much longer to dry. Two coats of this have now been applied. The other unexpected benefit is that the varnish has made the original paint appear darker as well as added a green hue to it, which has enhanced the final colours to my mind.

I’ve also added a layer of Realistic Modelling Services ‘ripple maker’ to create some extra surface texture. I’ve brushed on using a cheap brush with rough bristles (as advised by Keith at RMS), which does leave a transparent but visible texture when it dries. I imagine that this product is similar to those made by ‘Woodland Scenics’ et al for modelling water, although I reckon that RMS one maybe better value. I Then painted over with a final coat of yacht varnish to get a gloss finish. 

The willow trees that are dotted along the edge have been purchased for these boards. They were handmade for me by Wee Tree Kings. The detail and finish is excellent, as was the service from Phil. Phil makes a range of different types of trees to order (which can be seen on his website) and I would strongly recommend, if you require some first-class trees or hedges.

The terrain tiles have been flocked with greenery provided by Realistic Modelling Services, over a thick layer of PVA mixed with a burnt umber acrylic paint to try to avoid any show-through to the basing materials underneath. I've given a light dry brush of Plaka ochre and Vallejo sand paint in uneven some patches to tone down the green and attempt to blend in with my other broads.  Tufts from RMS were finally glued - to both the boards and in the river as reeds - to add some detailing.

I'm happy with the finished tiles - the river consists of 2 double length boards and one single (plus a half size board for possible future games). These will stretch across the width of the Cravant game. A bridge is to come to complete the river Yonne.  

More soon.