Dirt cheap, these. Or cheap dirt, one of the two.


As part of my continued thrift drive, I'm trying to find things I can make and do that cost no money at all. Or at least very little - a fresh bottle of PVA from a local modelling store was the only thing I bought for this project.

They're based on card taken from some household litter coated with PVA and sand (the Dreadstone Blight is on a pizza box). Once the PVA is dry, I washed in very watery Scorched Brown paint for the lighter bits, same as the rest of my bases, and Vermin Brown for the darker areas. Scorched Grass and Middenland Tufts for the greenery.



The trees are twigs. If you saw one through just across the bumpy bit where it forks, that provides a reasonable illusion of being the trunk meeting the ground. It also gives you a good flat surface for gluing down. I decided not to try and paint them in the end, I don't think I can really improve on the subtle but elaborate job nature gave them. I did paint the stones, though, black with grey highlights. Local Gothenburg rock is red and slatey blue granite, a bit too cheerful.


There were going to be pools of deeper water, from which the trees poked up. They were painted black on the bottom to provide an illusion of depth. But the biogel has gone mutant, this time refusing to even stay flat as it dried. There's a sort of giant cuckoo spit effect where it's bulged up and gone almost frothy.

Mind you, giant phlegm ponds would still count as dangerous terrain. Toughness tests to avoid shrieking 'yucky yucky yuck' and running home, I think.

It's still just about identifiable as being ice, I suppose, but I'm not happy with it. I tried twice, as well. The second attempt was really promising, with the frothy cracked ice effect at the edges where I hadn't been able to pry it up, and deeper black water in the middle. But as it dried, it did the same thing, and it's too hard to crack a second time without tearing the card.


They've also warped a bit (chaos!), so the edges are curly. And the snow (PVA and GW snow flock mix, with varnishes and baking soda on top to make it look powdery and melting) is a mixed success too. In fact, the parts painted darker brown and varnished with gloss are probably the most effective. Good job I tried all those elaborate special effects, then.


That said, I'm still fairly happy with them. From tabletop distance, rather than the level I'm examining them under with photos and general workbench scrutiny, they work fairly well. Especially when the light's angled right.

Like this.

And for a total of £4, I can't really grumble. Next time - lolly stick fences, I think. Then some woods and hills.

The swamps claimed more points in the W'Elf game than the Ruby Ring of Ruin. To commemorate this, there's a dead Wild Rider in this icy pool. Needs antlers in the fullness of time.