Monday, June 3, 2013

"The hills are alive with the sound of ...gunfire!"

I realized that my NWF  terrain was sadly lacking, consisting of mostly of pine bark that Vince Clyant and I knocked off the trees in his yard.  I had been given some 2" thick pink insulation styrofoam, which is much denser, but not much heavier than, white styrofoam.

I initialy got out an assortment of tools that would have complemented a house builder; hand saw, electric carving knife, hot wire cutter, hunting knife, etc.  After two hills, I realized that, for rugged hills, only the hand saw, electric carving knife, hot glue gun. and a craft (Xacto with a #11 blade) knife, were necessary.

So here are my new hills, first from 4 directions.
The figures are Ral Partha Indian Troops Advancing, since my NWF forces consist entirely of Ral Partha and Frontier true 25s.
This was the first hill I carved.  The extreme elevations on all the hills were built with cutoffs from the rectangular pieces I cut with a handsaw.  They were attached with a low-temperature hot glue gun, since white glue requires evaporation to dry, and the styrofoam is impervious to air, water, etc.
If you click on the picture, the three figures descending the ramp are the well-known Ballentine, McChesney, and Cutter.  These are quick and dirty conversions of Ral Partha officers.  Ballentine's pistol was exchanged for a mounted officer's sword hand (he now has the pistol.)  Cutter had his pistol cut away and the Thugee axe made from a sword for a set of Abyssinians from Reviresco (not on his list.  You have to ask for them. The are also true 35s, with a plethora of weapons)
This hill is ascended by the steep ramp.
On the long hill, I cut steps near one end, and...
a ramp on the other.  I stupidly made it too long to fit in the box I intended to store all this terrain in.  sigh.

To paint the hills, I first went to Lowes and found a gallon  (whining)"I wanted you to match the other side of the drapes" of  tan for $5.00, which was applied with the cheapest 2" brush they had.  This is to for a barrier for the spray paint.  The vertical sides were sprayed with Krylon Low Odor Jungle Print Satin, after the latex had dried.  The horizontal surfaces were sprayed with Valspar Stone Santa Fe Sand.

So, quick and dirty hills!

8 comments:

  1. Those look great!

    I have to do some at some vague future point and must say I am dreading the prospect.

    Enjoy them!!

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    1. Thank you! It was finally time, after running NWF games for some 30 years.

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  2. Ken,

    Very good job on the hills. And your "Sergeants 3" conversions are excellent! See you on Friday.

    Jim

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I didn't want to use the 2 Sergeants 3 from the 28mm manufacturers. Too big!

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  3. Those are really nice hills, good job.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. They were actually a little fun to make.

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  4. Very good work !!
    Perfect hills !
    Do you choose a name for them ?
    It could be fine...
    No good idea yet: the "White Hills", the "Lonely Hills", ??????

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  5. Nah, no name. They're not as white as they photographed. Sigh

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