The above photo shows the raw materials, not already seen, for the terrain. Those tall items leaning up at the back are the spacers to increase the size of the tables to 6' widths. The rest shows the wood that will be cut up to make the islands and the paint for the Great Canvas - which can be seen standing and rolled in the background on the left, inside the garage. Those long bundled sticks are 1x2 furring strips that I've since ripped into 1x1 strips to use to give height to the islands. There are 11 gallons of house paint in various colors. There are some craft paints that will be used to transform plastic plants into something more "natural" looking. There is a jig saw that will (actually was already) be very busy. And there are the various bits of 4' x 8' boards I had cut down into 1' x 4', 2' x 3', and 2' x 4' sections that will get trimmed into "curvacious" islands.
The above three photos are of the craft paints, the browns and greens should have obvious uses to most of you. But what of the blues and purple? Well, the tropics can be a colorful place. Here is a sample of their use:
The two fronds on the right are as purchased, the two on the left have been "striped" with all of the colors seen above - a bit muddied from overspray but I think you can see how they "tone down" the out of store plants. Well, I can see it and prefer it, though certainly in practice it won't be so muddied by mixing so many colors so close together.
This shot shows all the newly purchased cans of paint to match the colors previously selected - and to the far right are the two newly added blue-greens to be used when painting the sea. On the left are 5 cans of the Montana paint that are no longer part of the "grand plan" but will still find some use, especially the tans and green. Now, would you like to see the beginning of the sea?
Here is the first coat of paint on the first of the two main canvasses. Take note of the line of paint on the blue plastic tarp - that shows how much the canvas shrank while drying!
And this just gives a little perspective as to size, the little island is not part of the game but the building on it is, one of the smaller Spanish buildings. Of course, the little island could be used for some other game.
And one last shot of the raw materials, a nice view on the left of the stack of material that will get attacked with the jigsaw to become the islands - an island top with a larger matching island bottom (the curves matched) to be glued and screwed to the 1x1 to create a "sandwhich" with the odd spaces to be filled in with insulating foam (not shown), the dull yellowish stuff that comes with silver backing on one side. This should create both durable terrain and hopefully prevent much warping.
Now, some of you may be wondering at the expense lavished on so much raw materials and it has been substantial - but all of this terrain will be available after the game (as will the extra pieces that will be created along with the game pieces that will give it so much more versatility) and for years to come. So, while its been a lot of money up front, it will be well used. And with a little luck there will be enough materials left to create an actual "mountain range" as inspired by a tutorial on the Major General's page.
Now, for the buildings. Mike has been busy - and should be busy today working on even more - getting the Spanish finished, the British underway, and he has the Dutch ready to hand to start working on those. Pretty soon it will be the turn of the French and then, finally, the Pirate town itself.
Spanish building number five...
and six...
and seven...
and eight, nine, and ten...
from two sides...
and with damaged roofs...
and from above...
and finally a reverse shot.
One thought, or reconsideration - and no reflection on Mike's painting but on my building selection: some of the smaller crafty sorts of buildings are looking a bit too small and will require some use of forced perspective to be effective in the game. But, hey, sometimes we have to compromise and this was how I got to ten buildings for each town. Perhaps one day this will be resolved by adding better buildings but time was too short to hunt up more buildings and get them painted to a matching theme. Speaking of which, Mike has been doing a great job on giving the buildings individuality while maintaining a theme for each town.
Here is a beginning of the British, just one small wood roofed building.
And above and below are two shots of another building for the British.
Hope to see more of the British buildings soon.
That's all for now, hope to have more terrain photos soon but be patient, "Lettysburg" is not complete and it is important to work on that in order to keep time available for this project. All you married folk out there know what I mean.
(oh, the reason for a note between photos is because it prevents so many photos becoming a slide show where the pictures cannot be enlarged by you, the viewer)
