My Newest Bit of Terrain!

All I asked my wife to get me for Father's Day was a paint rack.

This is what I got instead.

I. Love. My. Wife.

Photos of Martian Rocks and Hills

Three different finishes on these rock formations. I'll create a poll over them, but I would like your input as to which looks best. All three rocks have essentially the same paint job and foundation: 1/2" pink foam, with black flat latex brushed on, then three colors of spray. The rock on bottom right shows this. The second rock, at the top of the triangle, got a spray of textured paint before the three-color spray, and also has a bit of iron oxide gravel on it. The third rock was painted and then I added a pretty solid coating of iron oxide gravel and fine ballast to the top.

Here's a long, ridge-like outcropping. The sloped edges are considered passable, the rugged nearly vertical edges are not. This rock, like all the others, has the three-tone spray paint on 1/2" pink foam. In the background you can see another hill, with another small rise added to it. In the scenario I am creating, the British must pass between this outcrop and the hill to reach their destination off board.

This formation is one of the most complex ones I have done so far, up to four layers thick, but I really like it. It makes for a pretty good high ground to hold, though there isn't much cover. It does provide a good vantage over most battlefields, so if you have a long-range weapon, this would be a good site for it. It's also difficult to scale, as most of the faces are cliffside.

The Hills of Mars...

I am doing a little bit of terrain work these last few days. I have finally come up with a method that I like for using pink 1/2" thick foam insulation board.

I have a hot-wire foam cutter, a cheapie I got at Hobby Lobby a couple of years back for $10, I think. That's what I am using to shape the pieces, cut smooth bevels for the hillsides, rough faces for cliff sides, that sort of thing.

I'm using spray adhesive. Sounds a little crazy, I admit, but it seems to hold like cement and doesn't eat the foam. This way I can stack multiple layers for more impressive rock outcrops and hills.

So I cut the foam to the shape I want using the hotwire. Then I glue the layers together. So far so good.

The next step is painting. I found some black latex wall paint I had leftover from a DIY project, so I used that. Painted it on the foam, let it dry. Now when I spray paint the colors on the foam, the foam doesn't dissolve away!

Finally, once the black is dry, I hit the foam with three colors of spray in at least two layers of each color. You don't have to wait for each layer to dry - I like the mixed look, it seems mroe natural.

I'll post pictures once I get some decent lighting. I tried to take a few shots tonight, but... too dark.