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Given how I have to take pictures of (and like to play with) miniatures of all kinds of historical periods and sci-fi/fantasy settings I'm always on the lookout for generic terrain. For quite a while now I've been debating with myself about getting some rivers. I planned to make some myself from acrylic mass (the stuff I made roads sections from last year), but never really got around to doing it. So I gave in and bought a few sets of GF9's Battlefield in a Box river sections. I was asked to borrow my Dark Ages terrain for a SAGA table at VIVAT III next weekend, so I thought it would be a good occasion to get some rivers done.
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I was also curious about the product. It's my first BFiaB set, because I'm naturally opposed to anything pre-painted (not the least due to the fact that the stuff most of the times looks piss poor) and a big fan of DIY when it comes to terrain. I got the stuff, got the sections out (they come with little baggies of static grass. In my opinion way too little for the amount of sections you get). The river banks are pre-painted (painted dark and drybrushed; looks rather nice, but it didn't fit my terrain bases, so the river banks was the first thing I repainted.
The water itself is without any texture, has very, very slight brighter lines sprayed on and is really, really, really blue. Way too blue for my tastes. So I repainted that as well, using darker and more greenish colours. I also added some more lively stripe patterns and 1 or 2 layers of water effect. Barely any texture as they have to work for any scale to getting to detailled or specific would make it fit for one scale, but not for another. I still went for a quite blue colour, because, despite better knowledge of real rivers, I like the look on the table. Going too green would make it meld with the green surface too much, so I prefer a more blue look, but still somewhat natural-ish.
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In the end I used some fine sand to add sand banks and to suggest possible fords (as I don't have any real ford sections or bridges YET I thought this was a nice solution to get by). It also adds a nice effect to give some sections a more interesting look. I also glued on some clump foliage for additional vegetation. This would work at any scale as well. At 28mm/20mm it would be shrubbery, at 15mm/10mm it would be tall hedges and such and for 6mm/2mm it would be trees growing along the river.
Here's the result. With 10mm figures and thinner streams:
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...and wider river sections:
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Here with 28mm figures:
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This of course also displays the disadvantages of the classic river section terrain parts: They're slightly elevated and you seee there they end and where they begin. Some people don't like that look, and I can understand it. A river lies in a bed and not in a ... loft bed? You know what I mean. On the other hand I'm not a big fan of modular gaming tables, not the least due to storage. Colour is another factor, but that's purely up to tastes. As I said, I like a blue-ish look to rivers on the table. At least it's not the plasticky blue look the rivers had originally. I think I went for a rather managable compromise, but that's up for each person to decide. I hope you like the way they look.
I was also curious about the product. It's my first BFiaB set, because I'm naturally opposed to anything pre-painted (not the least due to the fact that the stuff most of the times looks piss poor) and a big fan of DIY when it comes to terrain. I got the stuff, got the sections out (they come with little baggies of static grass. In my opinion way too little for the amount of sections you get). The river banks are pre-painted (painted dark and drybrushed; looks rather nice, but it didn't fit my terrain bases, so the river banks was the first thing I repainted.
The water itself is without any texture, has very, very slight brighter lines sprayed on and is really, really, really blue. Way too blue for my tastes. So I repainted that as well, using darker and more greenish colours. I also added some more lively stripe patterns and 1 or 2 layers of water effect. Barely any texture as they have to work for any scale to getting to detailled or specific would make it fit for one scale, but not for another. I still went for a quite blue colour, because, despite better knowledge of real rivers, I like the look on the table. Going too green would make it meld with the green surface too much, so I prefer a more blue look, but still somewhat natural-ish.
In the end I used some fine sand to add sand banks and to suggest possible fords (as I don't have any real ford sections or bridges YET I thought this was a nice solution to get by). It also adds a nice effect to give some sections a more interesting look. I also glued on some clump foliage for additional vegetation. This would work at any scale as well. At 28mm/20mm it would be shrubbery, at 15mm/10mm it would be tall hedges and such and for 6mm/2mm it would be trees growing along the river.
Here's the result. With 10mm figures and thinner streams:
...and wider river sections:
Here with 28mm figures:
This of course also displays the disadvantages of the classic river section terrain parts: They're slightly elevated and you seee there they end and where they begin. Some people don't like that look, and I can understand it. A river lies in a bed and not in a ... loft bed? You know what I mean. On the other hand I'm not a big fan of modular gaming tables, not the least due to storage. Colour is another factor, but that's purely up to tastes. As I said, I like a blue-ish look to rivers on the table. At least it's not the plasticky blue look the rivers had originally. I think I went for a rather managable compromise, but that's up for each person to decide. I hope you like the way they look.
