Pimp my hills, part 3

Work on my hills continue. After finishing the thistle-covered hill it was time to go back to the desert hill. While it was in essence finished, Jonathan at the My Tiny Things blog pointed out that weathering the small rocks would blend them in more.

That's better!

So I popped out the white paint and the trusty old drybrush and went nuts with them. More pictures after the break:

The edges and rocks were drybrushed with white.

I liberally drybrushed the hill with white, concentrating on the rocks and edges of the contours. I also brushed white a bit here and there on the large flat surfaces to add some diversity. (The effect is more noticeable in the pictures, in real life it's very subtle.)

Note the fine texture of the dried gel.

Astute readers notice that I have also sprinkled some clump foliage on to the hill. This was leftovers from the thistle-covered hill (I was doing them at the same time) which I just pressed into the still wet gel. They add a splash of colour even though they look dark against the light sand.

Three Honeys crest the hill, taking up hull-down positions.

 After drybrushing white I felt that some more definition was needed, so I painted some diluted Gryphonne Sepia wash around the rocks to simulate shadows.

Compared to the tiny tanks the hill looks large.

I also used Gryphonne Sepia to mark the contour lines on the hill, diluting it even more and feathering it out to avoid sharp lines.

Where's Luftwaffe when you need them?

As you can see the hill is quite big compared to 6mm miniatures. I like that it's quite flat, but still provides cover for the tanks and can become a strategic feature.

Rear view of the hill and the Honeys showing the gentle slope.

All too often the game terrain looks unrealistic with too steep or stepped inclines. Going for a smaller scale means that you can have terrain that look more realistic and occupies a bigger area compared to the miniatures.

The details on the GHQ models are astonishing. (Click on the picture to see them even better.)

Note also how well the fine texture of the pumice gel fits with the small scale models. All too often we use too coarse sand or gravel which makes the miniatures look like the stand in a sea of tennisballs.

And that's that. I hope you have enjoyed this little tutorial on how to diversify your terrain. Good luck with your own terrain projects and happy gaming!