{"id":1092,"date":"2012-05-20T20:09:08","date_gmt":"2012-05-20T20:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=1092"},"modified":"2012-05-20T20:10:16","modified_gmt":"2012-05-20T20:10:16","slug":"painted-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=1092","title":{"rendered":"Painted Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Second<\/a>
Second view with more of the "painted desert" landscape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For our Mars game, I wanted some dramatic, painted desert-like rock formations. \u00a0I wanted ones that could also be used in cowboy games. \u00a0I enlisted the help of my daughter, who enjoys helping with terrain but doesn’t care much for painting figures.<\/p>\n

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\"First<\/a><\/dt>\n
First view of John Carter and Deja Thoris facing a green Martian<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

We cut 3\/4″ insulation foam into irregular shapes. \u00a0After gluing these together, we painted the “rock formations” with brown latex paint from the hardware store. \u00a0We then dry-brushed the layers in different colors to give them that stratified look of the American west. \u00a0I think the final result is pretty good.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/a>
Sam helping make felt-covered hills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While making the painted-desert hills, we also made felt-covered hills to match the copper canyon ground cloth we’ll use for the Mars game. \u00a0You can sort of see these in the background of the previous two photos. \u00a0I don’t like sculpted, flocked hills, because they don’t match the ground cloth. \u00a0I don’t like sculpted hills under the ground cloth because it is hard to tell where the contours begin in rules in which there is a penalty for each elevation level. \u00a0Figures also tend to topple over when placed on those hills, particularly if the figures are individually mounted. \u00a0My technique is to make hills that have a slight slope on the edges, but too steep to tempt players to place figures on them. \u00a0The result is “wedding cake” hills that match the terrain.<\/p>\n