BMK BMK The Bitmap Kid Presents ------------------------------ Paint 'ye Dragon ------------------ Part II - Landscapes and buildings @~Continued from last issue More Undercoat. Now you need to paint the sand in a green colour. Almost any shade will do, it doesn't really matter. Of course, the closer to the real colour the better, though. Errm, shocking 'innit? Yes, I know that this green coloured sand doesn't look like grass at the moment, but we haven't finished yet! For a good finish you really need to get some modeller's Green-Grass Turf (fine grain) from the model shop. A small bag can be quite expensive, but it goes far if used correctly and is well worth it for a good finish. The grass comes in realistic colours (just look at the selection for one you think is right) and is quite like large bits of green dust! Apply this to your hills in the same way as the sand, and when that process is completed, you'll finally have some basic, while realistic, hills. (See about adding more detail later in this fine old article.) Roads, Grass and Other Features. Interior land, like courtyards is quite similar in some ways as the wilder outside and the buildings themselves. First you should clean up the chipboard - you are bound to have a few lumps of filler or glue, also dust off any poly dust. Next you should mark out some interesting pathways linking doors and stairways together. If you are only working on a section of building, then have some pathways leading off the chipboard which, if you want, you can add to later. Make some paths wider to form more road-like paths for carts and marching troops, and smaller paths for less used areas. Don't go over the top, just have a nice road and a few smaller paths connecting doors as they would in real life. For this type of model, it is best to make the paths and roads straight and angular, curving roads a) don't look right, and b) are very hard to build. It may also to have a small area of grass inside the castle, so you may like to add a corner of green to your plans. You may have some other ideas on things you would like inside, if so it may be best to add them to your plans now too, like fountains or mosaics (things that you might be able to buy in that model shop). Once you are happy with your plans (it may be an idea to write on each area exactly what they are) it is construction time again. Wimps Way. For a very basic model, you can paint on the areas, the castle - grey for the roads and paths, a decent green for the grass and another, darker colour for the gaps. Decent Way. For more advanced models you really need matches. You can buy bags of headless matchsticks in art shops, these are great. But as well as these I've found some extra large matches form the usual sources. They are longer and thicker, and are ideal to use WITH the smaller matches, and I recommend you get them if you see them. First start off with the main roads. If you have them, use the larger matches to border the road, glue them over your plan-lines with any decent glue (PVA will do fine). Be careful where two matches join, you don't want the links to show when you're done. For the smaller pathways, you can line them in exactly the same way with standard sized-matches, or you can leave them unbordered. You must, however, run a line of standard matches around the areas you are going to have as grass. Road Works. Next (when your matches are stuck fast) you'll want to fill in your roads, for this you'll need more plaster. Make up some in the normal way to a fairly thin consistency. Pour it into the border and then move it about to fill in the mould. Clear off the excess with something like a ruler, (it works better if the ruler is slightly damp) you can use this excess for any ridges that have formed. You'll need to work quickly here, as you may have found for the hills, plaster can set very quickly, even when it still appears wet. If there are any ridges that you just can't get rid of, then just level out the area as best as you can and wait for the plaster road to completely set, you will then find it easier to fill in those difficult bits. By the way, for longer roads, you may find it easier to fill them in in sections. The smaller pathways can be made in much the same way if you have lined them with the smaller matches, or you could stick on many of the UNexpanded polystyrene bricks similar to the ones you made for the walls. Then clean up again (aarr naaa). MORE Undercoating. Next thing to do is undercoat the new pathways you have made, you can use the same paint as you used for the castle walls. More painting now, this time of the grass borders and the pathway boarder THAT YOU CAN SEE. DON'T paint the borders that should have been made invisible by the filler and grey paint - those should not show. But the ones that stick out, like what will be around the grass area, you will need to paint a brown, woody colour. When you do this, make sure every side is covered in a realistic colour of brown. No-one Likes a Grass. Next you need to paint in the grassed areas in the same (or similar) green as you used for the hills. Once you've done that you need to decide how you are going to fill the areas in between the roads and grass areas etc. The way I usually do it is by using the sanding method as used on the hills. If you want to do it this way, it is exactly the same as on the hills, except you don't paint it green! If the finished sanded affect looks okay, then you can simply leave it at that, if not you can paint it a colour of your choice which will look realistic, a sandy-brown may be quite good. You can now, if you want, cover your now green area in the grass as you did with the hills. This should leave your model free from that nasty chipboard in sight. Lookin' good eh? Rain Drops Keep Falling on my 'Ed. If you have built your model in the way I have described, then you will have a line of buildings that need a roof. The best way I have found to construct a realistic roof is to use more of the modeller's fine grass turf with paint, balsa wood and small UNexpanded polystyrene tiles, very much like the wall brick-texture you made earlier. For the base you need the balsa. You don't HAVE to use balsa, but I find it is perfectly strong and light enough, cheap and easy to fit and shape. Cut the wood (or the material you are using) to size and lay it on the buildings. It should sit comfortably with a slight lip over the lower wall at a slight downward angle. Make any adjustments you need to the model or wood and then paint the wood black underneath and around the edge to about half an inch. Next comes the more boring bit. You must cut literally hundreds of tiles out of the unexpanded polystyrene. They don't have to be 100% in scale with the figures you have, to do that would be impossible. You can, however make the tiles about one cm square. Don't make them even, don't make them exactly the same size, don't make them perfect basically. Some should be big, some small, etc etc etc. Tiles. Once you have cut a good many out, you can start to stick them on. I find the filler is best for this job. Start at the bottom left hand corner of the wood. Stick the tiles on, slightly running over the edge of the wood. Lay each tile next to each other (although now and then you can have a tile slightly overlapping the last one) BUT make sure that they don't end in a nice straight line, some should stick out a long way, some should be right in. Work from left to right until you reach the right edge. Wait for it to set solid. The next layer overlaps the first slightly, work in the same way as the first making sure the lower edge never becomes even and straight. This time however, a lot of this line of tiles should overlap one another. Now repeat the process until you reach the last row of tiles. This time it is exactly the same, except that EVERY tile should overlap slightly. Your roof should now have a realistic texture and shape, but look like a weird mixture of past and futuristic building work! You need to paint. Paint it any sort of roof-tile colour, a fairly dark matt red will do. Once that has dried I recommend you add another shade of the colour you have chosen here and there to add a more realistic affect. Moss. If you want you can leave your roof like that, but you can also paint on some PVA and sprinkle a light covering of the grass over it for a mossy effect. I recommend to experiment with this quite a bit, it can produce some GREAT effects. Better Battlements. To create the raised walls to protect the men (yep, the bits with the jagged edges!) you can figure out a way yourself, but the best way, I have found, is to use the plaster casts from the Linka kits. Cast a standard wall piece, cut it in half so to separate the two jagged edges and then stick to the top of walls in the right places. Cover the gaps with more filler (in the textured way on the outside, smooth way on the inside) and paint so you can't see the join and you're done! Other Details. Other details can be added as you wish, advanced doors and windows can be made with strips of balsa and also other things like bridges with more matchsticks. Experiment and try things out. Finishing Off. You may want to paint up the buildings another colour, use a knife to cut stone-details to roads, make the far too perfect hills more realistic with different turfs from the model shop, add bushes and trees and rocks, in fact whatever you can think of! See how you get on and I'll return to the subject in the future sometime, good luck! Next Syntax month I'll be doing some perfect painting on model men! See 'ya then. BMK BMK - o -