On the Workbench: Wadis completed and more terrain started.

Work on the wadis continues:

Filler has been added to build up the banks. A note on warping - normally I would seal the wood with either a gloss varnish spray or paint. I took a chance on this occasion. I used a filler called 'One Strike'. It is lighter and contains less moisture than standard filler. It claims to dry in 30 minutes which may well be the case normally, but with thicker covering, such as here, it took a little longer. I weighed the ends down keeping them flat during the drying process. Of the 5 longer pieces, I detected a slight warping with 4 of them. This filler is reasonably flexible, so I placed them on small files under their centre and then weighed down the ends bending them slightly in the opposite direction. After several hours I released them and it appears to have done the job. If I was to do this again though I would seal the wood first.

Continued -

Sand and rocks have now been added. 

Base coat painted. This consisted of tester pots from Wilko, Soft Hessian with Nutmeg Spice blended in to create an irregular covering. To create further variation Artiste Antique Gold was also added. Bedrock was painted Nutmeg Spice and given a black wash. 

To finish they were drybrushed Wilko Coastline followed by Wilko Soft Latte. 

A closeup of a 20mm wide infantry base (8th Army by GHQ) to give an idea of size.

A GHQ Matilda.

The Battle of Big Bethel highlighted my lack of tracks. These 4 sections were used in the battle but prior to this 'upgrade'. I am still not entirely happy and intend producing more sections out of brown Decorator's Caulk but with deeper ruts.

The sandbags at the top of the photo are from Leven Miniatures and pretty much finished. I intend using them as is. The metal sandbags are from Perfect Six and will be incorporated into various dugouts.

I also made a start producing snake rail fences. Finished fences at the top. I intend changing the colour into more of a washed out dark grey to represent weathered wood. If successful I intend to repaint my original fences the same colour. They are just a little too brown!