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/ 193
ADVANCED TERRAIN
MODELLING
Richard Windrow
™ ° a
SS
‘An advanced guide to building and finishing model landscapes for any type of layout, diorama or
vignette = Hundreds of colour photos = Step-by-step instructions = Ideas for more creative modelling OSPREY MASTERCLASS
Advanced Terrain
Modelling
Richard Windrow
cries editors Marcus Cowper and Nikolai Bogdanovir CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Foreword
Materials, tools and tips
A First World War trench
A motte-and-bailey castle
Fall in the forest
Techniques
Awalled garden
A Second World War street
Sources
Index
16
77
107
127
157
186
189 FoREWworRD
bou five years ago I wrote +
Look called Termin Mod
for the Osprey Masterclass series
co my surprise and pleasure, it wos
wel
ceived by many modellers,
and Osprey Publishing have now
d
volume, My frse thoughe was thar
asked me to produce a se
fonce you'te writen a book on how
co make 1/3Sth-scale mud
pretty much said all there is €0 say
fon the subject: but on further
‘thought I realized cht in the
incervening time new products
had come on ro the market ~ and,
indeed, I had learne one oF «0
rnew wrinkles about how
achieve different effects in my
groundwork. However stil fle
that chere ceded to be a definite
differcace between this book and
she firse— there are few things
more aerating than buying a hook
but finding that ies only the cover
that has changed. In view of this
1 decided co add some more
man-made objects to che scenes,
ther chan just Serving up more
‘scale model die’
anced Terain Modeling I have
tmied to cover the creation of some
differene basic terrains, and this
sime I've added a few fel
fications and bunldings, as
well as phorogeaphing the resus
complete with figures for scale
though I hope readers will not
look coo closely at the latter — Tam
well aware that Faced quite a bit
mote practice before J reach the
standards of a dedic:
od figuee
painter). Once agnin, ! hope to
make life easier for those of you
who find ie a bit of a seeupgle co
create ealisticclooking groundwork
ingly complement all che skill
ind patience that you have put into
sche main subjects of your models.
ny
ne to ensure that everything,
add enough details ro
the s
is not always obvious a¢ Fist
glance. My approach is rather lke
those wondetful Giles cat
shar older readers may remember
From the Daily Express back in the
1940s and 1950s — you never saw
nnatuelly catnot assume thar
everyone who buys chis book has
read the frst valuime, so I hope
that chose of you wha have will
excuse 2 bi
petition where J
think ie necessary for new seaders
The most obvious instance of my
repeating some of the original
wok is in the chapter of advice
con materials and tools fa the
ng years I have come
eat new products
that I now use in place of some 1
‘mentioned originally. The other
repetition is over the question of
how go make model tres. The first
book covered this in rather greseer
detail than T
basic advice on this sut
hers, but ro omie
jest would
leave a fairly importane gap, s0 I've
red a it in the logical place
tn Chaptec 4 om Fall io the Forest
Woile most of the models in
this book are built co 1/35th scale,
materials and techniques I
discuss can be used in almost any
scale, and for models depicting any
soxt of scene from any period of
history. All you need do eo make
them appropriate to your own
subject i
pictutes carefully, and plan your
1 seady reference
groundwork accor
ingly. also
repeat the most basic piece of
advice from Terran Modeling: gee
yes — the eeal thing isthe best
reference of all
As any hon
w books ca8 be written
without help from a number of
‘other people, Space does not allow
neo lise everyone who has
contribured eo my modelling over
the years, but I do wane ro mention
just a few who have helped me ia
Aifferene ways: Charles Davis, for
providing and palating the figures
in che "Walled Garden’ mod
he Peery ewins, for generously
donating the Figures for the
Motte-and-Bailey’ (again, my
apologies for the paint job) Lynn
Sangster and his crew at Historen Bob Wyate of Seale Link; Tim at
the AD Model Shop: my son
Scephen for his beautiful photos
of nature im alls glory: and lastly
co that small, select groep "The
Ssturday Breskfase Club’ for their
constructive heckling. My sincere
thanks to you all, wheth:r your
ed on the
One final
illustrations inthis book. When
it comes to photography. 'm
completely lost when the
conversation turns to such arcana
as stops’ and “depth of field’, so
ro one was appice thin I when
finally gor a digital camera. All che
phorogeaphs were taken with 3
Fuji $6022, withthe selector
firmly et on automatic, Unless
otherwise sate, all she pictures
are the author's
So, here we go again; I do hope
that some of you out ere will
Find something in here that will
help you cate thar special
diocama
Rickard Window
Kew
Sepember 2006 MATERIALS, TOOLS AND TIPS
MATERIALS, TOOLS AND TIPS
All the contace details for the outlets named below can he found in the chapter on ‘Sources’ at the end
of this book
A: am sure most of you have
L done, over the years | have
collected a member of tools and
materials without which I doce
chink I could function 28 a
‘modeller Although I covered many’
fof these in Terrain Molin, For the
benefc of chose brave souls just
starting out on the modelling trail
(0) Clayretepopier maché i the bese
‘groundwork material that usualy
‘se on any diorama baseboard
(2) A bber mixing bon sides! for
both this material and for plaster: f you
tex the bowl most ofthe died resive
‘wl us fall out without scraping,
1) Avarety of brushes tat | use both
for smoothing the wet groundwork ard
for covenng large areas that need tobe
painted, These ae very cheap and can
be lscarded when they've become too
ragged, When this happens | cut some
of them very short and use ther
tereater for senciing, or applying
pastels and weathering powders
(4) Valeo age paint are my
favourites ~ they cover realy wel,
and the ‘syechopper’botes prevent
‘them drying out too soon if you leave
tne top off ny mse,
(6) A couple of very Hexic palette
ives, as used by ol paintes, can
be backed up with cheap plstic
spatula for more general wor,
(6) The Supertast Wood-Stck two-part
pony adhesive from Symasta has many
ses asthe two parts come ina single
‘al, you can't get the mix wrong
T think i help to eepeae brief
details of the ones tt 1 use
mast often when building a
diorama or vignette. The list does
not include items necessity £9
complete the actual model that you
are placing inthe dorama: firstly,
there are any number of good
books out there by master
modellers chat wil give you all he
help you nged om that subject, and
secondly, T dont count sel in
shat clase, What follows i an idea
of the bases needed for making
your groundwork,
Sy
Eis
aoe
i
MATERIALS
BaseBoaros
The firs thing you need For a
diorama is obviously a good
baseboard, and Ive ered a few
Affecene materials for this purpose.
The most important ching fom
ry poine of view is that 3
baseboard mast nor watp when 1
add plaster or‘Clayerste’— x tis
point the board is obviously going
to gee wes, For che diorama in
Chapter 4, A Walled Garden!
used » product new to me that |
got from the Micro-Maek company
Gd in the USA. This ‘Gatorfoam
board is very ight but very tough,
compsising a layer of oar
sandwiched between two layers
of veneer, mezsusing about
10mm x 457mm)
snd Yi (Srmen)dhick. T have
pplied plaster, papier mac, lig
lle, pants and stains co this
board, and when it dries ie does
not warp ~ even when coated on
one side onl
Although an excellent product
Garorfoatn is noe always the
(1) The ‘Ary pump-p spray bottle,
which s much beter for misting water
your model than the
‘more boisterous spray bottles one
normally find in shops.
(2) Mission Models ‘Mult Too’ | use
this for fuming rings rom bass wire
0 fod. Ls stepped down along its
length, s0 you havea variety of
diameters avaiable; and it you need
‘more than one ofa size, you'll be
able to repeat it exacty cach time
(3) The ‘Oe #-Cutter scoring tool for
(4) Aroler cut
the trade name ‘DAFA’ these ae aso
marketed by Oe
(S)A12in metal sary rule Hol it fat
Jwith your finges behind te central
Fidge and, f your knife sip, your
‘eends won'tbe refering to you as
(Ol Four Fingers
(6) Some Swan modeling knives: my
armoury incuces one with 2 hooked
blade for caning ticker bis of wood
(2) ThsHine-mesh flow shaker i ide
for the even application of the particles
of finely ground scatter and static
cgrases. You can get coarser-mesh anes
for more heavy-duty materials, These
‘may seem an unnecessary ln, but
the extra contol they give is mc
bbettar than saterng by hand, ‘The guilotine that | use for
lengths of plastica oF wood that need
to be ofthe same length or ange
when it will be found coo thin t0
be used for particular subjects. The
other material that I ase ~ in the
test of the diotamas in this book
is polyse
form, about 19%/n x 13in x 2in
(800mm x 300mm x 50mm),
ne. [get this in block
which gives me a sutface nto E
wohich [can cut dishes, wells OR oo
trenches, ete: and if 0 isnt 2 THE. CHOPPER
deep enough ~ as for che Western a eae
Front trench model in Chapter 2 —
shen I just stick anocher on cop. I
get it from a company specializing
in industrial packing materials,
and this is probably the bes place normally add whatever colouting __Clayeree dries out and loses ies
to look for it. Once the mol is water with flexiiley sometimes cracking after
finished, you can make up a which I mix che Clayceets, so that period of me, oF lifing from
veneer Fame co cover the when i the model the baseboatd. 1 must admit shat
exposed polysyrene edges donit get those iecitatng lite spors ve never had these problems, but
of white that sways seer to get this could be because [also adda
Cuayerere/Cetuctay mised ous if 1 paine it afesrwards, lie whie glue eo he mx, which
The material that probably gets che T know some moles find hops i to retain a bit of Banibiliy
exe most frequent use across the
aeatese number of my dioramas is
CClayerete (or ‘Celuclay’ = I'm not
quite sure which name is used in
the UK and which in the United
States, as Thave bought itin the
UK under both nares). This is an
insane papier mac co which you
juse add water, and then lay € 0
in mach the same way
as if you were using pl
| good qualty fter nas is very
necessary when working with ary
‘material that wl crate fine aries,
sch a ein, A hot lue gun is ial for joining large
blocs of polystyrene
It also lengthens the drying time,
but nce enough to bother me.
Another plas, as far a8 Um
ned, is chat if you keep
your mix s9 a bowl oF containee
with a id, i will emai useable
For at least a week
PLasteR
When it comes ¢o making items
with plaster, [ prefer t0 ase
Ebethard Faber Ceramic Casting
Powder’. This comes in «
dries considerably more quickly
and toa harder finish ehan plaster
of Paris or Polpfilltype
compounds: it also retains ies
hice colour better and longer, if
that is che effece you wane, Fuse
it for casting parts for buildings
(see the ‘Morte
diorama, Chapter 3) for casting
rocks, and also as an underlay
snow eff
For plasterwork actually on the
model, as opposed to making
separate items ip moulds, T use
Woodland Scenics ‘Li
Hydrocal’ plaster This is us
sealing layers of
re
aster bandage
ow) and for filling in gaps
cor crevices in cock work,
PLASTER BANDA
Plaster bandage, often sold in the
UK under the name "Mod-Roe
When making up a section of
roundwore that needs to be very
icregular or lampy, I normally use
odd scraps of polystyrene as a
foundation. (IF you ever buy some
of the larger electrical ieems such
asTVs ot computers, you'l ind
they are usually packed in ecough
thick polystyrene to provide you
with a generous stash) Carve your
lamps roughly to shape, stick chen
jn place, and then apply the
indage, Sit
the roll, dip it in wa
nply take a length from
smooth i€ over your ‘lumps’ ro
blend chem into the baseboard
Hyd
‘0 give yourself a good
The hot kn kt for carving up lumps of
polystyrene and shaping them. surface for colouring, attaching
scatter’ and so forth
TE lumps of polyseyreae aren't
available, then you can simply
take newspaper, dampen i, sind
make ic mnto balls or colled lengths
Aceach these to your baseboard
with white gluc, and then lay
your plaster bandage and plaster
ADHESIVES
The adhesive I mostly use on a
ddiocama is Woodland
‘Scenic Glue’. This holds most
types of groundcover in place, and
has the advantage of drying co a
clear, mate finish. IF I want a spr
adhesive chen I use the same
maker's ‘Scenic Cement This
watecchased adhesive also dries
matt; the makers can provide a
spray head to attach to the borele
overing large areas.
‘Another useful one, which I ges
the 4D Mode!
‘Green Flock Adhesive’. This isa
hop. is called
faicy chick glue ina tin and
suprisingly enough ~ i green. eis
obviously meant for sticking down
flock, bue if you havea large area of
(1) Woodland Scenics Realtic Water, 3
honing resin that | use for water
(2) Snow Seater fram The Smal shop
EUs this isan ex
litle goes along way.
(2) An aerosol of Faus Fabri th
hse
for ading texture to smooth suraces to
replicate cloth several ayers give a
coarse fish for sacking
(4) Wenther Rite, for producing an aged
fetect on Wood. | use before acting
pastels a get ferent ares of colouring
fn old, damp ar rotten timbers
(6) Lose ths Blackett chemical or
darkening most metas, butt does nat
work on aluminium or tamess eel
(6) Woodland Series Water Elects.
his for creating pales, and for
white water such as rapids and
water
(7) te-Coat produces an excetient
smooth, sippenylooting surface
on frozen water, and is algo useful
when making icles. (1) Woodland Scenics static gras lock
comes in a large container with a
doublesided tip-top lid 50 you can
se one side for scattering ang one to
ust pour it out.
(2) One of the jos of eaves avaiable
from the Nech company; they make
several diferent colours, and
Gagemaster ate the UK importers
(8) Green Scene’ Flexi Bark, which
rakes 2 textured fish fr your tees.
has several other uses as wel, making it
| goed addlton to your grounswork
_aemoury: ts supplied by 4D Mele,
(4) One ofthe many other shades of
static gre avaiable
diorama to cover with a saic geass
or other seater material sing this
ahve will ensure thar geen i he
only colour that will show through.
like she ewo Woodland Scenes
adhesives, however, this one does
ot dey matt, 0 you need to be
sare itis well oveed
De Luxe are a company who
specialize in adhesives, and chee
range of products can be obtained
an the UK from Gaugemaster
Contes. (They also make a very
good ruseeffect product elled
‘Real Rust’)
‘There ae occasions when you
say need to use a eyanozerylate
lve (superglue), but hopefly this
wil be the exceprion cathe dha the
rule, I the cae shoul vise i will
help the adhesion if you dampen
‘one of the surfaces to be joined
before applying glue to the othe.
For sticking foliage in place on
tees Tuse an aerosol ean of photo
mount adhesive. Some of my
fiends use 3 can of unperfumed
hhacspeay for this job (avoid a
perfumed one, or you'll get some
funy looks when you enter your
‘model in 3 competition).
Grounocover
There ate far r90 many eypes and
supplies of groundcover fr me ro
Use ther ll hee. ‘The bes hing to
do isto get hold of the catalogues
that ae available from veel all
che compies tha isin the final
‘Soures’ chapter and make your
own choice. wll mention, however,
2 couple of those suppliers whose
products Ihave found eo be most,
useful for groundsoves
Gaugemastr Comal ple
This company markets a large
range of model allway equipment
and accessories, but they also sell a
range of their own grass mattings
n
and some groundcovers. They are
also main agenes for Nok ho
market a wide range of scenic
materials including excellent
individual leaf scatter; and for Faller
and Prose, these last ewo probably
being of most interest co modellers
in che smaller scales, since tele
lines ate produced for the model
railway cachusiast.
Weadloed Sais (USA)
“Two forms of “netane water are
available fom this company. The
fist is Realisie Wace, for
cxcating sill ponds, puddles and
savall seams, Teis a one-pare resin
sequiing no mixing, and ean be
added steaghe tothe model. The
second is'‘Water Eee for
raking more earbulene effects such
as rapids, watefills or ripples on che surface of deeper waters
soothpicks or a toothbrush can
bbe used to shape these.
Woodland Scenics also make
polyfibre wadding, whichis very
useful for making the basic shapes
cof bushes or foliage for t2ees, £0
Which you can then add your own
choice of seater co represent che
leaves, Teased out, it ean also be
used for geound-rovering vines
or slender toot
A wide cange of static grasses,
in a variety of seasonal colours,
ace available from this company.
‘They also sell a varity off
differently excured foliage,
made feom ground-up foam
rubber. The textures ange from
very fine © very coarse, and can
be used for a multitude of
dlfferenreypes of foliage and
_groundeover.
AD Model Stop
This fern supply a cange of scenic
taterials unde the name of ‘Green
Scene! These include ‘Flexi-Bark’
an excellent compound for
adding texture to your tree erunks;
pre-colouted leaves by the ‘Little
Leaf Company's ee kits, and
several other products. They also
carry a very laege cange of plastic
sheet, rod and eubing, plus a whole
host of other modelling products.
They are a most helpful company
to deal with, and T ecommend thae
you get hold of their catalogue.
Apa from these specific
suppliers. dont forge that grass
matting is available from almost
any model railway shop, 35 well
as some of the more general
modelling outlets. Ths is good
for use as any wellemown grass
area, eg, lawns oF aieields
(1) Algo avaiable trom 40 Modes, this
pre-oloured Green Flock dese
helps wien applying green seater to
2 light-coloured baseboard,
(2) Woodland Scenics Scenic Gs is
2 white, PYAIype adhesive at dies
completely matt
(2) Ther Scenic Cements aliquid
sahesive which you can apply using
tthe a spray-botle or brash,
(4) Zip-Kecker accelerant for use with
supergive
(5) don't use supergue neary as
rh as the other products hee, but
ere are tmes when i i sel to
have some a hand.
While on the subject of
sgroundeover and leaves, Ilka use
2 number of natural herbs: ats of
dried pole, chyme, ce. make
wondseful scares for fones scenes
= sce the photogtiph on page 15.
Take a look next tims youre io
your local deli or supermarket
Too.s
The armouey of tools needed to
zeae groundwork can be a8 simple
or a compuchensive 38 you wish co
make it. Obviously over the years I
have collecced a number of items
that make lif eases bue are noe
absolutely essential; you may find
cone oF (vo of my suggestions cost
rather more than you'e prepated 9
pay, oF you might just think chem
tunnecessary, but noe investing in
hem will no stop you from
eating liste proundwork
Probably che mose base items
will be a jug for water and a bowl
co mix materials such as Clyeeete
snd plaster, le mks life caer sf
yu can get a flexible bowl; the one ose is rubber, but if you can get
faily soft plastic one this will do
yost ae well, Having such a bow!
sakes the chore of cleaning
ded
you use flex the sides afew cies,
and most of i deops ou.
Thave a couple of cheap plastic
spatlss for mixing, but I also have
wo vry flexible steel arcs’ plete
knives. These come in handy when I
have to apply rally smooth laes,
such asthe undeelay for snow ~ the
blades can be flexed toe almose
residue much quicker —
perfectly fla eo the surface of ehe
plaster: They ae also handy when
laying plaster oF Clayerete over
uneven areas, since they conform
more closely than a stiff spatula
to the contours of the model
[Any beushes you use for applying
achesveo¢ plaster should obviously
ie the cheapest you can get since
theyll be no good for anything
clse once you've used them,
T mentioned above that you ean
spray Seenic Cement on toa model
(1) Timberline Scenery inthe USA
supply several uel groundcover
materials and scatters. This one is
intended for use when making a
forest floor, and comes complete with
Pieces of dead wood mixed in
{@) Siler isa German company wa
have a wide ange of ceric materi. At
the moment I can get thes ram Seenic
Express in the USA! have nor yet found
4 Uimportr This particular materia i
1 mat of beech te leaves that you can
stretch out ove the frsmeork of your
‘ree. They make seve other types of
{tee cover, all using the same principal
of ste mat.
However there wil be times when
yous wane ro secure, say, yee of
Tea sete, andl an ordinary spey
bore would probably blow them
off eather than secaing thes In
these eases use 2 wsfil ile item
called Ancy’s Spray Bote’, whi
comes from Fibrecraft Led. This is
a efile plat Boel tha works
like an aerosol; once you've filled it
you use a pump ~ which is supplied
~ to pressurize the botle, and then
just press the nozzle likes serosal
‘The resultant spray is much finer
‘han an ordinary spray bel: done
hold the bore eoo nese the model,
and you can jse mise the surface
ith Scenie Cenene withoue ending
up with paddles of adhesive lying
around. As well 3s 2 pump, the
bortle comes wich a spate nozzle
One thing I should add: when you
have finished spraying the adhesive
you should release che pressure by
‘unserewing the cap slighely then
cake our the nozzle and tube and
pour the remaining adhesive back
into ies container, Fill the spray
with warm wares eeplace the spray
cube, pressurize it, and blow the
clean water through che nozzle co
clear out any residue. IF you dont,
youll find thatthe whole thing has
seized up next time you want to
do have one or two tools
which, while nor strictly necessary
additions to your arsenal, do come
in very handy when working with
the polystyrene blocks. The fst is 1
Powder dies wthin 30 minutes and
very strong; when st, ie much
work with than the softer
hard Faber Ceramic Casing
plasters,
(@) Woaaland Scenics Lightweight
Hydrocal plaster i sel for making
up large aces of groundwork, since
it doesnt weigh as much asa
standard plaster when dry Forgetting
to allow forthe weight your
baseboard wit eventual have 10
bear can lead to miiatre tragedies
‘when you move the fishes model
(3) don't use this inen these ays,
but Poli perfectly OX if nthe
ofthe above plasters is avaliable
4) Aol of plaster bandage can
be fun in almost any goos
‘adel shop; this one som Peco,
‘and anather weltknown brandis
Mod. Roc.
‘hot knife’ ~ an electrically heated to seal off the cur edge rather like getting into your lungs). Obviously
blade. This cuts through the cauterizing a cut this means that dhis «tool that should only bs
polystyrene much more easily chan you dont ger thousands of finle used by an adult; the blade gets hoc
cordinary blade, and also tends beads of poly flying atound (and enough co cause serious burns
The groundeover trom the Noch
company is fie rough gras,
69, for meadows, which has small
pieces of materl mixed infor ever
(@) Ts s deer nak, when can be
bought rom shops tat supply angers
thay vie it toe fishing ths, b
fd tel for ees and long grates
Ie comas as a small ectangle of cued
eersuin with the har attache,
and you jst eut
4 the length that
you need,
tis available in about thee diferent
colours the one shown here; a ¥en)
dark, almost back-gren; and one
that sbleached almost white
(3) This isa piece of the fan coral that |
used in the
is the Fores cama. |
bought it years ago at a boot fai, and |
use bis of teach time | need to make
serall oots- sparingly since I dont
oo when | il find any mare A selection ofthe grounct.up food
products that | se most often for
forest liter or the detritus you see
under hedges. They areal sighty