I was building up my supply of terrain sand when I sifted out some small gravel. The gravel seems a bit big to use on bases but they would be perfect for rock wall terrain pieces for W40K games. The idea is not original as I'm sure there are others whom have made rock walls for their terrains. I didn't have any barricades and decided to go for a couple of modular rock walls. I could line them up end to end and make a fairly long wall or arrange them at 90 degree angles and however I need them. So here is the tutorial showing the steps for you to make your own rock walls.
You will need:
- 2 rectangular bases approximately 15cm long by 3cm wide (I cut mine from a larger thin sheet of MDF board about 3mm thickness, available from your local hardware/timber supply store)
- About a couple of handfuls of gravel - about 5mm pieces, flatter ones work best. Don't choose round gravel but opt for chipped off pieces such as from slate.
- PVA glue
- Super Glue
- Terrain sand
- Some flock or modelling grass
- Scrap cardboard - enough to cut 2 continuous pieces of just under 15cm long by 2.5cm wide
- Various tools (pincers, paint brushes, etc)
- Games Workshop paints (or your choice of acrylics):
Chaos Black (basecoat)
Calthan Brown
Adeptus Battlegrey
Snakebite Leather
Bleached Bone
Sunburst Yellow
Snot Green
Skull Whilte
Method:1. Cut your bases to size. You need 2 rectangular bases measuring 15cm long by 3cm wide. You can make 1 but it's not going to be very interesting. Make four or more if you intend to use the rock walls to form an enclosure such as a paddock.
2. With a pen or pencil, mark a center line lengthwise on the two bases. Then mark a 45 degree angle off each corner so that the rectangular bases has a sort of point at each end. Then cut each of the four corners of your rectangular bases at 45 degree angles. The reason for this is so you can put the bases against each other to form 90 degree angles (or L formation) to construct a corner of a rock wall when placing the terrain pieces.
3. Cut two pieces of cardboard to 15cm by 2.5 cm dimension. These will be used as the formwork structure for your wall. Optional: Cut two (or more) smaller pieces, approximately 1.5cm by 2.5cm for a supposed right angle corner of the wall.
4. Then put Super Glue along one of the long edge of the cardboard and stick it vertically onto the base. Do this for the other base as well.
5. Using the Super Glue, glue one of the smaller pieces of cardboard (1.5cm x 2.5cm) about 3cm along the base and between the long cardboard and the base, so that it is actually supporting the longer cardboard. What you'll have now is a couple of bases with a length of cardboard standing upright. Wait for the glue to dry before commencing the next step.
6. Apply PVA Glue to one side of the cardboard formwork.
7. Using similar technique as sticking terrain sand to bases, you will now put the gravel onto the cardboard (with the glue side). You should spread a fairly even layer of gravel. Make sure the gravel covers the entire surface of the cardboard in a jigsaw fashion so that no cardboard will show through.
8. Repeat the previous step until all surfaces of the cardboard formwork are covered with gravel. Allow time for the PVA glue to dry thoroughly before proceeding to cover the next surface. Apply patience while each surface layer of gravel dries.
9. You will notice that at this stage the edge of the wall still reveals the cardboard formwork. Here is were a bit of tedious work begins. Start by getting enough flat pieces of gravel to cover the edges. You can do this by lining them up on your desk, enough to cover the length of the wall.
10. With the flat gravel sorted, Squeeze PVA glue along a small length of the top wall edge - don't put glue all the way along or you'll have glue running down the walls. Using a pair of tweezers, put the gravel on the top edge on the glue to form the capping of the wall. Repeat this until the entire length is covered with gravel. Do this for the other wall.
11. When the glue is dry, repeat above with the vertical edges of the wall. Be careful not to apply too much or it will run down the edge. Apply enough so that you could 'attach' more flat gravel to the edge. Do this for all walls and leave to dry.
12. Apply PVA glue to the base/ground for the terrain sand. Cover the surface with a layer of the sand and then knock away excess. Leave to dry.
13. When the walls are completely dry, use a slightly thinned solution PVA glue and apply it only the entire rock wall. Leave to dry.
14. When you are sure that the rock walls are completely dry, you may commence painting.
15. Base coat the rock walls with Chaos Black spray from GW. When dry proceed to paint the walls. Here is my painting order (apply similar painting scheme to the ground/terrain sand):
- using Calthan Brown foundation paint, apply a generous coat over the wall surfaces;
- use Adeptus Battlegrey for initial rough highlighting of the wall - apply a generous layer but not covering over all prior Calthan Brown paintwork;
- drybrush a rough coating of Snakebite Leather to bring out the protruding edges of the gravel/rocks;
- final highlight of the topmost edges of the rock wall (and ground) by dry brushing a layer of Bleached Bone - remember less is more at this stage. Apply more on the top of the wall;
- for the moss effect on the walls, first dry brush a small number of areas with Sunburst Yellow, followed by a very sparing dry brushing of Snot Green;
- lastly, using Skull White, proceed to highlight the top edge of the walls and the edges of the rock wall. Paint sparingly.
16. When the paint has dried, apply a few spots/dabs of PVA glue to the ground/base of the rock walls. Sprinkle modelling grass over the dabs of PVA glue. Shake off any excess or take your rock wall outside the house and blow off excess. Leave to dry.
You should now have (at least) 2 rock walls to use on your tabletop and enjoy your game that little bit more.
These rockwalls are quite 'solid' for your games and slightly heavy, so they won't get bumped out of place on your terrain table.
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