the terrain board ... begins!

so, as predicted the first project to be blogged is a terrain board

For those Australians among you who don't yet know, Bunnings now sells foam.
Maybe I should phrase it in a different way ... BUNNINGS NOW SELLS FOAM WOOOHOOOO, HAVE A PARTY LETS ALL CELEBRATE (man in white coat administers anesthetics, carries crazy loon away)
Here's a pic

Much dancing later I got to work cutting these boards of wonder into usable squares. A word of warning, the sheets are NOT 1200 x 600 mm, there is obviously some shrinking in the sheet as it is manufactured, it is about 4mm smaller in each direction.

I have had a plan for a normandy board hanging around for a while, concieved in the midst of a set of exams, I have decided to use the foam to build it.

Now, my plan involved a couple of hills, and my wallet said that I was only able to buy enough foam for a base layer. Luckily, as shown below, the foam was quite deep (despite advertising, and having a slot for, 30mm thickness sheets, I was only able to get 50mm sheets. This is way deeper than you need...

Instead I decided to cut off a layer about 20mm from the top, the hills being the bits not sawn off:

Here you can also see my preprepared hill gradient, this is to ensure the board mach up when I stick them together.

And here, the first board taking shape: 

I then proceded to stab myself, and decided to call it a day, will post more progress later.

The Obligatory Hello Message...

So ... hi
First Post! I'm sure they'll get a lot better in the future, once I get the hang of this.

I started wargaming a while ago, and am planning to continue much longer... The games I currently play are:

• Battlegroup Kursk/Overlord/Fall of the Reich e.c.t
• SAGA
• Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game
• Canvas Eagles

It's a short list, but maybe it will grow in the future.
To be honest the games I have played so far have only been because my high school wargaming club has played them.
Anyway, gaming aside, my painting is pretty average and my miniature collection less than enviable, as I am sure will soon become apparent.
My real passion is for terrain, the designing (most of my projects end here), building, and playing over landscapes that just look a bit more realistic than the average "grassy plain"

In the past I have comleted a number of projects, pictures will come later for your viewing pleasure, including a very ambitious attempt to model the terrain between the black gate and mout doom in mordor. Alas, foamboard basing and excessive use of plaster lead to it's being claimed by the banana king and his sidekick chippy.
More recently I have done a couple of boards based on orienteering maps. The most successful of these was one based on a mountain in New Zealand ( I'll find the name of it later).

Anyway, the first thing I'm going to do now is a modular terrain board involving bocage and perspex. I reckon I'll also go through what I have found has worked for me with terrain in the past as I go through, for any projects you may have in the future.