McPherson ridge project (part 4: The Flock)

 where was I?  Oh yeah, singing the best song EVER..

"The ACW
known as the BEST CW,
go on and tell your crew.
That the ACW
is the best CW
for all your friends and you." 

Also, I was making terrain.  Part Three can be seen HERES

McPherson's Ridge Continued (part 4)

Though the pics won't really show it, there was some time and effort to get this part done.  I LOVE time and effort.  You don't need talent or skill as long as you got time and effort.  Yesiree as long as you got the time and put in the effort then everything is possible....

Though I've been low on time, so it's mostly been effort.  The children are in full summer mode now which means instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour because they have school early in the morning; now they stay up late every night because they can sleep in cutting into MY precious hobby time that only happens when everyone goes to bed.  I still gotta get up and go to work.  So it's been late nights for me, with Effort and Caffeine.  

Simple Painting

As we left off; the soon-to-be-hills have been sanded smooth and covered in ground texture.  Next step was simple and just painting them brown.  

Tadaa!
Brown. 

I decided that since the whole surfaces were going to be covered in flock that I really didn't need to dry brush the tops.  

I did give the sides of the railway cut a dry brush of grey.
To give it that 'cut through the earth' look.
Looks alright.  Not great, but alright.

Next step: Time to rock out with your flock out.

Flock It

There's not much to say about flocking, as I think most people know how to do it.  There are a ton of online videos about flocking.  How to get good at flocking, how to get a good flock, sometimes you watch flocking videos so you can flock yourself at home.  There are magazines and books on flocking with lots of close up pictures.  Yes, these are double entendres.  I know what I am doing.  

But just in case your a flocking virgin, here is a basic outline of the process:  

My flocking bucket.

First you create a Master Mix of the materials that will make up the base color.  And then there is the important step of writing that down somewhere.  I like a little mix of static grass and flock.    I shall record my master mix  now for all posterity (and to help me remember for later in life):

2 parts Summer green lawn, 1 part dark green lawn, 1part 2mm bright green static grass.  

Second: Cover the hill with watered down PVS / White glue.

Third: Put your master mix into the glue: 

You can buy a tool to do it,
But I like to shift the flock through my fingers over the glue,
and feel the fibers fall away while I think of moments of time from my youth
now long gone.

Where was I?  Oh, wasted youth.  I mean flocking! 

That's basically it.  Let dry and shake off the excess somewhere you can make a mess.  It's really easy. Relax.  Some men have trouble getting started in flocking because they have a lot of anxiety about the flocking being good.   

Repeat this process many nights in a row.  

All the elevations flocked.
Standing together by the fire place like a family picture on a Christmas card.  
I added a yard stick (36" long) to get a sense of scale.

Moment of Truth

I made my wargame mat YEARS ago and didn't write down what flock mix I used.  So I was anxious to get my newly flocked hills on it and see how well they all matched up.  I don't need exact, but hoped for not a startling difference in shades like super strong tan lines.  

Some parents have their children clean up their toys to teach them about personal responsibility and cleanliness.  I made my kids clean up their toys just so I could roll out my game mat and take these pictures late at night.  I am Father of the Month.

Pretty good actually.

yes I see that smear on the bottom left hill.
That's where I dropped a tub of dark flock on wet glue and forgot about it till now.
I'll fix that later. or just cover it up with a field or something.

Dare we do one more picture? as bare hills are super exciting.

It won't stay bare: there will be a river and houses and fields and fences all over it.

I think this was the hardest part, as the elevations are the biggest features and the foundation for the rest of the terrain.  Overall I think they came out fairly well.  

A Date to the Ball

I decided to attend Pacificon in September over the Labor Day weekend.  It's in the Bay Area (about 2.5 hours away) so I would travel and stay the night in a hotel for the weekend.  Something I haven't done in years and years being cheap and a homebody.  But this battlefield build is shaping up well and could be fun to bring.  

That gives me a deadline of September to finish it the battlefield.  Which should provide motivation to keep at it.  Ideally, I would like to finish it all this month of July and be able to play a game on it next month at the comfort of my own home before taking it out on the road.  

The plan also nicely coincides with the SCENARY CHALLENGE being sponsored by Dave Stone at the Wargames Terrain Workshop.  

Wasn't it?

That was a fun bit about flocking hills wasn't it?  Yes it was.  But no need to over do it.  The whole thing is not that impressive..... YET.

Thanks for reading.

Double Thanks for writing a comment.

Till Next time.