McPherson's ridge part 6 (The Seminary and The Stream)

Yes the ACW,

is the best CW

come on now and get a clue,

that the ACW

is the best CW

before we bid these posts Adieu.

Even More McPherson's Ridge

Even closer to the end now.  Then all shall be revealed in a upcoming glorious post.  Soon,

Very soon.  Which is the very same thing that I tell my spouse when she asks about lingering home projects.  

But for now, here are the last 2 required pieces for the battlefield.  

previous post can be seen HERE

Required Seminary

The first time I typed Semenary instead of Seminary.  I'm Hilarious, even when not trying to be.  And sophisticated humor as always.  

On Seminary Ridge sits the (now famous landmark) Lutheran Seminary.  It's a building that everyone recognizes and just screams out "GETTYSBURG, Gettysburg battle here!" 

I've had this huge hunk of resin sitting on my desk and on my to-do list for a long time now.  I got it from Noble Knights Games but I don't know who manufactures it.  

front view

I should of tackled it back when I wasn't on a time crunch, because it took forever to finish.  Why?  because of the damn windows.  Why are there so many windows?  Shouldn't people be studying instead of looking out at the world?  My office doesn't even have a window.  There are 73 windows on this building which is about 71 too many in my opinion. My own house only has 8 and one of those is broken.  

Rear view

Side

Preview of how it will sit on the battlefield.
Miniatures are 15/18mm.

Imagine how cool this would look
If I had a fancy backdrop like a real blogger would...

I'm liking the way it came out in the end and it's a pretty cool resin building.  I had no issues in painting it or flocking the giant base it came on.  unlike the next item...

River of Woe

The McPherson ridge battlefield has a steam that runs through it. I wanted to upgrade the streams / rivers that I use for my ACW (the best CW) games.  Previously, I just laid out some clear acetate that was painted blue on the bottom. 

Like so.
Stream made of plastic.
From some previous game of Barlow's Knoll.

It's alright, it's versatile, but I think I can do I better.  I can tryout an upgrade and if it doesn't work I can come running back to this previous method.  Like in some stupid movie where the guy dumps his girlfriend to get someone hotter, only to be shot down and come crawling back.  I'm sure you know what movie I am talking about.  It's called "Stew's stupid mistakes from long ago."

I was keen to try out a method that I saw online from Little Wars TV,  used in their ACW (the best CW) games.  It's only a 4 minute video, and pretty simple so I think even an idiot like me couldn't screw it up...

Mistakes were made.

On a weekend when the wife and daughter were away at camp, and I was home alone with the boys; I started that night. 

It was an EPIC boy's weekend by the way.  We went out drinking (juice boxes at the park).  We stayed up super late (watching dinosaur movies).  We went out to where all the women are at (which is Target, and they have their own kids).  And at night I laid myself some caulk.  So it was just like being in my 20s again.  

First mistake was that I forgot how to use a caulking a gun and made a big mess.  After some internet research I learned that I forgot to puncture the seal in the caulking tube.  

Don't laugh at me.  I've never been very handy.  Which is why I have all those lingering house projects that I'm always saying that I'll get to...

Finally, on some wax paper, I laid out the shape of the steam with some caulk that dries clear (as seen above),.  I wanted one long river piece.  

Second mistake: I left that out to dry overnight thinking that I would just get up before the boys and clean it up.  The next morning it was NOT dry.  And while I was standing sipping my coffee grumbling, I heard the boys behind me. Telling them not to touch it, we went about our business.

And naturally while I was in the bathroom the 2 year old, who could not resist the temptation of a table being in the middle of the room, climbed up tore the whole thing down......

So now I have 2 river pieces....

I took the caulk and laid it out in the sun, thinking that some hot weather would dry the stuff since it's a hundred degrees outside 

                                                      every

                                                             single

                                                                    day.  

It was a chance for that hellscape known as outside to work for me for once.

The next steps as shown in terrain video are that you peel the clear caulk off the wax paper and paint the underside.  For the life of me, I could not get the caulk to come off the wax paper, it was all fused together.  I blame the sun.  

FINE.  I'll adapt the process.  

Leaving the caulk on the wax paper, I trimmed it down to about an inch wide.  I then painted the top of it blue and then glued the strips down to some brown felt. let that dry overnight.

I know there are more realistic water colors than blue but I like my water blue.  Blue like open skies, my lover's eyes, like the feeling I get when I think of you.

Next, using a hot glue gun because I thought it would stick to felt better, I stuck a bunch of clump foliage along the edge, and then trimmed the felt back. Starting to look more like a stream now.  

Lastly, I gave the parts that are supposed to be wet a liberal coating of Mod Podge to make a glossy covering.

The end result.

With some troops next to it.

Overall, I'm 75% satisfied with it.  There are things I would do differently in the future if I were ever do this again.   Seems like a lot of work for just a modest upgrade in appearance. 

Maybe it'll look better on the table and surrounded by other terrain to help set the scene and I'll like it more.  Right now it kinda looks like a homemade art project.  Which of course it is.  

in the future I might just purchase some rivers.  But I also want the ability to have rivers in the size and shape that I want.

Done Enough

Now that I have everything for the battlefield that is required, it's time to set it all up and see if I have done enough.  Which will be next time.  This post has already done enough as well.

The finale of the project can be seen HERE

Thanks for reading.

Double thanks for any comments.

Till Next time.