Stream Terrain - my attempt

[Dekelia]

I needed some stream terrain and saw Rod's suggestion on this board to use felt with Modge Podge. I had never done that before so I decided to try it out and it really worked great. In the past I've built my streams out of plasticard but they end up curling and the stiffness has some issues. This worked much better, though it definitely took a bit longer because I used two coats of Modge Podge and it takes a while to dry on felt. I really like how it turned out though. I need to do another couple pieces - one more straight and a bend. There are definately a couple things I'll do different on the next ones that I learned from this. If people are interested, I'd be willing to take pictures as I go to show what I did. Thanks Rod for the great suggestion.

[Rod]

Looks great!

White glue/ Modge Podge and felt make great terrain.

[Gregorius]

Dekelia, I would be very interested in your technique for streams/rivers.

Cheers,

[Dekelia]

Here are photos and descriptions of how I built two more felt/mod podge rivers. I am new to this technique so for anyone with more experience that would like to point out improvements and different techniques and tips, I would be interested in learning.

I decided to make modular river sections of 16MU each for straight and ~8MU bends. Because the rivers are supposed to be between 1 and 2 MU wide, I decided to make the ends 1.5MU and used a cav base edge as a template. I cut mine out of regular felt I had. For my second two, I did a bend and a straight piece.

First I brushed Mod Podge heavily on the top. The first time, I poured it on thinking it would save time. I ended up with way to much. It still worked but took forever to dry and made more of a mess. In either case, this does take overnight to dry.



After an hour or two, I flipped them because the Mod Podge soaks through and the bottom has a hard time drying. Also, I really want the Mod Podge mostly on top, though it really fills the whole thing. I think I flipped them again after a couple hours before going to bed.



After it dries, you basically have a very stiff piece of felt. For my second set here, I tried to give the outside a slope by cutting at a hard edge with scissors, it cuts really well at this point. The first set had too hard of an edge. I think it helped a little.



I really want the top sealed, so I added another layer of Mod Podge and also at this point added the bank and a ford. The ford mostly gets lost in the texture of the stream so you could probably skip it here. For the bank and ford I used Woodland Scenic fine ballast but you could use any sand or whatever you like for texture.



After it dries I clean them up by removing the thin films of dried Mod Podge I don't want from the edges and I cut the end flat with scissors to make a clean edge. They are already probably good enough to play with. Even with the matte Mod Modge it has a nice sheen to it. The ballast is not held on super well but probably good enough. I decided I wanted to paint them so I continued.



I painted them completely in a dark brown paint I use as the undercoat for most of my terrain. I then dry brushed, just the bank and the ford, with Folk Art Barn Wood - it is an off white with a tiny bit of brown. For the river color, I used a blue line down the middel, green on either side, and brown on either side of that. I put them one quick and kinda wet and then blended them together. The important thing is to have the lightest color in the center. I didn't do any blue at the ford and used a lot of brown. After it was dry, I put on a thick coat of gloss glaze everywhere except the banks. I then sprinkled more ballast at the ford.









Completed river sections on the board

[Brummbär]

Thanks or the tutorial - always interesting to see how others build terrain!
Plus: I like the result

[Rod]

Looks great

[David Kuijt]

Those are nice, Kevin. I might use your technique to make some for me.

[Gregorius]

That's a great technique. I'm going ahead and tarting up my basic blue felt streams/rivers.

Cheers,

[markleslie4]

Ticks all the boxes for me.

Cheap, small number of steps and, most importantly, a pleasing result!