Rock Column and Jungle Warzone
(Intelli Gaming: Article)
The world is vast and nature offers a plentiful source of inspiration when creativity is your goal. The elements and modules of scenery that I build do not have to be used in war zones exclusively. For instance, they can be used for miniature train scenery or small scale architectural models.
The way I use it is for tabletop war gaming. I have covered those subjects in detail in all my recent articles. More is coming!
As for the real world that surrounds my tabletop, well, there is real war and war zones. We would be mistaken to assume that war currently rages only in Ukraine. Here is a list of many of the current military exercises, drills, training, wars, conflicts going on at least for the last two weeks!
Ukraine war zone: Ukraine, DPR, LPR, Russia, NATO + exercises in Baltics
Syria war zone: Syria, Russia, USA, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Kurds
Yemen war zone: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, USA, Iran
Nearly all of Africa has armed conflicts with USA, Russia and European involvement (Mali, Ethiopia, Chad, DR.Congo, Niger, Nigeria, Lybia, Sudan, Algeria, Burkina Faso)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
I am leaving aside protests and abrupt change of governments; They are worldwide, mostly protests.
NATO's Defender Europe 2022, Exercise Swift Response 2022, Hedgehog 2022, Steadfast Cobalt 2022, Ramstein Legacy 2022 (1)
South-Korea, USA drills near Okinawa with aircraft carrier (2)
China tests stealth drone sea carrier, trains combined drones and cadets, Canada and Australia fly reconnaissance and spying missions (3) All participate in exercises.
The list is not exhaustive... it just gives a glimpse. There is such an incredible military push worldwide right now, it's scary.
But enough about real war for now. This article focuses on the creative, the imaginative, the fictitious and artistic. First on a Rock column and then on Jungle scenery.
Rock Column
The rock column bears similarities with the Column of Skulls presented recently. However this one has no skull or chaos demon insignia on it. It is just rocks, put together this way by nature or by magic, as you decide.
I built that piece with all others that I have and I did around 1993/1994. The artistry here is how to shape the rocks. I used a kitchen knife and some polystyrene foam board. The pieces were glued together, put on a suitable base and painted grey.
Reminiscent of monoliths, the rock column offers cover for infantry and adds dynamism to any scenery.
After gluing the polystyrene pieces together and painting the base coat, I dry brushed the rocks to make the vertices come out with more light. I then applied some glue on various parts and sprinkled some grass flock, of two types, over the rocks.
I really like the looks of rocks cut like this, with sharp angles. I also made at least another rock column like this one and I shall display it in the future. For now, I want to turn to the jungle to explore another creation of mine. But first, on to the Sponsors!
Jungle Scenery
Jungles are chaotic environments; Ideally, I would like to have vegetation of all kind growing thick. However, this is difficult to realise with only the usual cheap items. When I realised this pieces, I did not have Internet and online ordering was not a thing back then. So I did as best as I could with what I had. The result is acceptable at best, I think. It requires more work is what I am trying to say. You be the judge!
Possibly the leaves should be cut into separate blades. Also, additional foliage should be added, both on the tree and on the ground. More detail could be painted on the tree leaves to give them a more realistic appearance.
I have included below the images showing how I built this jungle scenery. I have two pieces and one of them is unfinished:
The tree has a structure built with thick wire. Metallic coat hangers are a bit thick and stiff for this but it is still possible to use those. Otherwise, I have used metallic paper clips to do the job. Around the tree, I mould some papier-mâché (using paper with glue and water). I wrap those around the trunk to give it structure.
For the foliage, I will use some more painted paper, arranged like leaves. The rock is the usual polystyrene foam cut as I want and finally, I applied a good coat of plaster on the base to create a more interesting surface, reminiscent of a jungle. Here is a zoom-in which shows more texture:
The final steps, as illustrated above, are to paint everything, add leaves and other small vegetation and then to sprinkle some grass flock which is glued to the ground.
The grass flock that I have used is known as "burnt autumn". I like it's warm colour and I try to consistently use it to keep the pieces uniform together.
Coming Up Next
The next articles will be displaying additional pieces of scenery as I continue to share those in my blog. Subscribe now so you don't miss out future content. Much more is coming! Thanks for your time.
