Tutorial - Streams

Tutorial - Streams

 

Not just any stream, but ones to hinder or block movement for my 6mm soldiers.

I could have used my shingle rivers but they are pretty thick for my 6mm armies. When I make my shingle rivers, as a byproduct I make a huge mess, and they are heavy to transport.

Stuff I used:
Plastic sign (a sheet of very thin Plastic card)
Acrylic Caulking (Sandal wood)
PVA glue
Sand (the sand I have is crushed coral or maybe seashells, it a very light beige colour)
Green Acrylic Paint
Blue Acrylic Paint
Light green Acrylic paint
Yellow Acrylic paint.
Brown Acrylic paint
Pledge with Future shine  (acrylic floor finish)

(Don't use your good paints, instead use craft paints from a dollar store or Walmart)

Tools needed
Scissors
Caulking gun
Craft Knife
Pencil
Ruler
Paint brushes
Latex gloves (not needed, but makes cleaning your hands after you are done unnecessary)

This is the type of sign I used $0.99 each. Its dimensions are 9 inches by 12 inches

For straight sections I mark the sign into strips 1 1/8" wide and 12" long. Cut the strips out making the long edges slightly wavy, just so they aren't straight as a ruler, and round the corners.

Apply a bead of caulk down the centre of a strip with the caulking gun, then using your finger spread it so it covers the entire surface of your strip you can also add ripples and flow patterns to the water surface if you are wearing a glove.  Repeat for every section or stream you are making.

Let the caulking dry for 2-3 hours then get out your green and blue paints and mix some to get a bluish green colour, since rivers are not actually blue. Paint your caulking the colour you just made. Then using a the light green paint dry brush the outside edges where the banks of the stream will be. so it is a it slightly lighter shade than the middle of the stream.

Get your pledge floor finish and a brush and paint it onto your streams. This stuff will make your streams shiny and will seal the caulking so it won't stick to your other streams. When dry do it again.

Run a bead of PVA along each river bank and cover the glue with sand or flock. cover each river as you go, if you don't and you are doing a lot of them the glue may have skinned over.

When the glue is dry mix your green paint with some pledge floor care finish in a rough one part paint to 2-3 parts pledge to make a thin green. Paint this onto your river banks. I find pledge is great for sealing sand, it has the consistency of water and flows like water but will not reactivate your white glue like diluted white glue can.

Lightly dry brush your banks with a yellow or a light green paint. With a fine tip brush paint a dark brown line touching the river bank.

They are done.

Made all these from 1 sign

  After the first time using using them, I found out I need something on the bottom to prevent them easily sliding, and should also tape them together.