Chicago Skirmish Wargames

Our friends over at Hyacinth Games are running a big motocross event at Adepticon, featuring some motorcycles from their 28mm post-collapse vehicle Kickstarter. They asked me to help them prepare for the even by making some start and finish lines.

I started with some fiberboard bases. I cut the poles out of hollow plasticard tubes, and mounted them on nails hammered through the bases for strength. I also used clippers to damage the tops of the poles.

Since I wanted to end up with a nice asphalt-like surface, I spread a thin layer of fireplace grout on the base. I added some rocks, sand, and kitty litter for additional texture. The grout was enough of an adhesive to secure the other materials.

Next, I used the airbrush to lay a coat of primer.

I decided to do a more generic style start and finish marker so they could be repurposed in other scenarios. I created a design in photoshop, and used my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine to cut them out. I scored each cut diamond along the center, and folded them neatly in half.

I laid some base colors down. I used a nice dirt brown for the dirt, grey and tan for rocks, and a tan drybrush on the asphalt. The poles got a coat of Vallejo Oily Metal.

I decided the roads were too plain, so I used a dull hobby knife to scratch up the surface a bit.

Additional layers of drybrushing, and washes were applied. I also stippled various shades of rust on the poles.

Once the paint was dry, I ran a thin wire across each pole pair. I hung some flags to plan out color order and spacing. I also did a layer of matte varnish

I added flock, flowers, and leaves. I also made some oil spills using a mixture of Secret Weapon water effects, black wash, and a few drops of blue-green color change paint to help give it an oily sheen.

I hung the flags. This was accomplished with a careful application of brush on super glue.

The last step was to weather the flags. I used a very thin layer of Secret Weapon Armor Wash. I had originally planned to cut them up a bit, but I decided to leave them whole. I decided it wasn't crazy to think that a reel of these flags were left gathering dust in the corner of an old garage somewhere.

Here is a detail of the weathered flags.

This close up of an oil spill really doesn't do the color change effect justice, unfortunately.

Someone must have run off in a hurry, and left a valuable bottle of clean water.

This detail shows the damage at the top of the pole. You can also see a bit of the sand and superglue mixture I used to strengthen the poles.

This detail shows some rubble and dirt, and vegetation near one of the poles.

This was a really fun project, and I am pleased with how it turned out. I can't wait to see them on the board next week at Adepticon. There are a number of seats still available for the event, so come by and check it out!

And if you are in to post apocalyptic gaming, please check out their kickstarter. They have some really cool vehicles and terrain available!