I went the route that Architectsofwar.com and http://www.6mmacw.com/forests.html have by making a lift off canopy. I used thin, black craft foam for both the canopy and the forest floor.
Here it is taken with the flash to show the tree trunks:
I painted them grey and than added a dark brown wash. The flash shows the gaps in the canopy where this is no foliage. In normal lighting, these gaps are much less obvious.
Here is was it looks like with the canopy off:
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| Each square on cutting mat equals 1/4" |
The main challenge was trying to get the trunks to stand vertically. This proved to be a mixed success. I used craft sticks that I bought at a craft store, but I am seriously considering flat head nails that would have solved the vertical trunk issue. I probably could have stuck a lot more trunks on there. The two in the middle are to provide a little more support.
Both methods in the links above used a hot glue gun to attach the clump foliage, which I did, which predictably was a mess (unless you are trying to recreate the spiders' lair in Mirkwood). Clump foliage is kind of expensive, but I used up only about maybe a fifth of a bag, if that, for this 6 1/2" by 3 1/4" forest. I probably won't make any more that are much larger than this one.
I am a lot happier with these than the hex-based forests that I presented in a previous post. Now to get cracking on that second bridge as I inch closer to having enough terrain for a battle.
