Making Hills

Above; a small class of three members (& one guardian) took part in our Oct'00 "Hill Making" class. Within 3 hours they had proudly completed a nice cache of hills and ridges ready for use (right).
Keg Ingredients [A] Flock - we used Woodland Scenic "Blended Turf" which is available in about four shades from a local Model Railway shop. Its a soft type of flock, not made from wood chips or fibres. About $13 per pack. [B] Glue - this is standard PVA wood or craft glue, alot cheaper when purchased in larger quantities. 4 litres about $20. [C] Foam - purchased from local packaging companies. We use high density polystyrene foam (display grade) available in 8'x 4' sheets ($36 ea) cut to size. This type of foam is recommended as it accepts a lot more damage than your cheaper more readily available packing foam. (prices quoted here are $Australian.)
Start with your sheet of foam and sharp long bladed knife. When cutting, always cut away from hands and body.	Cut out a rough outline. If you can slope the blade when cutting (as above), it will make the next step easier when shaping the slopes.
Whittle down the sides to form the slopes. Remember, slopes should be angled such that your figures will stand up on them.	This part requires some skill, practice and creativity. The quality of your hill will depend on how much effort you into carving it. Irregular shapes will look will best. Try to remove any sharp or odd angles.
Undercoat your hill, use an acrylic paint. Best colours are green or brown. Oil based paints will eat into the foam so avoid them. Note; the hill is kept off the table surface by sticking pins into the underside. Wait till paint is try before next step.	Liberally brush the PVA glue onto the top surface (it dries "clear"). Apply thickly, but not too thick that the glue will run Do not dilute the glue with water.
To give some variation in colour (not all hills are plain green!), sprinkle other colours of flock on first by hand. You can use other alternatives such as sand, gypsum .... etc. Use lightly.	Now spread all your base coloured flock evenly across the hill, don't be afraid to pile it all on. Pat down using your hands to ensure its packed firmly into the glue. Take particular care to get the edges.
Handling it carefully, shake off as much flock as practical, any excess can be removed later when the hill has dried off.	When glue is completely dry, use a dry brush to remove and recycle any excess flock. You now have a finished "hill" ready for battle!
You can further add to your hills by detailing them with rocks and scrubs. Here we have glued simple gravel stones and a coarse grade of flock with PVA glue.	If your curious as to how we got all these hills dry within 3 hours, this was our trick. We set up a simple drying tent using an old bed sheet and an electric heater. Hills were placed in there for about 20 min each after both painting and gluing.