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Sunday 29 August 2010

Why flock?

Since my blog entry about how to modify Heroscape™ hexed terrain, I have had an email that asked me why I bothered to flock the hexes after I had painted them. My answer was:

I DON'T KNOW WHY; I JUST DO, AND ALWAYS HAVE DONE.

So I thought about it ... and then I put some of the painted (but as yet unflocked) hexed terrain tiles together and voila! ...

... they don't look too bad unflocked. In fact, the process of creating painted and unflocked hexed terrain tiles would be a lot quicker than flocked ones, and the figures would stand up just as well – if not better – on the unflocked hexed terrain tiles ...

This is going to take a bit of thinking about ...

6 comments:

  1. Need I point out, sir, that limiting yourself to just paint also allows you to pick whatever color you want . . . you don't have to try to match flocking.


    -- Jeff

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  2. Bluebear Jeff,

    It is blindingly obvious once it is pointed out to you!

    Now where did I put my new paintbrushes?

    All the best,

    Bob

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  3. 2 questions come to mind:

    - Does the flocking make the hexes tougher? Will the paint scrape off or scratch more easily?

    - Which finish matches your troops best? My preference is to have the finish on the table match that of my bases as close as possible.

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  4. Ross Mac,

    In answer to your questions:

    1. The flock does not make the hexes tougher, and it wears off over time (and thus needs to be repaired, and the repairs are not invisible); the paint will also wear off, but can be repaired by over-painting where necessary.

    2. The painted surface will match most (but not all) of my current figure bases as I have tended to use Games Workshop Goblin Green to paint the bases of my most recent figures. Existing bases can easily be repainted to match the colour of the hexes.

    It is for these reasons that I have decided to experiment with just painting the next batch of hexed terrain tiles I add to my collection.

    All the best,

    Bob

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  5. Considering that you are pondering the previously imponderable, why do you keep the sides brown? Do you like that effect when you stack them to make hills?

    Also, have you considered using a green-brown wash over the inner hex portion? Or do you not like the "cracked" look?

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  6. Dale,

    My original tiles were painted with green sides. I tried the brown as an experiment, but when the hexes are stacked, the brown does not quite look right, and I will probably paint the next batch I do with green sides.

    I will leave the tops as they are for the moment, but this does not rule out painting them another colour or washing them in a different shade or colour at a latter stage.

    The cracked surface seems not to notice too much when the tops of the tiles are painted, and at least it ensures that they are not uniformly bare flat surfaces.

    All the best,

    Bob

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