More work desert terrain

For my western desert terrain I have used felt to show the edges of depressions or wadis. The cut felt was coloured with paint and marker pens. I like felt as it adheres to the battle mat quite well and does not slip around during play. However, I had a feeling I could improve the look by added some model train ballast.

The original felt used to show depressions

The first step was to put on a line of PVA glue and sprinkle on model train ballast. Once dry a light dry brush of sand colour is applied. Before covering them with a brown wash made of 1 part PVA glue to 4 parts water and a small amount of brown acrylic paint. This wash helps seal the top-side of the felt while the under-side remains untouched and still holds well to the game mat.

A lie of PVA glue is applied and train ballast is sprinkled over

The end result makes the edge of the wadi or depression more rugged. The felt still retains a good level of flexibility at the end of this process.

The final result on the tabletop

The same approach was applied to create some trenches to show units in improved positions.

Units in improved positions