Fallen Tree Terrain Tutorial

Having become very favorable to caulking as one of my newest favorite terrain-making material, I set out on an experimental piece.  I've seen some nice pre-fabbed over-sized fallen trees available and I wanted to see if I could make one myself- I was very happy with the results

The materials I used were as follows:
-Caulking(White DAP brand)
-Tin Foil
-Matting Board(for base)

-Sand/Kitty Litter(for earth texture)

1.I began by cutting out my base and then ripping off a 10" or so long piece of good old tin foil.  I scrunched it into the basic cylindrical shape of my fallen tree. 
2.I coated the foil roughly with caulking using a caulking gun.  Using a butter knife, I assured a smooth and complete coating of the tin foil form.
3.Using a toothpick, I engraved lines into the tree running the length of the piece to simulate a bark texture.  I also crafted some small knotholes.
4.I let the caulking dry, then based the piece with sand/kitty litter mix.  I added some small aquarium stones.  After painting I flocked the edges with static grass and added some small foliage.

The pic above gives a sense of scale.  I wanted the piece to represent and impressively large fallen tree that would provide cover to a nice-sized unit on the battlefield(although with the above method you could make trees or stumps of just about any size).  I am sure I will refine the technique but I like my initial results- especially for such a simple process.

For a complete video tutorial on this piece click on the links below...

Brrrr! Frozen Pond Terrain

I recently put together a frozen pond for my winter gaming terrain(scroll to bottom for video).

 It was a real "throw together" project that I did on a whim, but I really like the result.  Construction was very easy...
-base was made from thick "For Sale" sign
-ridge around pond was made from plain white DAP caulking
(pebbles/field grass embedded within)
-ice effect was done using Envirotex

 I didn't need to paint the caulking(white will do for snow of course) but for the pond I...
-gave the whole thing a thick basecoat of white paint
-watered down some slate blue and worked it into the still wet white paint in a swirling pattern
(not photorealistic, but I wanted a "wargamey" piece with a hint of blue)
-sealed with Envirotex
You can't really tell from the photos but the Envirotex gives it a fitting, icey sheen.

Best of all, because we're talking all flexible materials(plastic sign, caulking, dried Envirotex), the piece is very durable and flexible as illustrated above- it'll last me forever.