Lava Board III: painting and texturing

After three coats of Flat Black latex I let it sit for an evening. The next few coats were a mixture of Arena play sand and the same paint. I mixed them in a small plastic container until the paint had a slight texture to it.

The first texture coat was applied in long strokes to keep it consistent. I then went over it again with a thicker coat in the areas with less texture. The third coat was thicker still applied over the edges and random spots.

This may sound like a lot of work, but in fact the first one was almost dry when I got to the last section. I did them all together in an evening in front of the tv :)

The following day I loaded up the acrylic caulking and started pouring the lava. I found it easiest to make a smooth coat then pour another bead of caulking and layer on top of it. Also, it helped to add another bead around the edges and use a smaller brush to fill the gaps. This also helped keep the flimsier sections from peeling up.

For texturing I took a 3" brush (dry) and pulled the lava up. By moving it in certain directions it adds to the detail and continuity of the board. Like the original tutorial said, I took care to make the lava "flow" in a certain direction. Pressing the brush down firmly will make it look like the lava is flowing faster. Smaller vertical strokes makes the lava look like it's bubbling rapidy.

And what would a board be without some terrain pieces! For these I used the same glue for model basing and some fine sand over it. Once the board is finished I'll go back and make some more dynamic terrain :)

The Next update will be detail painting :)