Vietnamization

Converting Battlefield in a Box Terrain to Vietnamese Muddy Rivers

I had a bunch of Battlefield in a Box Rivers lying around that weren't seeing much action so I decided to convert them to Muddy Vietnamese Rivers for use with my Vietnam War table.

Battlefield in a Box River Sections

Although they snaked the Battlefield in a Box pieces I had would only flow to opposite ends of the table.  In order to allow for more variety I cut one of the sections into smaller pieces to allow the river to flow if different directions.

The next step was to paint the blue sections of the rivers in a brown earth colour as a base for the still water I was going to pour.

Vallejo Still Water

Given that I wanted to go with a stilled effect I chose to use Vallejo Still Water.  This stuff flows very easily and is a minimal mess, no fuss product.  There are plenty of instructional how to videos on you tube showing its use.

I added a small mix of these paints to the Still Water

A small amount of paint was added to the Still Water mix.
I went with a 90% Provincial Beige, 5% Burnt Umber, 5% Raw Sienna mix.

The River left to dry. The ends were taped before pouring the Still Water.

The ends of the rivers were taped and a thin layer of the still water was poured.  I let this dry for 24 hours and then did a second thin pour.

The finished river sections with flock added to the banks.

The rivers were left 24 hours to fully dry.  They were cleaned up and flock added to the banks.  I have avoided adding grass tufts at this stage as the river sections will be stored on top of each other.


The Finished Product

Long grass, bushes and trees will be added along side the river as needed.

The river sections are flexible enough to be placed on small rises.

They are also weighty enough  to sink into the teddy bear fur mat.

Rivers are always handy as Vietnamese villages were usually located nearby.

Heading up river