Remembering Culloden

Many—though not all—the materials I used.

Foamular, mod podge, scenic cement, various flocking and shrubbery, acrylic paint, sand, exacto knife, ruler, hot glue.

I wanted a more rugged boundary that frames the battlefield, so I opted for a rocky, cliff look. I sliced 3 lines down the length of each side, then sliced horizontal cuts angled in various directions. I then used the ruler (and some picking) to chip away foam pieces until it looked something like a cliff.

Foamular, exacto knife, ruler.

Painting the base with modpodge + paint helps “seal” the foam from damage: it helps prevent dents and cuts while also providing a water resistant layer. I chose an earthy brown and mixed about 1 part paint to 4 parts modpodge.

Modpodge, acrylic paint

I poured scenic cement bits at a time on the painted foamular then shook handfuls of flocking across the board. I chose two fairy bright greens as the bottom layers, followed by a medium shade, then clumped the darked in patches and finally sprinkled a medium-dark across everything.

Various colours (5) of flocking, scenic cement

My original plans did not include the river, but after deciding that River Nairn needed representation so I had to to make some adjustments and dig out a river bed. After carving out the and painted with some brown, green, yellows (because the River Nairn is dark!). Then I mixed the epoxy and poured in layers to ensure it did not overflow. After the epoxy cured, I added glossy modge podge to give the river some movement and texture for waves.

Epoxy resin, paint, glossy mod podge, spoon and knife

I used the hot foam knife to cut rough stone-like structures then bevelled the edges. I inserted a screw through the bottom to give it more weight, then hot glued the stones to cardboard for a base. I used a pencil to indent the words and went over the pencil marks with an exacto knife. I balled up a sheet of tin foil and rolled it over each stone give them texture. I painted each one with a mod podge and black paint mix, then dry brushed with dark grey, grey, ivory, and finally some green.

Foamular, hot foam knife, pencil, exacto knife, mod podge, cardboard, paint, hot glue, tin foil, screws

This structure took many attempts! For the base, I ultimately decided on splitting the cardboard insert of a paper towel roll, cut it to shorten, and taped it together for an appropriate width. I cut a piece of foamular to make the memorial stone and used the same pencil/exacto method of the headstones to carve the wording. I glued the memorial stone to the cardboard, then painted it and the cardboard with mod podge + black paint. For the top railing, I cut foamular pieces and applied with hot glue. To make the rocks, I cut rough circles out of an egg carton then applied them to the base with caulk. After the caulk dried, I brushed the entire structure with a wash made of water, black paint and PVA glue. I then painted each rock (attempting to avoid the caulk) with mod podge + black paint and followed that with dry brushing dark grey, light grey, sepia, green, ivory and yellow. With dabs of tacky glue, I applied flock tufs around the memorial stone and the structure. For the top, I cut a piece of foamular, painted it with brown paint + mod podge, and after drying, brushed it with scenic cement where I poured flock. I sprayed the entire structure with scenic cement and when dry, I coated the structure with the stone wash.

Cardboard paper towel insert, scissors, scotch tape, foamular, pencil, exacto knife, hot glue, paint, mod podge, egg carton, caulk, tacky glue, PVA glue, flock, scenic cement, dish soap, water

I kind of cheated with this one because my other attempts didn’t work! I had a plastic pre-built cottage structure that I primed, painted with mod podge and layers of dark grey, brown, yellow, greys, ivory and green. To make the thatched roof, I wrapped hemp string around a 1-inch wide piece of cardboard then glued both sides with a flat strip of hot glue. I separated the two sides with scissors, repeated the process two more times, then glues each piece to the roof with hot glue. To darken the roof, I brushed it with PVA glue + black paint. I then applied tacky glue to secure flock tuffs and ended with a spray of scenic cement.

Prebuilt structure, primer, paint, hemp string, hot glue, flock tuffs, mod podge, cardboard, comb, scissors, scenic cement, PVA glue, tacky glue