Build a WWII Beach in an Evening! JR & DS

There's nothing better than getting a project done.  Beach terrain for Normandy WWII scenario.

Jim and I played in a Hit the Beach scenario on Sunday 30th of June with Mike S, and his brother Jeff S.  The game was played for the "What Would Patton Do?" podcast and blog's worldwide Flames of War D-Day Campaign game.   Mike S. had done some great work on his beach terrain for the scenario and provided a nice table for the game.

The battle was between an American assault force and a German 352nd Division Infantry company.  The photos and battle report are listed on Mike S.'s gaming blog here.

Both Jim and I have wanted to make a beach terrain board for some time.  A couple of years ago I purchased the Normandy defenses Battlefield in a Box set, as well as a pack of 3 US landing craft.  I was a bit surprised when I got an email from him this afternoon saying that he wanted to work on it tonight...and have it ready for a game tomorrow.  

He had many of the materials ready and was hard at work by the time I got there.  The base board was  2'x 4' piece of mdf that he had spray painted gray.  By the time I got to his garage he was finishing the sea wall.  It was made out of pink 2" double density styro-foam.  Jim had not picked up anything to paint the sand with, so I stopped by a Michael's  store to pick up some hobby paints (6 paints for $6.05US!)

I got to work on the ocean...and it turned out better than I would have thought it might, as I have never tried anything like that before.  We added tan paint to some Woodland Scenics hydrocal plaster material, along with some fine and medium sand, for texture, and applied it to make the beach.  I had brought a couple of colors to to paint the sand, but the tan added to the plaster turned out really well. 

Lastly we painted the sea wall, added flock and we were done!  Not bad for an evening of work.  Jim is going to clean up the flock and apply some sealer before he goes to work in the morning, but otherwise it is a usable board.  There's nothing like getting a project done.  Two people putting some effort in can really get things accomplished quick. 

Wednesday evening it will be used by the 3rd Canadians when they hit Juno beach facing a  German 716 Infantry Division company.  !Warning! to the Winnepeg Rifles:  Beware the MG42s...