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Paddy Field (Glass)

Materials

Construction

Making small pieces of glass/perspex
The first stage is to get your glass or perspex the right size to be a paddy field. Perspex can be cut with a hacksaw but glass is more tricky. I had a big piece of glass which I wrapped in newspaper, I balanced it across an inch square piece of wood, trapped one edge under my foot, and then hit the other edge with a shoe. This broke it into much smaller pieces, but unfortunately the majority became useless shards. A better alternative would be to use a tool for scoring glass from a DIY shop or large craft shop. (If anyone has any other ideas then mail me).

Paint the back of the glass
To give the glass a watery effect, paint the back with a brown or greeny/brown. To give more of an impression of depth, mix a darker shade into the centre and lighten it and make it more brown at the edges. Remember that you will be seeing it from the other side so to get this fade you will have to keep all the paint wet until you have blended the fade. Retarder might be useful for this, but you can do it without, just use dilute paint.

Stick the glass to some thin card
Not cereal packet thin, but 'back of pad of paper thin'. Alternatively use mounting board. DON'T put glue all over the back of the glass as it will tear off patches of paint. Use a strong glue like epoxy resin around the edges of the glass only. You can put more than one piece of glass on the same card as in this example.

Make raised edges
Paddy fields are separated by dikes, often with a path along the top of them. To make these glue two strips of 5mm foamcard with PVA on top of each other all round the edges of the glass. Once the glue has dried, take a scalpel and hack the corners off to create rounded mounds. You will need to use a sharp blade or it will tear the foamcard. Where there is a path, leave the top flat. If you are doing this on the cheap and are using cardboard then do the same, but you may need three layers.

Cover the banks with filler
If you have used foamcard and sculpted it neatly then you will just need to use filler on the paths and the junctions between foamcard. Mix up a stiff mixture of filler and water, and add a little sand for texture. Prime the foamcard with a watery coat of PVA to help the filler stick and then smear the filler over it. If you are using corrugated cardboard then this will cover the holes.

Texture and paint the banks
When the filler has dried paint the grassy area of the banks with slightly diluted PVA and cover this in sand.

  • Give the sandy areas a watered down coat of dark green
  • .
  • Paint the paths with a chestnut brown
  • Drybrush the paths with a cream
  • Flock the banks and field
    Paint the banks with PVA and sprinkle static grass flock on them This will give a lush, thick grass look. (You need the sand underneath however because the static grass doesn't form a very complete covering).

    Now add the rice shoots. Use a matchstick to dab tiny blobs of PVA in rows and sprinkle on a pale green foam flock, which doesn't take as long as you might think.




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    ©2000. All rights reserved.
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