So I gave the tracing a good think, and decided that I would just try and skip a stage.
I first traced the river systems on wax paper. Including the high ground South Eastern section, I will place high ground around the rivers and not place rivers on the high ground itself.
It then dawned on me that I could use the Weller tool and trace the markings on the paper. This would then transfer the heat to the foam and we are done.
Tests look good.
So I went to work on the major map, using the narrow straight tip in the Weller kit.
And after I was done the map pages lifted to reveal a map board that only needed a few tough up and it was done. In hindsight I should have used the narrow "pencil" tip like point and it would damage the foam and paper less.
I marked the river crossings with black marker and with a quick paint job on the rivers taking care to not paint bridges I was done.
Following the same principles with the rivers on the base board, I flipped over the trace paper and marked a mirror copy of the base board into the bottom of the second layer board. This would result in me being able to cut the foam with a hot wire cutter and know I am cutting out the river valleys. When I was done I trimmed down the foam to about half size to make sculpting easier and pinned it to the base board to be sure.
A bit more wire cutting to trim down the hills and I was ready to start my sculpting.
Grabbing the Weller Kit hobby tool again (this is sounding more and more like an infomercial for Weller, but the tool is useful), I placed in the flat circle bit and went to work melting back the edges.
And here I am half way completed and stopping to write up this post while its still fresh.
I first traced the river systems on wax paper. Including the high ground South Eastern section, I will place high ground around the rivers and not place rivers on the high ground itself.
It then dawned on me that I could use the Weller tool and trace the markings on the paper. This would then transfer the heat to the foam and we are done.
Tests look good.So I went to work on the major map, using the narrow straight tip in the Weller kit.
And after I was done the map pages lifted to reveal a map board that only needed a few tough up and it was done. In hindsight I should have used the narrow "pencil" tip like point and it would damage the foam and paper less.
I marked the river crossings with black marker and with a quick paint job on the rivers taking care to not paint bridges I was done.
Following the same principles with the rivers on the base board, I flipped over the trace paper and marked a mirror copy of the base board into the bottom of the second layer board. This would result in me being able to cut the foam with a hot wire cutter and know I am cutting out the river valleys. When I was done I trimmed down the foam to about half size to make sculpting easier and pinned it to the base board to be sure.
A bit more wire cutting to trim down the hills and I was ready to start my sculpting.
Grabbing the Weller Kit hobby tool again (this is sounding more and more like an infomercial for Weller, but the tool is useful), I placed in the flat circle bit and went to work melting back the edges.
And here I am half way completed and stopping to write up this post while its still fresh.
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