Introduction

I chose to make a pond once I realised that I didn't have a good variety of terrain to choose from. I needed a relatively simple piece of terrain that looked good. I also wanted to use it in multiple areas of middle earth, most places would have the odd pond or pool. So I decided that I would make a pond.

Materials/Tools (These are the things I used, you may not need all of them if your pond is different.)

-Polystyrene/Foam
-Hardboard/Thick cardboard
-PVA glue
-Sandpaper
-Filler/Ready mixed filler
-Balsa wood
-Superglue
-Stones
-Spare miniature weapons
-Modelling sand/Modelling flock
-Static Grass
-Lichen
-Modelling knife
-Clear Varnish
-Jigsaw
-Barbecue skewers

Paints

-Chaos Black
-Skull White
-Scorched Brown
-Bleached Bone
-Enchanted Blue

Step 1: The Base and Structure

The first thing I did was went in search of a base for my pond, luckily in my house there is always something for the job somewhere! I found a piece of hardboard that was a little larger than what I wanted my pond to be, which is good. You will need to cut out the shape of your pond later. I began sticking some polystyrene I had found in a way that would allow me to smooth it into the shape I wanted, using filler and sandpaper. If your piece of polystyrene is big enough, or you pond small enough, you will be able to cut a whole in the middle of a large piece of polystyrene and stick the resulting circle onto your base using PVA glue, be careful with the knife, I cut myself, as you can see the blood in the pic. Wait for this to dry before moving onto the next step.

Step 2: Shape

This is simple, just use a jigsaw to cut out the shape of your pond, be sure to cut into the polystyrene, so that the base fits the polystyrene perfectly.

Step 3: Defining The Shape

First of all, sand down the polystyrene using sandpaper. Don't worry if there are gaps. If you have used one large piece of polystyrene or foam then you will not need to use filler, as there will be no holes. Add filler to the openings in your polystyrene, if there are any. Try to add a lot of filler, this will make it easier to sand it down to blend into the polystyrene. Wait for the filler to dry , then, using sandpaper, smooth out the filler so that it fits the foam/polystyrene. I got kind of carried away and made a bridge before I took the pic, you can make a bridge too, which is explained in the next step.

Step 4: Details and Constructions

Stick some stones, using superglue, to your pond. Arrange them in a way that looks the best to you, the superglue will eat away at the polystyrene, so it will help the rocks look like they are imbedded in the ground. If you want to build a bridge, cut out some short strips of balsa wood. Use two barbecue skewers as supports, then stick your short strips of balsa wood on top. See the pic. I made the Jetty in the same way as the bridge, I just stuck some extra supports to it at the end. For the fence, I cut long strips of balsa wood out with a modelling knife. I then snapped them in half at different lengths and angles. I then cut two thin beams to hold the strips together. Use the pic as reference, it is self explanatory. I also stuck some spears into the banks of the pond, don't use glue as it will eat away at the foam/polystyrene.

Step 5: Texturing

This step I personally found to be the most unpleasant. Firstly, paint an area of the polystyrene with PVA glue, then sprinkle flock or modelling sand on it until all the PVA is covered, you may want to press the sand/flock down with your finger to help the bond. I used flock because I have loads of it spare. Cover all the polystyrene in this way. You really need to make sure that the glue is dry before you move onto the next step, otherwise all the sand/flock will fall off when you try to paint it.

Step 6: Undercoat

This step rivals the last for the title of the most unpleasant step. Undercoat your pond with black spray, I recommend this because I used a brush and paint, it took up so much time, getting the paint in between all those little pieces of flock, not very exciting. I could have used that time for detail painting. Leave the paint to dry, you could leave the pond next to a light so that it dries faster, but don't put to close or the foam/polystyrene will melt.

Step 7: Painting the Banks

This is one of the more pleasing steps. Dry-brush the sand/flock nearer the edge of the water with a 50:50 mix of Chaos Black and Skull White. Then a dry-brush of 75% Skull White and 25% Chaos Black. Finally give them a light dusting of skull white. Use this same process on the rocks and any bridges. You may want to paint the bridge in the way that I painted the jetty and fence. I painted these by giving them an undercoat of Scorched Brown, then I gave them a quite heavy dry-brush of skull white. I painted the rest of the sand/flock with an undercoat of scorched brown and then a dry-brush of Bleached Bone over the top.

Step 8: Water

I painted the water by giving the whole area a coat of watered down Enchanted Blue, once that had dried I gave the areas of water nearer to the banks a coat of pure enchanted blue with no water. I then gave the areas touching the banks a light dusting of Skull White. This part is very satisfying! I gave the water a coat of clear varnish, once that had dried I added another coat to emphasise the shiny reflective effect.

Step 9: Plants

In this step I added static grass in patches, it is up to you how much you put on. I also added lichen, that you can purchase from most model railway shops. You don't have to add any lichen if you don't want to, but I personally think it looks better with it added. If you have used the same brush all the way through this project then by now it may be pretty wrecked. As a tribute to the brush's loyalty, I stuck it's bristles to the side of my pond to look like long grass or reeds. This also meant that I did not have to waste the brush, which normally would have been thrown away.

The finished product, I am very pleased with it.

You can also make a simpler pond, using the same techniques, this one doesn't look so daunting, hope you have a go at it.

Conclusion:

I have enjoyed writing this article and I hope you have reading it. I have also enjoyed making the piece of terrain. Although I don't like people seeing my work half finished since I am quite a perfectionist, and I don't think it helps promote my work either. But it's worth it, considering that it helps contribute to the community.

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it. I might make other terrain articles as I am thinking of other terrain pieces that would fit this pond on a board.

Hope this helps you make your own pond!

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