The best way to decide on colour schemes for your scenery is to either go out and take photographs on your own or do the next best (and easiest) thing: do a Google search. We referenced many a photo online for this article – from rust patterns on metal to different types of jungle trees. That was just to build the piece! To gather ideas for earth tones and colour schemes, do searches for marshes, jungles, earth, dirt, mud, and the like.

As far as the actual painting and detailing process goes, you should paint the Whirlwind and tree (plus scattered doors) separately before gluing them down to the base. The base itself can be primed black if you wish. Try painting the mud a very deep brown. Scorched Brown would do the job. The areas of deep water (those without mud texturing) can be left black. When you paint the Scorched Brown onto the base, try to gradually fade the brown to black with drybrushing. Raised areas of mud or dried earth can be lightly drybrushed with a lighter brown. Try painting areas of mud that touch the water's edge with Gloss Varnish so simulate soggy soil.

At this point, you should glue your painted tank and tree to the base as well as any debris. You can then glue plastic aquarium plants to the base. Keep most of them localized on the banks, but allow a few to grow right out of the shallow water or grow among the roots of the tree. The great thing about aquarium plants is they are very naturalistic on their own and don't really need to be painted.

Once you're satisfied, tint a batch of resin with a small mixture of black and brown ink. When you are happy with the mixture, pour the resin into the shallow depression you made with the putty and let it level out. When the resin is close to being dry, sprinkle a thin layer of very fine green flock over the resin. This flock can stand in for algae and scum living on the water's surface.

We hope this article has been inspirational and helpful. This scenery piece would make a great setting for a scenario – let your imagination run wild. Maybe a Human Combat Patrol has stumbled upon the ruined Whirlwind while fleeing a horde of Xenos. Can the Humans repair the missile launcher in time to save themselves? Or, maybe a band of Orks find the wreck and are racing against time to loot the missiles before the Imperium's agents reach them. See how a piece of scenery can spawn endless gaming ideas? The sky's the limit!