Stage 1

Cut a piece of hardboard to the size of the encampment and sand down any rough edges. Glue a similar-sized piece of blue foam to the top of the hardboard with hot glue. Sand the foam down so it meets the edge of the hardboard evenly. Cut a tent frame from the balsa wood (cut a 3" piece for the crossbeam and two 1 1/2" pieces for the support pieces). Cut holes for the tent frames in the foam and fix them in place with a small dab of hot glue.

Stage 2

Cut the tent canvas into 3" x 4" rectangles and soak them in wood glue. This step will make the canvas rigid and more able to hold a shape. Before the fabric pieces dry, drape them over the tent frames and insert the toothpicks to pin them to the foam. When dry, cut off the tops of the toothpicks, leaving enough to hold the canvas in place and to suggest tent stakes. Cover the entire surface of the base (not the tents) with wood glue and sprinkle basing sand over the entire area.

Stage 3

After the glue has dried, paint the entire piece, tents and all, with Chaos Black. Note: Do not use spray paint as it will melt the blue foam. Paint the ground Scorched Brown and then highlight by lightly drybrushing Bestial Brown, then Snakebite Leather, and finally Bleached Bone. Basecoat the tents with Bubonic Brown and paint their supports and crossbeams with Bestial Brown.

Stage 4

Finish painting the tents by highlighting the canvas with Bleached Bone and the tent frames with Vermin Brown. Apply thinned-down (1:3 water to glue) wood glue to the areas where you want to put grass. Use flock or static grass and sprinkle it onto the glue. Once it dries, your camp is ready for the gaming table!