tile Islarni of Alhion there are numerous circles of standing stones carved with winding Ogham script.

With the Dark Shadows Campaign in lull swing we show you how to make individual rocks, cairns, stone circles and dolmens.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR ROCKS AND STONES AND TO BASE THEN:
Ready-made rocks of varying sizes available from any good garden Thick card or hardboard for the base Polystyrene insulation tiles Modeling clay Green flock Citadel Paints: Chaos Black, Goblin Green, Snakebite Leather, Bubonic Brown, Bleached Bone & Skull White PVA (White) glue and super glue

SCENERY WORKSHOP
paint the base green, and coat it with flock. The stones can be painted in a suitable color such as dark grey, drybrushed with lighter shades to give the effect of weathered boulders. Your cairn is now finished, but you can always go on to add more little details such as clumps of grass or moss between the stones, or runes carved or painted on the rocks.
stone monoliths, dolmens, or even

STONE CIRCLES
To make a stone circle, cut out a

MAKING A STONE CIRCLE

roughly circular base from strong card, or make one by sticking several layers of thin card together. You will need about half a dozen suitable stones, which can either be real ones or shaped from modeling clay or polystyrene. Stick the stones in a circle on the base. Small stones can be stuck at the bottom of the larger stones to wedge them upright. Some stones can be stuck as though they have fallen down. You can leave the center of the circle empty, or add a low altar mound, a lone monolith, a dolmen, or even a firepit, as weve done in our stone circle. When the stones are securely stuck onto the base, paint the base green. Then paint the stones so they look like weathered rock, as described earlier. At this stage you might want to paint runes or engraved arcane designs on some of the stones. When they are dry, paint the base again with PVA glue and scatter green flock over it. The stone circle is now complete, but it will look better if it is enhanced with bushes and tufts of grass stuck around the base of the stones to make it look suitably ancient and overgrown.

Basic Terrain: Making Albion Standing Stones

single boulders. Model rocks and boulders can be made from pebbles, real stones or pieces of stone, modeling clay or polystyrene. For very small stones you can use gravel or coarse sand.

1. The stones on this stone circle were made from modeling clay

the advantage of doing this is that you can make the bases flat so they can be more easily attached to the base. The sides of the base and the raised circular area are being covered with filler to fill in the holes and smooth them over.

MAKING A CAIRN

YOU WILL ALSO REQUIRE THE FOLLOWING TOOLS:

Large drybrush, undercoat brush, 1/2 paint brush, cutting mat, steel ruler, modeling knife, cutter, clippers & pen

This clump of two rocks was made from real stones painted with texture paint.

A cairn is a pile of stones that acts as a waymarker or serves to mark a particular place such as a grave or a sacred site. They can be as simple as a pile of stones, but weve made ours a bit more interesting by topping it off with a large flat stone. First, youll need a sturdy base. Cut out a roughly circular or oval shape from thick card. If you just want a simple pile of stones, the base neednt be too big about 5cm across should be about right. For a more elaborate cairn, the base can be a bit larger.

CAIRNS

1. The base, core and top of this

cairn have been made from polystyrene. Real stones are being glued up the sides of the rocky mound. A slightly larger clump of rocks. Notice how the scattering of tiny stones (made from crushed coral available from a Pet Store with aquarium supplies) round the base of the stones makes them look more realistic.

a
This do/men was made from polystyrene rocks

For the core of the cairn, youll need

to mold a lump of modeling clay into a squat cone with a slightly flattened top. For a lightweight alternative you could use expanded polystyrene. Glue this to the base, and when its dry glue small stones or gravel up the sides of the core. Finally, make a cap stone from modeling clay or polystyrene and glue it to the top of
the rock pile. When the glue is dry, paint the entire mound with PVA glue to bond the

2. After painting and drybrushing,

the base was finished off in the normal way by painting and drybrushing.

1
The patch of tall grass on the edge of this set of rocks was made from frayed rope painted green.

BOULDERS a ROCKS
Using the basic techniques weve outlined above and in the Stone Circles section on the next page, you can make all sorts of rocky terrain for your games. There are endless possibilities, from rocky outcrops,
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boulders together. When this is dry,

MAKING ALBION STANDING STONES

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SEPTEMOER 2001