“Sleepy Hollow” or 18th Century terrain & Minis

Lucash Baritone, town cryer. This is a good model to let you know that this project will take a hiatus till the Fall.

Cheers!

The Pitt Brothers Rusty and Malorc & Disgraced Cabin Boy Carl.

Although the trade emerged in its mature form in the decade following the Iroquois Grand Settlement of 1701, it was during the long peace between the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 and the commencement of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1744 that smuggling truly throve in North America. King George’s War, 1744-1748, witnessed the height of smugglers’ importance on the Albany-Montreal corridor, particularly after the British capture of Louisbourg transformed the riverine highway into the main artery for goods, gifts, and information to French habitants and their Native allies. Following King George’s War smugglers lost their resilience to government pressure. For a time thereafter, Iroquois porters, intermediaries, and traders continued a lucrative trade between Montreal and Albany, but the market and the climate had shifted; Joyless, one of the more influential British traders, shifted from land speculation to contraband, exiled from New France by a governor-general acting on the information from his competitors, he relocated to Sleep Hollow and succeeded in other dimensions of the Atlantic trade. Britain’s decisive victory in the Seven Years’ War ended la traite illégale by integrating what had been New France into the British Empire. As the trade between Albany and Montreal, which had been crucial to the redevelopment of Iroquois power in the first half of the eighteenth century when it was illegal, became legitimate, the Six Nations lost influence.

The idea is to make a line of Birch trees that are bare of leafs. Plenty of space on either side of them as well as through them to allow for playability. Not having leaves makes them quick and easy to make too.

I found these dried up branches in a pot in our garden in November. They look very mini tree like to me. I try to save dried roots and other bits from nature. You never know when they may come in handy for terrain.

STEP 1. Choose long thin pieces that branch out at the top. Find a suitable organic shaped base. Drill holes for the trees into the base. Remember to leave space for “playability”.

STEP 2. To the base add Mod Podge then sprinkle with sand for texture. Set aside to dry.

STEP 3. Spray paint the stems with a light cover of white primer.

STEP 4. To the base paint and add static grass and ground cover to your liking.

STEP 5.  When base and stems are dry, CA glue the stems to the predrilled holes in the base.

STEP 6. Add thin grey horizontal lines to the stems to represent the lines on real birch trunks.

Even a man who is pure of heart,

and says his prayers by night,

may become a wolf,

when the wolfbane blooms,

and the Autumn moon is bright.