I’m using Balsa wood to clad my Gorktress Walls to make it look like a timber structure. Orcs aren’t known for their neatness so odd sized, mis-matched pieces are perfect. Read on to see how I added texture to the Balsa Wood.
Balsa Wood doesn’t have a strong grain texture. It’s really soft though and easy to deboss. I’m using a dedicated emboss/deboss tool which you can purchase at most craft stores.
I deboss the whole sheet before using a craft knife to cut the sheet into strips. It’s really easy to cut it along the grain. Then I cut the strips into small irregular sized pieces.
I then used a craft knife to whittle the edges of the wood to make them look like a mob of Orcs used their choppas to fashion trees into planks. Finally I glue the pieces onto the foamcore fort.
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Very nice… Way better than my idea of using Popsicle sticks. I'll be putting this technique in the ole' tool box 🙂
Looking good, just a suggestion. You could get sewing pins and stick them into the balsa wood so that they look like nails and rivets on the wood.
It's easier and faster to deboss them with a small pen body with the nib removed. I skipped this level of detail though. It is already an extremely time-consuming project.
Another way to do wood grain that might be less painstaking is to rake the wood with a saw blade or with a wire brush.
Looking good Garfy. You are definitely thinking through every piece of this!
I cringe at your hobby knife skills. If I tried that, I'd have covered by wood in blood.