The Forest/Lumber Resource aka "Wood"

Trees for the Forest Resource

This resource is actually the one I had a pretty good idea of in my head all along.  Once I found tiny evergreen trees at a miniature dollhouse store, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The trees were good, but I realised that the hex was supposed to produce a resource, so I thought I should find some lumber or logs for it as well.  The gentleman at the model train store was helpful at pointing out a milled lumber yard, but it seemed a little too advanced for the Settlers to have.  Upon advising him I was looking for un-milled lumber, he told me he went and cut down some dead sticks that had fallen in the forest behind his house for his model train set. 



Dead sticks for the Lumber



Well, I don't have a forest by my house, but I did find some sticks while walking my dog. Now, despite my dog's affinity for tracking down sticks, dogs aren't a requirement to finding a good stick you can use for lumber. Apparently the most important thing to know is that it actually has to be a dead stick.  If you snap it off a live tree there's problems with drying/shrinking or something along those lines (according to the man at the model train store). I eyeballed what I thought would be a good scale for my hex, and sawed several pieces approximately the same size. I then piled them into groups of three, stacking them on top of each other. I hot glued them into this formation, then soaked the final piece in my white glue/podgy concoction to seal everything in.

While placing the pieces on the hex, it seemed unbalanced.  So I decided to throw a river in there to round out the hex.  I used the same hot glue on wax paper strategy I used for the sheep ponds.  Except this time, instead of using paint, I used permanent marker.  It dried much faster, was WAY less messy, and looks essentially the same. Hindsight is 20/20.



Finished Wood Hex



The Grain Resource aka "Wheat"

So I guess the first thing I should point out is that I don't call any of the Settler resources by their proper name. Except brick.  I call brick, "brick".
Here's a quick summary so you don't get confused, because I'll just be using my own terms for stuff.

Settlers - Kathe
Grain - Wheat
Lumber - Wood
Wool - Sheep, sometimes Pigs (I know this doens't make any sense)
Ore - Rocks or Mountains
Brick - Brick

I guess this means I'm not a Settler of Catan purist, but I'll live...

Sculpey Foamwich in Yellow for Wheat

Ok - so back to my 3D game board!

The first resource I made a foamwich of was wheat, because I randomly glued together the yellow sheets first, so they in turn dried first. So obviously this happened in stages.

Hex Steps

 First I made a hexagon template with a hole in the middle for the discs. I traced a piece from Trivial Pursuit, because it already had all the lines to match up on my hexagon! Then I used the template to trace onto the 2-deep foam hexagon, cut it out and glued it to my bigger sculpey/foam hex. The reason for the hole in the middle is for the number discs in the game.  Many 3D sets are lacking somewhere to put these discs, so I wanted to make sure mine had a dedicated spot.

Mini plastic hay from the Model Train store

Next up, I need something that looks like wheat to decorate (I need a word better than decorate) my hex. Well a trip to my local miniature model train store provided the perfect solution. Who knew that you could get just about anything miniaturized? Since I'm supposed to be "Settling" Catan, I won't be using the hay that is wrapped in plastic, which I tend to refer to as "Giant Marshmallows" when driving through the countryside.

Natural and Podgied wheat grass

Not satisfied with my plastic mini bales of hay, I also wanted something more natural looking. While walking my dog I found some type of tall wheat like grass. I picked one that had "accidentally" been torn from the others, because I would never condone picking public grass or flowers. Yes, this is entirely accurate, and not a lie.

I'm also using moss.  "Moss?" you ask.  Yes, Moss. I bought a mixed bag, literally, of moss, and will be using them in a variety of hexes.

The problem with live or once live items are their tendancy to fall apart over time.  I'm hoping to overcome this by dunking it in a mixture of white glue and water.  Some of you may know this concoction as "podgy" or "that stuff you dipped newspapers in when making paper mache".  Both terms are correct.

It's by no means a permanent solution, but I'm hoping it will seal it somewhat, and make it not fall apart so easily. So far it has just shrunk the puffy grass into looking like braided grass, but the intent is for it to now look like a plowed wheat field.

So voila! My first completed hex, just 36 more to go...

Completed Wheat Hex