"All Sunshine makes the Desert" - Arab Proverb

A convincing landscape not only enhances your miniature wargaming experience but it can also make dioramas and photographs come alive.  The following tutorial is a simple way in which you can create convincing desert landscape.  The steps are easy to follow and you're likely to get great results.  However, if you're building an entire game board then be aware that this process is likely to be time consuming.  These are the steps I've followed to create the desert landscape you can see in the 6mm North Africa gallery; there are many ways the reader can cut corners in this process to achieve quicker results.

To get started, you'll need a few supplies that are for the most part common and easy to obtain.  For the purpose of this tutorial, the terrain surface is a sheet of white styrene.  You'll also need:  PVA glue, fine hobby sand, various brown paint tones, fine pumice gel, coarse pumice gel, and landscaping material of your choice for bushes.  If you'd like to simulate rock outcroppings then find a handful of rocks that look suitable from the back yard.

First, create your roads by brushing a thin layer of fine pumice gel across your surface.  If you gently drag the brush along it'll give a faint impression of ruts and paths along the road.  Next glue your rocks down with PVA glue and use coarse pumice gel to build up the surrounding areas.  You can also use the pumice gel to place various uneven areas around the board.

Allow the pumice gel to completely dry; then paint an even layer of PVA glue across the board EXCEPT on the road and tops of the rocks then sprinkle a layer of fine hobby sand across the board.  Take your board outside and shake all the excess sand off.  You also need to dust off any sand that might be on the road.

Allow your sandy surface to dry and then lock it in place with some type of spray.  I used Tamiya Fine Surface Primer for this tutorial but more than likely you can use something cheaper like flat enamel spray paint.  Make sure there is nothing unwanted on your road surface because once you spray it'll be there for good.

If you're looking to save time, you can combine this step with the previous by using a brown colored spray.  The important part of this step is to provide a dark undercoat for your desert terrain.  I used an airbrush to apply Vallejo Chocolate Brown; this kept the paint thin and consistent.

The next several steps can be done as dark or as light as you prefer...  it really depends on the overall appearance you'd like to achieve.  I started by spraying on a consistent coat of Vallejo Iraqi Sand with an airbrush.  You want a good even coat, but not so thick that it hides all of the brown undercoat - a small bit will show through.

Next, apply a lighter color on top but again don't completely cover the preceding layer.  I used Vallejo Iraqi Sand and Vallejo Pale Sand mixed 50:50.  If you'd like to darken any areas or you find you sprayed lighter than you wanted then at this point you can apply a very light brown wash.  I used Vallejo Smoke mixed with water.

Now you can start to fill in the details.  I dry-brushed most of the board with Vallejo Pale Sand, then applied heavier dry-brushing on the rocks and raised surfaces. The rock outcropping were painted Vallejo Stone Grey and then "highlight" dry-brushed with Stone Grey mixed with White.

Your last step is to apply bushes and landscaping materials of your choice.  I used Woodland Scenics Course Turf and kept it simple with a handful of scattered bushes.  At this point you can also apply a matte spray to help protect your creation.