I'm confused on what to use to build up the scenery. I have a piece of ply wood with grass paper but there is no topographical or land changes. I think it will look pretty bad if i can't get some hill and realism in it but I don't know what to use Any Ideas would be great (the cheaper they are and better they look, then the easier it'll be) Thanks

If you've bought any electronics lately, you should still have some styrofoam around. Make preliminary forms from that. Smooth and blend the edges with Cellucla, plaster of paris, spackle, etc. I wouldn't use grass paper, way to uniform and it looks like grass paper. While your cover is still moist, add some pebble and sections of sand or kitty litter, the old clay type, not the stuff that clumps, you can add tree stumps at this point (Armand Bayardi, available at http://www.sentinelminiatures.com " TARGET="_blank"> http://www.sentinelminiatures.com or http://www.milminwh.com " TARGET="_blank"> http://www.milminwh.com has some excellent tree castings in resin) . When this is dry, paint the base an appropriate earth color and do some drybrushing to bring out the texture. When this is dry, get some Woodland Scenics turf or if you prefer Static Grass and attach using white glue. You can use some of the other WS products, long grass (Drill holes in the base and attach clumps here and there) , etc. to add texture at this point, too.

Grass Paper? Ughh... just say no! It never looks right in 1:35 scale... it looks like a perfect putting green instead of a battlefield. There are a LOT of inexpensive ways to create terrain, and several good books on the subject. Here are a few of my favorites...

OLD RAG METHOD... take an old cloth rag that has a fine texture... dip it in a plaster solution, shpe to form, and allow to dry. Then come back and paint and highlight. Makes excellent "weed meadow"....

Another inexpensive way to generate a dirt look is to apply spackle or plaster compound directly to your base. Add in some sand and fine grain dirt from your garden, along with a few twigs and stones. Allow to dry, then paint.

To create tall weeds and rushes... dip a household paintbrush into a solution of green and brown paints... allow this to sit for an hour or two (to let the color soak in), and then remove and allow the brush bristles to dry. Cut clumps of the bristles out, and glue them into place on your diorama. Touch the tops with yellows, pinks, reds, etc. to add a bit of color.