Hello all:)

Here's my first try at a fieldstone wall and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with the results. I always wanted to achieve that cool fieldstone look, uneven surface, random placement of stones, different stone sizes. I guess I can say that I've managed to achieve all of those things, here see for yourself:



The stones are somewhere around 3-5mm and the whole piece goes well with 35mm scale. The surface is uneven but the depth difference for each rock isn't that big (less than 0,5mm), so the whole thing looks pretty well.
So what do you all think?? Any comments are more than welcome, thanks in advance,

cheers,
dsc.

Looks like you achieved what you were looking for. Very nice

Very nice there Tom!!
It looks real!!!!!!
Care to share with us how you did it?

Very nicely done. Looks very good. A few dark washes and this will be a gem.

Sorry to say but i think it would look better as a road surface, a Field-stone wall has mostly even size stones stacked in rows although i am judging by the thousands of miles of them we have here in England i may well be wrong
A Google image search found several here is one



just my opinion

redleg

Sorry i Stand corrected found this one

A very good representation you have there nice one


redleg

With a little weathering they will look very nice. Great job.

The problem here is that drystone walls, to give them their proper name, are not uneven or random. It is an artform to build them, and takes years of practice. To put stones together loose, in such manner that they support one and other without cement or mortar, and will stay like that for many years is definitly not 'random'.
That's not to say that your wall looks bad, it looks very good. Where did you find the pebbles?

Cheers
Henk

Some green lichens between the rocks and a dark wash, or some pastels, will make it even better!!

I'm very impressed with your first try !! It looks spot on... just a few washes and some drybrushes and it could easily pass as being the real thing.

Great try-out, don't change a thing !!

In theory, walls like this should be easy, but in reality, its quite hard to do and make it look realistic. Overall, I think your wall looks great. It would be cool to see it with a 1/35 figure though, as photographs look decieving.
The only tips I can add, are don´t be afraid to use even bigger stones on the bottom, with the average size of stones getting smaller towards the top.
Any long or oblong stones, try to keep them horizontal. There are a few in your wall that look out of place as they are almost vertical. Longer stones tie the wall together and support those on top better and avoid sliding.
The top of the wall will be the most demanding to get right, and you haven´t attempted it. Redleg´s second picture is an excellent example of how it often looks. Similar sized stones left alternatively flat and on their edge is very common.
Depending on where your wall will be set, the colour and rock type will change dramatically. The finished surface texture being the most obvious. Also weathering could change and the type of natural growth that occurs will look different. In Ireland its mostly dark grey granite stones, with dark moss and ferns because of the wet climate, but Italy would be more sand stone, with much less growth, as its so dry. Best to search for local picturesof the area to get a feel of the colours. Hopefully this might help a bit.

First of all: wow!! thanks a lot for all your replies, I didn't really expect to see so many comments.

And now the answers:

@John, George, Scott, Keenan,Antonio & Danny:
thank you guys for your kind words:), I'm glad that you like the final look. Don't forget to check the Method Description part at the end of this post to see how easy it is to make.

@Redleg: glad to see that you found more fieldstone examples and that you like this piece:) Here's a photo showing a real wall, that's similar to my version:

http://www.homemason.com/images/cs_fieldstone.jpg

@Henk: I've seen many examples of walls with various descriptions, some said they're fieldstone walls, others that it's drystone. I've decided to go with fieldstone, as more people are familiar with such name. But I'm not an expert at this so I might be wrong.

As for the random placement: I know that's it not easy to build a bigger wall with different sizes of rocks, to make it durable and weather resistant. I know that it's not just a matter of throwing some stones together and joining them together with mortar. I used the word "random" to emphasize the fact that the rocks have different sizes and shapes and they are not laid in ordinary fashion, row on row. That it's almost impossible to find the same placement or group of rocks that are laid in a similar fashion on a bigger wall. I know it must take years of practise and experience to build a big wall using this technique, which will not colapse in the next few years.

But thanks for your comment and info:)

@Frank: Thanks for your tips, they will come in handy for sure. I will use some bigger rocks on the bottom to add more variety and I will try to keep most flat, long rocks horizontal. Check out the Method Description below, you will be amazed how easy it is to achieve this look:)

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Method Description
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Actually I've managed to achieve this cool look by chance. It takes around 5 minutes to make (excluding the time needed for plaster hardening) and all you need is some plant/fishtank gravel (small, usually white rocks, I found mine at Ikea:) ) and dental plaster.
You might also want to use a piece of glass (from a picture frame for example).
Build a small box out of something, you can use wood or lego's, you will just need the sides to keep the gravel in it, you don't need any bottom. Put it on a flat surface (a piece of card board of a piece of glass). Put some gravel inside the box, a 1cm layer is enough.
Shake the whole box a bit to make the rocks fit together better (you can see the results through the glass if you're using it). Make sure that the layer is pretty even and flat, remembering that everything that is on the glass surface is going to be your "wall face", so the more flat it is the more realistic the wall will look.
Mix some dental plaster and water, trying to achieve a water-like consistancy. Pour it on the rocks, wait for it to dry.
After around 20 minutes, unfold the box and take you plaster block out. Now you have a piece of plaster that has gravel near one side, all you have to do is remove the plaster from the surface of the rocks and you're done. For this you will need a wire brush. Just scour away any plaster excess from the surface of the gravel and you're finished.

I hope at least some of you understood what I was trying to say:) If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Again thanks for your replies and take care,

cheers,
dsc.