A great big swamp

There is quit a bit of scenery and terrain to prepare for my Philippi project, due to run at the Society of Ancients conference in two weeks' time. If I do a bit at a time I should get through it. First up is the large swamp that lay to the right of Marcus Antonius' deployment.

Above is a large translucent sheet I found lying on the ground at work. It is clear on one side and matt on the other, with a 'frame' of magnetic strip. I think it must have come from a poster or something like that, and it was bit badly damaged and battered by the time I got to it. But I have a cunning plan...

I managed to salvage two sections, the plan being to place them together to make swamp around 3' by 1'. Above is what one of the sections looks like with a first coat of cheap and nasty brown paint on the matt side.

How it looks after adding another coat of a different shade

Turn it over, and the gloss side shows up with a watery sheen. It's still not perfect, but with bits of scatter it should look okay on the tabletop. It will sit on top of my teddy bear fur mat, and so should look the part on the day. That's the plan anyway...