In between painting my wife helped me a bit more on the two display boards I'll use throughout the year and the Adepticon Championship. After carving, I put a layer of latex paint down to help seal the boards. Then did a few layers of greys to get a base down and some browns around the sand.
We then started with painting random individual stones slightly lighter or darker colors. Thanks again to my wife with the help on this!
I then put a few layers of a gloss coat on to assist with some oil washing. I prepared a stinky batch of black/brown oil wash to line the cracks of the stone and darken some of the stones and sand.
To add some random elements of terrain I created some more brazier "fires" and picked up a couple of fish tank aquarium decorations and painted them. The Mayan looking one will eventually have simulated fire coming out the sides that are open. The big mouth sculpture will go over the blood river on the back of the base.
I then sealed them with a matte coat to lock in the oils and taped off the top so I could apply a spray lacquer to the frame. All of these coats and sprays spanned about a week of work between dry times. The fun part was next. Blood splatters in random places and I filled the river with the first coat of the blood. I also did some green/brown water for the areas on the side.
I need to wait until things are completely dry before I put the static grass on, that will probably be the night before the tournament. There they are! I'll get some completed pictures done at the tournament. I'm still debating on whether I go with the large or smaller base. We'll have to see how the miniatures fit. It'll be a long couple of late nights as I try to get as many painted as possible.