Warhammer-Empire.com
Imperial Artisans ... The Painters, Crafters & Writers Guilds => Empire Crafts and Skills => Topic started by: The Black Knight on November 02, 2018, 07:08:20 PM
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Right guys!
So I thought that since I've been on these forums for something like 13 years, it might finally be the time to post something relevant (lol). As you may or may not have gathered from my post count, I am NOT a very active member, although I lurk here sometimes and this place has brought me much joy over the years. So I thought that maybe I can contribute a bit myself by starting a little blog. The time seems to be right, as this year is my 20th anniversary of getting into wargaming (as my younger sibling has had the nerve to recently remind me, the little bastard).
So was thinking how to celebrate this. I have something like a 4-5K imperial army, but sadly I do not feel like the time is right to work on it yet (probably gonna give it a couple more decades at my rate ). I have other unpainted armies, and a goblin army that is almost finished, but I also didn't fancy doing any of that right now. So I was thinking what to do and what I came up with is this - how about finally making some decent looking terrain? I'm sure that many of you have nicely painted armies, that you've put a lot of time/effort/money into, but you - like me - are playing on old, crappy terrain that you've cobbled up when you were 16 years old and lets just say it has not aged that well. Which kind of defeats the purpose of a nicely painted army, when you are pushing your models over styrofoam hills slapped with a bit of green paint. Not what I've imagined myself doing, when in 1998 I pored over beatuiful diorama-like battles found in the pages of white dwarf!
Over the last two years me and my afformentioned brother have created a nice little desert 4x4 board for 40k, and built and painted some terrain for it and our games have gotten much more cinematic thanks to that. Now it's time to get the static grass and flock out of the box!
So what is the plan? I've decided that I want to get myself a 6x4 gaming mat, and make a set of terrain to match it. I don't want to do crazy stuff right now nor a bucketload of pieces - just enough so that I can finnish it in 2-3 months and play comfortably on a nicely decorated table. I also don't want to spend a crazy amount of $$$, I'll mostly scratch build stuff or use things that I already have.
After having watched what feels like 10hs of terrain-related tutorials on youtube and arming myself to the teeth with all sorts of bizarre materials, I've managed to make a short list of things to build:
1) Touching up a couple of old pieces that are salvageable
2) Scatter terrain - bushes, rock piles, lone trees
3) Finishing up a merchant house started a looong time ago
4) Re-working a hirst-art house I got from a friend
5) Two forrests with separately based trees
6) A set of ruins from LOTR + some ruin scatter pieces
7) three rocky hills
8) A couple of additional fences/hedges
This should give me enough to fill out the 6x4 table and make it look jazzy.
So, now that I have probably lost all my readership thanks to the TL;DR introduction I can safely put up some pictures without the worry of beeing riddiculed ;):
First of all I've been re-working some old terrain. It's all over the place right now, so no pics just yet.
Then I've made a start on some scatter pieces of terrain:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1932/44960181054_b1e2856f36.jpg)
A few ovalish bases cut out of an mdf board I had lying around, some filler, sand and rocks - nothing special yet! These are mostly gonna be bushes, with lichen used for the armatures:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4908/30744326747_777a5d07b1.jpg)
(pro tip - this stuff pops up in gardening centers around christmas time and costs near to nothing, avoid the model shops).
Next up, I did some excavations in my working area, and have uncovered an ancient relic which I will talk about in my next post.
To be continued!
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(pro tip - this stuff pops up in gardening centers around christmas time and costs near to nothing, avoid the model shops).
super-pro tip: depending on where you live, this stuff may just be hanging from the trees in your friendly neighborhood forest...year-round.
Great post, enjoyed the read as I can relate to the need for proper terrain. Looking forward to the next update.
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Yeah go to Wal-Mart and pick up trees for $1 and then spray green over the snow or keep the snow look
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1am looking forward to this thread. Dumped almost all my remaining terrain and may start again with some new ideas
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Great start for a blog, and a very relevant & interesting list of terrain to build. I made a list similar to yours a couple of years back, but went fancy and most of the things are still unfinished. Looking for inspiration from you. :-)
-Z
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Wow, thank you for all the comments gents, this forum is so alive it feels like it's 2010 :happy:!
(pro tip - this stuff pops up in gardening centers around christmas time and costs near to nothing, avoid the model shops).
super-pro tip: depending on where you live, this stuff may just be hanging from the trees in your friendly neighborhood forest...year-round.
Great post, enjoyed the read as I can relate to the need for proper terrain. Looking forward to the next update.
That is indeed a very good observation! I haven’t bumped into this stuff while hiking, it must be found further up north.
So here it is – my main project right now and a reason that I feel that this blog belongs on the site – an empire household!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4904/45684262251_15f3be5779_c.jpg)
Believe it or not, but the blueprint for this house was actually downloaded from the GW site around 2002 or 2003. Back in those days GW published modelling articles that were actually helpful and which did not claim that the only way to build a peace of terrain, is by kitbashing 200 quid worth of plastic. They also weren’t so reluctant to admit that exotic items such as plasticard, PVA and expanded styrofoam existed, and can be indeed used as a slightly cheaper alternative.
Anyways when the teen version of me got hold of the blueprint, I remember turning to my father – an avid modeler himself – for help. Now, the article recommended foamcore for the walls, which he said isn’t very sturdy and can be messy to work with. So instead I used expanded PVC. It’s basically the same white stuff from which plastic plumbing is made of. You can buy it in sheets in varying thicknesses, it’s not as hard as plasticard/polystyrene so it can be carved easly, yet it is sturdy enough to withstand gaming, transport and being occasionally dropped off the table. In short, this stuff is great and should be used be terrain makers extensively.
So I’ve built the walls out of it, added some wooden profiles to imitate the timber-frame construction…. and then I put it into a box and moved on to another project, as all normal people do. Fast-forward till now I’ve dug it up, dusted it off and started to think what to do with it. I did some serious googling of XVI-XVII c. era buildings and decided I will try to finish-off the timber frame look, with bricks peeking from under cracked mortar. Here’s two inspirational pics by a certain A. Durer.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4857/45711520561_c5fd32da3f_c.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4856/44797447165_f381c0f05e_z.jpg)
In my mind this would be a small merchant’s house. Not very large nor rich looking, but a start to a small settlement, located somewhere in the empire. The house would be a bit run-down, but with plenty of detail, bags of grain, crates, barrels and all sorts of other stuff surrounding it.
So as a start I tidied up the haphazardly glued timbers with strips of balsa (sorry no pics from this stage)! Then I added random patches of green stuff and quickly formed the bricks.
Then I’ve mixed my mortar to go onto the walls, between the timber frame. I knew it had to be thick so that I could make the bricks look like they were peeking from underneath it. So I’ve mixed a light coloured acrylic wood filler with some ballast … namely chinchilla sand! That thing is super fine but adds a bit of volume to the filler and the appropriate rough texture (normal sand is too coarse I’ve found). I applied it using a putty-knife and then pushed it around and evened it out using a peace of sponge.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4820/44959494934_8465966919_z.jpg)
The stone underpinning at the base of the buidling is strips of PVC that were carved up and stuck into place using superglue.
After all of it was dried, I brushed the balsa parts using a wire brush. This adds a ton of fantastic looking grainy texture to the wood and will definitely help with painting (nicked this idea from The Terrain Tutor on youtube).
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1973/44959494654_44b05c0319_c.jpg)
Stairs were added, made of PVC rectangles glued together and carved using a x-acto knife.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1918/45684262021_8ba5b7233b_z.jpg)
After having the walls done, it was time for the roof - to be continued!
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1934/44959494174_fafa57637a_z.jpg)
ps. let me know if the pics aren't too big/small. I am extremely rusty when it comes to posting pictures on forums.
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Love the stucco look. That is going to be a great building. I’ve had endless problems with roofs so will look forward to the next indtsllment
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Awesome! Thanks for the tutorial approach to sharing how this was made, yes!
I like the idea of using plasticard for the structure of walls, although it is a bit more expensive around here than the foam board.
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The beauty of foamboard is that you can usually pick it up for free from out of date shop advertising/promotional stuff.
Big sheets too.
If you intend to use Polyfilla (spackle ? to you yanks ) then it doesn't matter what colours or writing is on it.
I got a couple of big boards that hung from ceilings by wire in a bed shop.
I find balsa a bit too lightweight and have used wood battens and wooden lolly (popsicle) sticks or coffee stirrers for the framing.
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I like the idea of using plasticard for the structure of walls, although it is a bit more expensive around here than the foam board.
Thanks GamesPoet! I don't think what I'm using for the walls etc. is plasticard. I always have a problem describing what it is exactly as the names for these various plastic products differ in various countries and are not very consistent. What I think I'm using is this: https://www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Materials/Expanded-PVC (https://www.curbellplastics.com/Research-Solutions/Materials/Expanded-PVC) - expanded foam polyvinyl chloride (sounds like I'm planning to kidnap someone for ransom I know). It's often used for producing advertisment boards etc. and it's super cheap when compared to plasticard.
Plasticard is much tougher and much more expensive, I do have both. I'm not 100% sure but I think that the proper "trade" name for plasticard is high impact polystyrene (help, is there a chemist on board)? Plasticard would be very difficult to shape like this, you will see what I mean when I get to the roof tiles :smile2:.
The beauty of foamboard is that you can usually pick it up for free from out of date shop advertising/promotional stuff.
Big sheets too.
If you intend to use Polyfilla (spackle ? to you yanks ) then it doesn't matter what colours or writing is on it.
I got a couple of big boards that hung from ceilings by wire in a bed shop.
I find balsa a bit too lightweight and have used wood battens and wooden lolly (popsicle) sticks or coffee stirrers for the framing.
I have some foamboard that I have acquired just as you have described here, I need to experiment with it I think. And yes, what I meant by acrylic filler is polyfilla/spackle. It's my second favourite product after PVC!
You are right, balsa is very brittle and I try to use it only when it's supported by PVC or some other strong material. Battens were used for the framing too and for the roof. I'll get to that part soon, I just need to snap a couple more photos.
In the meantime, work has also been progressing on the scatter pieces. Got the lichen stuck to the bases with a hot glue gun (that thing is a horrid invention and leaves a terrible mess):
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4829/45662938232_d0d6dec26b_z.jpg)
EDIT: a sneaky pic of our 40k board as background
I then gave the lichen a quick blast of green paint with an airbrush:
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1934/43895950030_def9c1a6f7_z.jpg)
I know that they were green already and I could have left them as they were, but to my experience lichen tends to get really soft and upleasant looking after a couple of years (I guess it just rots away). Maybe the paint will seal it and help preserving it better. I am still planning on spraying it with glue and adding clump foliage to it, and then probably varnishing the whole thing just to make sure. I'll let you know if it worked in 10 years time....
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Ah, well I stand corrected. "Expanded PVC" is not the same as plasti-card, yet my confusion has now been cleared. :icon_cool: :::cheers:::
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Hey Black Knight
If you are concentrating on Scenery and Buildings this would be better in the Empire Crafts and Skills Board.
Would you be happy for me to move it?
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nice nice work. Would love to do stuff like that. Maybe in the future
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Hey Black Knight
If you are concentrating on Scenery and Buildings this would be better in the Empire Crafts and Skills Board.
Would you be happy for me to move it?
Hey Midaski, oops I haven't noticed there is a specific terrain subsection on the forums! If you feel the thread is ill-placed here you can move it if you wish of course. I posted it in the glass cabinet as I figured that's where most of the forum traffic was and where I could get the most interaction :icon_smile:.
Anyways, where were we? Ah yes, the roof. I did it in a pretty convoluted way, so I wouldn’t go about it the same if I were to make another one. But I will roughly try and explain what I did and why (Warning! long post).
So in essence I tried to copy what a real timber frame roof would be built like, getting a lot of inspiration from the Tabletop World buildings and some online pictures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_roof_truss#/media/File:Roof_parts_simplified.svg
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_roof_truss#/media/File:Roof_parts_simplified.svg)
(https://timberframehq.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Cruck-Constructed-Granary.jpg)
(https://www.tabletop-world.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/mShop2.jpg)
(https://www.tabletop-world.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/mShop4.jpg)
So the easiest way would be to cut some battens to length and stick them to sit on the two triangular gable walls. They would imitate the purlins, which can occasionaly stick out of the face of the wall, as you can see in the images below.
(https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-cc91b0256fb06ce2bedb69eba6f8f94c)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1933/45680118632_e2bdd85817.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1964/45005500014_1e6fa175b9.jpg)
Then I would cover them with some balsa to represent the laths (or slats as they may be called, the long strips of wood onto which shingles or roof tiles are nailed to) and finally cover it all up with roof tiles. I didn’t have to worry about representing the rafters, as they would be pretty much obscured by the laths and tiles in real life. However I did not have enough of battens nor balsa to do the roof like that, thus a lot of improvising ensued.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1942/43913023430_e7531472a0_z.jpg)
What I did is I made the roof slopes out of two pieces of PVC to save on balsa strips. Then I cut some short pieces of battens to imitate the purlins and I stuck them to the triangular gable walls on either side of the building. I had to pay attention so that they would line up. They were of course falling off constantly and in the end I had to pin every single one of them (at this point I started regretting not going to the craft store and just buying longer battens).
Then I added four longer strips of balsa to act as the rafters that would actually be visible.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4838/45680274172_53c647ec25_z.jpg)
For detailing the eaves (the edges of the roof which overhang the face of the wall) I stuck some shorter pieces of balsa between the rafters and the gable wall, scoring them with a pencil to imitate the laths. In some places I did this on both sides, so that I could do a few missing roof tiles and have some cool looking wood peeking from underneath
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4880/43912961280_a4bf5875b4.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1903/43913094780_a8681a3236_n.jpg)
This is how the house looked at this stage:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4893/45005695894_ac8f6a78c7_z.jpg)
At this point I also added the little shed you see on the picture (it's where they keep the granny). This time I made one of the walls out of thicker balsa, to add some variation. The other walls were finised using my stucco mix.
For the roof tiles I had a bit of conundrum. I wanted to go with slate tiles, but also didn’t want to go the usual cardboard tile way, as they look a bit flat. So I went with PVC as it looks a bit better in this scale. The PVC was textured and carved into strips to save some time and then stuck onto the roof using superglue.
(https://ak9.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/4292459/thumb/1.jpg)
some very inspirational slate
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1956/45680442572_52d752897d_z.jpg)
A thin sheet of PVC I textured by hammering it with a piece of rock.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4853/45680441402_737e78da1e.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1916/43913301730_769a834069.jpg)[/url]
A chimney was added shortly, also carved out from a piece of thicker PVC, and stuck to the roof…..completely skewed! Damn. Had to tear it off and re-align it.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4876/45730978191_dcff2f134b_n.jpg)
(btw the red dots are blood, my thumbs will never be the same after all of this)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1953/45005835244_d95727219b_z.jpg)
I left a couple of areas where the laths peek from underneath, with missing tiles etc. to help achieving this 3D look.
So this is where I finished last night, both of the roof slopes are pretty much done. I still have to do the ridge area, add the ridge beam sticking out from the gable wall, and then probably add some tiles to the little shed.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4846/45005938084_5988222f1e_z.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4831/30790749177_46efe6a2e0.jpg)
Otherwise I can start working on a base and finally start adding some finer details, which I'm really looking forward to. Stay tuned!
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I'm liking all the detail, well done! :eusa_clap: :::cheers:::
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I'm impressed with the roof - firstly the beams, and then the polystyrene is a first also.
I have seen and done mine with card strips from cereal packets, but the polystyrene does give a thicker dimension to the whole thing.
Your creativeness and attention to detail is inspiring.
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Anyways, where were we? Ah yes, the roof. I did it in a pretty convoluted way, so I wouldn’t go about it the same if I were to make another one. But I will roughly try and explain what I did and why (Warning! long post).
So in essence I tried to copy what a real timber frame roof would be built like, getting a lot of inspiration from the Tabletop World buildings and some online pictures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_roof_truss#/media/File:Roof_parts_simplified.svg
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_roof_truss#/media/File:Roof_parts_simplified.svg)
(https://timberframehq.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Cruck-Constructed-Granary.jpg)
It is interesting how this roof is not symmetrical in construction, and I'm wonderign why? It says it is a granary, so perhaps that has something to do with it?
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@Midaski @GamesPoet
Thank you very much for the kind words gentlmen! :icon_redface:
@GamesPoet - about the weird looking roof from the picture, if you look closely you can see that the attic was raised slightly in a later time period. The ridge beam shows where the original roof ended, you can see its outline on the gabel wall, a triangle of wooden beams marks it. They added more bricks to the gabel wall to make it higher, but only on the left side, which made the axis of the extended roof shift to the left. This has most likely made the whole structure a tad unstable. That's why they added a few rows of bricks to the left-hand wall, in order for the truss to sit better. They also supported one of the purlins with those huge blocky diagonal struts. EDIT: The entire left side of the roof slope was reconstructed, the rafters on the right are massive and visibly old, while those on the left are much thinner.
I absolutely love their attitude about the whole thing "yes it looks weird but it hasn't collapsed on our heads so who cares"
This kinda fits with what I remember from my art history studies. It was not uncommon that roofs, vaulted ceilings and other "complex" structures weren't always perfectly symmetrical. Buildings were often constructed without precise mathematical calculations and bigger or smaller "mistakes" did happen. Some of them weren't even mistakes at all. If you scroll up to see Durer's little study of some little rural hamlet, and look at how the timber framing and windows are placed, you can see that symmetry isn't really their thing. Windows and doorways were placed where they would be useful/comfortable to use, and not necessarilly following any strict architectural guidelines.
Even large, official structures show a bit of "freedom" with the interpretation of these guidelines. Sometimes they resulted with a window placed in an odd position: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Ko%C5%9Bci%C3%B3%C5%82_Mariacki.JPG (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Ko%C5%9Bci%C3%B3%C5%82_Mariacki.JPG) (from a church in Danzig). Even the most lavish medieval churches are not free from funny cockups, this is from the Canterbury Cathedral:
(https://kulturawplot.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/canterbury-luk.jpg).
Working the night shift I suppose
My medieval architecture professor used to collect pictures of things like these, claiming that they were charming.
Sometimes the mistakes were much more grievous. For example the Beauvais Cathedral witnessed some pretty horrific accidents, including the collapse of part of its vaulted ceilings, which killed many stonemasons.
Umm sorry for the long post and the "lectury" tone, I get easily excited when talking about this stuff! :icon_redface:
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No need to apologize to me. I like this stuff too.
So I suspect the granary was already having an issue and they adjusted for it. Good to see!
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Wow! That roof brings tears to my eyes. Not the same type of tears I had after my fiasco. This is magnificent.
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Great read!!!
looking forward for more
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Great handicraft skills, and great reference. Very inspirational! Thanks, and please keep it coming. :-)
-Z
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Thanks for all the kind words guys! I’ve managed to squeeze in another little update, before my week turns really busy.
Work has progressed on the terrain bases / scatter pieces / however you want to call them. I got the idea to do them after getting to see what the historical-wargames guys do. They often seem to make pretty lavish looking tables, filled with all kinds of little details, bushes, random trees – all that jazz.
(https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qNaaqDZUR0o/VTwIIK08KvI/AAAAAAAAVjk/pUUK9BfgU4Y/s1600/DSCF7910.JPG)
(Nerdgasm! From the Scrivland blog)
It does not have to impact the game in terms of line of sight, or movement of big bodies of troops etc. It’s just there to add to the spectacle and look pretty. I very much like this approach!
These are very handy for skirmish games also – I’m having some buddies over next week for our traditional seasonal Malifaux event, and these will help filling up the tables.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4820/30840266517_97cf3b555d_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1923/43962814540_d42536d628_z.jpg)
They have been painted, drybrushed and then very liberally covered in all kinds of flock/static grass that I have at my disposal. I’m pretty much experimenting with all these various products and just seeing what sticks (groan).
They still have some way to go, right now I’m pondering on how to finish off the bushes. I might just flock them with some fine turf. There’s also an option of getting some of these fine leaves made by Noch.
(https://www.slotcar-union.com/19733-carre514/noch-07142-leaves-light-green.jpg)
They look great and would be also very useful for making trees. Or I could just leave the bushes as they are. Undecided!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4910/45055212114_9186d10a47_z.jpg)
Well, as I ponder on this matter in the meantime here is my first piece that I think is truly finished
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4806/45779622971_48750324b4_z.jpg)
The timeless gamer classic: “boulders stacked onto one another by an unseen force”. The rocks were recycled from another piece of terrain, that I felt could not be saved. I’m happy that I trashed it, as I have to say that I’m pretty stoked about how this one came out!
A bit of work got done on the house also, but nothing picture worthy just yet.
More updates after the weekend.
Cheers!
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Looks great. Keeping a tab on it now....
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Wow everything looks so fantastic. Meanwhile I'm over here with my buildings made out of lego and spray painted black.
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Wow everything looks so fantastic. Meanwhile I'm over here with my buildings made out of lego and spray painted black.
You spray paint Lego black? :icon_eek:
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And I’m back!
Sadly work has not progressed on the bushes, as I haven’t been able to locate any latex-based spray glue nearby. I finally caved in and ordered online, but I’m still waiting for it to arrive (grumble). I also didn’t have time to look for the Noch leaves, as I’ve been too swamped with work.
However, I felt compelled to churn out a couple more terrain pieces for the event we’re having on Saturday. The guys usually raid their Malifaux club and borrow scenery from there, but it’s not always certain.
So I decided to finish off a few bits from my old terrain collection, that I felt were worth fixing.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4824/45878871781_c57ca61798_c.jpg)
I’ve effectively re-flocked them using three colours of fine turf. Then I’ve added some coarser flock and finally tufts and flowers. I still have to fix the spruces a bit as they have lost most of their flock , but I need the damn glue to do that.
I’ve also dug out a small cromlêh type structure, that a friend of mine left in my possession. Earlier this year I did some work on it, mainly by gluing the broken stones back onto their base.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1932/45879224961_9a2deb3acd_c.jpg)
I wasn’t originally going to keep this, but I noticed that the colour of the static grass used on it matched my latest efforts pretty closely. So I decided to give it a super quick facelift, as it would allow me to almost fill out an entire 3x3 Malifaux table, if I got this done in time.
So the first thing was to strengthen the whole structure. As you can see whoever made this, picked corrugated cardboard as a basing material. This was obviously a bad choice, as the base was very warped and the Styrofoam stones were wobbling very alarmingly, whenever it was moved.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4889/32007789138_d3d35cae6b_c.jpg)
Some quick work with a jigsaw produced a snazzy looking MDF base…..after I made the first one too small that is!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4861/32007791758_8c65649382_c.jpg)
After spending 20 minutes wrestling with the absolutely useless hot glue gun (Again! Why do I keep convincing myself it’s a good idea to trust this thing), I finally managed to get the original cardboard base stuck to the wood using an epoxy putty
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4860/44062539850_79df92beb0_c.jpg)
Next, it was time to make the stones look less silly. From what I could gather, they were made out of expanded polystyrene (the not cool kind used for packaging), smeared with some plaster, painted and covered in static grass. Not how I would go about it definitely!
So after I scrapped off most of the grass I made a textured spackle mix to, make the surface of the stones a bit more interesting. This time I chose white spackle, added in some chinchilla sand and a bit of the coarser sand I use for basing.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4893/32007788078_fa2af9c14f_z.jpg)
Then I added a dollop of black and raw umber acrylic paints, to add colour to the mix and do the base colours in one go.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1939/32007785838_7621d247f0_z.jpg)
I applied the mix it with an old brush all over the rocks, adding in a bit of water to make it flow better. While the rocks were drying, I applied some pure filler to the edge of the base, to blend in the old base with the new one and create a little slope.
This was the end result.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4867/45155054354_d4ab0be6d2_c.jpg)
I had to leave the whole piece to dry. Later I will add sand and all kinds of flock. The stones will get a solid drybrush and some washes. Maybe then I won’t feel like I’m wasting my time, as so far I remain otherwise unconvinced!
I have only Friday evening to finish this, fingers crossed.
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Uh oh, a sacrificial offering stone in the middle. :icon_eek:
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It's pretty corny I know, it's how I got it though, that's my line of defense! :icon_wink:
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Hey guys, here’s me again reporting with another update.
So, for better or for worse the cromlech circle is done! I think it still looks kinda crap but hey! At least it’s better than what I was playing on before (YES IT IS). I barely managed to finish it before the event, the glue was setting as I was setting up the tables (felt like running a real event heh).
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4867/44167694900_7f37be0815_c.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4851/44167693690_3d48182a1c_c.jpg)
The stonework was treated to a couple of random washes (using mostly craft acrylic paints - greens, ruddy browns) and then drybrushed with browns, greys and beiges. Then the usual flocking commenced, trying to blend in the outer rim with the original base. To be honest I’m not that crazy about the overall results. I’m still of the opinion that the surface of the “rocks” looks too much like plaster-covered pieces of Styrofoam. But it’s either tearing them all down and starting from scratch, or just dealing with it and moving on. Since I still have a quite a list to go – option B has been selected. I might revisit the stones at a later date and add moss, thus hiding most of the unrealistic looking areas. Something along the lines of this:
(https://66.media.tumblr.com/26cc57c538710643fe5ff3eb2a9b134e/tumblr_p4b76zKZRb1u0h8ulo7_1280.jpg)
I do need to experiment with moss first. Anyways I couldn’t help but making this “before and after” comparison picture, in order to strengthen my belief in the decision to just leave it be for now!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4876/45072690325_403a2b730c_c.jpg)
The event itself was very fun and relaxed. Maybe even a bit TOO relaxed, as I have troubles recalling some key moments from my later games. Might have something to do with how "lubricated" I was towards the end. Also sheds some light on the issue why I placed next-to-last. Still Malifaux is an absolutely top game, even when you play like a pillock.
On other fronts work has not been progressing as much as I’d like, mainly due to my inability to locate the small leaves for the bushes. Paradoxically, the harder it is to find them, the more I’m determined to hunt them down. Seems that my addiction to small pieces of plastic and pewter has been replaced with an addiction to small dyed pieces of sponge. Even harder to explain to the outside world I feel!
A bit of work has been done on the house. The roofs are now pretty much finished, apart from filling in a couple of gaps. I googled a lot trying to find out how roof spines in slate-tiled roofs should be finished, but as I couldn’t find a definite answer, I just did two rows of tiles and glued them together onto the ridge. The tiles on the little shed were made using offcuts from the larger roof.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4831/44167692120_0253f49115_c.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4845/45259740574_1ea7066f0e_c.jpg)
I kind of feel like the house is going to be my little “passion project”, in the sense that I will put a bit of more work into it, while I try and power through the rest of my to-do list.
Speaking of which, though I didn’t get the leaves, the spray glue did finally arrive. Which allowed me to open a whole new can of worms – TREES! I feel that this is a tougher subject to discuss properly, so allow me to finish here, as I’ll try finding some reference photographs and explain what I’m trying to do.
Another update coming real soon, cheers for now!
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It seems like the mini-Stonehenge circle with sacrificial altar in the center came out better than it was, so congrats! :::cheers::: :eusa_clap:
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@ Thanks GamesPoet!
Hey guys, sorry for the absence. I was trying to get a bigger update on the project, but I kept getting side-tracked.
Anyways as I was saying – It's time to get some trees done!
Now there are many ways to approach this subject. The easiest way is to obviously go out and just buy some from model railway companies. There is a ton of options, the simplest are the stylized trees made of bottle cleaners, which we all well know:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4853/44543895990_4147e8735e_b.jpg)
Very self-explanatory, the bristles of the brush work as branches, you spray the entire thing in glue, dip it into flock and job done. GW used to make these, and I remember always wanting to buy them as a kid.
In fact I did buy a set of conifer trees similar to those and they have been kicking around my gaming tables for the past two decades. And they really do look like they have been kicked, punched and mistreated in all possible ways, since by now they have virtually lost all their flock. They’ve kind of transformed back into bottle cleaners at this point.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4897/44543895130_d2d28db9da_c.jpg)
Poor things!
I decided that they can be pressed into service once more, after I’ve replaced the flock they lost. So out comes the Fast Tak spray and some coloured sawdust I had lying about. The sawdust is ancient stuff, but I feel it looks pretty good on conifer trees – not so much for deciduous trees (more about that later).
This is how they looked after being sprayed and receiving several solid sprinkles:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4853/32488895888_7543836cdb_b.jpg)
I decided to use different colours in order to make them look more natural. After they dried I sealed them using a scenic glue recipe I’ve nicked from some of the youtubers – essentially 3:1 PVA glue and water and some washing liquid. I tried securing the flock using hair spray and artists fixative, but for some reason they had a reverse effect from what I was going for and my test tree lost all its “needles”. Perhaps it’s the solvents in these particular spray cans, that reacted with the spray glue? No idea. Anyways the watered down PVA works okay, although some of the flock is still coming off annoyingly. Perhaps I should do another coat? The glue can leave some white marks if there is too much of it, so I am somewhat hesitant to try it a second time.
Like I said in my original post, I’ve decided to go for individual bases of trees, instead of sticking them all together on one big base. I know this doesn’t look as nice, but allows me to use them separately and of course allows units to move through forests. I just went with MDF bases, that I cut myself (since I’m a cheapskate with a jigsaw and didn’t feel like buying):
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4822/45448248745_43c03c5846_b.jpg)
I was really pondering on how to texture them, as I wanted to go for a slightly different and more “foresty” type of ground, to differentiate from the other terrain features I’m doing.
So then I stumbled upon this video: https://youtu.be/ToF1Do_HPag (https://youtu.be/ToF1Do_HPag). I wholeheartedly recommend watching it, as this guy’s attention to detail puts my measly efforts to shame! The end effect is spectacular, although the amount of work is also pretty staggering. I decided I want to do something similar, but also simpler.
I figured that I would try adding some exposed roots first. You can often see this effect with conifer trees, as they root themselves pretty shallow. I used DAS for sculpting, which is an air-hardening clay, roughly rolling out some of it and pushing it onto the bases. To make the roots stick to the MDF surface, it is necessary to dampen it first by brushing on a bit of water. After I was happy with their general shape, I let it set for 24h.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4906/44543894300_59c2d73111_b.jpg)
Next was the groundcover. Like in the film above, I did my muddy groundcover by mixing filler with various materials to increase volume and add texture. I essentially used chinchilla sand again, but also blended wood fiber (also from the pet store), which I dyed using inks and water first. Three different types of dried moss were also chopped up and thrown into the mix, with a couple drops of raw umber and a bit of green for good measure.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4900/31421482307_4a8e7ab538_c.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4803/44543893620_99e81b29ca_b.jpg)[/url]
After all was thoroughly mixed, I applied this messy substance to the bases using a putty-knife.
Here’s how the bases looked after they have dried:
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4868/31421482037_2158f8cd5b_b.jpg)
I also should mention that I did paint over them with watered down PVA so that they wouldn’t chip. I should’ve probably roughened the bases first, to help with adhesion, but I didn’t think about it really.
Painting up next. Since I’ve already added paint in the mixing process, this went pretty quickly. I was able to get some pretty good colours using simple glazes with watered down paints. A pretty random mix of craft store black, dark browns, reds and greens to be precise. I drybrushed the bases using a sandy Vallejo colour. The roots were picked out with Reaper Volcano Brown and highlighted in Reaper Ashen Brown.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4906/44543892850_248de0b83c_b.jpg)
I think for a spooky dead forest this would’ve been enough. But since I’m doing more of a summer theme, I wanted to build up some resemblance of moss patches, by sprinkling the fine turf blends onto selected areas. I also added little twigs (made from dried roots), and a couple of clumps of static grass. I knew most of the base was gonna be obscured anyways, but I was just curious what effect could I get with a little bit more work.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4877/31421481617_977cdf9a50_b.jpg)
With the bases done, it was time to drill little holes and mount my trees at last! WHEW!!!
And here they are, the first batch of trees all done!!!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4906/46360676991_d0b755b663_b.jpg)
The final pic didn't turn so well - I will do a better group shot soon!
They still need a coat of matt varnish, to kill off any glossiness there might be from the various glues etc., but otherwise I’m pretty happy with how they've turned out. Time to get started on the second batch. Gonna need building some deciduous trees from scratch, as I don’t have many of those lying around. I have some ideas already.....
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Those bases are awesome. Like the reuse of the trees as well.
I’m all for the smaller bases for the trees.
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Fancy tree bases! :icon_biggrin: :eusa_clap:
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They are beautiful!
Thanks for showing how you did them. Inspiring!
-Z
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Many thanks for the nice words gents! I'm happy to share my process with you, I am pretty much learning as I go :happy:.
Those bases are awesome. Like the reuse of the trees as well.
I’m all for the smaller bases for the trees.
I do want to make at least 2 bigger bases for the trees to sit in, to mark the outlines of the forests. I can't really decide how to go about it yet. Should I go for the "sunk" bases, with holes cut out? You know that type:
(http://www.daemonscape.com/contents/media/l_trees%20003.jpg)
It's going to be a bit of a hassle fitting my irregular bases into individually cut holes. Plus I can just dump whichever trees I want onto a big flat base, making the forest look different each time. But then it can't have too much texture on it, as the smaller bases wouldn't sit flat, which would of course annoy me foreeever :icon_lol:.
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Not sure if this helps, but I'm doing a dozen of individual trees on regular 40mm round bases, and intend to do two or three larger woods bases with sunken base holes for the individual trees. So modular throughout.
I want to do a couple of smaller woods, similar to yours, with two or three trees each. But the larger woods I'll do regular/modular, in order not to 'waste' the trees if I don't want to use the larger woods.
-Z
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I would suggest doing 2 layers of mdf. Sine your handy with the saw. Make the first base outline with 1/8 mdf. Overlay it with a second piece and trace the same outline, then cut out your bases from the 2nd piece where you want them and use the cutouts to go right into the same holes. Wood glue the two originals back together and you have your template with your tree holes. The base winds up being 1/4” thick by you get exactly what you would want. 😺
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Thanks a lot for the tips, that's probably how I'll go about making my larger bases :). I do need to produce more trees first, so I can pick an choose which ones go where.
I also have the plastic GW forest. I am intending on using the trees for a different project, but I might paint up the base and use it to make three forests, instead of the planned two.
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4Ground have or had a product of some wood bases, with two layers of mdf - a shaped bottom layer and then an upper layer with either 2 or 3 60mm circular cut outs for the trees.
Just had a hunt around their website, and I cannot find them - I hope they haven't dropped them. :icon_sad:
I bought several and have then got extra 60mm plastic round bases from Renedra. So using a couple of set ground covers for the overall bases, I am able to use a variety of 60mm based 'trees' for the scenic effect.
I have two base coverings:
Firstly I have a sort of sand finish, into which I can choose to drop Palm Trees for a desert look, or Cactus for a Wild West board.
Similarly I can swap my other set of bases from Pine, to Deciduous, or Jungle.
The actual 'trees' can obviously lift out if you want to move troops through the woods. The curves on the bases can come together to make larger forests if need.
(https://www.4ground.co.uk/image/cache/data/Trees%20And%20Scenic%20Materials/800-2x-Mature-Beech-Trees02-500x500.jpg)
If you look closely at this picture, you can see the wood bases in use -
https://www.4ground.co.uk/unp-bases/4ground-large-tree-base
https://www.4ground.co.uk/unp-bases/4ground-small-tree-base
Bit late now as you have done your bases, but it might be a good solution to make your efforts simpler to do in the future.
Your skill with actually doing the flocking and basing would be helped by ready-made bases to avoid tricky cut and fits.
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What an awesome thread. Can’t believe I didnt see this before!
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@Midaski
Thanks for the tips about the 4ground stuff. I think it’ll be easier for me to just do this myself, but I will keep them in mind.
@Warlord
Thanks a lot and don’t worry. The Empire Crafts is a desolate and lonely kingdom ;)
Anyways work hasn’t progressed much on anything terrain-related recently and I feel bad. In my defence, I did manage to play some games over the past weeks. This even included a nice 1500 game of greenskins vs skaven, where the nasty ratmen managed to overcome my forces narrowly. Poor gobbos! At least Queek got run down by squig hoppers to his ignominy.
I have to get back to work again though, as me and my buds are embarking on a Real Warhammer CampaginTM pretty soon. Which I am supposedly running. Am I up to the task :Ohmy:?
To get myself going again, I rounded up all the things I’ve managed to complete since November last year and snapped a quick dirty photo:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7880/32901720068_8be40fb791_b.jpg)
It’s not as much as I’d hope to get done, but it’s still something. I did manage to add some foliage to the bushes, thus completing the first two points on my checklist – huzzazh!
1) Touching up a couple of old pieces that are salvageable
2) Scatter terrain - bushes, rock piles, lone trees
3) Finishing up a merchant house started a looong time ago
4) Re-working a hirst-art house I got from a friend
5) Two forrests with separately based trees
6) A set of ruins from LOTR + some ruin scatter pieces
7) three rocky hills
8) A couple of additional fences/hedges
I’ve also churned out nearly 50% of the trees planned. Now I just need to force myself to get the remainder done, but I also feel like I’m getting nowhere with my painting recently. Why aren’t there more hours in a day?
Our first campagin mission requires a couple of objectives to fight over. It’s a raid scenario, where both armies send out scouts to forage for food and supplies, bumping into each other in a village they intended on sacking. I made this quick mock up before work yesterday:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7894/31835686297_b0cb4ce542_b.jpg)
Gotta have them finished by Saturday morning, so there’s bound to be some form of update soon.
As always – thanks for reading.
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Really like where this is going!
-Z
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Good to see the finished items all in the one photo. :icon_cool:
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Wellp, this is how far I got on the objectives before the game:
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7862/32937148088_96cf099fa7_b.jpg)
Basecoated, washed and drybrushed. Nothing fancy.. As you can see there are only 5 instead of the planned 8, as thankfully my friends assured me they will bring some suitable objectives with them (which they did). I might add some static grass to these at some point, but I'm pretty okay with how they look for now.
The initial game of our campagin was a blast :). Ditching 9th in favour of 8th allowed us to have some fun with special characters. Tyrion and Queek took to the field, as did Snagla Grobspit on my part. I played Gobbos vs High elves, unfortunately a wild animosity roll caused my bunker unit to make a wild charge, thus on turn 2 I've lost my mage, general and BSB. Later I did play the objective game better and managed to go down only 12:8. On the other table the Skaven dispatched their Wood Elf opponents relatively easly, with Queek's Stormvermin cutting a bloody path throughout the battlefield.
Next battle in roughly a month, gotta get working on more terrain!
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Good looking stuff.
Where are the big wheels from on the objective markers? I have a steam tank sitting on blocks and these look like they might fit the bill.
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Thanks mate!
The wheels I bought online, ages ago from an auction. Haven't seen them since. I have a bunch that I'm likely never going to use (they're too big for chariots). I can send you some, PM me and we'll talk :icon_smile:.
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Life is keeping me away from toy soldiers and terrain building (sad face) and sadly there is no progress on my quest for a decent gaming table.
I did however create something recently, that involves miniature scenery, which I think might be of interest to ya all.
The brother of my significant other had his 30th birthday recently. As a gift I’ve built him a little LOTR themed diorama (he’s a big fan of Gollum). The scene I was trying to emulate was when Gollum was tracking Sam and Frodo through Emyn Muil.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7806/47105335451_851d4ca660_b.jpg)
The miniature is GW’s obviously, while the main structure of the rocky outcrop was built out of cork. Its surface was chiselled and chipped, and then covered with watered down spackle, to make it more robust. It also helped blending the miniature's base with the cork.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7835/47105342351_dce6b067de_b.jpg)
The painting was my usual process of layering various greys and browns – only this time I used an airbrush as I was pressed for time. Washes and drybrushes were used to finish off the painting part. I’ve used 5 kinds of different tufts and a mossy blend from gale force 9 to add a bit of vegetation. The tree is made from a piece of desert root that was covered in watered down PVA and painted. I've also constructed a little nest with some static grass and by adding a couple of eggs made of green stuff.
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7857/33230113408_86e35ffc63_h.jpg)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7840/40140595503_8f5d4abaef_h.jpg)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7804/33230113178_a0077f620b_b.jpg)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7861/40140595193_0a96c1cc43_b.jpg)
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7849/33230112808_e1b6c512b6_b.jpg)
I must say I am very pleased with how the piece turned out. I think the combination of cork and spackle looks pretty darn realistic. I will try to use this technique for my future hills (see, there is a vague link to the actual subject of my blog)! I've also discovered that I love doing dioramas! I will deffinietly have another go at this in the future.
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Fantastic - just from one mini, some tufts and easy to find general DIY stuff.
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Well done! :eusa_clap: :::cheers:::
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Now that's an eye catcher! :eusa_clap:
-Z
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Thanks again for the kind words gents! My gf has a large collection of bare metal LOTR minis. I am itching to start turning them into little dioramas like this one. I doubt we will ever get to play the game itself, but these would be very pretty sitting in a glass cabinet!
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HOLY COW this is awesome work :::cheers::: :::cheers::: :::cheers:::
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I need to see all this on a gaming board!
Awesome work!
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Thanks! I’ll get to that once I have a snazzy looking gaming mat and some more terrain pieces done. Best I can do for now is this picture of the terrain setup for the final game of our campaign, my terrain is mixed among the other guys stuff.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47856598432_381795f163_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47908569671_46b0d30df1_b.jpg)
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Aww geeez it’s been a while, hasn’t it?
Sorry for the long hiatus guys, but between the goblins, campaigning and some pretty harsh real life stuff I haven’t been very much in “terrain building mode” in the last couple of months. So it goes with our hobby I guess, inspiration and free time are not a given.
But I had an off day for terrain making .., and I’m here to tell you about it.
So I couldn’t decide what to work on after my hiatus. I was itching to start something new and exciting, but in the end I went back to the tree-making. Let’s call it a memento for all the endangered world forests today.
With all the conifer trees done I had to tackle the deciduous ones at last. I must say that I ummed an ahhhed about it for a good while….then I remembered that I have a huge stash of desert roots hidden in my basement. I know that right now most of you are going “wtf dude” but it’s actually pretty simple. My father – an avid model maker himself - regularly goes to the African coast of the Mediterranean because of work. He’s been collecting and bringing these roots over the span of at least a decade, as they literally just look like little trees. Just look at them:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48655876422_8329409a71_c.jpg)
He always said they would make awesome trees, but I was just too lazy to do anything with them. I realize this is probably pretty unhelpful for anyone wishing to copy my work but hey ho. I know there are options to find stuff like this in gardening centres etc. You just have to be a bit lucky.
So anyways the plan was simple. Get the roots washed, dried and stuck onto mdf bases. Then add some roots made of DAS, and blend the trunks a bit. Some of my natural armatures got a bit broken in storage, but I’ve managed to fix some of them by pinning the twigs together. It sounds a bit crazy, but it’s the same process as with pinning miniature bits. Here are the results of today’s session, the clay needs to harden (there's one model tree in there as well and one that will be left dead, without any leaves):
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48655729691_c2b959ee96_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48655468688_c9991fc0c7_c.jpg)
The twigs will be painted using various woodstains (as you can already see on some of the test pieces, that I’ve done). Then I will cover them in watered down PVA to make them a bit more robust, before moving onto the foliage.
Stay tuned! I know they don't look like much yet, but have faith :smile2:
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that looks like a great start to some leafy trees. seems to me they would snap like dry twigs (ha!) but, you must think they will hold up to the rigors of gaming. Maybe you are a very gentle gamer?
Looking forward to the foliage, that's the hard part as far as I can tell.
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I like the looks so far! :icon_cool: :::cheers:::
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Cheers GamesPoet!
@Naitsabes:
Naaah I knock my terrain around like it owes me money. Truth be told I am worried that the armatures may turn out too brittle. The "trunks' are super tough, I have trouble breaking them in half using clippers, but the branches are a different story.
I was thinking of dipping the entire thing in latex rubber, like this fellow suggests:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ryYEMomK8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-ryYEMomK8)
Unfortunately I can't source any cheap liquid rubber. It's like 15 quid per litre here - at this rate I might as well buy ready trees, rather than fiddle around with sticks. I'm gona try 2 coats of watered down PVA, like I did with the little twig I put on the Gollum diorama. This SHOULD make it sturdy enough. Gluing the foliage down will secure it even further I hope, and then varnishing etc. I guess it's a risk I have to take!
Trees are painted already, working on the bases tonight. Should have some new pics tomorrow I hope :)
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Quote BK: Naaah I knock my terrain around like it owes me money.
Now that made me laugh. I used to treat my mini’s that way at the gameshop. Always handfuls of casualties but had to bow down to peer pressure. They were horrified at the way I treated them so I tried to make them feel better. 😸
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Hahah! Well...maybe I'm not THAT bad with it, just that the normal amount of wear and tear, knocking stuff off the table etc.
But..to be honest, in my early 20's I did use to carry my Norse blood bowl team casually thrown into a woolen pouch with a viking amulet on it. I don't know why, I guess was just beeing facetious with the "if the gods want it, they won't come apart" approach. And I yes I've also made my friends feel uncomofrtable, to the point where they demanded I get them a proper carrying box :icon_mrgreen:.
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Update time.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48710569048_7d3886936c_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48710562683_319905f6a2_b.jpg)[/url]
I’ve finished painting and basing the trees! The woodstains did their job better than paints would, by producing this slightly desaturated, patchy natural look. The only problem is that I had little control over what the final result but hey. At least I didn't have to fiddle around with the airbrush.
As for the bases it was pretty much my standard technique as described before. The vegetation was created by using dark flock for the moss, some grass tufts and then a few spots of coarser flock for the underbush.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48710891796_1d9afbf3c1_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48710896886_70991bcd07_c.jpg)[/url]
One new thing, that I wanted to try out, was making some more distinct-looking plants. Out comes the little plastic twig I picked up at the florist at some point.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48711071047_e31307535c_c.jpg)
I know that many people use aquarium plants and just stick them to their bases, this is made of similar, glossy, crappy plastic. After snipping away several bigger pieces, I was left pondering how to paint them. I know that people often bathe them in a degreaser and prime them or whatnont. I was feeling reckless, so I just busted out the gretching green, washed them with biel-tan and boom! Done. Sometimes it’s better to not overthink things I guess.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48710573453_bb6ddc4f8d_c.jpg)
The only thing left was snipping of smaller pieces and supergluing them to the base. I think I’ve managed to create quite convincing little firs.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48710572073_cdaef71063_c.jpg)
While I had my basing materials out, I revisited the objective markers I did before and added a bit of greenery.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48711052592_e195d7f8c6_c.jpg)
Next step of the tree making process will be spraying diluted pva all over the trees and bases. I reeeeally hope I don’t ruin everything :icon_eek:!
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Excellent, looking great! I love the one that looks like an older tree with some of its roots above the ground.
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This is fantastic
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Beautiful trees!
-Z
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Thank you again guys!
@GamesPoet - that one is easily my favourie as well :icon_biggrin:.
So - back with another update.
The trees are almost finished! I was going to make a test one first, but got caught up in the flocking madness. This sometimes happens to me, when I’m really close to finishing a project. This weird frenzy descends upon me and I won’t leave until I either completely finish it or completely ruin it. I'd call it artistic fever but I'm just really freaking impatient sometimes.
It all started calmly enough though. First I decided that I need to build a branch structure for the leaves (flock) to sit on. This did not turn out to be really that necessary (more on that later).
I know that people use seafoam, which looks like real branches:
(http://www.gaugemaster.com/_upload/imgs/lrg/34554/GM195.jpg)
But it’s another of those weird natural modelling materials, which are incredibly hard to get, unless you are willing to shell out for a woodland scenics pack. I surely wasn’t.
Moss is another popular choice for canopy-building and since it only costs a trip to the forest I went with that. Anything to make me move my fat ass is a bonus too at this point.
So here are three moss types. The middle one was bought as christmas decrations, the one on the left is lichem and the lighter one on the right I collected and cleaned. I picked up some other ones too, but they did not turn out to be useful.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48781289472_59e8cf7cfc_c.jpg)
(excuse the poor cell phone pics)
I’ve decided to try all three and see which one works best. I applied the moss to the branches of my trees, first by using superglue (didn’t work) then with 2 part epoxy glue. The light moss was so wooly, that I just wrought it around the branches and didn’t bother with adhesives. The next step would secure it anyway. Here’s how they looked before being blasted with spray-glue. Note that I pulled out the moss from the shortest tree before spraying, as I didn’t like how it looked. Figured I will just try using clump foliage on bare branches and see if it can hold up without any other support (spoiler - it did).
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48780747798_2bb6b05c8b_c.jpg)
After being sprayed with glue, I simply sprinkled flock or clump foliage onto them. Here's how they ended up:
The tree with dyed Christmas moss:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48780731908_0598e2059b_z.jpg)
It’s a bit messy, with the moss sticking out in different directions. The colour of the moss blends with my flock well, but still showing through a bit. Need to pull out a few strands that stick out.
Tree with lichen:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48780735838_386c0a149d_z.jpg)
This one I had to abort and start again. At first I was using some very fine light green turf, but it just did not look right, the shapes of the lichen clumps made it look super unnatural. I panicked, re-sprayed it and started covering it with light green clump foliage. The end result is thus a bit haphazard, with different tones of moss and foliage. Learning experience I guess!
Tree with moss I picked myself
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48781090451_b87aea39e3_z.jpg)
I think this one turned out the best. I’ve used fine, yellow-green flock to match the moss and the end effect is pretty realistic. The only dowside is that's very fragile, but a few coats of sprayed-on scenic glue should make it robust enough.
Tree with clump foliage straight from the bag:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48780740548_27dcf0cfdf_z.jpg)
Nothing to say much other than it worked and was faster. Good to know it’s possible to produce foliage this way, even though it eats my supplies rather quickly.
Here’s a group photo of the trees:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48781283442_890a4feffe_c.jpg)
And did I mention they are pretty true scale :icon_mrgreen::
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48781086401_709ca90495_c.jpg)
I don’t mind them being big really. I will get myself some medium sized trees in the future too.
Overall rather pleased with how they turned out. I have 2-3 more trees planned, including a SUPER BIG tree, but mailny I will start working on the forest bases now. Stay tuned.
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Looks like all methods produced something of quality to me. Well done! :eusa_clap: :::cheers:::
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Some real trees! The effort surely paid out. I also like them big, kinda not well-tended trees in a park or stunded hedge trees, but real forest trees. :eusa_clap:
-Z
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Thank you both! I am learning as I go along, although I can't say any of this is very novel - there are so many good tutorials on the internet it would be a shame not to use them :).
I've been watching a lot of Luke Aps, Papercuts and Terrain Tutor vids, there's some great inspiration to be found.
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I am impressed. and I think it actually helped that you experimented a bit since it made the trees less uniform. Are they top heavy now with all that clump and glue added? And, what's spray-glue?
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Thanks a lot!
Yes, I think mixing the methods is a good way forward. Will be trying out some more ways of making trees in the future.
Spray-glue is just an adhesive in a rattle can. Round here it can be found in home depot stores or haberdasheries, as they can be used for textile work. There are different kinds around, the one I have is latex based I think. It's pretty strong, but it can leave a bit of a "spider web" effect on whatever it touches. Not the best, but I haven't had the chance to try other brands.
The trees are a bit top-heavy, bot not too much. The solid mdf bases and all the ballast that I've glued on help in that regard. But if I ever want bigger trees, I'd deffinietly need larger bases! Using thicker MDF should help too .
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I guess by this point you guys must be pretty tired of trees. So oooh boooy will you be excited to see my next update which is – you guessed it – EVEN MORE TREES.
This time the aformentioned smaller ones. No wips this time, but the armatures were made from aquarium plants stuck onto toothpicks. Quick and to the point!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48932177297_253cc193ec_c.jpg)
I have also pushed on and completed two bases for my forests:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48932176797_74ec9392e9_c.jpg)
As you can see I did not cut out the holes for my tree bases. I've given it a lot of thought, but I decided against making such elaborate bases and here's why:
1) this would restrict the way I could arrange the trees on their forest base and I don't like that. I really like modularity and options.
2) the bases with the holes in them look really crap when you take out the trees to move your minis thorugh the forest. Not a popular opinion, but I really feel this just doesn't really look good and requires a shit ton of work.
3) I just wanted to be done and move on! :icon_mrgreen:
So the time finally came to put my forests together and see how they looked. Here's the final effect:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48931992186_a15783fed2_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48932178772_d96d242947_c.jpg)
I've cut the bases in such a way, that they can be aligned together to create a mega-forest, should I ever need one.
That being said, they both are rather big, see a scale pick with a sneaky spider rider creeping through the underbush:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48931991681_179f365f03_c.jpg)
All for now! I am pretty pleased with how they've turned out and that I can finally cross out another point from my checklist. The bases are a bit barren, would really preffer some additional bushes and fallen tree trunks, but this will make putting on the trees very tricky. I might revisit them in the future after I play a bit, but for now they are done.
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Excellent. :eusa_clap: :::cheers:::
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Really nice woods!
-Z
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Thanks a bunch!
Here's where I'm at with my to-do list:
1) Touching up a couple of old pieces that are salvageable
2) Scatter terrain - bushes, rock piles, lone trees
3) Finishing up a merchant house started a looong time ago
4) Re-working a hirst-art house I got from a friend
5) Two forrests with separately based trees
6) A set of ruins from LOTR + some ruin scatter pieces
7) three rocky hills
8) A couple of additional fences/hedges
Slowly creeping forward....
Not sure what's next, but I'll probably try tackling the hills. Those imperial cannons/goblin bolt throwers need a parking space.
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I WISH I HAD THIS LEVEL OF CONCENTRATION!
I need to see everything you've made, on the gaming board at once. With a few minis running around.
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Thanks a lot mate! Heh I get as distracted as anyone, I wanted to have this all done by last February (LOL).
I need to see everything you've made, on the gaming board at once. With a few minis running around.
You and me both! Luckily I've just finally ordered a gaming mat, so I hope I will be able to make this a reality soon :icon_biggrin:
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So my mat has finally arrived, huzzah!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49322231876_852cc24232_b.jpg)
I've ordered it from a Polish company Playmaty.pl taking advantage of the Blackfriday discount they offered. The quality is very good, although the print I've selected is a bit too stark perhaps. Maybe I just need to get used to it. So far I have run one game on it and it was much better experience than using my old grass rug from GW.
I don't have enough terrain to fill it out yet for fantasy purposes, but I did make this little mockup picture for you guys to see how is it looking together with the minis and terrain.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49321790758_b473333fa6_b.jpg)
The flocks I've been using are a bit of a different shade of green, than what the mat is sporting which irks me a bit. I might adjust my flocking method from now on :-P.
Overall pretty happy and moblized to get this project running again. Work has started on the rocky hills, so I hope I will have something to show to you all soon.
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Back at it!
Wellp. It's time to get the ball rolling again. Laying out the terrain I've done so far on my brand new mat has kindled my interest once more. I am so close to being able to fill out a gaming board at last!
Next thing on my 'to do' list are the hills. For years I have used some very lame looking foam hills, half done and sitting unfinished since I was a teenager. Time to get some better looking parking lots for my artillery trains!
As I was doing my research on how to make these wargaming essentials, I've bumped onto one of the Terrain Tutor's tutorials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOy5yqctzzA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOy5yqctzzA) The main ingridients here are expanded polystytene and cork bark. I really like the look I must say and the tutorial seemed very straightforward to follow.
They reminded me a lot of the rolling Rohan hills found in the Lotr movies. I must say that I've always been strongly influenced by the tolkienesque aesthetic in my warhammer endavours. Long before the movies were made I have replayed the siege of Helm's deep using wood elf archers, empire troops and plastic saurus warriors standing in for orcs. In my mind the Old World and Middle Earth have very often felt alike.
I started off by making several sketches to get the overal idea on paper. I rarely do this as the end results rarely look like the designs and I'm usually okay just getting stuck in. Right from the start I knew I wanted to make a little tomb entrance in one of the hillsides. Naturally inspired by Theodred's barrow (in for a penny in for a pound I guess with the lotr nonsense)!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452176872_087855d401_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452314582_4000999802.jpg)
The beggining was as usual. Made some ovalish MDF bases. I know these can warp over time, but I really like their weight and how they sit on the table. I ain't wasting my pvc supplies on this!!!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452187012_81230f3c40_c.jpg)
As the tutorial suggested, I cut off strips of cork bark to act as my rocky hill slopes. Making this look convincing is harder than I thought! At this point I've also constructed the portal leading to the tomb, using some trusty PVC strips.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49451497883_e4e327bf64_c.jpg)
I fiddled around a lot trying make the door fit the corkbark. Fortunately it is a very pleasant and soft material to work with and this did not take too long.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452212897_5bc4f359c3_c.jpg)
After I was happy with how the rocky bits looked, I stuck them to the bases, creating these odd looking hill 'shells'. After that I cut some expanded polystyrene to shape and stuck it down to make the bulk of the hills. It's a bit tricky to describe, but dead easy essentialy:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49451511348_be546e0215_c.jpg)
After some vigorious shaving off of eccess material, sanding and gap filling I blended all the joints by smushing it all in spackle.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452246072_2ddf642110_c.jpg)
Note the different shade of the filler on my "tomb hill". I was trying to get a bit of work done in the morning before work and I've left the pot of filler open for the day. Naturally I came home to a rock hard pot of spackle. FUN. Luckily I had another one. This confirms my suspicion that no real model making can be accomplished this bloody early in the morning.
After the spackle had set, it was a simple matter of gluing down a solid covering of sand and grit, with a couple of larger rocks and bits of cork here and there. Here some sharper, non-cell phone pics:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452269077_9be9586b92_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49452264897_70722a6581_b.jpg)
Pretty happy with how this is going, hope I can get the painting done soon.
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WOW!!!!!
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looking very good! :eusa_clap: :::cheers:::
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Really nice terrain pieces! :eusa_clap:
-Z
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Cool! :eusa_clap:
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The hills are finished!
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49813359992_9296726f69_b.jpg)
Actually they have been finished for almost 2 months now, but I was holding off posting pictures untill I add some white flowers. However, I could not find any that I would like and this will have to wait for some calmer times. Theodred I hope will forgive me :icon_wink:.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49813057366_6e33119b3c_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49812515423_3d0d624d25_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49813057581_6072b56d9b_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49812514913_c5147a1eb6_c.jpg)
I tried a new technique and made the moss on the rock faces with ground down herbs. They make a fine powder with an interesting texture...but my terrain pieces smell funny! Hope this goes away over time.
Anyways with these three hills I should be able to fill out a board quite nicely. I will set up a table soon and snap a quick picture.
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Great stuff! Just acquired some pieces of blue sm from the roofer. Going to attempt something similar. I hope it turns out as good as yours😺
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The hills are finished!
But are they alive with the sound of music ?
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I haven't got any games scheduled against sisters of battle, but should one ever happen I will let you know ;)
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Great stuff! Just acquired some pieces of blue sm from the roofer. Going to attempt something similar. I hope it turns out as good as yours😺
Cool! Show us when you make some :smile2:!
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Great stuff! Just acquired some pieces of blue sm from the roofer. Going to attempt something similar. I hope it turns out as good as yours😺
Cool! Show us when you make some :smile2:!
Lol. I was so inspired this morning with that terrain, I started today 😺 you can check it out here if you like.
http://warhammer-empire.com/theforum/index.php?topic=52205.650
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Woah! That's great!
I will :icon_biggrin:.
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Woah! That's great!
I will :icon_biggrin:.
Thanks very much!
If I’m organized enough this weekend, I’ll burn some stone markings into the walls.
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Good looking hills! I think this is one of the hardest terrain pieces for finding that sweet spot compromise between looks and playability.
White flowers missing indeed! Maybe it is fall?
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Good looking hills! I think this is one of the hardest terrain pieces for finding that sweet spot compromise between looks and playability.
White flowers missing indeed! Maybe it is fall?
Thanks a lot!
I think the lowest of the hills is best when it comes to actuall gaming. The other two are a bit too steep, but still usable of course. A lesson learned again.
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Sup guys?
It's been a while again. I haven't been devoting much time to terrain bulding lately (for fantasy at least). I did play a couple of games however and did manage to set up the table and take some pictures:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50221633846_536f1db0f6_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50221853802_5988442a64_c.jpg)
And with some models added. My Goblins are getting trashed by my brother's freshly painted VC:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50220984143_80e43fbd2f_b.jpg)
Other than that not much update, although I did however some modest painting on a couple of resin barricades and fences:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50221854277_c02c81f488_c.jpg)
These are meant for my upcoming malifaux terrain setup, but can be easily used for fantasy too. I have been also working on my 40k terrain collection, so perhaps I could post it here also if you guys would be interested in that.
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Looks great! Feel free to share your 40K terrain, or start a thread for it in the 40K area. :icon_biggrin: :::cheers:::
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That is some really great looking terrain! Very thematic!
And yes please, some 40k terrain would be nice.
What warband do you play in Malifaux? I love the game, but it seems kinda dead around here.
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Hi guys.
I am sorry I’ve disappeared again. Between summer, the pandemic and some turbulence with work that it caused, I wasn’t able to do much miniature-wise. There was also some re-arranging of the living space to make place for a permanent home office, which left me without my working area. It has all been mostly resolved now thankfully. I’ve missed painting I must say. I have been making some progress again, as my situation stabilizes finally (no idea for how long though). As we move into yet another lockdown, I hope to make as much of it as I can.
So what have I been up to when it comes to terrain? The answer is not that much! I have some new plans to expand my fantasy collection in the nearest future (probably some ruins first), but right now I allow myself to just paint/convert whatever I want to get back into swing. I’ve been working on some of my undead and a slew of random projects that caught my fancy. One of them is Necromunda. Me and my brother bought the 2018 starter set (me taking the Escher and him Goliaths) back in the day. Haven’t done much with it until this year. Currently we are running the dominion campaign and having a blast. I am enjoying the game for what it is - more of an RPG type experience than a wargame I'd say. Which is not a bad thing at all! The rules could do with a bit of tighter quality control, as we constantly have to come up with home rules. However, all the crazy characterful stuff it provides is more than enough to keep us hooked. Here is my current gang - the Twisted Sisters:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50571484742_5ba31bd526_b.jpg)
The game requires a metric ton of terrain to be played with the Sector Mechanicus rules, so we are slowly upgrading our 40k city fight board to match. Here’s a couple pics from our recent scrap:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50570605658_4a0b0729f8_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50570605403_824241bc65_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50570605138_a93d2ae2c6_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50571350646_825f2027f4_c.jpg)
(the sparkly pebbles were used to mark underhive fungi which we were fighting for).
The board itself is scratch built out of mdf and pvc sheets, with the terrain mostly mdf and GW plastic kits. I will take some more detailed and individual shots when we meet up to play again. Here's also a shot from a zone mortalis game we've played, where we were trying to take over a drinking den:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50570604548_e21c39b8bb_b.jpg)
(we always try to add something to represent the random turf card we are fighting for).
@Novogrod
Sorry I’ve totally missed your question mate! I play strictly one crew – Viktorias. Here’s a couple pics of my small collection:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50571486692_edf277ea40_h.jpg)
I really like how they’ve changed their rules in M3E. Much more toned down when it comes to damage, but much better rounded. I enjoy the games more and my opponents hate me less (no more evaporating entire crews in a single activation helps I guess). I am planning on getting Von Schill soon. As for playing – the system is struggling a bit in Poland, whereas it was very popular in M2E. The current situation is not helping of course. I have a pretty tight group of 6-7 friends who play, organising small events etc. so last year I have actually been gaming quite a lot. Plus my significant other plays Parker, so I am pretty fortunate to be getting some gaming even in lockdown. Love Malifaux, one of my favourite games by far! I am slowly gathering materials to build a terrain set for that one too.
What do you play? Is it that hard to find opponents in your area?
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The mini-Stonehenge is charming. :-)
Please explain how you did the windows of the ruined 40K buildings! Ready-made, plasticard strips, or something else?
-Z
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I like the looks of the 40K terrain! :icon_biggrin: :icon_cool: :eusa_clap:
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Thanks guys. Glad you like them
The mini-Stonehenge is charming. :-)
Please explain how you did the windows of the ruined 40K buildings! Ready-made, plasticard strips, or something else?
-Z
If you mean the bars in the windows (or whatever they are called) this is how I got them. The MDF kits were very cheap and basic, this was almost all the detail they had.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50583822647_4d76c5a55a_o.jpg)
I felt they were a bit too basic, so I’ve added some vertical and horizontal articulation. The moulding was done with strips of cardboard and the corners were thickened using foamcore, that was shaved down to shape. Next the entire thing was covered in spackle mixed with sand. After that I’ve added all the battle damage and rubble. MDF is a hard material to drill in, even with a dremel tool!
Here's how they looked before painting:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50582991758_00a422476b_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50583730401_12e392b574_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50583730286_9d139d6d0f_b.jpg)
I don't seem to have any good photos showing them off in extensive details after they were finished, so this will have to do:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50583019208_ee71bf8742_h.jpg)
used as a backdrop for some of my brother's guard, along with our other terrain on the custom board we've made together (will talk about that one too soon).
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50583026013_4343b49955_b.jpg)
Being defended against some rebel scum (all 40k models are by my brother again).
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So, the bars in the windows were laser cut, ready in the buildings.
You've done a great job uplifting the basic ruins! :eusa_clap:
Thanks for the photo report. :-)
-Z
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So, the bars in the windows were laser cut, ready in the buildings.
Yep! Exactly.
You've done a great job uplifting the basic ruins! :eusa_clap:
Thanks for the photo report. :-)
-Z
Thanks mate and no problem. Can't help it I always end up doing a "how to" it seems :icon_lol:.
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Hi guys!
Playing some games recently made me feel like my board setups are getting a bit repetitive. I need to do some more fantasy terrain again.
I pondered on what to go after for a while. The imperial house is almost ready for painting. However, I feel that I would need to add a couple of outhouses and sheds to be satisfied with how it looks on the table. I need something more standalone and simple for now. So I’ve dug out my ‘Ruins of Osgiliath’ kit, as I feel it would fit the tiny Stonehenge and the tombs I’ve made last year.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019608682_0e6be6f737_o.jpg)
The general idea is to build it on a hill and give it a bit more of a presence on the table. Since I am going off of LOTR inspirations again, I really liked the ruins the Fellowship passes after they leave Rivendell in the movie.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019527236_5cefc7762b_o.jpg)
Here’s an early attempt at making a steep hill, an acropolis of sorts or an ancient temple, perhaps made by the old ones themselves.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51018803333_c2ced58402_c.jpg)
I liked the look but realized the whole piece is getting a bit too large. I will make a smaller ruin on a hilltop one day, but I want this to be a bit more functional and double up as a flat hill. I settled on a single layer of polystyrene and some cork bark pieces to make the edges rocky.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019530556_79f1ffb369_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51018802338_9b0cddbf3d_b.jpg)
Right of the bat I knew I wanted to add some stairs to the front and back, to make it look as they were carved in the rocky outcrops themselves. Shrinking down the hill took away from the look I had in mind, but I guess that’s the wargaming compromises we have to take.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019626217_4794609bde_c.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019624117_a15cba23a8_b.jpg)
Here the polystyrene and the cork were glued down and some shaping has been carried out. The ruins and the stairs are not yet attached permanently, as I need to tinker with them some more. Not sure where to put the statues that come with the kit…decisions decisions.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51019529566_bb88db7c22_b.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51018800883_134a2de948_b.jpg)
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Will the base of the statues fit, one on each side, and at the bottom of the front stairs?
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Will the base of the statues fit, one on each side, and at the bottom of the front stairs?
I would have to fiddle around with them but I think it could be done. Thanks for the idea! :::cheers:::
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I always like some old weapons, skulls or other discarded bits used in terrain pieces :-)
I makes the come more alive.
And you're giving me some great ideas for my second set of these ruines.
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I always like some old weapons, skulls or other discarded bits used in terrain pieces :-)
I makes the come more alive.
And you're giving me some great ideas for my second set of these ruines.
I have plans for adding some scattered bits, fear not! In particular I want to add some rubble in the middle of the structure. It always bothers me when there is a ruined shell of a building and no rubble around it or inside it. Where did it go?
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Could be stolen for use in building a farmer's cottage. :icon_wink:
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Stealing rocks from rundown evil temples is probably the reason you have roll on a chart, everytime you go near a building in 8th edition :icon_wink:.
'Honey the walls are bleeding...again'
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:icon_lol: There are multiple reasons why I don't play 8th. :icon_wink:
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@GamesPoet - it wasn't that bad!!!
Managed to devote another evening to terrain building and I have some modest progress to report.
The rear side of the hill was built up with some cork bits to make a little outcrop.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51052922663_72876cd165_b.jpg)[/url]
I’ve also filled and smoothed out most of the joints where the cork bark meets the foam. The stairs at the front were finally cut to shape and secured.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51053649716_68a116bae2_b.jpg)[/url]
Nothing huge as you can see but it needed to be done, before I glue down the walls and begin texturing the base. Any time spent on the hobby is worth cash money to me right now!
I have also fiddled around with one of the statues. There are two possible places where I can see them standing. One is at the front where GamesPoet suggested:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51052922063_65624631ab_b.jpg)
This looks pretty cool, it’s a nice visible spot but it obscures the little windows a bit.
I could also see placing them at the back (or maybe just one of them and using the other one for some other project). Decisions! What do you guys think?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51052922568_7ac21dbbd3_c.jpg)
I am also considering adding a few long steps along the edges of the temple, instead of the foam you see here:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51053649551_e758fd0b7d_c.jpg)
I was planning on making a gently dropping slope here with DAS putty, but now I’m thinking a few stairs might look more in tune with the idea of an ancient temple that I have. In ancient Greece the classic temple would be sat on this multi-layered structure called the crepidoma, as marked here:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Temple_features.jpg)
I would only do the steps running from one rocky outrcrop to another at the sides, but it still might look cool. On the other hand, this would probably make balancing big units of troops on the sides of the hill even harder. Plus it's going back and redoing the sides really. Me no like redoing. We'll see on the next update I guess!
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I like the idea of the long steps in front of that side door!
Also, my previous suggestion was intended to have the statues on both sides and at the bottom of the front stairs. I think the one at the top of those stairs gets lost because it is so close to the structure. And I could live with one being in the back and the other in the front, although it looks like there might be more space on the other side of the stairs (if just one is being placed on the blue base.
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I like the idea of the long steps in front of that side door!
Also, my previous suggestion was intended to have the statues on both sides and at the bottom of the front stairs. I think the one at the top of those stairs gets lost because it is so close to the structure. And I could live with one being in the back and the other in the front, although it looks like there might be more space on the other side of the stairs (if just one is being placed on the blue base.
Okay now I get ya. I will try dry-fitting them there too, although I must say looking at the pictures now I like how they appear standing against the wall. Might have solved my dilemma already.
The wide steps will be a bit of a pain in the ass to do but I am leaning towards this more and more. Will give it a couple more days and I am going to try doing a little test mock-up.
I did however carve up a few stone blocks out of PVC for the rubble.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51063250243_5d802771cd_c.jpg)
These are just to test the scale, I will probably do them in a different technique, as it would take bloody ages with the amount I want to add to this piece. The most important thing I think is to try and match the thickness of the walls at least roughly.