Most of my recent posts on this thread have been on a single theme. There’s a new skirmish game by Joseph A McCollough (Frostgrave, Stargrave, and Rangers of Shadow Deep) due for release soon - The Silver Bayonet. The tagine is a Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror. I’ve started preparing early, having got hooked on the idea of theming a collection around the 1812 Retreat from Moscow.
The snow bases are partially designed to mimic the artwork of Faber du Faur, slightly more impressionist with the grayish colour and snow lumps rather than trying to replicate proper snow.
We don’t get a lot of terrain posted in here and I just started work on a set of trees. Figured I’d post this as a WIP. This is with a really sloppy brush prime and a quick first layer/undercoat for the leaves—most of which will be added after painting to keep my sanity.
That’s a nice start, looking forward to seeing the end result.
Terrain isn’t really my favourite thing to do, a necessary evil to populate a table. I’d rather paint some models if given the choice. But back in Jan I did set myself the target of getting some thematic terrain for my 28mm samurai sorted before the end of the year. There’s a pair of resin buildings that need a lick of paint, and I’ve got some scratch built bamboo forest in the works. I’ve made a few fences, and finished a paddy field a few months back.
First coat down on the bark (still very wet here), and I’ve got my scheme set for the leaves. The rest is all still on sprue and primed, which will really make life easier and probably bump overall quality. Meanwhile, I’m finding terrain is breathing new life into my small collection of Contrast paints.
[EDIT] I found myself with more time than light this evening, but with the former being so scarce, I moved ahead a little. Certainly upped the personal satisfaction level in terms of finishing for the night. I’m quite happy with the textures I was able to get here. More to come, and you better believe I’m looking forward to those mushrooms.
Moving onto finishing touches/touch-ups! I’ve got a pile of foam core for basing, I’m thinking I’ll go with a simple tiered mound leading up to this one.
I’m in the deep end now. Just got home with a couple of sheets of XPS foam. I have a set of 10x10" (actually 9.8x9.8") MDF I am planning to use as bases for a modular tileset, but I picked up a few 10x10 artist panels while I was out as well, figuring the added height could be useful.
I have a loose idea in my head to allow for a 3x3 grid of tiles to be useful in at least three different configurations using a (very) basic tessellation system, but pulling it off will be a whole other can of worms. If it works, I should be able to set up a central mound, a shallow valley, and an open bowl with a few rotations. I don’t plan to add features (though may make a few extra tiles for a river) as I want those elements to be flexible and fully modular, but I also didn’t want to put all this effort in just to slap things onto a screen printed playmat.
Wish me luck. @Scribbs it turns out I like this side of the hobby very much!
I’d recommend having a search for ‘terrain tiles’ to see how other people plan out their modular boards. There can be a fair bit of planning involved depending on how integral you plan on making features (i.e. cutting below ground level for rivers, building up hills, where roads enter and exit etc.) You might also want to consider half sized boards for further flexibility.
Good luck, and keep posting updates. I love seeing a board build, it will be great to see how you get on.
Yeah I’m definitely doing my homework on this one before I move ahead. Thankfully I’m just looking for some very basic height modulation, probably not more than 2" variance from the deepest to the highest levels. I plan to work in 1" steps as well (i.e. the height of my foam sheets) to keep things uniform. I’m guessing I’ll end up with about 12 tiles in all, since I’d like to have a few special tiles I can easily toss in, but that’s assuming I do stick with a 3x3.
I’m seriously considering a 4x4 grid for the added flexibility but that’s already 7 extra tiles and a lot of extra care with respect to matching things up.
[EDIT] Got the thumbs up to keep a modest playfield in the house, so bye-bye modular headache! I’ll still be thinking smart with respect to features, since I don’t want a ton of one-off components and terrain, but this at least frees me up completely with respect to laying out a given scenario.
Got a bunch of these little stinkers done today. Not my finest work on the rivets but I just couldn’t be shittered to wait for better lighting (all I want for Christmas!). I’m keeping most of them in singlets but I like this little stack and I think I’ll use it as a base feature for a tree or scratch built house (5 of which need to be made 🤦).
If only I had a real workstation! For now I’m at the dining room table and on the porch during summer months, so a portable source is important. I’d love to have one of those though. Once we convert one of our rooms to a general-purpose area I’ll hopefully be able to carve out a little nook.
I did these slightly differently than the last batch I did… previously my mechs are primed in black, and then drybrushed silver (darker to lighter), and then contrast paint over that.
This time around, I just did a primer coat of silver, black washed the whole thing, and then contrast paint over that. Here are two side-by-side as comparison… new on the left, old on the right.
