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That completed building looks amazing! I'm gonna have to look this all over on my bigger monitor the phone isn't doing justice. Its projects like these that make me ridiculously excited to get my dead zone tiles.

Keep up the good work.

welcome back skalk havent seen you update in a while glad to see your terrain is moving forward love the out post and i think the blue actually adds a touch of character but thats my thought on it...
everything looks good as normal so keep it up and glad to have you back

Love the recycled terrain! (subbed)
keep it up

Great work as usual skalk I thought you slipped up for a second, the grate on the floor by the big blue box looked like you glued a pretzel to the floor , guess I'm hungry right now can't wait for more genius to pop up.

He's back baby! Looking good, really like the roof, and the tubes look great. If that's not final drybrush, very interested to see what's up next. Do you have any non-terrain plans at the moment, btw?

Good to see more new/old stuff here.

The random terrain piece-come-roof is looking good.
I like the blue, but it does stand out a bit with the rest of it, so I see your point.

Other pieces looking good. Really like your chipped paint look for things.

Look forward to more.

Nasty black/brown wash to bring the blue down to more of a blue grey?

Reusing old stuff so resourceful and matched up really well, I kind of like the blue cabinet thing makes it stand out.

Is that those plaster sections put to good use I see, the pipe sections look even better with a dash of paint and brave but successful red colour scheme.

I will keep your recruitment scheme in mind

Nice work Skalk! I like how the two sections were subconsciously made for each other!

@ GrimDork- What is Dead Zone? I looked it up but found nothing. I don't need new stuff but I'm always interested in seeing what's out there available. And I'll consider your weathering idea for the big blue box.

@ alabamaheretic- It's good to get back here as I can. I don't think I'll be back regularly until mid-Fall / early Winter, though I will take a moment here and there to post whatever I can.

@ Andy_T- Hey, thanks for stopping by and posting. I always appreciate people showing an interest. You subbed during a bit of a lull in activity but stay subbed, things will pick up and I'll have more terrain goodness to share on a more regular basis.

@ Theophony- I have a few strict rules with my modeling, one being never use food in a structural / permanent function. I've seen guys use sugar on bases. Bad idea. I've seen people use food coloring as a wash. Pretzels would be right out.

@ inmygravenimage- Uhm, not really, but my heart is still in it and I miss my modeling / Dakka time. No non-terrain pieces on deck at the moment. I have an idea for a vehicle on my Necromunda thread but I have a few things to do before I really go anywhere with it.

@ Dr H- Another vote for blue. Hmm. I'll see what I can do to fix it enough to where I like it. More coming for sure.

@ lone dirty dog- More blue. I really do have to fix it up then. Maybe I'll make a TARDIS out of it. Yes those are plaster casts, I figured this was a safe a place for them as I'll find since the piece has space on my shelf instead on in a box w/ smaller random stuff.

@ dsteingass- I think overall everything I do could be a mix / match. Random junk pairs with random junk quite well. Can you imagine what my table would look like if I were an Ork player?



Thanks everyone for the comments. I always appreciate the feedback.

Nothing new to offer today except a couple ideas. First and foremost is I've decided to redo my Necromunda 4x4 table. I've been considering a few options. One is to keep the current texture but spray it with different rust / brown / black blends. The flat 'ash waste' look goes well w/ my 40K layout but it is a bit too plain for Necromunda. Another idea is to use sheets of plastic / etc to create a more 'huge expansive platform' look. I thought a lot about foamboard and making the table more layered / 3-D so to speak but decided against it. The last time I tried that it limited the terrain layout too much. So things will remain flat but with more texture. Whatever I do I'll give it some decent attention and I'm sure my efforts will be rewarded with the same level of cool I have been achieving. Every now and then I surf through the earlier projects I've done and the improvements are notable.

Another quick project I've been thinking about is slag heaps / junk piles. Like massive ones that would be 15'-20' scale ft tall. I'll be using foamboard or styrofoam with a few layers of Elmers and latex paint for a sealer and a hardboard base for stability and durability. It will be an 'inner core' so I don't use up a couple pounds of bitz to make a huge pile. I'll be layering a few pieces so it will have a 3-D effect instead of looking like a macaroni poster from 3rd grade.

When picked up all that junk from work it was w/ the intent that I was going to do an Ironman terrain piece last weekend becasue I was on call for work and was going to be home anyway. The idea was: those bitz + 5 hours = finished project no matter what. I'd be taking pics and offering a couple updates as I made progress. You can see how well that worked out. I had 7 hrs worth of calls on Saturday and Sunday I had 3 plus various IRL responsibilities that needed tending to. It's something I want to do so I will make time for it soon.

Again, thanks ffor the comments, and be assured that much more is coming.

Slag piles sound cool. Deadzone is a skirmish board game hybrid that just got kickstarted last month. 28mm SciFi set in mantics warpath universe. It may not be a direct replacement for necromunda but I think it has the potential to catch/surpass in at least a few ways. The terrain is a system of 3" grids that are supposed to socket together with connectors and be able to take then back apart. If you search the kickstarter page for dead zone it should pop right up.

Skalk...I'm gonna say one word...Just one word....Risers

@ GrimDork- Thanks for the explanation. I'll keep an eye out for it.

@ dsteingass- Example please? Neat side note- if you do a Bing image search for 'necromunda risers' the majority of photos that pop up are by me or Bruticus. Ha. If you use Google you get hits for all 3 of us through the page. But none of them shows me what I was looking for.

Just raised blocks that you can rearrange and stack different terrain elements on. If you made them all 3" the same size as a bulkhead, you add all sorts of vertical depth, more walkways, etc.

Just one won't do though, you'd need multiple.

The vertical aspect of Necro was one of the best bits for me, 40K always seems so flat. Not that I game much.

But yes I agree Risers. you would need at least 4 so you can support any building on them, But nice solid brick blocks would do a treat.

I don't have examples yet, because I don't think it's been done yet. Basically raise parts of the table 3"- then place building bases on top, giving you another dimension of depth to play with.

Come back and tend to your thread man

I love the idea of making terrain and scenry out of any odds and ends,
and that's great collection you've got there, cant wait to see what you build next .

@ Camkierhi & dsteingass- that's a really good idea.

@ hk1x1- Thank you. I really like picking up random junk from parking lots, sidewalks, car washes, side of the road, recycle bins, etc. Just little bits here and there. I've been told (usually when doing laundry) that I have more weird and random junk in my pockets is worse than an 8 year old.



Not a modeling update per se, but I did build something this last weekend and it has already made a huge improvement to my collection and the game room overall:



No more burying things on top of other things behind other things. Functional, accessible, and a decent display of my work. This shelf is for my smaller pieces. I used 8" wide boards with a 'reveal' so the smaller pieces are easy to find and easy to use.

The larger pieces will stay on my original shelf, and I finally have a home for my WFB terrain:



The thing I like best about both shelves is EMPTY SPACE, which means the 15+ unfinished terrain projects I intend to finish at some point will have a place to live.

That's it for now. No new modeling work to share.

I'll be back.



Here's the other shelf

Nice!! I like how accessible everything is. Now I really want to build that new terrain shelf in the attic.

But burying things is one of the best parts of the hobby. Later when your looking for something that you know you have you have to scavenge and dig. Just like your gangers. Along the way you find all those other treasures hiding in the piles. Just keep a weary eye out for looters and claim jumpers.

Theo your so right I find stuff I don't even remember buying then ten minutes later I lose it again

Organisation has it perks as well

WOOT! good to see new stuff. those shelves look ace.

Yes! Skalk is back from the warp. Sweet shelves, dude! Your terrain looks so nice all set up and evenly spaced.

@ Coldsnap- You really should. I'm very happy with how this has helped me organize all my terrain. I took the pics a bit early, I added more stuff like my hills etc afterwards and there is still plenty of space left for my future projects to take up when they are done.

@ Theophony- As cool as it can be sometimes, I've intentionally moved away from the whole "WOW! I haven't seen this in 10 years!" method of storing things. I've extremely fortunate to have the space I have for my hobby stuff and I'm not going to go back unless I wind up moving to a much smaller house.

@ lone dirty dog- See above.

@ Galorn- There are a couple WIP in those pics that I haven't share yet. Spoilers, spoilers.

@ Moltar- The Warp is omnipresent and I'm fortunate to phase out of it ever now and then. Building those shelves was an affirming moment and I agree that my terrain looks a lot better when it is displayed opposed to piled.



Nothing new to update right now but I have a few hrs of modeling scheduled for tonight so I'm hoping to at least show some progress on whatever I decide to work on. I've been thinking about putting some work into old projects like my Imperial buildings, but chances are I'll finish up some of my smaller pieces for that 'I finished something' feeling. It's like a drug to me and I'm jonessin' for a plastic fix.

Thanks for the comments. I'll be back.

Shelves loaded with terrain! Skalk is ready for at home battles.

@ shasolenzabi- I'd say 99% of my games are 'home games'. I don't get out much to play at my FLGS.



Last night I did some work on smaller bitz but didn't finish anything worth a photo so nothing new to share work-wise, but I did want to share this link. Theo has already posted there and I think the rest of the LoER / terrain building crew would really appreciate his work:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/553016.page#6066777

Go check it out. It deserves some attention.

Nice terrain! I also like the gas masked chaplinesque tramp of the wastes

@ shasolenzabi- thank you. Always appreciate feedback.



This post is specifically for GiraffeX but may be of use to other people as well. Today's topic is barbed wire.

In the first series of photos / instructions I am using floral arrangement wire, but after I finished I realized that the scale was too large for the application GiraffeX intended, so at the end of this tut I have other photos where I am using much smaller wire and there are some changes to the instructions.


Here's the wire I used. It is easily available from any craft shop:



Scale reference:



Here I've measured out a single strand of wire and doubled over. It is better to have too much than too little as it doesn't stretch. Notice the loop at the end:



Next is where the work starts. First I clamp one end firmly and securely and then use a rod (in this case a paint brush handle) to twist the wire into a double strand:





Once I have the main strand of wire ready to go, I cut short lengths of wire to use as the barbs. Again, it is better to use too much than too little, and no worries on the length as you'll be trimming it later. You may want to use pliers to get the first loop but after that you can just use your fingers:



An alternate method is to pre-wrap your barb and then slide it onto the main strand. Here I am using a bead file but anything of similar diameter will work. In either case, ensure you have a triple loop:



This is an example of what the barb will look like after it is attached to the main strand. If the barb is too loose you can crimp it with your pliers:



This is where the scale got a bit wonky. My previous applications have been for terrain only and the scale wasn't as much of an issue. :



Here's a creative addition to the wire- wrapping like concertina.



Here's a series of the finished product, paint, and then applied to a model:









As I said in the beginning, the scale is a bit large and is not going to work on individual model bases. I found different wire in my tool box and it is much thinner. Here I've already done some work as the technique to get it to this point is similar:



In this pic you'll see a double-strand barb on the far right. It looks cool but it is much more work-intensive to make it look right. It may be worth the effort depending on your application, but be prepared to sink about twice the amount of time into this project if you go that route. The rest of the barbs are the same 3-loop single strands I mentioned earlier:



Closeup:



And finally, and action shot w/ application on a standard 25mm round base. I think the scale is close enough to not look completely out of place::





I hope this is of value to someone, and stand by for an update on this as last night I figured out how to mass-produce this stuff very quickly with excellent quality, I just need to build the frame.

Thanks for looking. I'll be back.

Great tut Skalk! Although you can get an even smaller wire in the same craft section, it's aluminum, and unwrapped 26 GA.

Cool to know, thank you. I'll be heading out this weekend and will make a trip to my FLCS to check on that 26 GA wire.