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I realised a week ago that my games are usually just 2 armies on a flat table, with almsot no scenery. That's boring, right? So I decided to make some walls. I decided that they'd be around 2 cm high, reaching the shoulders of a Guardsman, to act as both cover and a LOS blocker. Images in spoiler:

Here's all the pieces. 2 walls, 1 corner, 1 ruined wall and 1 bunker. Made it out of 1 cm thick polystyrene. Each wall took about 10 minutes, the bunker around an hour. None of them are complete yet, I'm still thinking about ways to make them more 40k-y.

As you can see it all goes together. I'm thinking about maybe making some sort of trenches from this?

Awesome!

Welcome to terrain making.

In case you have not worked with that kind of styrofoam before (known as open celled foam I believe) its a good idea to give it a light coat of glue or acrylic paint before trying to spray paint it.

Some spray paints can actually melt the foam, so a undercoat of acrylic (cheap craft paint works well) or watered glue can help protect it.

Post more pics as your project continues....

davethepak wrote:
Awesome!

Welcome to terrain making.

In case you have not worked with that kind of styrofoam before (known as open celled foam I believe) its a good idea to give it a light coat of glue or acrylic paint before trying to spray paint it.

Some spray paints can actually melt the foam, so a undercoat of acrylic (cheap craft paint works well) or watered glue can help protect it.

Post more pics as your project continues....

Thanks! Yes, I'll cover the whole things with spackle or pva before spraying. Any ideas for adding texture to the walls? I can't use sand since I'll use that for the bases.

For texture on the walls, poke small holes in them with a pen, or other objects - cut streaks, etc.

Also, just use a small bit of sand, or a smaller grain sand than used for the bases.

I got some fine grain hobby sand at a craft store, then got some larger grain "play sand" at a home improvement store.

A quick update: made some corners and an outpost.

Any ideas for how I can make more advanced walls?

Man! this brings back memories! I started my terrain collection with the old foam boxes minis came in in the 80's! Same foam you have, I did exactly as you did, but then coated them with a thick coat of black acrylic hobby paints (cheapos) and a drybrush of grey. Looked great as ruins. Watch out with the amount of glue you use...the cardboard bases will warp badly (I always based them on basewood or some equivalent). Man keep it going! I'm a huge terrain builder so this warms my heart!
I always got all the foam of this type I needed by simply asking at the local grocery or appliance store. They always had huge chunks of foam about.

For more advanced walls, I would try closed cell foam - the kind you get at home improvement stores (its usually pink or blue).

Also, you may want to paint a few pieces of that - to see if you like how it looks painted before you invest time in more pieces.

best of luck!