Because I was goaded Here begins the blog..

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Basic construction and painting technique
example: Country House 1
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I designed this simple template in Visio to facilitate the uniformity of the storey, door, and window heights needed to support 20mm (or 1/72) miniatures. I made a couple different standard sizes, but the measurements remain consistent. PM me if you would like the Visio file.



The templates are printed and cut and pinned onto 3" stock of 1/4" foamcore. I used a pin to poke through the corners of the doors and windows so that knife cuts were all nice and straight.


once squared, glued and pinned, you end up with a series of shells like these. 2 ruins or 1 intact building can be made from a single shell


Carving stone or brick texture into foamcore is quite simple, carefully work your sharp knife blade between the cardboard and foam and peel the outer layer off, then I use a sharp Sanford Uni Ball ONYX micro pen for all the carving, it still writes, no matter what punishment you subject the pen to, it still carves and writes!




Then I added the Balsa details and roof supports and fitted the open windows with metal mesh found on the clearance rack at a craft store, and carved the 1st floor stonework.


For the roof on this building, I cheated slightly and cut long strips of thin cardstock and roughly cut slits in them to represent individual roofing shingles (but they are all still connected in one strip)



Painting was done first by spraying everything black, then block coloring with simple, cheap craft paints



These are the basics. Hope it helps/inspires someone. Next up, advanced techniques...

well you even started this blog and made it as a tutorial! how cool can this become even further, eh?^^ i specially like the foam chimney! this really captures the soul of the house!
the wiremesh to go as windowspanes is a very good idea...stained glass could then be only one installemt away! be sure of my eyes being glued to the monitor from now own^^

Thank Vik! Well, I sort of took the pictures in this order, so it all works out

This is GREAT! i'll be here to check for updates all the time!

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Advanced Roofing
Example: Town House 1
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The basic shell construction and balsa detailing is the same


Again, using Visio, I designed a template for the roof dormer



For the roof, I used cheap self-adhesive vinyl floor tile to basically skin the roof bitz, this stuff is great for all kinds of construction work, especially basing, albeit a bit brittle if left unsupported. I didnt carve brick in this one, I used some HO scale textured plasticard, in hindsight, I like the carved look better, and it is much cheaper than the plasticard. The window sills, heads, and brick quions are just plasticard laid to give the details a recessed look, even though both stories are really at the same level.


Half-Timbering is approximated from glancing at this drawing from an old German-language architecture manual
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:L-Fachwerkwand.png

For the roof, I first glued down a piece of paper with a staggered grid printed to line up my rows

and I created these tiles by cutting strips of paper and using plastic scrapbooking pinking-type shears purchased super-cheaply at Michaels in the crackbooking section.

the scissors are pictured here



I then just trimmed off the excess. IMO, these tiles are by far the easiest, and fastest way of making a rounded, scalloped shingle look.




Painting is done in the same way as the first example


Next time: the Haus from Bree







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Advanced Construction
Example: Haus from Bree
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The original design for this belongs to (I think) Wolfgang Jadtke, and I can't seem to find the website anymore, but he built this in 28mm Heroic Scale, mine is in smaller 20mm.
I just gawked at his wonderful pictures and sort of made my templates fit his overall shape. Basically, this is really just a bunch of angles connecting two separate rectangular houses. But was built using all of the previous techniques and incorporating a few new ones, namely individual shingles (which I don't think I'll ever try again)





.........and a new way to make window panes Using Granny Grating (or plastic cross-stitch fabric)









The painting is of course, done in the same manner as the previous examples
questions, comments, words of wisdom? (...ugh my old Government teacher in High School used to say that)



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Nightfall wrote:This is GREAT! i'll be here to check for updates all the time!

Thanks! Please do! I hope it is at least entertaining

Fantastic
thanks for the WIP and plans
Will scale up to 28mm
problem is the amount of current/all ready outstanding projects but very inspirational

well done


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ps Love the scalloped roof tiles

the scissors made me why didn´t i thought about something as simple as that myself...i even have a cutter with a blade like that...damn that is so cool out of the box thinking!
the house of bree is yet another wonderfull example of what you can achieve when you paint in layers and let said layers do the texturing of walls...this weathered look of the "fackwerk" is such an amazing skill and it looks well you choose awsome/gorgeous... personaly i have to say i like the individual cut shingles best but i fully understand why this is a task that done once no one wants to repeat^^ nevertheless you did and this should be honored!
by the way, thans for the how to of making a dormer... i think this is something i will definatly try out...
one thing i have to ask is that foam core material, you said you got it in an artshop? what pricerange are we looking at here? i think it is exellent as it seems sturdy yet thin enough to be cut rather without making too much of a mess and also when i work with pink foam (insulation stuff) it tends to get torn and stuff because it is way too thick... so the price would be a definite help here to get a hold on new material...also is this foam layered with some surface material? looks like...

the lower sections of your buildings has this amazing brickwork done, did i understood you right that you first cut the material with a knife and later then crate the crevices by running a pen through the cuts? this is how it gets done? i thought others used just the pen but this if true makes more sense and i have to try that out...

great work, hope to see more soon^^

cheers, vik

Foamcore, it's just 1/4" or 3/16" high-density foam sandwiched between two very thin clay-coated paper layers. It is typically sold as presentation board or used to stiffen posters and artwork for framing. (and is usually found close to matte board in the framing section of the stores). I usually buy it in 2x3' sheets, but it comes in a bunch of sizes , and you can get it in colors other than white if you want. I wait until Hobby Lobby or Michael's run a sale on it ($2-$3 a sheet) and buy a dozen sheets or so at a time.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foamcore

and http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-foamboard/
for buying in bulk

As far as the carving, I used nothing but a pen to do the carving, If you want super-straight lines, then yeah you should probably score it with a knife first, but I wanted the look of stone, so I just attacked it with the pen. This only woks if you first peel off the card layer. If you leave the card layer on and use the pen, you'll only get pen marks, no carving.

Cool stuff, and a little increase in sizes one could make these work for 28mm gaming as well.

ah ok so i missundertood that technique of yours... i too want when i go into house building that random look of individual stones...

that stuff generaly gets used by architects, am i right... i will try to look for that stuff because i think it is pretty grande^^

When I carve with the pen, I carve bigger stones, then bisect them into smaller stones. It looks funny on the individual stones, but like painting you have to be patient and finally it will pop! to your eyes once you have an entire wall done. Yes Architects used to use it, but I don't know if architects even build models anymore, I think software has that job nowadays.

Good stuff matey , and nice one vik for encouraging / goading
more talented chaps to display their wares.

Thank you sir, really...Vik posted his carved bricks and one thing led to another.....

and BTW, thanks Vik!

i think i would have been a sore looser if i hadn´t urged you to your newest blog... it will be the benefit of many... the key point of this board i think is that it is a brainpool... if you sit all on your own at the pool...nothing like stale water... but getting more peeps to join in ...= fun and knowledge and ideas...winwin all over!!!
by the way... the carved bricks of mine and the dio will be in a presentable state tomorrow i guess...

I can't wait to see Vik

^^

Those are looking really nice, and that idea of 'granny grating' for windows works really well!

Looking forward to seeing more!

amazing work!

The carved bricks are just awesometastik!

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Advanced construction
Example: Howard Johnson's Ice Cream Parlor, Rock Ridge
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The next installment is an experiment of mine. The previous examples produce some lovely buildings, but as far as wargames go, they are little more than LOS blockers. Good, playable terrain needs to allow for the movement of miniatures, provide cover, and allow for a tactical advantages, at least in a shooty game.

I want to build a set of terrain that has every bit of the Spaghetti Western theme to it for use in Desperado or Flying Lead games.
so, I have started with everyone's favorite Mel Brooks Western Classic comedy, BLAZING SADDLES for research. The set for this film was actually re-used multiple times for other western films before it was used for this epic.



I cut the entryway window and door facia from a HO scale Walthers building kit, it seemed to fit the prototype well.


Construction of the building is the same as before, (except the plastic bit) using the single storey templates, however, I want to make the buildings modular with removable roofs, so the first example is a simple 1 storey shop. The foam board shell is built exactly like the previous examples, except it is skinned inside and out.


Outside, I used some Basswood sheet that has a clapboard siding pattern milled into one side, and trimmed with matchsticks and balsa, but the really neat-o bit IMHO is the wooden sidewalk. It is built from flat pine stir sticks I found at Michael's in a large bag of 1000 or something like that




I also found bags of random rectangular wooden offcuts at Michael's, one of the sizes in the bag was 1"x1/2" ...perfect for my standard door dimensions, so I carved panel patterns in them with a scratch awl and stained them with these ChartPak alcohol-based stain markers. The door knobs are just straight pin heads.


Here is the full outside mock-up complete with signage.


The back of the ice Cream Parlor is film-accurate (in my mind's eye) "Right down to the Orange Roof on Howard Johnson's outhouse" although it isn't painted orange yet.


The inside is skinned as well. I found a pic of a repeating wallpaper pattern online and resized it to scale and printed it on a color laser printer. I then trimmed the room simply with more of the stir sticks (corner trim is balsa) and stained them with the markers.




Here it is as it is now, still some work to do though.

Nice work can't wait to see more

Cool
Hope that is a One Flavor Ice Cream Parlor a la Blazing Saddles!

These are all really impressive! I'm definitely inspired to try some of these techniques!

Thanks for al lthe praise guys, very much appreciated. I didn't know anyone would be interested in this stuff. I hope it does inspire.

Freaking awesome! I love the Ho-Jo's! And in the finished pic of the first building, if you had a path leading away from the front door, it would be hard to tell it was a mini! Great job on all the buildings!

Oh and I need to mention a little bit about the 3-in-1 advanced craft glue in the pictures...this stuff is amazing, out of the bottle, it is like hot glue, but instead of being activated by heat, it is activated by air. So it works just like hot glue (strings and all) but once it is dried, holds like hot glue.

dsteingass wrote:Oh and I need to mention a little bit about the 3-in-1 advanced craft glue in the pictures...this stuff is amazing, out of the bottle, it is like hot glue, but instead of being activated by heat, it is activated by air. So it works just like hot glue (strings and all) but once it is dried, holds like hot glue.

What are the advantages to the hot glue?

FearPeteySodes wrote:
What are the advantages to the hot glue?

very strong hold, quick set time, and it seems like the only thing that works on spongy things like Woodland Scenics products without falling off the first time you bump it.

are we talking about something like liquide nails or what ?

a western town? now ths is as close to being unique as you can get in that admitedly repetive hobby^^

as i said in my own thread i just love the walpaper... looks so stuffy and gives the air of a saloon in so many ways^^

and the celebrating toilet goer is the icing on a perfect cake^^

HAHA, actually I think that figure is supposed to be gettign shot, but I suppose eating nothing but beans and drinking black coffee would do that to a guy lol

No not liquid Nails, it's called Beacon's 3 in 1 Advanced Craft glue

sometimes i think you guys over the grand sea have all the good stuff in such great suply...the few artshops i know of are 1.expensive, 2.sadly smallish with a very limited range and 3 mostly way too much away...could make a guy go ballistic but then i had to firstly arange maters that i had enough material for a good catapult^^

lol, I found this glue at Meijer, which is like a Wal-mart type store, groceries, clothes, and a craft/scrapbooking aisle. The really good white glue I use is Weldbond, it is Canadian made, and I can rarely find it.


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Basic mod

Example: ruined house
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I forgot about this one until I found the photos, but it started the Stalingrad project (which drove me knucking futs by the time it was done).

It is just the basic shell construction, smashed and rubbelized





ANyone interested in seeing Stalingrad?

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An exercise in repetitive madness
Example: 2x2' Stalingrad table
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This project was the evolution of the ruins project, but instead of concentrating on making pretty, romantic LOS blocking buildings, these needed to be gaming-functional first and foremost. Good thing, since the real Stalingrad of 1943 was not only bombed repeatedly, but burnt, then the rubble was fortified and booby-trapped and defended. The project began with a lot of research. I wanted the 2x2' table to have 2 main large buildings to become potential strongholds or objectives in any given game. So I looked at pictures of the real Stalingrad and used my templates to approximate the shape in foamcore.




Once constructed, and the sparse architectural details that may have survived bombing and burning were added and more damage added, an unholy mess of sand, dirt, cork, kitty litter, flocks, foam, sprue, railroad gravel, and HO scale bitz were added in multiple layers of strong Weldbond glue. I didn't have time to be repairing loose rubble after the fact, so I used the good stuff.





Here are some WIP shots from the smaller, filler ruins.




And final, painted shots.

HOLY ! Your Stalingrad is unbelievable! I don't even know where to begin!

Stop distracting me by making me want to make awesome terrain like yours.







...don't stop.

RSJake wrote: HOLY ! Your Stalingrad is unbelievable! I don't even know where to begin!

You may begin wherever you like sir! and thank you very much

one day.... i will get to making something like that and propaganda wallpapers is on the front of my lists then!!!!!

Those were surprisingly easy to do really, just found a real propaganda poster and resized it and printed it. Ruffle the paper, burn the edges with a lighter, and add a little dirty paint water and viola!

possibly but still this oozes awsomeness from every pore...you are aware of that...eh?

Honestly, I'm really not being modest here, but when you spend as much time with a project as I did this one, and really pour effort into it after a while, it all starts to look alike to you. This was my first real commission project too so to speak, I got paid for it, and whenever you are in that position with a customer, they put time and quality pressures on you. It becomes sort of less fun to do when that happens, so what I *wanted" to do was really go over the top like in the European houses, but the customer wanted it on a deadline, and thought the extra detail was unnecessary which forced me to go against my natural creative process. I'm glad it looks great, but this is the first time in months that I have even looked at the pictures, and I can't help but see parts that just look unfinished or hurried to me. I guess the real test is to see what other people see as unfinished or hurried, and if I don't hear of any, well then I guess it's just my own personal neurosis I have to deal with and I just need to learn to "kill my darlings" in the end. Thank you Vik, I really do appreciate it.

after reading your comment my first thought was : jerk... rushing an artist is something only fools are capable of... second thought was by the way bigger jerk^^ if i made myself not clear i meant the customer not you... but it is to be said that your western buildings and the hstorical buildings are on a other scale of detail and art, tho the stalingrad builts are all fine there is an ordinary feel to them that i think is lacking the true hand of your style as the other shown objects have...i hope i have not hurt any feelings here...

oh and one thing too..,.i think there is a jump from the white WIP models to the texturesprayed and later drybrushed buildings... i think if your customer would have been an easier fella to deal with then this would have been the stage to be more proud of the whole group....so i in parts share your feelings! (or to put it in another way...the white really was a cool site to behold^^)

OMG Vik, you can't hurt my feelings, I'm pretty thick-skinned. But I am very glad you see that *something* that is lacking too, that means you are being honest with me, and I like that. He wasn't really a jerk about it, but he wanted to show them off for a game he was planning on running with them, so I can understand that. He kept asking when he could pick them up, which made me feel the pressure to cut a few corners here and there (pun intended). He acted as if the extra detail I added to the other buildings was completely unnecessary, that was unnerving.

lol... well where else are enough corners in the world as in stalingrad...where nearly everything was bombed into an unrecognizable state^^
well i kind of get easy into an emotional state when understanding (sometimes wrongly) that unrightnesses have been comitted against peeps i like^^

meh...in the end I got paid to build stuff and the bonus of peeps enjoying the photos. win win

lol.... and now to something different^^ i.e. the western city painted or else^^

As a side project, I carved a building face in several layers, making another of my templates in Visio, and carving the brickwork.






And then my uncle made a silicone mold of it for me...I think I am going to try casting a building in plaster this weekend, make a mess, see what happens!!

don´t tell me you can read minds over the ocean as well as making beutiful things.... i am getting a strange feeling here...my original (and failed) attempt was to make my ruins more into something that resembles exactly what you are currently showing us...whoope! what is this visio prog you keep refering to? guess i have to ask google some serious questions and then come back running to you to get a bit of helping from you in that department... fact is i have some different sized sheats of foam still lying around for such a purpose...

hmmm trying to cast that in plaster? hmmm for a first try this might work, seriously if you scale that up to the more used 28 mm standard then i think you could fully well make some cometition with hirst art stuff! talk about a thought there^^

personally i don´t know what magicians hat you stole but you draw yet again things from said hat that makes me think you are an endless (bottemless was not fitting^^) pit of creativity...

amazed vik

No clairvoyance or magic hat here man, just the ravings of a lunatic taken out on foam Microsoft Visio, it is a handy drawing program that's like a big, interactive pad of graph paper. I've also used it to design and build (but never finished) a modular trench system for 28mm .




I'll have to dig them out and show pics of how far I got. Most of the sections are built, I just never finished doing the groundwork on them.

I have more unfinished projects and half-baked ideas than I have finished projects though, I've just cunningly shared the few that are actually finished. I don't want to compete with Hirst, their stuff is awesome, I don't know why I didn't buy some of their molds at GenCon when I was there.

I have more unfinished projects and half-baked ideas than I have finished projects

man this is actually the graven truth of our ilnes thats part of the creative hobby....you wouldn´t believe whats screaming for attention in my cabinets and boxes...and the tiny voices speak to me and yell...argh argh^^

the trench system is full of potential and when added some steely or rocky/sandy texture over the pieces and walls this is going to be huge ! this alone should justify a thread mate... many would apriciate that.... if you work on that further at least change the titel of this thread then you will see the hits on your thread go skyward... trencher threads are highly popular around these parts!

I know what you mean, this industrial terrain building grumbles at me every day to finish. I was experimenting with a Cricut machine (home CNC cutter that women use for scrapbooking) to cut 0.10 plastic sheet into railings and supports.







I want to spend some more time with the Cricut machine, I could fabricate all kinds of cool model parts with that thing. As far as I now, I am the first person on the entire Internet to try this for wargaming.

I was experimenting with a Cricut machine (home CNC cutter that women use for scrapbooking)

???? what is that and come to that where did you get that machine of wonders, sounds like a nice if somewhat pricey investion and how do you use it? did a bit of research and i think i saw something on some teleshoping program last week or two ago... coudn´t bring tho this into perspective with our hobby... but now that you mention it it seems pretty obvious to use that...multilayered textures then would be way easier and in my case be way more acurate!!!

It's a Cricut Expressions http://provocraft.com/products/detail.php?cl=cricut&scl=expression&cat&item=29-0300
How I came about it is a rather long story involving an ex-girlfriend that is best told over a few beers

But basically, they sell these little ROM cartridges with different designs but I basically hacked it with some software that lets me cut any vector graphic I can create....another long story.

It works like an inkjet printer, but instead of a printhead it has a sharp knife bit (I bought a couple of the heavy duty blades for it) at this place called Michaels craft store, which I think I've mentioned before, and I think Vik now sees in his head as this wonderland filled with a hobbyists wet dream

You attach your stock plastic or paper to this sticky cutting mat that holds it as the tray moves in and out. Here is a super-cheesy video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5r7U5yAOyU&feature=related



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WOOT!

Nothing better than getting home from work on a friday to find that your Micro Mark BOGO sale box on the porch!

2 boxes of Doc O Brien's weathering powders and 4 brass bar clamps.

hmmmm...I need to use these this weekend now!
and I guess i'll never be buying any of those fancy MiG powders, I seem to have a lifetime supply here

talk about wet dreams that redhead is very yummy indeed and then her accent....^^
yep micheals sounds a bit like a wonderland, in fact tomorrow the kids and wife are off to see the in laws...long story here... and i will try to get to my only known place that ight come close to that...maybe i get some usefull stuff for a future project...wanted to build me a walker from scratch...

this is a cool machine, and do you operate it via usb from your pc then?

too bad that every so often beers are not able to get served on the interwebs :(
too bad that machine is currently out of the question for me regarding budgetranges...argh who am i kinnin`seems so versatile but yet so stunning expensive...
but the potential of that thingy is sheer endless...if this can be operated by standard programs like paint for instance then this is a huge development and the amount of cutting things is "cut" short indeed... no sore fingers anymore from cutting through plasticcard o even cardstock... i hate that^^


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looks like santa came early this year.... the clamps what are they for or won´t you tell as they are for something naughty?^^


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the powders have yet to be discovered by me.... any special uses you are panning them on yet?

HAHA, the clamps are just for general gluing duties, gotta have clamps! Yes it connects via USB, but it has a huge learning curve to it, takes some practice to get to cutting exactly what you want. That is why I want to spend more time with it. Sometimes, you still need to use a knife to get thin bits out, the blade might not penetrate through your stock onto the cutting mat if you don't have the depth and pressure set right but the precision is much better than I can repeat whilst wielding a knife as well as the added bonus that it can make perfect duplicate parts (or layers) of detail, like you said Vik.

i think most of the times for general use i use cloth pegs for glueing... and they work... up to a certain thickness anyway...but some hightech klamps can be nice... i gotta admitt^^
well cutting some parts loose is not to be compared to cutting whole pieces out of stock^^ and the option to make identical pieces is just priceless... for some reason i cant cut worth a damn, even with scalpel, steel ruler and a cutting mat and other useful gimmiks two pieces are not alike from me....i even went to solve the problem by going to a DIY hardware store and got me some different length of wood as count as rulers so now i have custom made width of wood to cut my stock ...this works now to some extent...so finally your designs can spark a new incentive in working with card^^

Just think of the steam castle you can build with one of these Vik!

that ain´t teasing no more that is tantamount to torture^^

This is an older model now, you can get ths one for US$150 or so. It's the wider model too, they make a smaller tabled one for le$$.

yeah well seems i have to be employed for that...which i am unfortunatly not...so...:( but i see you point...and for hobby related stuff a smaller one would suffice... cya...off for a lil sleeping^^

I found another pic of some cricut-ed things

and some more of the industrial building (including the machinery inside) mostly here, I was playing with my new miniature pipe bender when I first got it, festooning the work with decorative pipework.










I have named this piece of machinery "The Departmento Munitorum Washing Machine"

no clean thread in the IoM so they probably need something as big as that^^

went to the sort of micheals... but to no avail...no foamcore there... bummer...well back to the drawing board of ideas...^^

that cricut thingy got me thinking... if you wanted you could even make kind of treads for tanks with that... the repetive part would come in way handy with something like that...

seeing how you work wonders with plasticcard... what glue do you use? mine efforts and materials never stuck together fer long enough top make such pieces live^^

The Industrial buildings are great , especially the dept washing machine

Thanks, I use either old fashioned testors in the blue tube or Plastic weld. For joining dissimilar materials I use the purple CA (medium gap filling super glue) from my FLHS Phil's Hobby Shop in Fort Wayne, IN (plug em, ya never know)

Vik, do you have anything locally that does framing? Foam core is always in the framing section for me.

are we talking more like construction work here? ...i tend to look n the hardwarestore for that... the thicknesses are there... what i haven´t yet seen anywhere i looked was the coated version of foamcore...in germany we call the pink foam "styrodur" not to be mistaken with "styropor" which is that bubbleymaterial you get when buying TV-sets and stuff... the former is quite good, but generally i have talked myself out of working with foam...something that makes me not overjoyes as i think foam is a cool material but i tend to work with PVA with best results and i need material that can be soaked to beter be glued together.... tho i today looked after balsawood and nearly choked^^ too quite pricey^^... me=cheapo^^

Maybe this will help Vik? http://www.worldworksgames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7651&sid=1cf845562c548d029fe673968d51ef0c

I use PVA too, I prefer the super-duty stuff though, weldbond. I thin it with water and then brush it over the carved foam, once it dries clear, you can spray it with a rattlecan.

No, not construction framing, but picture framing.


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Primed.

ahhhh... now this is something interresting...do you know why this stuff is more to be found in this department in shops? is it used for the backsides of pictureframes? i am currently searching for a better shop that i can acces in RL here in berlin. then this description really helps. somehow i shy away from ordering such stuff via web...but in the end the web has so much more possibilities.

i plan to harden my tank with diluted PVA as you desribed, i hope it doesnt get too shiny then but i think there is no cheaper road...tho i have some woodstain that i could use probably but the danger of ruining weeks of work is a bit heartfainting^^




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is that a rhino exhaust at the front? nice idea! looks so much more together when you see some scratchbuilts finally primed...all the cobbled toghterness of different materials then step back and you can see it in a new perspective!!!

have fun painting that.

and the link you provided, provided me yet again with a link in berlin of an artsuplier i will visit on monday!!!! for this you get full marks!!! whooopeeee

Yes foamcore is usually used as the backer in picture frames.

Yep an exhaust pipe from an old rhino.


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The Buckeyes won, it was a long, kind of boring game. I'm sort of uninspired now hobby-wise though.

Jesus, dsteingass, these are incredible! So much attention to detail, but it all comes out so clean and pristine! And using such simple materials Really (really!) impressed that you've been so successful with such different styles as well - how long have you been doing the terrain thing for?

I really need to try my hand at making some terrain - thanks a ton for the inspiration. Oooh, and don't let one game bring you down - you do get crappy ones every now and then. Force yourself to play again and you'll enjoy it - the longer you leave it, the more effort it seems


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Also! Unrelated:
How do you pronouce your screenname? Cause at the moment I'm thinking dee-st(eye)n-gas, and I suspect it's probably wrong

Viktor von Domm wrote:sometimes i think you guys over the grand sea have all the good stuff in such great suply...the few artshops i know of are 1.expensive, 2.sadly smallish with a very limited range and 3 mostly way too much away...could make a guy go ballistic but then i had to firstly arange maters that i had enough material for a good catapult^^

That's true...in europe it's hard to find right material and stuff....I'm just thinking to move to America....does someone want to marry me?? XD or maybe just adopt -.-'

@ Scarper, thanks man! I have been building terrain since the year 2000, not constantly, but on and off. I first was an active member of Terragenesis (www.terragenesis.co.uk) back then, when the great Gary James founded, but since then he sold it all off to this Andy guy, who I just don't like personally. I think some of my first projects are still online over there. The stuff pictured here though has all been done within the last calendar year. Yep your pronunciation is correct it's my name Dave Steingass st-eye-n-gas. (I belive it was originally spelled Steingasse, which I think means "Stone Street" (right Vik?) German heritage, but American since 1840!

@Zebra...which is strange, since all the best miniature stuff is made in the UK.

I know it's strange, but just for example today I bought some plasticard sheets in the ONLY shop that sells it in my city (the nearest other shop it's something about 300Km from here), and it doesn't sell the plasticard in they're blister, but cut the original one, split the sheets in half, then put the half sheets in their blister for the double the price it cost on the web...this is just one of the bilion examples everything is like this over the sea XD

Anyway, awesome job with your terrain...keep up the good work 'cause I need ispirations

Zebr@88

I just found iplasticsupply.com in California for buying plasticard in bulk, I don't think I'll ever buy it from overpriced train shops again. It used to be that way for me when I lived in the country, everything I needed was miles and miles away, now I moved into the city where things can be gotten without needing to plan a trip.

so you did things on terragenisis? cool... loved that site and still there is lots of usefull stuff to be looked at and to get new ideas... some great scratchbuilding brains there.... would like to see some of yer stuff from there if it is still on...

That's true...in europe it's hard to find right material and stuff....I'm just thinking to move to America....does someone want to marry me?? XD or maybe just adopt -.-'

lol... some peeps are reffering to signs made from plasticcard in the DIY shops and such like... this could also be used for those jobs we want...also i like to point out that foodpackaging can be recycled to serve as building materials... if you have the right glue there is much game in a food shop for a constructer...

I don't know if you have Garage Sales in Europe, but I've seen the plastic signs sold for Garage Sales that are perfectly good plasticard for use in hobbies.


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Wow...I guess i've been doing this since 1999...I forgot. Here's a link to one of my first projects lol
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page129.html wow...

cool looking boiler... lol ... no senior citizen were harmed... lol...

in germany we have mnore fleamarkets...and no signs are buyable for this...crappy^^

also yep i guess steingass..e... could be translated into stone street...probably something more like cobblestone i think... which is a cool name by the way... may i ask jewish influences or just a colorful name by coincidence?

I have no idea I'm afraid, the history for my family only goes back to Bavaria after the time of the thirty years war, and little is known after that until the mid-1800s. Why do you ask? Living in the midwest all my life, I don't think I've ever even known a Jewish person to be honest.

well the sound suggest a bit the heritage.... but this is as you said only coincidence then... me myself i have some jewish ancestors... but my name is as german as ...Blutwurst und sauerkraut^^

and you know your family tree frm way back of the 30 years war.... wow that is quite a long family memory...

Well, other people did all the geneology, I just bought a copy. Just simple farmers..until my generation lol

yep...could´t be confused with farming in a loooong run... your work...^^

Love the boiler!

And just to (sort of) add to the conversation, I have not bought "real" plasticard yet. All of my building material comes from For Sale sings!

And we get Jennie-O ground turkey, and the package it comes in would make a great bunker....I should try that next time instead of recycling it! I'll at least take a picture to show you guys.

Well, I take that back, my Grandpa was always making things, he was born a farmer and retired a toolmaker, and his grandfather was a carpenter.

carpenter... that would be a nice craft! lots of usefull skills to go with that profession!

at RS jake... yep that sounds good... most packages would have a pretty decent grim dark look to them once they are primed...

MMM.. Turkey Bunkers!!!

get offa my lawn mister...^^

Hey, btw..I am now doing the Necromunda Project in real time if anyone is bored

Great work!
These buildings can be used in Warhammer too: European medieval houses would work well as WHFB Empire buildings, and modern houses are good in WH40k.

Ok so I have to admit that I have lurked on a couple of your threads admiring your scratch building skills. I really enjoy the scale of your projects and the fact that you still maintain a high level of detail. Keep it up!

Thanks man! Don't just lurk, get involved! I love C&C

well...did the washing machine get the occasionla lick of paint yet?

only asking... you know....^^

vik

nope, it's still sitting primed...ADD and such.

Well it's a sweet piece, all the same. I think I'll try reproducing it if you don't mind. Not that I'll get to painting it before you do

Very cool terrain. Your foam brick work is excellent.

hmmm....*please hold the line...*^^

Holy smokes dstein...

@ Green Please do! It was just a half-assed experiment anyways...I was playing with my new tube bender tool lol

@Vik, I'm fighting battles on too many fronts my friend! terrain, minis, more terrain, sleep, work..etc. etc.

@Gitsplitta, Thanks a bunch man!

Viktor von Domm wrote:

get offa my lawn mister...^^

Had they went with Benjamin Franklin's suggestion, that would have been our nation's symbol instead of the Bald Eagle.

who knows what would have happened in that alternate world then with the united states ... who knows indeed^^

my Spam post: Even though this thread has fizzled out for a bit, feel free to post questions, comments, and especially criticisms here, no worries of Threadromancy here. My blog, my rules

actually now i realize how many different threads you have^^

guilty as charged! I have too much unfinished.

well...then the path is clear as potato soup...finish what you have started...(there is a pun hidden in the comment...a cooky for it´s discovery...^^)