Competition Guidelines:

For the purposes of this competition, Shrubbery will be defined as any living vegetation existing on a base or terrain, including grasses, bushes, and small trees. The focus will be on the living vegetation. Other elements such as rocks, water, ruins, figures all may influence the judging slightly but the primary focus is on the shrubbery.
What is your solution for modelling a vine, for example? Different colored grasses? fiddlehead ferns? sculpting small trees? flowers and big leaves? using oddly shaped found materials? Evergreens? Jungle plants?





The idea is that most of us when making bases, use flocking or some other simple trick to make the plantlife, but in reality plants are a lot more complex and full of personality. The challenge is to take it to the next level and make something that is interesting all by itself... so that our basing/terrain skills are that much better in the end and we learn from each other.

Alien/carnivorous shrubbery: will be allowed, however it is important that certain conditions be considered. Because there are no standards that can be applied to vegetation that has not been seen or discovered in real life, there must sill be an element of realism that we can relate to, in other words, you have to work more than normal to convince us that this actually is shrubbery on an alien planet, so that if we saw it out of context we would not have to guess what it is.

Base: the shrubbery might be part of a terrain set, and large or spread out, for instance a hill set, ruins with overgrown vegetation, or a mysterious forest. Or, it might be very intricate and fitting on a standard game base such as 25, 40 or 60 mm.

Ready Made Products: Including things you might have been working on before this contest. WIP's are key here, you need to show what you start with and what you do with it. Buying some products and gluing them to a base is not acceptable. But there is nothing wrong with using these products, just keep in mind that you will be judged by your creation for this contest, the way you combine the materials in a creative and skillful way.

Guidelines for judging: Creativity and Realism are both equally appreciated, so you could do something representative or off the wall alien plantlife. Please post WIP's so we know what materials you are working with: for example if you purchase ready-made trees and clumps of grass. The final product will be judged as a whole, based on what you do with the materials you are using... if you use ready made materials there needs to be some other form of creativity such as modifications to it or combination in an artful way with other products. Diversity and variation of color, shape and texture are a huge part of this. Other elements such as rocks, water, ruins, figures all may influence the judging slightly but the vegetation is the most important. All the elements of the landscape are important though, because they allow more possibilities for plantlife (water vs grass plants, tree hugging plants, vines and trees growing in a ruin).

As well as myself, I've invited Vic and Mr. Merlin to sit on the judging panel with me. So don't expect to be at my mercy alone

Deadline: Jan 1st. I will judge the winner on the 2nd.

Prizes: The winner will be granted the Honorary title of Master Shrubber for the League of Extraordinary Riveters. You will be granted this medallion to proudly display in your sig (the resized version, of course).



Also, you will receive this Daemon Engine:



Or if you wish, you can make a request for me to convert/paint a miniature. I have Chaos and True Scale loyalist space marine parts, as well as a little bit of orks, and I can make beasties like daemons. As long as it is reasonable, and you send me the miniature, I'm also willing to just paint and base any miniature to the best of my ability (comparable to the daemon engine or other stuff in my gallery).

I'm thinking about how to do some runner-up prizes. Stay tuned for me to update that.

(Although I'm not in the contest, I'm going to do a bit of experiments myself and post them in the thread as I go along, just for more ideas/inspiration and to keep it rolling. I think as a greater goal, perhaps at the end of the comp, we could accumulate our shrubbery knowledge and create an article or collective shrubbery tutorial. I'd like to suggest that in this way our private glory-mongering might be more use to the general public. So if you have shrubbery tips, please please post them here!)

Good Luck Everyone!

What a cool prize, I'm in.

Awesome! Great to see you on board!

After failing to finish the last contest, naturally I must make every effort to fail at finishing yours

In all seriousness, though... Definitely gonna be an interesting little theme. Ive a few concepts going right now.....

Excellent... you are both worthy competitors... I look forward to what you come up with!

I've got a shrubbery supply drop that should come in a few days, I'm going to share it here maybe do a little review and experimenting.

I'll join!




.....the panel of judges
Great OP Meade, I guess you'll have a lot more entrants than me!
I will build some shrubbery for you too, on the base of your prize model!
The one you're offering looks awesome btw!

 MrMerlin wrote:
I'll join!
.....the panel of judges
Great OP Meade, I guess you'll have a lot more entrants than me!
I will build some shrubbery for you too, on the base of your prize model!
The one you're offering looks awesome btw!

I imagine more (US) entrants will filter in during the week, after the election and during Thanksgiving break.

That's a great idea, since you're making a Kommando for me, he's going to have to blend into the shrubbery somehow! A Kommando force is just one of the many examples of something fun and creative people could do.

And feel free to post some WIP's here, would be great as a continuation of the previous contest and help keep this thread up in the forums so more people see it and join in time.

well, i try to get this one finished in time

 Jarl Marius wrote:
well, i try to get this one finished in time

Just get a bit of a head start on it and you should be cool, and again there's no problem with integrating something else you are doing, so long as you understand the part that wins this contest is the shrubbery!

curiosity got the better of me and i am here now uninvited ... you have to do more advertising meade!!!

i will join the judges...too *nasty snigger*

and i will dabble with a bit of plantlife too...once i have the basics done for my current project tho ...

i think for this i will try to get me some plastic flower stuff of the pet shop... you know those aquariums.... big leafy stuff... this will be highly educational... also i will do some free advertising in threads of my dakkalife

oh and....

Prizes: The winner will be granted the Honorary title of Master Shrubber for the League of Extraordinary Riveters. You will be granted this medallion to proudly display in your sig (the resized version, of course).



Also, you will receive this Daemon Engine:

argh.... and i join the board of judges....

 Viktor von Domm wrote:
curiosity got the better of me and i am here now uninvited ... you have to do more advertising meade!!!

I'm open to suggestions... although I could at least talk more in my p&m thread. I'm going to start posting my shrubbery ideas and try to get some healthy banter going.

Do you think it's worth making a banner? I could at least put in my sig.

and i will dabble with a bit of plantlife too...once i have the basics done for my current project tho ...

You mean after you build the enormous tank that will probably have a thousand rivets on it?

i think for this i will try to get me some plastic flower stuff of the pet shop... you know those aquariums.... big leafy stuff... this will be highly educational... also i will do some free advertising in threads of my dakkalife

Plastic flower stuff is awesome for this. little leaves on a normal plastic plant make big jungle leaves in 28mm scale!

argh.... and i join the board of judges....

Well stay tuned, I want to give out one or two "A for effort" prizes, that I would just judge myself, and would only require participation in the contest whether or not you make it to the end.

Well stay tuned, I want to give out one or two "A for effort" prizes, that I would just judge myself, and would only require participation in the contest whether or not you make it to the end.

oh.... that is a sweet honey trap you have set!

yes! do a banner... we should´ve done so way earlier... if so... please give the correct codings for getting to this thread here to me too... to spread the word on dakka there is no better way!!!!

You mean after you build the enormous tank that will probably have a thousand rivets on it?

ah... misconception mister! if i am already at riveting stage... then this is quite the chillout task then so many other tasks ahead still^^

Cool idea! I think I have some ideas, I have some aquarium plants I have yet to use, so game on!

 Two Spartan wrote:
Cool idea! I think I have some ideas, I have some aquarium plants I have yet to use, so game on!

Looking forward to see what you come up with

Okay guys a banner is on the list for me to do today. Lets get the ball rolling!

I'm totally going to try for this one...

Me too, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve no one has seen. I'm in!

Awesome guys! so for a list of entrants we've got:

Bruticus
Ramos Asura
Jarl Marius
Two Spartan
Galorn
Dsteingass

As well as 2 esteemed judges for the panel.

-Quite the heavy hitters there!

How do you guys like my sig banner? I made it generic so that the next comp could use it if they want. Also I made it shinier.

Excellent! Here is the code you'll need
[[*url=http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/487271.page][*img]http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/11/8/429237_md-.jpg[/img][/url]
Copy and paste, but remove the *s

[

 dsteingass wrote:
Excellent! Here is the code you'll need
[[*url=http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/487271.page][*img]http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2012/11/8/429237_md-.jpg[/img][/url]
Copy and paste, but remove the *s

[

thnx!

donned the new banner... i like the copper feel of that one

and for future competitions... i like to keep that banner aktive if this is all the same to you meade... very good work!

Is it ok if it's part of a flying base?

i think it would be a good idea... tho meade hase the fnal ruling on this i say!

 Rogue Wolves wrote:
Is it ok if it's part of a flying base?

That would be great. Gives the terrain a chance to shine (without the model getting in the way) and you can use your model too, plus it's a nice big base.

Well then you can count me and my vendetta in

Loving the banner, Meade! Added it to my sig!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I just wrote an article about the -=]_=- competitions. What do you think?:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_-%3DL%3D-Terrain_Competitions

Can we use bases that are already done? I have a whole army of Shrubbers but wont be adding anything new until next year

If not I might have some spare bases laying around I could use.

I hand make all mine

 MrMerlin wrote:
Loving the banner, Meade! Added it to my sig!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I just wrote an article about the -=]_=- competitions. What do you think?:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_-%3DL%3D-Terrain_Competitions

Looking good, we could add to it and add different things as it develops.

I really want to do a -=[_=- collective shrubbery article though, I think it would be so helpful to people. I got around to doing some experimenting with it tonight... pics I promise very soon. My hope is that as people share their knowledge and experiments it makes some good exchange and ends up with something more organized. For example... in saving people money when they get these products by discovering cheaper alternatives.

I think of it as an art class, the teacher makes an assignment and maybe not everyone had planned to do that, but it ends up challenging you and forcing you to think, and then the fact that a bunch of people do it at the same time means everyone is learning from each other as peers...




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 GiraffeX wrote:
Can we use bases that are already done? I have a whole army of Shrubbers but wont be adding anything new until next year

If not I might have some spare bases laying around I could use.

I hand make all mine

That's awesome! The log is great but the green vegetation seems a bit sparse. IRL how often do you see just one or two big leaves growing?

I don't have a problem with you using materials that you might have already prepared yourself, but this is sort of covered in the OP... treated the same as if you use pre-made products. However you have to do more with it and that is what you will be judged on, not the pre-existing stuff. You have to be making some kind of creation specifically for this contest, and post some WIP's, so we can see the process of building. (I went back and added another paragraph for clarity)

For example if you use your log... make a forest terrain with it. Go to your backyard and see what a real forest looks like. There are leaves on the ground, small plants and mosses on the ground, baby trees.... and all of this has to be combined in a pleasing way...

Same thing if you are buying pre-made trees. It's what you do with it, to integrate it with more complex plantlife or the landscape, that is what you're judged on...

Great Idea Meade I really think the =][_,= needs to make some articles up in here!

Love this idea and count me in!

Okay, lets start with a master list of materials. I went to the store today and picked up a few things that I think might prove useful.

-feathers: If you go to the art store, usually they will have colored feathers... the individual strands of the feathers make grasses of different types. I picked up some brown ones, but they are great because they have parts that look like really small grass with little branches coming off it, there are other 'striped' parts which adds great visual variety. I got some brown ones but I might go back later and pick up some green ones because they would make great little ferns.

-felt: picked up some green felt because I think it might make a great mossy base, perhaps some moss growing on rocks.

-plastic floral arrangements: I picked up a cheap 'fall' arrangement that has plastic plants and herbs, a lot of stems have little plastic branches coming off them. That makes a great base for a tree when you glue the bunches of leaves on. If you think about it the expensive little trees you see sold in art stores are really just a plastic base with little clumps of leaves glued onto it...



-wire: I got some at home. later I hope to show the 'wire twisting method' where you start with a clump of thin wires, twist them together, and then separate the top parts whilst keeping the bottom twisted to create the shape of a tree.

-cheap/old brushes: usually sold in dollar stores as a whole package. Horrible brushes, but great tall grass... usually a tan color that you want.



-Basing products: as far as I can tell these products come in the forms of sawdust, thin fibers, and spongy material. the colored sawdust (sometimes small bits of colored sponge) is cheapest but it doesn't make a great grass shape, it is actually better for gluing on top of/all around other forms to great little leaves, bushes or flowering tops of grass. Or, as a low-lying ground cover hiding in the cracks of rocks and close to the ground.



The thin fibers, I think it's best to get as many colors of these, and then combine them together much like paints. This goes for the premade army painter clumps of grass as well, you can usually combine those with the other fiber grass that needs to be glued on.




The spongy material, is best for making trees and small bushes. IMO it needs to be painted just a bit for more color variation. Airbrushed? Drybrushed? something.

I must say that I LOVE the contrast on your model right there, Dark mechanical tech guy, on a nice warm earthy base really gives him the unnatural look and I like it!

 Rogue Wolves wrote:
I must say that I LOVE the contrast on your model right there, Dark mechanical tech guy, on a nice warm earthy base really gives him the unnatural look and I like it!

"Fall Palette"... I'm still working on a way to make grimdark shrubbery

So an updated list of entrants:

Bruticus
Ramos Asura
Jarl Marius
Two Spartan
Galorn
Dsteingass
Rogue Wolves
Cave_Dweller
GiraffeX (?)

Cool article merlin!

Those are some great ideas meade, resourceful!

My Entry!
I have had the Mines of Moria boxed set for about a year now but hadn't bothered to do anything with it. This has inspired me to model it as dwarven ruins in a forest.
For this competition I will probably only use the columns and door, and make some walls. I am planning to have them separate to keep them modular.

Beginnings of vines:


These are made with garden wire super glued on to the terrain. =)

I really like your idea, meade. A shrubbery-artice would be great!

Btw I fixed the links in my article, they didn't work before. We can update it after every contest and maybe put this in every new contest OP so everyone knows what we're talking about:
[url=http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_-%3DL%3D-Terrain_Competitions]The -=]_=- Terrain competitions[/url]

which shows as this and leads to the article.
The -=]_=- Terrain competitions

and someone totally has to do a riveting tutorial!

 Two Spartan wrote:
Cool article merlin!

Those are some great ideas meade, resourceful!

My Entry!
I have had the Mines of Moria boxed set for about a year now but hadn't bothered to do anything with it. This has inspired me to model it as dwarven ruins in a forest.
For this competition I will probably only use the columns and door, and make some walls. I am planning to have them separate to keep them modular.

Beginnings of vines:


These are made with garden wire super glued on to the terrain. =)

cool! Have you decided what kind of forest, or is it more of a jungle?

the jungle style, just search for pics of Angkor Wat, that would require a bit more sculpting of the vine roots themselves.

whereas in temperate locations you see vines forming a carpet on the sides of a tree trunk, or building, usually going for the top sunlight-facing area first (the roots often being visible at the bottom. A lot easier to do with wires, but the tricky part is finding something to model the carpet of vine leaves growing on the side/top.

Yeah I think I'm gonna go for a forest look, with vines like this:


I can't put on that many leaves but I will try to strike a balance between realism practicality and durability =)

you can use anything for the carpet- hell, flocking glued to the wall looks good, but remember to do foliage in layers, building it up to create variations and interest, otherwise it looks flat and unrealistic. Moss will grow on different sides of things based on the hemisphere of your position on the planet and it's orbit too.

 dsteingass wrote:
you can use anything for the carpet- hell, flocking glued to the wall looks good, but remember to do foliage in layers, building it up to create variations and interest, otherwise it looks flat and unrealistic. Moss will grow on different sides of things based on the hemisphere of your position on the planet and it's orbit too.

yeah, the spongy flocking (not the fiber stuff) would definitely work. I'm going to be getting some of the SW miniatures' 'leaf litter' in the mail soon, and I'll review it here, one of the things I want to try is using it for vine leaves.

Another thing to mention is pipe cleaners. They come in different colors and you can bend them around stuff in the shape of a vine... and the bristles look like vegetation. It takes a bit of work to make those look realistic though...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
btw guys, if you find good tutorials, post them here please!

Here is an awesome tut on mushrooms (yes they count as shrubbery for the purposes of this contest-although technically not plantlife), and one on vegetation as well. It covers different kinds of grasses, flowers, lilypads, etc.

http://necrotales.com/necroTutorials/

MrMerlin wrote:Loving the banner, Meade! Added it to my sig!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I just wrote an article about the -=]_=- competitions. What do you think?:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_-%3DL%3D-Terrain_Competitions

nice history to the competitions!!!

and meade... the link to making mushrooms is excellent!!!

Yeah mushrooms are great for a forest/swamp/jungle base, and especially if you've got some logs or stumps. And there's more kinds than just the 'toadstool' variety, although something colorful is nice.

Dude- That site is killer for terrain tutorials!

Merlin, Great Article man!
I motion that MrMerlin be named -=]_=- Remembrancer General.

 dsteingass wrote:
Merlin, Great Article man!
I motion that MrMerlin be named -=]_=- Remembrancer General.

I second that motion!

Sorry no pics yet today but I got another supply dump, including more woodland scenics stuff like tall grasses and more spongy material, plus the SW mini's leaf litter.

All good stuff, and the more variety the better. Then I had a thought, why not raid the pantry?

So I went and grabbed a container of oregano (there were like three hanging around) and honestly, I don't see a difference between that and the leaf litters you can buy... it has a nice tan-green color to it and would be great to glue on for fallen leaves or vines, or small bushes. Actually, a lot of the dried spices seem to work rather well for different kinds of plants, then only downside is that some of them might be a tad brittle and require some sealing with matte medium (I also use modge podge matte finish).

Also, as a side bonus, YOUR MINIATURES SMELL AND TASTE NICE. Anybody tried this or know about this? I'd like to hear.

Being the Italian I am, I love oregano so much... And have tons, so I'll give this a try

Let us know how it goes RW

And now I'd like to announce... a secondary prize!



A spider servo skull! (the figure is just shown for scale, not included in the prize) Lovingly built and painted by me.

Base is not included, you are free to do whatever you want with it. Good for any army, chaos or loyalist.

**WARNING** you might get creeped out by this servo skull. Like in those cartoons where the eyes in the painting follow you around and the painting seems to always be looking at you... is the same way I feel about this servo skull.

The secondary prize will be for participation and support. The more WIP's you post, tips and advice for modelling shrubbery, moral support, etc. You can have a final entry and still win the secondary prize (but you can't win both prizes), but also if for some reason you may have posted a lot of WIP's but can't finish the contest you are still eligible. You are also still eligible if you don't 'officially' enter the contest (such as judges ), so obviously the prize will be given by myself alone.

my project for the fourth competition... as i am helping out with the panel of judges ... this object will be of some sort of keeping in with the spirit of the comp...

well and this will be the starting base from which i will build my "shrubbery"...








it is from a pet shop... aquarioum decoration... probably resin stuff... plan is to add some vines and make it look way better that the current paining
i had an odd shaped "ball" of plant in my hand too... which looked like this



but i didn´t bought it yet... figuring that hehe...oregano might help me too out in this project



well... so much for now...


cheers, vik


Automatically Appended Next Post:
oh ... and that servo skull is so cool looking...!!!!

Oh my god that spider servo skull is adorable. How did you make the little legs? It really reminds me of an especially gross manga called Gyo where things scuttle around on legs like that, horrifying. (Warning: reading Gyo might scar you for life).

Good idea about the WIP thing, I have to admit to not wanting to post much in the way of WIP in case it gave the game away too much, but will do now.

And for my contribution to the technique thing I will show this site: http://www.elladan.de/Index.htm - he has a method for synthetic fur grass that I think looks amazing, I had planned to make a full board using that method one day...

 Bruticus wrote:
Oh my god that spider servo skull is adorable. How did you make the little legs? It really reminds me of an especially gross manga called Gyo where things scuttle around on legs like that, horrifying. (Warning: reading Gyo might scar you for life).

DON'T CALL IT CUTE!!! (It does not think of itself that way).

The little legs are just a thin copper wire, btw. In my days of crafting jewellery I got pretty good at manipulating wire.

Good idea about the WIP thing, I have to admit to not wanting to post much in the way of WIP in case it gave the game away too much, but will do now.

And for my contribution to the technique thing I will show this site: http://www.elladan.de/Index.htm - he has a method for synthetic fur grass that I think looks amazing, I had planned to make a full board using that method one day...

There is no real requirement to post WIP's as long as you have them to post at the end, as some bit of proof that you built the entry yourself. But this prize is to provide a bit of incentive to post for everyone... which I feel would benefit the contest in general... so it's a mixed bag. You can always post little teasers and not reveal the final package till the end .

Need another Judge?

 Briancj wrote:
Need another Judge?

Nah I think three is plenty for this contest... but whoever wins it next can decide for themselves

Green dried oregano will turn brown if you don't seal it with a clear-coat, but it takes awhile to turn.

It's a shame I cannot compete. Some people might enjoy the tip of using green scrubbies, I got a box of these things from work once and it has been supplying me for years.

 dsteingass wrote:
Green dried oregano will turn brown if you don't seal it with a clear-coat, but it takes awhile to turn.

That's good to know... I tried working with it today and sealed it with the modge podge (it's a sealer so I assume it will be alright). I wonder if its the same with all plant products (for example the one from secret weapon minis?). But it must go for several years before it starts turning brown...

I've come to the conclusion that just airbrushing and painting the vegetation after I'm done with it adds so much. It looks better that way anyway. Doesn't hurt to be generous with the spray sealer as well.

Very cool servo skull, have you ever done a tutorial on how you make glowing eyes?.. because you should...

If I can leave my new fetish for fallout 3 (thanx dave and Vik) long enough alone i'll dig op my jungle dioramas and do some tuttitrials here. I'm probably not entering the competition though... I have no need for shrubbery in my necro-pocalypse city...

But since i used to build Vietnam dioramas i got shrubbery covered... Jungle plants, trees, etc...

Fallout has plenty of dead shrubbery!

The products you buy are dyed artificially, that is what gives you the permanent color. If you paint it, it does the same job of sealing it.

 MauS wrote:
If I can leave my new fetish for fallout 3 (thanx dave and Vik) long enough alone i'll dig op my jungle dioramas and do some tuttitrials here. I'm probably not entering the competition though... I have no need for shrubbery in my necro-pocalypse city...

But since i used to build Vietnam dioramas i got shrubbery covered... Jungle plants, trees, etc...

Indeed, dead trees and grasses really add flavor, its challenging as well. Being obsessed with fallout 3 is no excuse! But some jungle stuff would be cool as well!




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Rogue Wolves wrote:
Very cool servo skull, have you ever done a tutorial on how you make glowing eyes?.. because you should...

well possibly, there's been a few requests but... it's rather simple. airbrush, I stuff the eyes with spheres of something or other so no natural shadows form, then a white undercoat, then i carefully spray the airbrush to get the glow effect, i use VMA scarlet red. It's an awesome paint because it is extremely transparent. And if I really want a neat effect I'll go back with another coat of white after spraying and then another handbrushed scarlet red + light red.

jabbakahut wrote:It's a shame I cannot compete. Some people might enjoy the tip of using green scrubbies, I got a box of these things from work once and it has been supplying me for years.

what the hell is

scrubbies

???

MauS wrote:If I can leave my new fetish for fallout 3 (thanx dave and Vik) long enough alone i'll dig op my jungle dioramas and do some tuttitrials here. I'm probably not entering the competition though... I have no need for shrubbery in my necro-pocalypse city...

But since i used to build Vietnam dioramas i got shrubbery covered... Jungle plants, trees, etc...

who said your plants have to be alive? plant life should be convincing... not really said anywhere how the living status should be... even alien shrubberies would be good!

and sorry for the lack of social interaction caused by us watering your mouth with FO gibberish ... enter at your own risk

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

jabbakahut wrote:It's a shame I cannot compete. Some people might enjoy the tip of using green scrubbies, I got a box of these things from work once and it has been supplying me for years.

what the hell is

scrubbies

???

Ha, sorry. More accurately, green scouring pads.



You can cut them, glue them, burn them, paint them... Useful texture additions.

I'm not sure If I'm in or not

I was just having a think of what I could do and came up with an Aegis Defence Line made out of cut down logs and trees for my Dark Wolves which are based in a forest setting.

If I have time I'll do something.

My plants on my bases are made from the wire you buy for making necklaces I then cut leaves out of paper and then super glue them on and then paint them, my trees and logs I make from Sculpey. I pay a lot of attention to terraformers blogs

 jabbakahut wrote:

Ha, sorry. More accurately, green scouring pads.



You can cut them, glue them, burn them, paint them... Useful texture additions.

Never thought of that either! I've already learned a lot from this thread.

@ giraffeX- That's cool dude. Part of the idea of this contest is that it should be easy for people to do the contest and also end up with something they can use, but then again you have to be serious to win! That's why I made the secondary prize. Also, i don't have a problem extending the contest if there are a lot of entries coming in late, so there is a chance that might happen, you never know.

Made more progress on the shrubbery guys... I figured out a great technique for making gnarly trees/shrubs. Short version is that it's copper wire of various sizes twisted around in a tree shape and covered in hot glue, then paint thickly with acrylic paint, hot glue the spongy stuff on and season to taste. I'll give some pics later.

I love the terraformer stuff as well, my hope is that we come up with some stuff of the same caliber as those tutorials/scenery.

jabbakahut wrote:

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

jabbakahut wrote:It's a shame I cannot compete. Some people might enjoy the tip of using green scrubbies, I got a box of these things from work once and it has been supplying me for years.

what the hell is

scrubbies

???

Ha, sorry. More accurately, green scouring pads.



You can cut them, glue them, burn them, paint them... Useful texture additions.

thanks jabbakahut!

a friend of mine now that you point me in that direction too taught me to build mossy trees from these!

thanks for the explaining hint!!!

These are my experiments so far, using the wire+gluegun method. The alpine tree is on a 40 mm base btw, I know it could use more swag like little plants poking out of the rocks a bit more and some better paintjob or covering up the base. I think I should do a tutorial for this once I've perfected it a bit more, unless somebody knows a better one or a description of this method somewhere.



Like how this one turned out too, working on some more but I'm not quite sure what to do with them yet! I really like the alpine tree bases and I might try to use them for my iron hands dudes when I get around to finishing them.

Those look really really good!

Those are very nice. Maybe you could make a forest (or at least scatter some trees around your Chaos scenery). It always seems odd to me when people have a tree or something similar following them around on their base.

I've spent quite a long time on my entry in the last couple of days and it is is coming along nicely. Unfortunately my camera is bust and I am not sure I want to give too much away anyway. Suffice to say it won't be quite so wholesome looking as your rather scenic bits... but then you don't really get healthy looking shrubberies in Necromunda.

 Bruticus wrote:
Those are very nice. Maybe you could make a forest (or at least scatter some trees around your Chaos scenery). It always seems odd to me when people have a tree or something similar following them around on their base.

Thanks! the big tree is not part of a model's base, no. The base it's on could be a removable part of some terrain, but it's more an experiment (I've got a some bigger ones now). The alpine base, I'm hoping to turn into one for some true-scale iron hands, because of the whole metaphor you know, they've been made strong through adversity but not without sacrifice to their bodies.

I've spent quite a long time on my entry in the last couple of days and it is is coming along nicely. Unfortunately my camera is bust and I am not sure I want to give too much away anyway. Suffice to say it won't be quite so wholesome looking as your rather scenic bits... but then you don't really get healthy looking shrubberies in Necromunda.

Really looking forward to seeing what you come up with... even if it's a little teaser! My tree method could be used to make gnarly, dead twisted, grimdark trees as well it's mostly just leaving the leaves off and bending them a bit more. Also I would just have to sculpt tiny mechanical owls to roost in them

my participation will depend on whether I can get my workshop set up before it ends...

 Galorn wrote:
my participation will depend on whether I can get my workshop set up before it ends...

Like I said if enough people feel the need for extension, it's not a problem. We appreciate your moral support Still you got 3 weeks.

people that are looking for a great way to make vines or roots, check out the outside of a coconut... those things are covered in dry stringy material that can be considered as vines and roots and they look perfectly natural because... well... they are

DijnsK wrote:
people that are looking for a great way to make vines or roots, check out the outside of a coconut... those things are covered in dry stringy material that can be considered as vines and roots and they look perfectly natural because... well... they are

Great Idea! And they're tasty too!

Twisting any kind of wire together and then coating it with LGS works well too.

 dsteingass wrote:
Twisting any kind of wire together and then coating it with LGS works well too.

yeah that would work too. That is probably better for tiny shrubs that it's hard to reach all the little branches with the gluegun. I'd really recommend the glue gun though, they are very cheap to get and to refill the glue, and when you are doing a lot of big trees with LGS it will probably get expensive fast. The glue gun gives the benefit of adding bulk to the tree, and naturally forms shapes that resemble the organic knots and fibers of a tree... as for the bark texture, it's easy to get some crappy $1.29 paint at walmart that is mostly binder, and slather it on until it gets fairly dry, then stipple on or use a brush with big hairs so the brushstrokes show, and it makes bark texture.

Oh wow Meade, your trees look incredible. I must make some of those!

Funny, there was an article about using coconuts on BoLS today...
http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?26323-Basing-With-Coconut

Funny, there was an article about using coconuts on BoLS today...
http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?26323-Basing-With-Coconut

I was looking at that link and I was sure I had seen that exact base before somewhere... sure enough: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/487376.page

Looks great.

Well, here's another vote for extending the deadline. Thanksgiving week will be vacation and family stuff, and this week and weekend are also pretty much going to be devoid of hobby time. Need another 8 hrs in the day!

 Cave_Dweller wrote:
Well, here's another vote for extending the deadline. Thanksgiving week will be vacation and family stuff, and this week and weekend are also pretty much going to be devoid of hobby time. Need another 8 hrs in the day!

Okay! Honestly it's whatever the other contestants want though. I might wait another week and a half or so, then ask everyone and see what we're working with at that point. Also it helps if you at least post a little bit of WIP at that time.

Dude those trees look great. I have a skullvane manse I've been steampunking out (on the back burner ATM) and those would be great additions! What exactly did you use to make the foliage? Sponge? Or something I order online?

 AirborneGinger wrote:
Dude those trees look great. I have a skullvane manse I've been steampunking out (on the back burner ATM) and those would be great additions! What exactly did you use to make the foliage? Sponge? Or something I order online?

woodland scenics clump foliage. It's a pretty good product IMO.

I LOVE that alpine tree... I think im gonna have to give the glue gun method a shot.

And hey I actually did work!!





As you can see, I made a cactus!
The bottom will be turned into a prickly pear, the top is a saguaro. Taken with el-cheapo brand webcam, but you should get the gist of things!

that's great! you managed to get the grooves into it nicely. A lot better than the ones they sell.. hmm did you use fimo?

Thanks! So far, this little experiment is turning out nicely! The prickly pear on the other hand is tough to get the right scale xD
And its Milliput- I find it dries a lot harder than fimo and other polymer clays. Plus, this air-dries, so no need for oven!

Tried something new with a second saguaro- sculpted the ridges instead of carving them.


Im not as big of a fan of it as the first method. I think the old one (right) one looks far better. Faster too.

To be honest I have nearly finished my entry, just got to give it a heavy varnish as I used some polystyrene and it is already chipping. Quite irritating but hopefully a few coats of purity seal will make it a bit more durable.

Here is a teaser pic:



I only have a really terrible camera at the moment so a blurry teaser is about as good as I can manage to post anyway.

@Ramos: yeah I like the first one better, although I guess if you wanted you could combine the two techniques and use sculpt the bigger ridges, then smooth them somewhat and carve smaller ridges to get a cactus that is not just round.

@Bruticus: Awesome! looks like some nice variety and different textures/techniques, and I'm wondering what that big yellow thing is in the shadows...

Looking good Bruticus and Ramos!

I tried my hand at making a tree from scratch, except I don't have a hot glue gun, so I just used news paper - papier mache =) The wire was fun, but adding the paper was really fiddly =/ I think a thinner paper like tissues might have been easier, I might use that to give more detail in second coating.

 Two Spartan wrote:
Looking good Bruticus and Ramos!

I tried my hand at making a tree from scratch, except I don't have a hot glue gun, so I just used news paper - papier mache =) The wire was fun, but adding the paper was really fiddly =/ I think a thinner paper like tissues might have been easier, I might use that to give more detail in second coating.

Cool! you definitely have the wire twisting part down... I guess if you want to use paper I would go with the toilet paper. Also if you have crappy goopy paint it does the job of painting and adding texture in one shot.

Hot Glue guns are awesome though... for so many things. Nearly all my stuff I sculpt from scratch starts off with wire + hot glue gun.

'Dis thread's way ta silent fer me likin'!!

I realy like all the entries so far, guys.
Ramos, Your cactus looks great. How will you do the spikes?

Spartan, thank you so much for posting that! I don't have any hot glue and somehow wasn't able to come up with paper mache myself! Thanks, and that tree looks great!

And 'cmon Bruticus! Don't torture us like that! Show us the piece already!!

Oh and Meade... Started working on your prize!
Thought an ordinary boy'd be too small for a proper prize, so I got a box of nobs and started rummaging the bitz box... here's what I have so far:



I'll build him a big, swampy base now....

Okay everybody.... We're a week and a half out! I've decided to just ask on the thread and everybody can put their vote in for whether we have the extension or not (yea or nay)... and if you want to do so anonymously please PM me. If nobody responds I'll just extend it, or if there's a tie. (think there was at least one vote to extend already). But if you've been working hard on something and are eager to win and get your prize, don't be shy to vote to keep the deadline!

 MrMerlin wrote:
'Dis thread's way ta silent fer me likin'!!

My head's been in the chaos forge lately

Oh and Meade... Started working on your prize! ....I'll build him a big, swampy base now....

I love the gun and the knife... He is rambo enough for my liking. And also different than what I would have done but in a totally good way!

Glad to hear you like him!

How would you have done it?

 MrMerlin wrote:
Glad to hear you like him!

How would you have done it?

More creepy-eyed night vision goggle covering his face... naturally

But that sneer on his face is perfect!

Oh right, shoulda known, you are after all the master of creepy red eyes, lol!

Would you like me to make him a pair of simple night vision googles? I'll try, and if it looks good together with that sneer, I'll add it

 MrMerlin wrote:
Oh right, shoulda known, you are after all the master of creepy red eyes, lol!

Would you like me to make him a pair of simple night vision googles? I'll try, and if it looks good together with that sneer, I'll add it

Sure if you like that but I like him the way he is As I said you've got the artistic license.

I fell Ill for the past week, and didn't get a chance to work on this, so I'm afraid I'm out. Perhaps next time

 dsteingass wrote:
I fell Ill for the past week, and didn't get a chance to work on this, so I'm afraid I'm out. Perhaps next time

Yeah I hope you're feeling better.

Well I'm probably going to extend it anyway, so it's still open just in case. Was looking forward to what you come up with though.

I'm getting better, thanks- don't extend it on my account, I've got gangers that I need to finish painting first.

 dsteingass wrote:
I'm getting better, thanks- don't extend it on my account, I've got gangers that I need to finish painting first.

I'm just extending it based on the other entant's input, so it's cool. I'll just count you as not having a vote one way or the other.

Of course, now I am thinking about vines and lichen bushes

I'm on the side for an extension, i can probly finish on the deadline still but would prefer to be able to give it more time

I wanna join! I just finished some forest terrain yesterday, so loads of trees, grass and shrubs. And a hill. Is it too late to enter?

Also, are there specifications on how the entry would be submitted?



Oh wait i just read that I need to post WIPs. But mine's already done. Darn it. I guess I can still post them here but I won't be a part of the contest proper. Mine was made from scratch except for some Woodland Scenic foliages and static grass.

I dunno if you can still enter (Meade is the judgde) but we'd all very much like to see your terrain!

I can still post pics even though I'm not entering! I'll just wait for daylight, since it's nighttime here and lighting's horrible.

Given the truly humbling levels of skill I've seen so far in this thread, there is no way in jibbly I have a chance given my mediocre painting skills, and attention span. But, the more the merrier yesno!

I'm working on an overgrown Imperial Cathedral, that needs to work as table-top terrain, with lots of open spaces for miniatures, while still channeling that jungle vibe. I've got a P&M thread about it here, but I shall cross-post into this thread.



The parts I'll be using are:

Loads of Cities of Death kits (I got an Imperial City some time back for cheap, so it will form the bulk of the Cathedral)

Textured Plastic Card (for stone floors in the Cathedral. I experimented with little squares of cardboard, but it drove me mad)

Aquarium plants for creepers

IKEA plastic plants for variation (cheap, and the branches sit on little nubs, making them easy to pluck off)

10mm foamboard for basing (lighter than wood, and resilient enough for my needs. Plus it doesn't warp)

Sand & gravel for basing

I decided on a modular approach, with a sizeable front piece, with a couple of balconies, a pair of side walls with firing points, and a smaller rear wall section.



Cutting the textured plastic card cost me more of my precious sanity, especially since I discovered that the edges don't have to be neat, as they'll be covered by sand. Still, the off-cuts gave me useful bits for scatter terrain.



Here are the two pieces of flooring for the cathedral nave. Once the walls are in around the squares, I plan to roughen the edges up with sand and gravel as necessary, and also add some pieces of broken debris to break up the even flooring.



Jumping ahead a bit, the nave walls are assembled, and in place. The pillar is there to give the sense of a vaulted space - but it eats a lot of the foot-print. I'm not sure if I will include it.



And here are both nave pieces, checking how the space feels with the pillars in place.



Once I'd done the first pass, I decided to raise the nave pieces, to make the sides of the cathedral into more playable pieces that can shelter more troops, as well as be flexible enough to serve as stand-alone pieces when not put together as a cathedral, per se.





I will be "jungling up" the pieces using a combination of aquarium plants, flock, and moss.

Nice to have you here. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it all jungled up!

btw here's an article with pics of and links to the previous competitions, in case you're interested....
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_-%3DL%3D-Terrain_Competitions

 heartserenade wrote:
I wanna join! I just finished some forest terrain yesterday, so loads of trees, grass and shrubs. And a hill. Is it too late to enter?

Also, are there specifications on how the entry would be submitted?



Oh wait i just read that I need to post WIPs. But mine's already done. Darn it. I guess I can still post them here but I won't be a part of the contest proper. Mine was made from scratch except for some Woodland Scenic foliages and static grass.

Great! I will extend the contest, there doesn't seem to be anyone having a problem with the extension. How would everyone feel if i extended it to the New Year? I figure I might as well, since I think most riveters have many distractions and busy lives, it seems like it might be better to have these contests run two months... unless anyone thinks otherwise.

Just post as much WIP's as you can, it's not a big deal as long as there is some difference between that and the final product.

@Cataphractii

Looks impressive to me! My personal advice is if you're going jungle, check out some pics of Angkor Wat... all over the internet. Gives you a good idea of how jungles overtake temple ruins, very inspiring. Also the techniques here bending wire and using glue-gun or paper mache could be used to make those funky overgrown roots fairly easily Just keep in mind, you will be judged mostly on the vegetation not the building itself, and that includes painting but doesn't hinge on it.. in other words if you create something spectacular without much painting skill you could win the contest.

Crossposted update on the jungly Cathedral:

And here is a quick update! I got my jungle on, and worked out some new ways to use the jungle plants that I had. I have a couple of pictures for now, and will upload some more tomorrow. Basically, I found that being a little smart about how I cut the reedy grass pieces off their pegs and bases, I could make them fit up against the walls, so they looked as if they'd grown up that way.

But here we go with pictures! First of all the four cathedral pieces pushed together, and seen from the front. I've not jungled the front up as much as I plan to - I'll see if I can crack the wire/creeper thing first! But the basic idea is to use clumps of greenery to link the corners. I've tried to keep as much of the shrubbery as possible on the edges, so that it doesn't eat the space to place miniatures, while still giving a sense of an overgrown building.



Now, from the other side. I went slightly overboard with the plants on the rear section of the cathedral. I may take some of it out again, because I think it will hard to transport without damage.



And from above, showing how the greenery is outside the floorspace, except for little bits that stick up around the debris. This is where cutting the little circular bases of reedy grass really paid off, as I could shove them into gaps in the debris, almost as if I'd planned it that way. I rather like the greenery/debris contst, so if I do a central piece of the cathedral (which will also double as an overgrown city plaza) then I think I might put a ruddy great tree in the middle, and break up the floor around it.



More pics tomorrow, hopefully showing the pieces in some more detail, and also the raw materials!

@Meade Thanks for the hints! I have no illusions of winning the competition, though. I'm in because I happened to be working on an overgrown jungle terrain piece, and your esteemed colleague MrMerlin suggested I have a go. That said, I'll definitely have a look at some of the creeper/root techniques, and see if I can work some of them in, though.

On the extended deadline, I have no preference one way or the other. But with the arrival of the festive season, I could imagine that priorities will shift a little, so a delay is probably a good thing

That looks really good, all the better for being a gigantic bit of terrain, bigger is always better. And I especially like the overgrown Canon printer, very realistic.

I am still working on my scenery but really it is so near finished that I could make any deadline.

 Cataphractii wrote:


@Meade Thanks for the hints! I have no illusions of winning the competition, though. I'm in because I happened to be working on an overgrown jungle terrain piece, and your esteemed colleague MrMerlin suggested I have a go. That said, I'll definitely have a look at some of the creeper/root techniques, and see if I can work some of them in, though.

It's all good, hopefully this thread can help. That's kind of the whole point about it. It's still worth it entering the contest, even if you don't think you have a shot at the main prize you could win the secondary (spider servo skull), or get some pics of your terrain up if we get an article written eventually that condenses everything (if that's okay with you). Seeing your terrain definitely gets me excited about using that fish tank scenery if I ever do jungle... but seeing as I have no jungle-based army that might be awhile




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Bruticus wrote:
That looks really good, all the better for being a gigantic bit of terrain, bigger is always better. And I especially like the overgrown Canon printer, very realistic.

I am still working on my scenery but really it is so near finished that I could make any deadline.

as long as you don't mind us extending it Bruticus

Thanks Meade. Last few weeks have been extremely hectic, and I have had to put this contest on the back burner. This gives me some more time to actually do something!

Cataphractii dude thats pretty rad! Very catachan =)

Also cheers for making the project 2 months, I think that's more reasonable, and i will be able to finish. Its getting hot here making me work really slow

More updates!

So, here are some detail pictures of the individual parts of the Cathedral. Still work in progress, of course. I need to blend the aquarium plants into their bases, which our good friend flock will help us with.

















Also, I took some pictures of the individual pieces of plants that I've been using. These first come partly from IKEA, and partly from a pet-store, so it was quite lucky that they match so nicely in their style, while still having enough colour difference to add variety.



As you can see, I generally "grew" the longer pieces out of smaller reedy/grassy pieces that I placed along walls, around debris, or in clumps.



These pieces come in round bases that make them fairly easy to glue down, and with some clipping into smaller pieces, they can also be worked into corners and debris. I will need to blend them by gluing some flock to the base, and around it, to merge it into the terrain piece, though.



So far, so good! All that remains now, is to look a bit more at the front of the piece, to add in some more greenery, and creepers! (Assuming the pipe-cleaner + flock idea works)

Wow that looks great!!
Id love to play on a table with that!

@cataphractii: That vegetation is really useful. Definitely use the static grass to blend it in to the landscape, but also just painting it will make it blend in more... you might not have an airbrush which is super easy, but even just drybrushing might do the trick (if the ruins are also drybrushed). Everything blends together more if it has the same paintjob. Also i recommend if you can find some green feathers (they usually have colored feathers in the art store for arts and crafts) they make really great fine ferns and plants. Also green pipe cleaners might work for vines (u bend them around the ruins), but they can use work, or keep them in the background as they are a bit too symmetrical to look like vegetation in unaltered form.

@meade Thanks for the advice! Slapping a drybush job on the plants (especially the larger leaves) is a good idea, as it will matt them down, and give them a less uniform colour. The chief problem with aquarium plants is that they are made from the same sort of plastic.

Agreed on the static grass!

On the pipe cleaners, my idea was to give them a good washing and drybrushing, and also use some PVC glue to add clumps of various "weed" flock, to thicken them up, and make them less uniform in colour. I'll see how it goes, and post more pics here!

The aquariumplants are best painted with oil paints... very thin layers, working like washes. Some sepia on all of them will give them a more lifelike appearance

at Cataphractii :

Given the truly humbling levels of skill I've seen so far in this thread, there is no way in jibbly I have a chance given my mediocre painting skills, and attention span.

yeah right... that ruin is breath taking.... who is your therapist? he is doing the wrong profession... a little more self confidence is in order here! and good to see the competition is still drawing enough attention... !


at meade...cool...extension was a good decision... the spirit of christmas is really growing and keeps ruining my hobby time too so more time is always good i think!


cheers, vik

 Viktor von Domm wrote:


at meade...cool...extension was a good decision... the spirit of christmas is really growing and keeps ruining my hobby time too so more time is always good i think!

cheers, vik

Glad you think so, I am distracted at the moment but I'm finding plenty of time to work on the hobby... as I am unemployed at the moment But my progress is blunted by a bit of bad health, and camera malfunctions, so right now I'm celebrating Nurglemas.

Merry Nurglemas!

lol... nurglemas is no special season related celebration...is it?... a good cough and spit is always apropriate regardless the weather or the time of the year^^

well sad news.... being uneployed sure has it´s merits when it comes to hobby work in terms of time and so on.... but unless you are so damn used to cardstock to make your stuff out of... then the amount of no money sure wrecks the hobby ideas... hopefully you will fix this as soon as possible... i cross my fingers for you!

the real bugger is now the broken cam though... no eyecandy for us...*shakes fists*

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

but unless you are so damn used to cardstock to make your stuff out of... then the amount of no money sure wrecks the hobby ideas... hopefully you will fix this as soon as possible... i cross my fingers for you!

the real bugger is now the broken cam though... no eyecandy for us...*shakes fists*

no eyecandy until I get a card reader... camera works but the damn thing says "one moment" and is not on speaking terms with my laptop. As for job... don't worry I'm cool.

well...then enjoy this however long timespan you choose to be^^

@Victor Von Domm Thanks for the kind words My basic point is that I'm doing the terrain mostly as a playing piece, and while I'm happy that it is turning out nicely, and that people like the looks of it, the focus is on getting it done (with shady short-cuts if necessary) rather than making it the best possible example of the terrain-makers art!

That said, here is the probably-final set of updates (unless I come up with a creeper method that I like!)

I spent some time working some static grass in and around the aquarium plants, and also breaking up the green-painted sand with spots of grass. All in all, I think the effect works.



I also added a lot more of the long reedy/grassy pieces to the front of the Cathedral, going for a really over-grown look. When I do roads, or more pieces of scatter terrain, I will definitely abuse this technique!

The static grass also really helped to blend the debris and long shoots together, I think.





All of the pieces put togther gives us a rather unified looking cathedral. I'm quite pleased with how the greenery connects the pieces together, regardless of the actual gaps between the walls. I think it will also help to blend it into the tabletop when the pieces are used seperate from each other. I'll see if I can stage some pieces on a larger table to check that out, though. If not before, then for my next set of battles, sometime in January!











I've also uploaded all of the work-in-progress pictures from bits of plastic-card flooring to the final cathedral in a gallery, for your view convenience. (with shameless gallery plug link here

Once again, many thanks for the really positive comments, and advice! It's been an eye opener posting to an open and mature community, and it really helps with the motivation, too!

Acrylic won't stick to the shiny plastic, but inks work very well. Looks great Cat!

looking awesome cataphractii, the flocking does the job of pulling the thing together... It came out as a great example of using those fish plants creatively to make something simple yet more impressive than 90% out there on tabletops, especially as you don't see much jungle terrain out there.

I'm convinced that those aquariuym plants aren't even available here in the US, I've looked and looked but never ever found them anywhere. All we have is obvious underwater plastic plants that look out of place otherwise in shops around here.

we get these plastic plants almost everywhere some pet department is implemented in a shop... you can´t treat sometimes for them

and cat (thanks dave for that handy and unscrupulous nickname )
again your work soars high! i really like that ruin you´ve created! could be from some hitherto unknown movie... something related to indiana jones or some peter jackson movie... looks very cool... and the static grass is indeed the "glue" to bring everything together!...

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00140326/ are the IKEA ones I used. And as Doc Doom says, pet stores carry good stuff. It should be fairly easy to find grass tufts like the ones I used.

And thanks Doc, for the kind words. I will see if I can get some set-piece pictures of the entire setup with some miniatures in play on it!

whoa....! ikea plastic plants even???.... now that´s what i call useful information...

and...i am looking forward to those "lived" in pics then

Can I sneak in here?

 chuckwilliams wrote:
Can I sneak in here?

sure dude feel free!

Following delicious advice on how to do creepers by Panic, I had a go at a prototype on one of my pieces of scatter terrain. I thought I'd share it here, too - as I will most likely be re-using the effect on the Cathedral now.

I broke out an imperial statue from my scatter terrain, discovered to my horror that I only had static grass in my supplies, but went for it anyways. I applied a streamer of meandering white glue up one side, across the plinth, and then up the statue itself. Then I mooshed static grass into the glue trail. This resulted in a rather more flattened out and wide creeper than I wanted.

Pics!



When the white glue had dried enough I went back and retouched and shaped the creepers to make them thinner, (basically, by shoving and prodding at the semi-congealed glue with the end of my drybrushing paintbrush) and then a little later, actually painted in a core of structure with a little Castellan Green.



I will definitely be applying this technique back across the other buildings, as it is both super-easy, and also gives a great effect for the time investment. I like both of these things. This technique really shows promise, and is basically just flocking vertically. The trick is obviously that you need a better blend of flock on hand than I did. I will retouch this when I raid the hobby store.

Cat, amazing work!
Though I am not sold on your grass... I think you used too bright a shade of grass, even for jungle plants. But thats nothing a wash with an olive or other darker green cannot solve. Something I personally would do is give all plantlife the same light wash with an oil wash, to tie it all together and to remove the obvious neonish green.(for lack of another discription)
But of course that's up to you. It looks great either way, and the brighter green could be considered suitably sci-fi-ish right...
Just my two cents

Maus

funny that you choose to do this kind of creeper plants this way... i was just thinking about using static grass the other day to the same use... now i see that this is a cool way to do... and since i just have finished a secret project for a price to the second competition winner... i will use this in combination to some more verdigris i want to do...good job cat!

@Maus I agree on the over-bright green of the static grass. I didn't have any proper flock, a lack I will remedy before doing creepers on the cathedral. Another issue is that flock has a very different texture that I think will work much better - essentially looking much more like grass, but a wash and some overbrushing will most likely matt that down. But I had to try it out, and see.

I'll post new images when I have the flock-based variant!

That's some sweet jungle ruins right there. The foliage completely changes the overall feel. can't wait to see what everybody else gets done.
I'd be really tempted to do something similar if my guys weren't all ice world themed.

Oh, and hi guys... I'm not barging in on some secret league only thread am I?
*Shifty eyes*


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I don't know if i'm sold on the flock for vine. It'd definitely work for moss, but vines don't really look like that.
Personaly, I think you'd be better off using a really thin sausage of GS. You can even buy mini leaves specifically for vines from certain stores/sites

The competition is open for everyone if that's what you're asking

You're very welcome to join in, the deadline is new years...

do giant ice crystals count as shrubbery?

 radred609 wrote:
do giant ice crystals count as shrubbery?

no, it has to be vegetation, sorry . But you could integrate vegetation with ice crystals somehow maybe.... There is a section on alien vegetation in the OP.

Don't be afraid to use static grass and super glue in layers, You can simply add more super glue on top of the static grass, then add more static grass on top. push and flatten it down and you get slight, but noticeable height variations:


Also, buy Woodland Scenics static grass, it's soo much cheaper, and comes in several colors. Feel free to mix and match colors too. Don't dick around trying to use PVA, it sucks and will only frustrate the hell out of you, use super glue.

 radred609 wrote:

Oh, and hi guys... I'm not barging in on some secret league only thread am I?
*Shifty eyes*

well there is also the prospect of winning this comp and earning your lifelong membership of the league in one go...

it is a kind of second prize to each competition winner...

 Viktor von Domm wrote:

 radred609 wrote:

Oh, and hi guys... I'm not barging in on some secret league only thread am I?
*Shifty eyes*

well there is also the prospect of winning this comp and earning your lifelong membership of the league in one go...

it is a kind of second prize to each competition winner...

Pretty much yep.

 Meade wrote:

Also, as a side bonus, YOUR MINIATURES SMELL AND TASTE NICE. Anybody tried this or know about this? I'd like to hear.

just what i needed, more incentive to eat my plastic figurines... although i can't help but think that a sealant would kill the flavour (and the nutritional value for that matter)

and i think i will join after all. i have a building that doesn't really fit with my other scenery so i'll see how i can shrub it up. i'm thinking vines, a little moss and maybe a mushie or three.
This is certainly going to be a learning experience and a half

a little moss and maybe a mushie or three.

imagine myself spraying hot tea over my desplay because of this... you have to read it as a german... the short form for mushroom you used is sounding in german as if you said shaved cat...(if you catch my drift )

well hopefully you don't get the wrong idea from my next question :/

does anyone have suggestions for products to get decent water effects?

LOL... well... can´t say it worked for bigger surfaces.... but if you use window color... the stuff kids ruin windows with... then this clear stuff could help make a base look watery... that worked... i recently tried to use it for bigger stuff... but i guess you just have to use the professional stuff like everybody else... PVA could work... but alas it might stay milky in places... and you would then feel really pissed off i guess... so much for that watery effect then

Go to a craft shop, get some clear resin, small quatities aren't too expensive... its two component stuff, easy to work with. and it dries rock hard

hmmm.... now there is a thought...

Its how i waterfilled my cookie-scenery Works a charm

ah... ok...then this is test proven^^

If you use clear resin, make sure you have something to close it off with to prevent dust settling in it, and let it set OUTSIDE... unless you want to get high, sooo high...

ah.... it seems it is again tricky stuff... hmmm.... maybe i should get me some real water effects then...

i do my hobby work only in the living room...and the kitchen...and sometimes even in the kids room but knowehere where it is ventilated enough or down in the cellar...*shudders*

I use vallejo still water... haven't really tried the other brands. I find it's good for small pools but for larger things I don't know... probably would take forever to dry and you'd have to do it in layers.

hey what's happened to this poor thread!

How are everyones entries coming along?

I imagine the holidays take their toll, it certainly has with me. Deadline is still Jan 1st though! Good luck everyone!

Yeah gotta say I haven't touched the hobby for a while.

Only piece I have finished are these rather un-extravagant pillars. Not entirely pleased with the slightly plastic look of the foliage but I think for the moment I am leaving them.



These are some other walls that will not be finished before the 1st.

Well it's the deadline today... but considering there are no entries so far... might as well extend it for a week?

@ Two Spartan: I really like the wall... looks like the tree is growing into it, and the tree itself came out good, the bark and roots look realistic (are you planning to leave it de-foliated?) I still think the columns need work.

anyway happy new years everyone!

Yeah people obvioulsy on holidays or out partying, I know I was.

I will add woodland scenics clump foliage to the tree after its been painted and based etc. But that wont be finished in a week =(
And I agree with you meade, im not happy with the columns but I don't know what I should add or remove to make it look more realistic =/ Anyone have any ideas?

A whole week. OoOoOoOoOo I may actually be able to enter this one after all.... not sure but its at least a possibility.

 Galorn wrote:
A whole week. OoOoOoOoOo I may actually be able to enter this one after all.... not sure but its at least a possibility.

...lol... we'll see!

@two spartan- Hmm, i would say with the columns why not use the same techniques you used on the tree to make some roots growing on them? Also, just glueing flock (the spongy kind) to the sides would look like moss covering them. The vines are hard, and the ones you did are solid it's just hard to make as many tendrils and leaves that real vines would have.

Sorry- Holidays were crazy, and craziness is still sticking around xD Im gonna try to still be in this!

Well, its not much, but its progress-



I have a couple more like this in varying stages of construction, but after this one I realized Ive got nothing to base it with! My jar of grit must have gotten lost in packing :(
No clue when I can get more grit (sandbox outside is under a foot of ice and snow), so I dont think these guys'll be done it time ><

Will keep ya updated!

good looking! self made or where did you get these cactuses? and for basing... have you considered using bird sand? you get this in pet shops...

 Ramos Asura wrote:
Well, its not much, but its progress-



I have a couple more like this in varying stages of construction, but after this one I realized Ive got nothing to base it with! My jar of grit must have gotten lost in packing :(
No clue when I can get more grit (sandbox outside is under a foot of ice and snow), so I dont think these guys'll be done it time ><

Will keep ya updated!

Ok! It's a shame... I think those cacti came out pretty well. But I'm sure you'll use it for something good.

@Vik: Thanks! They're all self-made- actually made a cast of the big one and its arms, so It was real fast work copying them over and over. Longest part is putting the ridges on them with a saw. Takes time, but it really makes them unique from one another.

@Meade: Im definitely gonna finish em (at some point) I need the terrain xD Im gonna try and get out later to check out Vik's Bird Sand idea.
Here's hoping!

ah... so you make the basic shape with casting your own design? cool... and afterwards you carve the ridges... yes i can see that this is a good way to make them look individual!

and good luck hunting for sand.... i´ve read this recommeded for basing materials on numerous times!

Bird sand might be too fine grain... I usually go for terrarium sand... a little more coarse, and as such more textured. Bird sand in thinned PVA glue turns out almost smooth...

hmmm.... there might be wisedom in these words... of course you could always thin out your PVA

 Ramos Asura wrote:
@Vik: Thanks! They're all self-made- actually made a cast of the big one and its arms, so It was real fast work copying them over and over. Longest part is putting the ridges on them with a saw. Takes time, but it really makes them unique from one another.

@Meade: Im definitely gonna finish em (at some point) I need the terrain xD Im gonna try and get out later to check out Vik's Bird Sand idea.
Here's hoping!

there should be a bag of play sand at your local home improvement mart, also 5 gallon buckets to store said material in...

And Im back up and running!!
Little brother ended up getting let go from his job (he was a seasonal Teavana employee with aspirations for a full-time position), so he's home a lot more often than usual. Really sucks for him, but for me it meant a way out to shop!

I managed to get out to the local Home Depot, and picked up some medium grain sand, and a new daylight bulb for my painting lamp.





And now I have 50 pounds of basing grit sitting in a bucket under my desk. Should never run out again

good looking now... and i do cross my fingers for your brothers future laborious eandeavors...the best thing about employment is still payment... the rest...is just a waste of time (i had the last two and a half weeks off from work...and monday is my first workday...urgh....)

 Ramos Asura wrote:
And Im back up and running!!
Little brother ended up getting let go from his job (he was a seasonal Teavana employee with aspirations for a full-time position), so he's home a lot more often than usual. Really sucks for him, but for me it meant a way out to shop!

I managed to get out to the local Home Depot, and picked up some medium grain sand, and a new daylight bulb for my painting lamp.





And now I have 50 pounds of basing grit sitting in a bucket under my desk. Should never run out again

told ya.

also will work as extra traction material if you live in a part of the US where that is relevant.

Hahaha And it was great advice, Galorn!
And you're quite right about extra traction material- Im up in Cleveland and we've a nice 6-8 inches sticking on the ground!
Ahhhh i love winter...



Anywho- My biggest worry was that the sand would turn out to be like that in my family's sandbox out back (masonry sand so that means small grit, with bigger pebbles in it). The smoothness of the larger aggregate really killed it on models. It just looked so out of scale!

This stuff, I'm glad to say, has the perfect feel to it. then I throw in some GF9 large basing chunks, and voila! Basing that Im happy to use!

Today's Progress:


Got them primed and washed. Now its a race to the finish line!

 Ramos Asura wrote:


Got them primed and washed. Now its a race to the finish line!

Well, your chances are looking good! Now we just have to see who else shows up...

I was building a modular overgrown forest set of terrain from the Moria set but I didn't do enough to finish on time =( my bad.

The only pieces that are finished are these pillars, which have been fixed a little bit since last time:




Here is the rest of the pieces set up in various styles to show what I was going for. They still need to be detailed, based, painted and had vegetation added:





So yeah I don't know if I quite qualify but happy to be in it =)

Some excellent work here! For sand, check the floral section of Michael's craft store or similar, or I've also found that colored sand from those "sand art" things is nice and fine and the color won't matter if it's going to be painted.

Ok guys... tomorrow is last day, one week from Jan 1st. No more extensions!

I can't wait for this one to be over so I can enter the next one.

Very nice work everyone, looking forward to judging a winner!

Oh and mat, I can't wait to see you participate in the next comp, mate!

Yeah, getting in to terrain. Like it a lot.

i am still in as a judge... count on me for that!

I was happy to see the extension to the deadline as I almost missed this due to holiday shenanigans, despite being finished for weeks!

Here is my entry, it's an algae pit for Necromunda, but it has got a bit overgrown. Algae is farmed for food in the hives but due to neglect these pits have turned into toxic pools.









And some WIP pictures - each tile is built on a mirror (which you cant really tell in the photos but it makes too water more reflective, the water is clear resin and various inks). The shrubbery is make from some aquarium plants, some odd bits and bobs from toys and the shells from conkers. The conker shells worked really well although they are extremely painful to work with due to being much spikier than you'd expect.

Bruticus... just.... oh gawd that's cool. Well I'm glad I gave the comp another week now. However... all things must end I hope to post more stuff in here later and hopefully turn this into a bit of an article.

That looks great Bruticus!!

Heh Looks like Ill come just under the wire- put more details on my terrain pieces, as well as green on the cacti.



The spanish moss turned out to look like gak (you can see a little left on the dead tree thingy on the small cliff), so I think Ill be leaving it off till a more suitable option comes available.

See ya tomorrow!

Can't wait to see who wins this!

Great work everyone! When is the next contest?! I'm in!

 Fango wrote:
Great work everyone! When is the next contest?! I'm in!

The next one should be right after this one. As soon as we announce a winner, that person will start a new thread.

aye... that is the ongoing tradition!

Aaaaand Im done!







The pics seem to have washed the colors out a bit, but its passable. For instance, the sand is a rather nice rusty Mars-like color.

Heh. Its nice to actually finish something Ive started for these contests xD Good luck everyone!

Ok all the judges are in. Out of the final entries, Bruticus, Ramos Asura and Cataphractii (just used the pictures you posted for judging) the consensus is that Bruticus is the winner!

Congratulations!

This entry was chosen because of the great attention to detail, the great variety of plantlife modelled (many varieties of leaf, fungi and different textures) and painted to fit the display, integration into the environment in a believable way (plants growing out of cracks, in corners and such, around the openings of the tank), and overall grimdark coolness. It is truly the work of a master Shrubber!

I will be giving out the secondary prize of a servo spider skull, I'm just waiting to hear back from one of the judges to see who that is going to so stay tuned!

In any case, I'd just like to thank everyone that contributed to the thread... and I hope to continue posting here with vegetative experiments of League, that can eventually be turned into a good article.

Thanks everyone!

Grats Bruticus!! Looking forward to your competition!

I'm also eager to see what Bruticus comes up with... no pressure tho.

Bruticus that is so cool man!

Thanks everyone, that's great. Although it is a bit of a shame there were not many entries I was really determined to give a good entry anyway because I really wanted to win that amazing prize. I've always been a fan of Meade's chaos monstrosities so I was prepared to pull out all the stops to try and get my hands on one. It's going to be scuttling around the Underhive soon.

I'll put a new competition up soon.

Congrats Bruticus!!! Truely masterful gardening there.

NIce work brut =)

Gratz Bruticus!

 Bruticus wrote:

I'll put a new competition up soon.

Waiting with baited breath. Hoping for something I can really sink my teeth in to.

Really terrific looking stuff you got there Bruticus! Very cool

The next competition is up: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/499362.page

congratz bruticus! well deserved!

*switching over to new comp thread^^*

Yeah, congratz once again Bruticus and thanks to everyone else!

I'd like to announce the winner of the secondary prize... Cataphractii!

This decision was SUPER HARD between Cat and Ramos Asura... but there are only so many servo spider skulls in the world... so congratulations Cataphractii! You took some simple ingredients and turned it into something even more awesome. Thanks for all the contributions to the thread! I'll PM you and ask for your address so you may receive your prize.

I dont even feel remotely down about losing to Bruticus and cat- Honestly I'm totally floored that I was even in the same range as either of them. Especially Cat's temple- It just looked so.... perfect to me. Not to mention a huge undertaking!

Great stuff you guys! See ya in the next Comp!

 Ramos Asura wrote:
I dont even feel remotely down about losing to Bruticus and cat- Honestly I'm totally floored that I was even in the same range as either of them. Especially Cat's temple- It just looked so.... perfect to me. Not to mention a huge undertaking!

Great stuff you guys! See ya in the next Comp!

See you in the next comp! and thanks again for participating


BTW if anyone knows where cat is... he hasn't claimed the prize and I PM'd him as well... oh well it's not going anywhere.

I posted too late.