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Hiya Dakkers, I'm the head cheese at 3T-Studios, we're a studio that specializes in scenery and terrain for wargames. Most of our stuff is geared towards warhammer/40k, but I've done just about every kind of terrain imaginable.

I get a lot of comments and questions, so I thought it might be nice to start a little pow-wow discussion thread as well as make a formal introduction to the painting and modeling crew here. I'd like to give back to the community and answer any questions that other hobbyists might have, troubleshoot ideas or get feedback and ideas myself.

Since talk is cheap, here's some recent works, to see the rest check out my gallery.








So how about it? Any terrain fanatics out there want to share projects, ask questions or drop ideas?

Damn very cool. I have been making mission objectives like crazy recently and I was starting to wonder how to break into the market of selling them. Do you make a master and then cast or is everything one off? Also Are you a team of artists or is it just you?

talk is cheap, but quality pieces like that probably aren't i bet

thegrav wrote:Damn very cool. I have been making mission objectives like crazy recently and I was starting to wonder how to break into the market of selling them. Do you make a master and then cast or is everything one off? Also Are you a team of artists or is it just you?

We're a small team, consisting of myself and another lead artist who handles the bulk of the design, building and paintin. And we have a handful of other misfits who come and go, that we delegate some tasks to.

As for breaking into selling objectives, it depends on a few factors, such as how much you want to sell your pieces for, how much time and money you want to invest into starting up, and most importantly, how much people like your stuff. I would suggest trying out selling a few original items on Ebay or other trading/selling sites and see what the reaction is like before you drop a lot of money on silicone and resin.

Yeah, I have some experience making prosthetics for movies and photos, so I have some casting mats just chilling, but I hear you. I was thinking of dropping a few pieces on etsy.com first do you think ebay is a better fit?

Etsy has a handful of wargame miniatures, but for the most part I think people go there looking for handmade soaps and gifts for grandma.

Ebay has a larger wargame market and enormous visibility. (With fees to reflect it.)

Cool will try there first, I brought up Etsy cause I make industrial jewelry and already have a shop

Hey terra im a big fan of yours ^_^
Aha this is what im askin. What do you use to make that ork buildings? and Also can you show me something you have made looking abit like the ork power generator on Dawn of War: Dark Crusade ork building? Pics please :3

Just checked out your site- and I'm very impressed! As an impoverished student, I can't afford commissions, but I'd love to see you guys do some Imperial Watchtowers, and Outposts.

-=Scar=- wrote:Hey terra im a big fan of yours ^_^
Aha this is what im askin. What do you use to make that ork buildings? and Also can you show me something you have made looking abit like the ork power generator on Dawn of War: Dark Crusade ork building? Pics please :3

Hi there Scar, glad you've been watching us! The Ork scenery is a lot of fun, it's a chance to be expressive and make things with a touch of whimsy. We try to make pieces to look like they've been designed the way a child might build a treehouse or clubhouse, but add in a touch of psychotic, tribal brutality.




As for what we use to make them, we generally just start with some foamcore box-like buildings, and depending on the style we're going for, either use layers of textured paint for stucco, or start gluing on hundreds or thousands of plasticard plates and rivets for the metal style buildings. Details are made from carved plsticard, balsa and our own cast resin pieces, and a lot of extras can go into a piece, like scratchbuilt doors, hatches, chimneys, scrap-metal battlements Etc. It's the details like that which brings a piece to life.

Is this the power plant you're referring to? We've done a handful.





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CadianXV wrote:Just checked out your site- and I'm very impressed! As an impoverished student, I can't afford commissions, but I'd love to see you guys do some Imperial Watchtowers, and Outposts.

I've seen some folks get extremely lucky on our Ebay auctions, which we do primarily to see what's popular and give people a chance to get some nice terrain at lower rates than commissions.

I have a line of Imperial scenery coming up in the not so distant future, some of which will be monumental. That's all I can say for now

oh my sweet lord, these pieces are just brutal,
the detail on them is amazing

I am most interested in what materials you use. Do you buy specific "modelling supplies" or do you make use of whatever you find lying around? For example, my Eldar Bastion WIP is based around a pair of Evian bottles, with foam card and polystyrene balls bought especially for it from a craft store, plus some old recessed LED bathroom lights and items from my Eldar Bitz Box.

I have this image of "the pros" having this wonderful array of modelling supplies from some magical shop, but I'd almost like to know you are just like the rest of us.

Fifty wrote:I am most interested in what materials you use. Do you buy specific "modelling supplies" or do you make use of whatever you find lying around? For example, my Eldar Bastion WIP is based around a pair of Evian bottles, with foam card and polystyrene balls bought especially for it from a craft store, plus some old recessed LED bathroom lights and items from my Eldar Bitz Box.

I have this image of "the pros" having this wonderful array of modelling supplies from some magical shop, but I'd almost like to know you are just like the rest of us.

Great question! And I love your use of the Evian bottles, because that's exactly how I start many of my projects- looking at things laying around and imagining how they can be used. There are a lot of every day objects that go into our pieces, from plastic bottles to chopped up old toys. With some creative re-inventing of scraps and trash, you can make exceptionally nice pieces using nothing more than the most basic supplies (foam, foamcore, balsa, Etc.).

That being said, we've gathered a rather large collection of bits and pieces of "junk", and for the sake of efficiency I've been sculpting and casting a lot of components that are normally very time consuming to scratchbuild, such as electric boxes, window and door trims, Etc. This allows us to put that same amount of time into other parts of the project, like making pieces larger and more dynamic, with lights and multi-levels, or packed with even more detail than before.

And then there are some specialty items that I know we can't live without, but that's more to the realm of construction supplies such as resins, specific quality paints, airbrush parts, certain glues for certain materials (don't get me started on material compatibility issues!) and other hobby shop supplies that we choose to invest the extra dollar into because we absolutely have to make sure that our pieces are the highest quality we can make.

So in short, yes we're 99% every day average hobbyists, and about 1% magical-gift-from-the-gods genius.

Kidding aside, it's like anything: Practice, practice practice.

thegrav wrote:Cool will try there first, I brought up Etsy cause I make industrial jewelry and already have a shop

Dont throw Etsy out the window I get alot of 40k stuff on it. I just message the "shops" and ask if they have any work most of the time I find they have some stuff around.

Now onto that terrain, holy cow those are awesome! I love the way the wood is painted it looks very very real.

I always have problems with my bases warping, I use 4mm hardboard (might be called something else in the states) what do you guys use/suggest? I don't really want to go any thicker.

My stuff tends to full apart far to often, what glues do you use for creating strong bonds between things with a small surface area to foam?

Oh yeah love your terrain.

I'm working on building a bamboo village. I've been using real bamboo. The problem is that the last time I went to the place I harvest my bamboo, some guy showed up, claimed he owned the property, and threatened to shoot me with some rock salt. (FYI: Rock salt hurts.) Any advice on something easy and cheap which mimics the appearance of bamboo?

Bangbangboom wrote:I always have problems with my bases warping, I use 4mm hardboard (might be called something else in the states) what do you guys use/suggest? I don't really want to go any thicker.

My stuff tends to full apart far to often, what glues do you use for creating strong bonds between things with a small surface area to foam?

Oh yeah love your terrain.

I use MDF board, which stands for Medium Density Fiberboard. I don't know if that's similar to what you're using but it comes 3/16 inch thicknesses (approx 4mm). The stuff is dark brown in color, and usually has a fairly smooth surface. It will only warp if you use a lot of water-based materials on it. I will sometimes spray sealant on my MDF pieces beforehand, but this can cause bonding issues with plaster and PVA glues. Sometimes the best answer is just to re-moisten your board from underneath, then clamp down the edges on a table and let it dry completely.

For foam/plastic and small area bonds where super-glue won't work, I use Gorilla Glue. I don't know if it exists outside the states, or what the equivalent might be. It's a super strong carpentry/hardware glue, slightly flexible and tends to expand and fill gaps. Hot glue is great for a lot of different materials as well, as long as it's on the inside surfaces that won't be visible. Nothing looks cheesier than a big blob of hardened, unpaintable hot glue hanging off the side of your walls.


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Jimsolo wrote:I'm working on building a bamboo village. I've been using real bamboo. The problem is that the last time I went to the place I harvest my bamboo, some guy showed up, claimed he owned the property, and threatened to shoot me with some rock salt. (FYI: Rock salt hurts.) Any advice on something easy and cheap which mimics the appearance of bamboo?

I suppose I should make a note here to other hobbyists about being responsible when foraging for materials, finding land-owners and getting permission and all that... but seriously, the image you painted here made me laugh too much to think of anything coherent. Either that's one grumpy bamboo guardian, or you were completely deforesting his nursery in the middle of the night.

But seriously, the only thing that springs to mind are those little mats you use for rolling sushi, which are often made of very thin bamboo shoots. You might also want to consider asking a nursery if they have bamboo clippings you could have, or buy your own plants, they grow fast

You, good sir, are a sick bastard who exists on this planet for the sole purpose of making the terrain I put together for the FLGS look like Garbage.

Hey Bangbangboom, when I have a heavier piece of terrain or something that needs to last longer I use ceramic tiles from the HW store. If you can get unsealed ones they tend to be about 1-2$ for a 12x12 tile and paint/glue stick well to them.

@ terraformer. Thanks yeah we have MDF and it similar to hardboard but costs alot more. I don't think I have seen it under 1/4" (6mm) though, will have a look next time I go down to the hardware store.

@ lorne. A pain to cut and shape but I might have to give it a go, they certainly wont warp.

Mostly doing cityfight pieces right now so the square base is not that much of a problem. I have seen some round ones but they do not come in many sizes.

I have smashed a few and went at them with the grinder to give them a rounded edge to get some triangular shaped ones.

Lol. It's Southern Illinois, so the most likely scenario is that he has a marijuana patch growing somewhere on the property (which may or not be his) and his grumpiness is connected to that.

Thanks for the reply Terra, Deeply appreciated. I saw the
power gen and LOVED it! Keep up the good work and...

With the first picture you got for me, I know the skewers and popsicle sticks are used but what did you use for the actual base of the building? ( The bit underneath the ladder). Also what did you use to paint the woods.

Thanks buddies -=Scar=-

-=Scar=- wrote:Thanks for the reply Terra, Deeply appreciated. I saw the
power gen and LOVED it! Keep up the good work and...

With the first picture you got for me, I know the skewers and popsicle sticks are used but what did you use for the actual base of the building? ( The bit underneath the ladder). Also what did you use to paint the woods.

Thanks buddies -=Scar=-

No problem. Here's another view of that plant.





As for the "base" of the building in that detail shot, it's actually the roof of this Refinery.

(see gallery for more views) All our metal buildings are made by attaching bits of plasticard, scraps of textured paper and other odds and ends all over foamcore and other materials that have the desired shape. Then rivets are placed, and the whole thing is primed and painted black. Then we start weathering and rusting. There are a lot of guides and tutorials out there that talk about how to make rust realistically, one great guide is at Ultrawerke. http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com/2007/08/rust-painting-tutorial-with-pigments.html The process takes a LOT of time, but the results can be extraordinarily realistic.



Once the rusting and metal are ready, we glue on the wooden bits, which may represent railings, catwalks, scaffolding and other Orkish improvisations. It is as you say, skewers and balsa and wooden bits which we just hack at with a razor and then paint up from a medium cinnamon color towards a lightly applied highlight of snakebite leather or equivalent golden brown.

Hope some of this helps!

hi there, this is a suggestion from me =D
what about creating your own portals or teleporters and invent your own rules for it ( i dont really think there are already tele's in warhammer 40k ) i would love to see them, specially if they are orkish =D

skotter

There were roolz for a tellyporta in 2nd ed 40k (used in the Orks v Dark Angels "Storm of Vengeance" campaign pack).