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Hey guys since i have taken up this majestic hobby once more i have been playing games on the dining table and a few rocks from outside as terrain. After a fair few games it aint working for me no more

Now i know this hobby can be expensive if you make it that way, so rather than dropping 150 on the ROBB i have decided to make my own board but that wont be for a while yet. So i want to get some terrain built to bring a bit of life to my dining room table. I have purchased a 2x2 MDF board which is going to be a war-torn imperial sector. I have actually purchased the GW imperial sector buildings but i want to add to it make it more city looking to turn it to a good looking center piece.

So basically any links to sites with cheap scenery or even better would be tutorials or ideas from you guys who have made awsome looking scenery and would be willing to impart your knowledge on a lowly pleb such as I.


Thanx guyz

Are you looking for a scratch built "how to" or just looking for good deals of pre fab terrain? If you are looking to save money then scratch built will save you a ton , but it is very time consuming and is hit or miss depending on your skill level. Pegasus Hobbies http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/pegasusHobbies makes some great buildings. They are complete buildings as well , not just a corner like the GW imperial sets. The Gothic City is also modular and all of the sets can link or fit with each other. The only thing you will have to do is make floors or roofs with plastic card. In my opinion if you don't want to scratch build then mix the GW and Pegasus kits together for a unique and very imperial looking city. Good luck and if you start a city make sure you start a Project Thread, I have found that the feedback you get from others will help you greatly.

Mike

Hi there - if your dining room table is the right size, then the very first thing I'd get is a coloured grey/green/brown cloth cover to top it with so you don't damage it - this will improve the look of the table no end. You could get felt or cotton cut to size from any fabric shop, or buy a grass-effect roll out battle mat from any hobby supplier - since you're in the UK, ModelZone are very good for that sort of thing. If your table is too small, then get a 6x4 sheet of plywood (it's lighter and cheaper than MDF) from a builders merchant and paint it.

For cheap terrain, the same builder's merchant will sell 8x4 sheets of white polystyrene which you can use to make hills, rocks, etc.

My terrain blog is by no means the most impressive on the site, but all my basic terrain was built and painted in one weekend - a sheet of 6x4 ply, a sheet of polystyrene and some big, cheap grey tubes of paint from an art shop, then some flock from ModelZone to top it off - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/270642.page



For cheap and simple pre-made terrain, have a look at Amera, who are UK based and sell vac-formed terrain. You need to clean and prepare the pieces, but you can get some good results - http://www.amera.co.uk/product.php?range=z

If you want to go further, Panic has a great set of terrain tutorials for boards, gardens, trees, etc - http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/CategoryaniCs_Terrain_Tutorials

There is an Australian site which does very nice urban boards.

http://www.miniaturescenery.com/CategoryPage.asp?CODE=CAT_BGND

They have a UK retailer, I don't know who it is but you can contact them and ask. It will probably be cheaper then buying straight from Australia.

If you want more gothic buildings, Pegasus models do a range which is compatible with GW and cheaper.

http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/pegasus-hobbies-28mm-gothic-city-building-large-se/?utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=PriceComparison&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping

Check out links here for people selling urban detailing like street lights, riot barriers and so on.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/260250.page

If you want to make the city look fought over, you need to dirty it up with rubble and stuff. This is easy. You can make good looking rubble by chopping up old sprues into semi-regular chunks. Add in some girders from a Plastruct supplier, and you have broken down buildings.

Sand and small rocks, beaten up fuel drums, concrete barriers and barbed wire all add to the war torn feeling.

A very nice touch is to print out propaganda posters to stick on the awlls of buildings, and dirty them up.

Kid_Kyoto did a nice series of posters that you can find in the gallery.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery-viewimage.jsp?i=14461&m=2&w=800

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/14620-.html

The nice thing about making terrain is that there are tons of things you can do which are fun, easy and don't need brilliant painting or modelling skills to get great results. Most players tend to put a lot of effort into their armies and neglect terrain, so a good terrain setup can really stand out.

Try here for plastic scenery which won't break the bank and is very friendly to being modded : http://www.amera.co.uk/product.php?range=z

I make scenery from just use junk
or broken models.
like my burning Terminator
put him on a load of broken cocktailo sticks then a load of cotton wool under him and painted the cotton wool like fire and smoke.

There is a TON of scenery temlplates which can be downloaded as well as making vehicles for almost all 40K races here: http://www.4shared.com/get/bdxs8qMo/PaperHammer_40k.html

It's a big file but has loads of templates.

I highly suggest that you go to your nearest art supply store, get some Masonite and foam board, and use that to make ruined structures. I have a WIP ruined building that I made using about $5 worth of supplies. There's some pics below.

NOTE: This is my first ever piece of scenery. It's quite easy to do!







I also used some copper wire for the rebar.

As no-one has pushed them in a while, Amera plastics do a good line in cheap scenery. The down side is that is low on initial detail but on the plus side can be tailored almost infinitely to your own battlefield.
Here comes the link: http://www.amera.co.uk/

Another option of course is Cardstock/ papercraft scenery.

Thanks for all the links and ideas guys i have added a few of the websites to my favorites and ill be sure to start making a cool board (hopefully) and get away from using the dining room table before the missus gives me a Strengh 10 powerfist upside my head.

pj-brainz wrote:... before the missus gives me a Strengh 10 powerfist upside my head...

I think they get them free with the purchase of a bridal gown !!! They all seem to have them and use them with wild abandon and frequency !!!

Kidding aside, good luck with the terrain.

I also love the Pegasus Gothic Buildings and Ruins sets as well as their Techno Bridge. I'm in the process of using several of their Gothic Building Kits (Large and misc) to build a Cathedral that will be almost 30" long. Great modular kits for a good price.

Check out www.Armorcast.com as well. While I'm not a fan of their most-recent "Martian Buildings" line, they have a wide array of all types of terrain items from accessories to buildings.

And, of course, there are the GW Buildings. They sure do evoke that Grim Gothicky Darkness and they are great kits. I've combined some of the Cities of Death Buildings with Bastions to create a city gate wall (should be in my gallery here). Also, with a little work and some sharp blades you can combine the 40K buildings with the Warhammer ones (and the castle) to good effect.

Show us what you come up with !!

+1 on the foam board sugestion from G3N0X1D3

Left over sprue pieces can also be used to make railings or pipes and rebar that sticks out of ruined concrete buildings.

That's an awesome idea Ma55ter_fett! I was going to cut out thin pieces of foam board for the windowsills but your idea is way better

I put this in another thread about painting them, but Zuzzy do fully textured, rollable latex battlemats. Grab one of these and paint it however you want. They roll up to the size of an umbrella for storage. Then get terrain.