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Hails to all that read this. Welcome to the start of my scenery / terrain blog. It has been a long time coming and I have a list of people to thank for helping me get to where I am right now. My IRL buddy Daichallar who has helped me build mountain terrain before and had some excellent ideas for the road system we started. Moltar for being an intellectual inspiration with our conversations about terrain and the effect it has on the physical and psychological aspects of the game. Terraformer because he is a wargames terrain GOD and also because if it hadn't been for his link that I followed here through a Google search I may not have ever stopped in at Dakka. More recently I started sharing ideas w/ dsteingass on his amazing Necromunda Project where he is taking the original Necromunda cardboard sets and faithfully reproducing in plasticard. He was the final push that got me going on this.

To them and many more I haven't mentioned, thank you.

Ok. Quick background that will bring all this up to speed. I started working on terrain as soon as I got back into playing wargames in Nov 2009, had taken quite a long break prior to that. I've always tried t offer the best table I can when I host games, and this time around I wanted to make sure I didn't settle for spray painted cardboard tubes and clumps lichen from the local craft store. I wanted my terrain to look like the Grimdark had partied in my game room and passed out on the table. With that end result as my goal, I set to work.

Some earlier examples of terrain I tried were stones for my "Ash Waste" look, but wound up using it more for WFB than 40K:







They went with a large project I had but unfortunately I was more focused on gaming and painting miniatures than terrain so what could have been a much more impressive landscape was pretty basic:







When I started working on smaller projects I gave them a lot more attention:

Hasty barricade:




Industrial Pond (I love that sign):



Objective Markers / Random Terrain


Outbuildings / Necromunda Trading Post




Misc Power Station / Whatever



And some action shots with a lot of my newer stuff combined:





All the above has brought me to the next level. I want to make the best terrain I possibly can, and after gleaning as much information from other people as I can, here's where I'm really "starting".

First project is to recover a few pieces from Necromunda that I used to like a lot. I'm not going to recreate the entire set, just a few pieces. I have a lot of other ideas I want to figure out as well.

All that said, on to the project!!!



So I'm starting out with 16 12X12 sheets of .060″ (1/16″) Thick High Impact Styrene. I'm using a Necromunda template for design.





Cut cut cut later, and I have this:



But there's a problem. The .060 is too thick for the bulkhead channels. So I had to cut down the knobby bitz that are in the channels:



After some more work, all bulheads are in place:





Also found that I can only get one of these platforms out of a 12X12 piece of HIS:



...so time to cut some supports:





First support cut and laid up for reference:



I kept working after the last pic was taken, have 6 supports total. Man it is one time-consuming task, but the results have been worth it. I'm looking forward to going as far OTT as I possibly can w/ this. What you see right now is very basic. Much more is coming.

Thanks for reading, C&C welcome!


*edited for Vic. Ha!*

Building a Better Battlefield

i hope there will be more of that... this is a real good thing to hit this board... in my opinion there is not enough and can never be enough terrain threads^^ because let´s face it we need terrain to make a good game happening...without a good terrain even the best painted mini looks out of place and the least we want to happen is something like that...^^

i really like that sign on the watertower too... the sense of that wording is what makes government so hilarious sometimes^^

also those trading posts... awsome... if possible i would like to see how you did that wodden texture there...that is a special interrest in me to make serious looking wooden planks and other stuff...

and by the way i really dig that winter hill terrain assortment.... looks really good and no hint of looking just basic!

since dstein is out now you have the time to get closer to his build i say^^ so good luck to you and be productive^^

cheers, vik

by the way you are pretty determined and dedicated to quality... i really like that!

You have some fantastic stuff! Stand by for more c&c when I get healed up..and keep going!

@ Viktor von Domm- Thank you for the compliment. I've seen your work before and you have my respect. I'm hoping that this thread inspires someone else to give it a try, much like other threads motivated me to do this myself. I wish I could tell you the wooden plank technique, but the entire building is an O-Scale train model.

@ dsteingass- I'm going to keep going until I get sick of it or seriously injure myself. Let's hope I get sick of it first.



No pics in this update for now, just a quick "hello" on a Friday night and letting folks know that I have a lot of progress on the tower. It has 2 complete levels and I'm starting work on the "3-D" detail that separates this from printed cardboard. Currently I have things gluing and I'm digging through my bitz box.

I'll have pics tomorrow. This weekend is supposed to be wet rainy misreable (meaning not a good weekend to ride) so expect numerous updates.

Thanks for looking, more later.

Skalk loving your table . Wow you still got some Necromunda pieces still?!? Man I did'nt see those parts since the mid 90's glad to see you got them.
Can't wait to see more.

ah so 0-scale trainterrain would work for warhammer too... nice to know...that opens up a whole new range of products for me...

Ok Skalk, looking at your pics sober now, they are still full of win!

I really like the water still by the pond, is that an O gague railroad water tower?

The hasty barricade enables my container and barrel and small cover fetish! And that piece looks liek a great place for a last stand mission.

I really like the Misc Power Station / Whatever. what was that originally? What did you use for the floor grating? I could see stacking those to make one of those abandoned factory pieces where nothing is left except the reinforced concrete (I Imagine the sheet metal would.ve been stolen for something else in the underhive)

I could only get one platform out of 1 piece of plasticard too, however, I just cut the excess into straight pieces, it was helpful to have perfectly straight stock pieces for replicating identical plates for me. Your method of fitting in the support pieces is a good idea too.

And finally the old wallpaper in your room! It is the same wallpaper I had in my bedroom as a kid in NW Ohio!
Fan tastic Skalk! really! A good table definately enhances a game, I am in total agreement.

@ GD1- Thanks! It hasn't seen much play yet because it's still WIP, I'll PM you some of the "advanced" shots, trying to keep it a surprise for the local guys. And yes I still have most of my Necromunda stuff. I replaced all the cardboard with plasticard when I was running a League, had to tear it all apart so I could transport it in my last few moves. This time I'm rebuilding everything right. If I move again, I'll box this stuff up carefully, I'm not taking this apart again.

@ Viktor von Domm- The scales I have found that work best are 1/32, 1/48, and O. Not everything works though because (surprise surprise) the concept of "scale" is subjective and seems to change from manufacturer to manufacturer.

@ dsteingass- Glad to know my works still stands up under the scrutinizing eye of sobriety! The water tower is HO scale, I tore off all the things that would betray the scale specifically. As it is right now it makes a great Water Still and a pretty important objective depending on the scenario. I have TONS of barrels and containers and small cover items! I can (and have) choked a table w/ so much stuff that people asked where they were supposed to put their miniatures. Ha. The Misc Power Station / Whatever is from a Hot Wheels playset bashed with a Matchbox playset, the combination of parts would not likely occur by accident again. But I see what you are talking about, a huge rusted hulk of ancient technology surrounded by the crumbling ruination of decay. And that wallpaper is 100% pure Kvlt Metal wallpaper! One of these days I might change it, but for now my time is consumed by other things.



Ok, short update with a little bit of progress. I cut the 2nd level and fitted it, alsi started gluing the supports. The bulkhead on the bottom isn't glued, it's merely acting as a spacer to keep the supports properly aligned while the glue is drying:





Everything is glued and I'm starting a few "detail" features.



3-D action!



3rd level is going to be a "walkway" instead of a platform. Decided to change things up a bit, and also preserve some of my card until I check some other designs out. The top walkway is not permanent and is easily removed.



Adding some features to the walkway:



The structure overall is starting to come together. The paper shapes were cut and glued to give the appearance of texture but remain as flat as possible, especially on the 1st platform because moving miniatures around on a featured surface can be a problem after 4-5 beers. This will allow for a different look but still be mostly smooth and flat. The cabling is (inside joke here) stripped from a Cat V networking cable. All of the wire / cables you will see in this project will be from that same length of Cat V. The framed screen is another "illusion" and a lesson re-learned- DRAW OUT YOUR IDEAS AND CUT BEFORE YOU GLUE. It's not like I didn't know that, I just didn't think of it... duh.









Again, not a 100% faithful reproduction of what once was. It's not supposed to be 100%. It's certainly inspired by and based upon, but with my own vision thrown into the mix.

Thanks for reading, more later.

Badassery dood, badassery.

nice idea to use the tank bits for manholes! clever!

and those clamps sure do look ready for some heavy duty^^

dsteingass- That is a high compliment.

Viktor von Domm- Cool that you noticed that! I'll be doing that a lot, over and over during this project. I like to take bitz from different sets to help tie the piece together. And yes, those clamps are intended for much larger jobs. Using what I have until I can get what I want.



More progress. I finished the 1st walkway. It is not removable from the bulkheads anymore for obvious reasons, but I think that's going to work out ok here.

The side rails are made from molding I bought at Home Depot. The mesh is something I picked up at a hobby store, I use it a lot because it looks cool. The paper on each end of the walkway is from my super glue packet. And you can bet if I had the bitz I would put a skull on every one of those squares on the side rails for that "Imperial" look and feel. But I don't have the endless bitz box when it comes to skulls, and if I can't make it look right w/ the skulls I have then I'm not going to do it at all. But I had to mention that I wanted to do it, because I really did. And yes, I looked to see how many I had. I didn't have enough to even do every other space (unless I hacked up some of my WFB Skeletons, and that isn't happening).





And finished, complete with support braces and rust. At least I think it's finished. What do you guys think?









Perched atop the platforms to give an idea what the entire piece will look like:




I have run into a major snag. Two of them in fact, but one specificaly throws a wrench into this process. My jig saw is broken and is not repairable. Having torn it apart and rebuilt it myself twice I can saw w/o hesitation that there will be no 3rd time. But even more significantly is that I have no rivets. Can't make them (nothing to make them with), could not buy them when we went out today, and nothing ordered yet, so I can't finish any platforms etc that require riveting until I get some.

That said, I have a bunch of work I can do, but I won't be painting any of my platforms until I can rivet them up.

More coming later. Thanks for looking!

Man I really like that molding! very cool shape. and I definately see why you want to skullify them, I would too! THe walkway is totally badass! I need more skulls too, I've seen people make a simple mold out of clay for a master then cast them up using a lid or something as a mold. Molding and casting is something that I have always wanted to get into but never really had the supplies for.

@ dsteingass- I found some skulls on eBay that look cheap enough for the amount of skulls you'd get. I might pick these up later but I have other considerations for the immediate "right now".



Last update for tonight I think because later I'm supposed to be playing Chaos in the Old World. Figured I'd get one last post done. Here's the start of my first truly 3-D recessed project. It will bet the first of many if this goes well.



I see many, many beautiful things coming.

Those are cool skulls, but metal. I think i'd rather have them in plastic for ease of slicing them in half. I can't wait to see your construct there man!

Nice stuff Skalk! thanks for sharing it with us (pics at least) like the rustification there, reminds of my games of Fallot-3/the Pitt

wow... that one was a quick one... already painted...what a demon you are mister!!! or do you have a demon stuffed in your cellar doing all this work for you....*shudders*^^

well as for riveting... we had the holepunch discussion so i wont stress that...er... did it yet again^^

and funnyly i too had that piece of molded wood in my hand the other day when taking a stroll through the hardware store...and left it there... a very good idea to use it like this... instant thickness as requiered and good looking too!!!




Automatically Appended Next Post:
oh and :

Using what I have until I can get what I want

just prieceless!!!

Looking really good

@ dsteingass- I'd prefer them in plastic as well, but might pick those up sometime anyway just to check them out.

@ shasolenzabi- Fallout was my favorite game for a long time! I got the sampler along w/ my Balder's Gate game back in the late 90 something. Thanks for the comment, it's a genuine compliment to me.

@ Viktor von Domm- That's what she said. No really. My wife said I finished that modeling project very quickly. The rivets remain an issue because I can't find my leather punch. I have an idea where it is but I have been too focused on building to take a break and look.

@ Young_Logan- Thank you, I'm glad you're liking what you've seen so far. Come back now and then as there's a *lot* more coming.



Lots and lot of work today. Was going to go ride the Harley but it never got much above 50 and I'm still not feeling 100% (I think my cold has sunk into my chest. I'm expecting to die from pneumonia sometime next week). so I decided to wear my pajamas all day and do nothing but model (that's not how it worked out exactly, but it was great while it lasted).

One thing I remembered is that in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war... and balsa wood. Normally I would not even consider that kind of material for a project like this, but I wanted to experiment with it because it is a fast material to work with and I have a *lot* of it.

Here's how things started out:



Not so bad so far. Kept going:







Still pretty decent. Nothing so bad that I want to tear it apart yet. Kept going:





And then for some bizarre reason I stopped taking pictures of this project. But I did take pics of other stuff I was working on while I was waiting for glue or paint to dry on this. Here's a fre other things I did today:

Got out all my old Necromunda stuff and decided what I was going to rebuild. Have decided on these for the time being:



I played both of these back in the day. Have 2 more that will be coming out before long. I'll be adding a lot of detail to them and try to get past the plain vanilla look they have right now.

I also started work on another walkway. Used the same side rail because I wanted to have some continuity in the project and also because it looks so cool. Did a different walkway platform this time though, thought going for the same mesh grate looks would be too much. Also decided to add some reinforcements on this one by taking an HO scale train bridge. Hope this looks decent.







Still needs paint but the build on it is done.

So anyway, at some point I started taking pics of my main project again. I had to admit that the balsa wood did not look anything like metal no matter how I painted it. But it was so cool. It had to work out some way. So I got thinking what the structure "is", what the purpose of it would be in my Underhive setting. All of a sudden it hit me- the walls were Plascrete instead of steel, and that would make it a bunker... which means that my PDF now has a substation in this part of the Hive.







I am wicked psyched with how this part (recessed pipers and cables) turned out. It way more work than it shows and it looks a lot better in person:



I think it is mostly done. I see a couple things I forgot to do, like add the outdoor light and hinges on the front door, will probably wash the front w/ Dev Mud to darken in the shadows a bit, but other than that I think it is done? C&C welcomed and openly requested.

Last but certainly not least... not least at all... a huge "thank you" to my wife for letting me move all of my stuff to the kitchen table and keep it there all weekend.



Thanks honey. You are pretty awesome.

Man that stuff is awesome! you've oudone me for sure! I am totally jealous of that railroad bridge! I want to use one for that same type of bridge!

No worries! Playing Fallo9ut New Vegas at the present, working through the casino heist content.

Man such a different materials used to get that old Necromunda feel going!

@ dsteingass- Dude, you need to lay off the codeine cough syrup, it's really messing w/ your judgement. You scratch build everything. I'm taking pre-fab stuff and gluing it together. You are the Master. I am merely following your lead. But thank you for the compliment, if I'm hitting that close to the mark then I'm on the right track.

@ shasolenzabi- I want the new Fallout series so much but I know that I'd lose a couple thousand hours of my life playing it. I'd sooner lose that time painting miniatures (a.k.a. another bunch of junk for the estate auction. Ha.)



Bridge is finished. Here are some "action shots".







In other news... I just won an auction on eBay and scored 14 more bulkheads! If any of you were bidding against me... thanks for driving it up to $24.95. If you had bid 10 cents more it would have been yours.

I'm going to focus on the next plasticard design and figure out how to tie it in w/ the 3 structures I decided to rebuild. The basic design remains the same as my old League days, but the new incarnation demands a significant upgrade to detail.

More coming soon!

To much awesome stuff to comment on, lets sum it up with: Great job, I'm loving this. I think my favorite piece is the first walkway, the mesh floor looks awesome, and I have to mention the hazard stripes since they're so lovely. Another detail I like is the mesh on the substation with the cabeling underneath, the effort you put in was worth it!

Damnit, between you and dsteingass, I'm actually going to have to go and start work on my Necromunda stuff too. I bought a copy of the game recently for exactly that reason, but have done nothing with it yet...

the balsa wood has sure its place in terrain building... for me it looks like splattered on concrete... for my taste i would have painted it grey...but that is just me^^ the material fully justifies more use!!!

to use the railroad railing (RRR^^) as a support to a walkway is a hell of a clever idea...

about your older necro towers... the one on the right looks like you recycled a cutting mat rofl^^

i had often seen those bulkheads on ebay... but they are a pricey buch...so i have kept put for now... one day i make my own^^

Amazing work Skalk!

Just like Dsteinglass' thread, your work is really inspirationnal, and you can be sure it'll be helpfull for the Gorkamorka fort I'm building.

oooh Orka Forta!

@ Limbo- Hey brother, thanks for checking this out! I'm going to be using that mesh a lot in this project. I have a huge sheet of it and it looks too cool to not get used. The hazard stripes are printed on high-res paper and cut into strips of whatever size I need. I've been using this method for a while and it has significantly improved the finished look of my models.

@ Fifty- It's a sign. When there's so much inspiration and activity similar to the project you want to get working on, do it! dsteingass' project was what finally motivated me to really get this going. You're next. Get crackin', bud! Let us know when you are starting, I'm all about sharing ideas and community support!

@ Vik- I was really skeptical of the balsa right up until I figured out what the structure would be. Now I'm looking at making quite a few more w/ similar dimensions (small bunkers) and all from balsa. I went with the Shadow Gray instead of regular "concrete gray" because I wanted the "tie-in" for my PDF (they wear Shadow Gray uniforms with black trim). The rebuilt towers are going to see some MAJOR changes, including efforts to make them look less like plasticard straight out of the bag and more like neglected industrial platforms. Bulkheads are worth getting, but I agree they are stupidly expensive and had it not been for this project drying up my available stock I would not have purchased more of them. But I feel I got a good deal on this so I'm not complaining.

@ Joe- Gorkamorka!!! Oh man there's something I do NOT need to be thinking about becasue I absolutely love that game! One of the issues I have locally is that none of my current gaming buddies are into these games. I'd love to get back into Epic and Blood Bowl and Gorkamorka and Necromunda and Mordheim... but my kids won't play w/ me, my wife thinks all this is dorky, my current gaming buddies don't seem interested, and I live to far away from people that would play. Gah. I need to move.

@ dsteingass- Don't tempt me. I mean it.



No pics in this "update" because I'm at work, but I got a lot of work done last night. I am working on this currently:



...and let me tell you, there's nothing that has made me hate doing this project quite as much as that piece. It drives me mad to think I'm going to cut 2 more of them. If you're curious why I hate it so much, try cutting a perfect circle out of the middle of .060 plasticard. Yup. That's why I am hating it. But I am sure the result will be completely worth it in the end and I'll forget all about the process involved to build it.

Won't be any updates tonight because I'm playing an RPG w/ my regular gaming group ( anyone ever play Changeling ?) but I'll have some progress to share over the next few days for sure.

Thanks for the C&C so far, more stuff coming!

More of this looking great SKalk! It's like you and Dstiengass have with terrain what Vik and I have with scratchbuilt tanks going on! It is a good thing as it is sharing ideas and ways of doing things.

That damn circle is why I made my tower perfectly hexagonal and the floors made of wood! I used a hole saw chucked in a cordless drill then built up the detail in plasticard around mine. good luck!

@ shasolenzabi- I'm really psyched to be working on a project "along side" with dsteingass. The timing could not have been more prefect, the motivation is completely there, the techniques are shared back and forth, etc. Yet another reason why I enjoy Dakka so much. There's no way I could have accomplished what I've gotten done in the last year w/o the support and feedback from other Dakka folks. I really enjoy this place a lot.

@ dsteingass- Ahhhh! You cheated! Sort of like my Balsa Bunker... ha. I'll finish this up soon, and there's no way I'm doing another circle. MAYBE a square to make a service lift. Maybe.