Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So as the title states, I've been attempting to build some terrain for my board, but it's not going as well as planned and it's mostly due to the materials I've been using. I've been trying to sculpt hills out of clay and when it dries it just cracks and breaks off the wooden board so I know clay isn't going to work. I've looked at some of the articles on dakka and have been looking at the materials others suggest like insulation foam, but I feel it won't give me the freedom to sculpt with it like I can the clay. That and I'm afraid I can't spray prime foam either due to the whole melting issue. Anyway, I'm looking for some sort of happy medium between the two. Something that I can sculpt, but won't crack. Something that will adhere to my wooden base board and I can spray. Any thoughts?

Ask and you shall receive....

http://www.terrainthralls.com/Tutorials%20folder/Tutorials.html

Great site for all your terrain building needs.

Wow, those look pretty neat. I guess pink foam is the way to go. I'll give it a shot, though I don't have a heat knife. You think I can get away with just an x-acto blade?

You don't need a heat knife. Get a few exact o blades as NOTHING dulls a knife quite like foam.

Exacto blades will work for detailing, but the extendable craft/hobby knives with snap-off blades are better for roughing out your shapes, as the blade can reach farther (when you need it to - when you don't, they're just a cheaper way to keep your tip sharp). Some folks love hot wire cutters and some hate them, but you can decide at a later date - they're far from a necessity.

If you aren't getting exactly what you want out of carved foam, you can still sculpt on top of it. Bulking out your shapes with foam will cut down on weight and save you clay (or filler, or putty, or whatever you use). The cracking issue is likely due to the clay shrinking as it dries. Sculpting the faces in smaller sections with thinner profiles should keep them from tearing themselves apart - you can hide the joins afterward, as well as repair any minor cracks that may have formed. Plaster cloth is another popular way to tweak your shapes (with the model train layout crowd, at least), although it requires decorative finishing to hide the texture. There are other products that would work, of course - SculptaMold (I think that was the name) is a plaster and paper pulp blend that, when mixed with water, acts like a mix between very soft clay and paper mache.

As far as priming is concerned, spray paint won't be an issue if you sculpt on top of a foam base. If you do have exposed foam, it's not that much trouble to prime by hand. If you plan on texturing the surface, you can mix your grit directly into latex/emulsion paint or a mix of craft paint and PVA to get a surface that's resilient to both gaming wear and relatively mild paint solvents. If you really want to spray bare foam, there are foam-safe spray paints available (check craft stores - they're often marketed for floral design, which is often based on styrofoam).

With all that said, it's well worth looking at what other people are using, too. The terrainthralls site has a bunch of tutorials, as mentioned. Terraformer has some amazing tutorials and project logs (both here on Dakka and on the 3T Studios site), and there are scores of Youtube channels dedicated to terrain building (Terranscapes, for example, gives lots of insight into the hows and whys in his (admittedly long) vids, as well as product reviews for tools and materials - light on the actual tutorial content, but useful, nonetheless).

Thanks for the advice! I ended up buying styrofoam as the pink foam was only sold in 4x8 foot sheets and for more than I was willing to spend unfortunately. I do plan on putting putty over it now that you mention it so hopefully I will have pics by the weekend.

Also consider the modular trench systems by GW (just released, lots of skulls), Amera or Ziterdes. Save time, look good, and they are modular, so can be repositioned for every battle.

Yeah, they do look great, but price is really the only issue. I may get one or two sections and incorporate them into my works, but I want to get a working system going before I do that.

Also check out
http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/

they have lots of great tutorials and WIP threads on terrain.

best of luck!

 WhiteWolf01 wrote:
So as the title states, I've been attempting to build some terrain for my board, but it's not going as well as planned and it's mostly due to the materials I've been using. I've been trying to sculpt hills out of clay and when it dries it just cracks and breaks off the wooden board so I know clay isn't going to work. I've looked at some of the articles on dakka and have been looking at the materials others suggest like insulation foam, but I feel it won't give me the freedom to sculpt with it like I can the clay. That and I'm afraid I can't spray prime foam either due to the whole melting issue. Anyway, I'm looking for some sort of happy medium between the two. Something that I can sculpt, but won't crack. Something that will adhere to my wooden base board and I can spray. Any thoughts?

Take layers of stryofoam, shape and glue as desired into the way you want them to look as trenches, maybe built into a hill or something. Buy some apoxie sculpt, it's like a water soluble version of green stuff but not as versatile. Perfect for turning styrofoam into a hill, or trench system. Paint/base as desired and there you go. Popsicle sticks work wonderfully for that old school WW1 look for the tench walls. You can garnish this terrain salad with razorwire and foliage to taste.

kcebnivek wrote:

 WhiteWolf01 wrote:
So as the title states, I've been attempting to build some terrain for my board, but it's not going as well as planned and it's mostly due to the materials I've been using. I've been trying to sculpt hills out of clay and when it dries it just cracks and breaks off the wooden board so I know clay isn't going to work. I've looked at some of the articles on dakka and have been looking at the materials others suggest like insulation foam, but I feel it won't give me the freedom to sculpt with it like I can the clay. That and I'm afraid I can't spray prime foam either due to the whole melting issue. Anyway, I'm looking for some sort of happy medium between the two. Something that I can sculpt, but won't crack. Something that will adhere to my wooden base board and I can spray. Any thoughts?

Take layers of stryofoam, shape and glue as desired into the way you want them to look as trenches, maybe built into a hill or something. Buy some apoxie sculpt, it's like a water soluble version of green stuff but not as versatile. Perfect for turning styrofoam into a hill, or trench system. Paint/base as desired and there you go. Popsicle sticks work wonderfully for that old school WW1 look for the tench walls. You can garnish this terrain salad with razorwire and foliage to taste.

I am doing just that The popsicle sticks are a good idea though. I'll have to forage around for some, or some balsa wood. Here are some pics so far.



and this is the goop I'm using to sculpt. Currently waiting on a test piece to dry:

Should work just fine. I've used spackle on a few of pieces with decent results. It's not the most resilient material to chipping, though. I'd found that a few coats of watered down PVA soaks into the surface a bit, giving it a more resilient, almost plasticized finish.

Finished up my piece just today. Pretty happy with the outcome for a first try. I sprayed it with some foam-safe primer in the end. What do you think?



My guardsmen are now "invincible" with their new 5+ cover!