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I'm looking to make my own terrain, but I'm at a slight loss as to what to make it out of. I'm also on a budget (spent my money on models), but I do have a 6x4 plywood "table" that's in desperate need of some terrain that doesn't come from my Horus Heresy bookshelf. I know foam is great, but what kind should I get? And what other materials are good and easy to work with? I'd like to make some ruins and some LOS blocking hills and mounds.

Look in the article system for Craggy Hills, in which the writer and author uses polyfill/spackle to create a hill. You could also use paprika mixtures, MWG has a video on how to make an asteroid. You can interpret and incorporate that into your terrain.

I myself, have done both, and as I type this, I'm making a Thunderhawk for my 6x4 board.

Insulation foam from the hardware store makes great hills and such. Just get a sheet and start carving it up with a steak knife. You can layer the hills to make them higher and block LOS and you can carve out some large rock shapes as well.

Glue a little playground sand to the flat surfaces to give them texture and paint them to fit and you're good to go.

Do not use regular spray paint on foam though or it will melt. Use craft paint or pick up a can of water based spray paint.

Insulation foam, playground sand, and water based spray paint can all be picked up for under $20 from the big bos lumber and hardware stores (Menards, Lowes, Home Depot).You want the blue or pink rigid foam, not the rolled flufy stuff.

As far as ruins, the easiest cheapest way is to cut some out of cardboard boxes. You can find templates via google search or just make them how you want.

There was a blurb about it in the old How to Make Wargames Terrain book as well as an article in an old WD from before they released the plastic cities of death terrain.

Actually a LOT of the old WD had articles on building terrain and typically they used fairly cheap and easily accessible components

I made sandbags out of simple baking clay that I bought from Spotlight (or where ever you can get craft goods and such) and simply made small sandbags that I piled on top of one another to create a sandbag emplacement or small wall equivalent.

Ive also created the odd ruined building and shed out of balsa wood but I had that laying around and it was a thin sheet so a little breakable bu when coupled with thin balsa rods it made it sturdier and a little tougher.

Cylinder rolls (those that come from things such as wrapping paper adn the like) or even just using toilet rolls, you can make effective pipeing that looks liek part of a mechanicum or a working world if they are glued down to a thin piece of cardboard to match their shape to give it a foothold is good.

If all else fails, check on Youtube. I believe there was an Aussie guy who shows tutorials on how to make awesome scenic buidings and things out of household materials and things.

EDIT:
In fact, this is a link to one of his videos. Check out some of his other tutorials if you're interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iRQ8XA2lIE

Rubbish in Rubbush out is awesome, he is a great guy and makes lots of good vids.

Another terrain guy to follow on youtube is terrainaholic.

http://www.youtube.com/user/terrainaholic

You can make terrain out of literally anything. I painted up an oil refinery terrain piece this weekend made of polystyrene wine bottle packaging, an old tub of cocoa, some wire grid I had around, and some packaging cardboard. The hard part is to stop it looking like junk! Achieve this through liberal application of bitz from your bitz stash, extra card detailing, adding texture with sand or watered-down filler, and putting it on a smart base to match your board.

In my opinion, making scratch-built terrain is one of the most rewarding and fun parts of this hobby!

I'm surprised foamcore hasn't been mentioned yet. While you're less likely to find it lying around for the taking than cardboard, it's plenty cheap (you can find it at many dollar stores in sheets sized large enough for 2-3 medium-sized ruins, easily, with plenty of scraps left over). Foamcore is somewhat stronger than cardboard of equivalent weight and less prone to flexing and warping (though not immune). The thickness (5mm or 3/16" standard, although 1/2" is also available) makes walls look more realistic and, if you cut it cleanly, lacks the unsightly gaps that corrugated cardboard has. You can also peel off one side's outer paper layer, exposing the inner foam for carving (great for adding patches of exposed brickwork). Like many others, I started out using cereal boxes, but I haven't looked back since discovering foamcore.

As others have mentioned, there are tons of other materials suitable for making terrain, from recycled containers and packaging to broken electronics to construction materials to natural elements. Some are preferable to others, but usually have an associated cost, whether monetary or in time and effort to find/prepare - it's rarely unreasonable, but it is a factor.

For large, natural terrain elements like hills and rocks, foam is a good place to start. Expanded polystyrene (packaging styrofoam) is plentiful, but it's springy and has an unnatural beaded texture that needs masking. For filling in space under larger, stronger shells, though, it works just fine. Extruded polystyrene insulation board is generally the foam of choice for terrain builders, as it's stiffer, more resilient, and has a fine, even grain that allows it to be cut and carved cleanly, without need for further dressing. Thinner cross-sections, like for building walls, closed stairs, and the like often are better constructed out of foamcore, just to avoid having to cut down thicker insulation boards.

Plasticard (sheet polystyrene) is another fantastic material, both for detailing foamcore building surfaces and for independent construction. It's strong, flexible, easy to work with, and can be chemically welded using solvent-based plastic glues (same plastic as is used to produce GW models). There are also embossed/textured sheets available, as well as architectural forms like girders, angles, etc. Anything you can do with paper card, you can do better with plasticard. It is, however, less commonly available and more expensive (plastic "for sale" signs are a common source, but are generally of lower quality and available in fewer thicknesses). Once you have a bit more experience under your belt and decide you want to make something both impressive and durable, it's worth picking some up to play around with.

More general consumables, like adhesives, basing grit, paint, spackle, and the like are also generally cheap and easy to source, if you don't have them laying around, already. There are also plenty of great resources online for tutorials and inspiration - many of them right here on Dakka. Search around a bit more before you get started and you may have an easier time of things, but experience really is the best teacher. Mucking around with found materials doesn't cost you more than a few hours' time and some glue. If you run into particular problems or develop more specific plans that you need help realizing, narrow questions usually get reasonably prompt and helpful responses. Good luck!

Seriously, no one has mentioned cork yet? And I second (third? fourth?) spackle.

Guitar string makes great power cables, and so does pulling out the individual wires in a network cable. Guitar string also works as high-tension cables.

Burn the hairs off a pipe cleaner that you've twisted around something to make barbed wire.

Finally, I have yet to try it, but I wouldn't be surprised if you can make hills with chicken wire and paper mache, the same way you make grade-school volcanoes.

Ohh, and CDs make great bases for terrain.

MWG's Papa Smurf has some cool tutorials. I have used cardboard boxes, egg cartons, and floral foam with wood picks.

http://www.ironhands.com/necro.htm

http://www.matakishi.com/

http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/

You're Welcome.

you can make anything out of cardboard (buildings, hills, etc.), and stuff you can find outside usually works well (sticks, rocks,) for the actual product. Toothpicks are very useful and I use them in a lot of my terrain. Foam can be used to make hills but thats about it, and I don't use a lot of it on my terrain.

I have a friend that used plastic and large sticks/moss to make a wooden pillar type wall.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/253048.page - 90% expanded polystyrene insulation sheeting, sand, PVA glue and test pots of emulsion paint. Cheap as heck, obtainable from any decent DIY store

See also - http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-8375-3811_Display%20Terrain.html

most of the industrial stuff like catwalks etc is simply cardstock (with the ubiquitous pva & sand of course) and a few "spare parts", wooden dowell, 6mm mdf, pvc plumbing pipe - hell the list is endless !

Short version - you can make terrain out of just about anything !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsTFNU7-Rs
This is the video that started it all for me for terrain. I use everything I can find (you will become a hoarder :p) I use foam board for building walls. Insulation foam for rocks, hills, old wires for wire, packing styrofoam for various things.

I work in a warehouse, so my material of choice (as has been mentioned countless times already) is definitely cardboard. It's easily and readily available to me in almost any quantity.

Foam for anything that has a curved or rounded shape. (Hills, cliffs, etc)

Plastic sheets and foamcore for walls and such (tho mine are still cardboard )

I've got some cleaned up empty tin cans from my Raviolies that I plan on turning into terrain (industrial type).

The random shapes of styrofoam packaging that accompanies most things in a box for safe delivery makes good terrain.

SPACKLE! Great for all kinds of things. Might I also suggest Plaster? Easily available at any craft shop and most hardware stores (for cheap).Add water, mix, and pour into your mold! Or mix it thick and play with it like a sand castle...

I even ninja'd a whole bunch of the round top, clear cup lids for the McFlurry at McDonalds for terrain. My fiancee is a tad peeved at me because (as was noted): I"ve become a bit of a hoarder for crap I want to convert into terrain XD