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Actually, Nafarious, my intention is to perfect these wall sections, make resin copies, and then start selling them through my ebay account. So with luck these will be available for public purchase soon.

If you ever get a bad one or just want to cut me a nice deal I could really use one

I'll keep you in mind, Nafarious.

I've been seriously busy of late folks, but I promise I'll have progress shots up soon. Thanks for your patience everyone!

So I made significant progress on the lake commission. Here is a whole bunch of pictures.

Primed (Barry inspects my work):





Base coated:




Midtone:




Highlight and lakebed base coated:






Lakebed highlighted (waiting for resin water, now):






Tomorrow should be PIP on the small ruins I'm making. C&C always welcome. Thanks for looking!

That looks great Waz, you going to do some water effects to it? I think you should start casting all of your terrain things, and sending me free copies

Yes, I'll be adding clear resin water effects to create a pool. About the free stuff...man, everybody's gotta make money.

Haha fair enough, I am still waiting on that castle wall though , maybe we can go into business together, you build the terrain send it to me, I paint it up, and send it back.

A few weeks? Days? I'm not a really good judge of time...ago, one of the Dakkadakka members (Lockark) got in touch with me regarding his mountain of miscast hirst blocks. I had commented that they were just a dream for a builder like myself and he apparently took me up on that dream. So he sent me his miscasts. All 301kg of them. It was all I could hope for and more.





Holy smokes! It was all I could do to stop myself from foaming at the mouth and shaking on the floor (with or without pooping myself). Layer upon layer of gold (in the form of tiny bits of plaster)! It just never ended! Everything from tiny piles of bones...


to pipes and chairs and doodads... (by the way I can't believe "doodad" is a real word. my autocorrect didn't underline it in red)






Every time I thought I was done I would look into the box and there would be still more...


Separating by types...



In the end I had all this...


Now, bear in mind these are miscasts, so to a builder who is trying to make something that looks like a container or a section of wall, an object spotted by air bubbles is just not going to work. I'm sure Lockark had little use for these in his own project and may have even written these bits off as "garbage". But for me this is a treasure trove. There's a million ideas running through my head for these objects and the next few weeks we'll all witness what happens with them.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH LOCKARK!

And thank you, Dakkadakka community for all your support and views and comments. Cheers!

Dang, that is quite the haul! I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

By the way, have you ever looked into getting an airbrush? They really speed up terrain painting, and you can do some great effects with them. Aside from being good for fast basecoating, you can do highlights, washes, glazes, smoke effects, rust, OSL, and all sorts of other good stuff.

~Tim?

I own a cheapo GW hand flamer airbrush, Tim?. But I've used it all of twice. I used to own another airbrush, but sold it long ago. I'll be honest those things intimidate me, but I should probably start saving my money and invest in one. Thanks for the feedback!


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Also, I did some more painting on one of the smaller "Shattered City" pieces I'm working on. It still needs an ink wash to tone down the red and pick out the details on the skulls and such, but I painted the frame work and some details with red and the incense vents with gold. I'm thinking of mixing my gold with silver and highlighting those incense vents before hitting it with the wash, but I dunno.





C&C always welcome, folks.

Well, there are a ton of amazing resources on airbrushing miniatures and terrain all over the web, especially here on Dakka. I'm not that experience myself, but I can give you one solid tip: get rid of the GW "airbrush". Those things are glorified spray paint canisters. What you need is a dual action, gravity-feed airbrush. The dual action allows you to control the flow of the paint and the air, so you can do anything from pencil-thin lines to big, broad basecoat strokes. The GW airbrush is a single action, as are primer cans and spray paint cans. Not control of flow whatsoever.

~Tim?

Thanks for the advice, Tim?. I'll look into it.


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Also, also. Here are some autumnal trees I made. More pics in my "terrain I made" thread linked in my signature below.











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Also, also, also. Fern jungles.







Again more pics in my terrain I made thread.


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Also, also, etc.

I'm also working on these trees. Gluing individual leaves on these trees is REALLY time consuming, fyi.







Tada!

What a great score from him, also thank you for turning me onto his thread, just another thread to sub to here on Dakka

Here is the part where I discuss with myself (and anyone who wants to join in on this open conversation) what I want to do with these hirst blocks. I have a huge archive of pictures culled from the internet of devastated cityscapes, so my first inclination is to use the blocks to create architectural details and then cast them in resin. The only issue with that is that I don’t own any molding materials or resin and won’t be able to stock up on any of it until after the holidays. But I guess that doesn’t mean I can’t start building prototypes and such.

I also have a ton of container miscasts that are pitted in such a way that they remind me of damage from extended periods of exposure to hard vacuum and/or cave dampness. It’s like they’ve been affected by stale atmosphere and long term corrosion. I might wind up using them in a kind of “space hulk debris” fashion or maybe an “abandoned colony detritus” sort of way. I’m open to suggestions on that one.

I’m likely going to use a lot of these pieces as architectural details quite different for what they may have originally been intended for. That’s just how I roll. I like to repurpose things. While I’m on this topic of repurposing things, does anyone know of any kits (GW, Tamiya, etc.) that have a lot of interesting parts? Like maybe gears or textured panels or pipes and things. I’m looking to add some interesting tidbits to my designs and was wondering what other builders might use, if they use stuff like that.

So, the first thing I’ve started with is a 2” tall pillar (that’s about 5cm for those that don’t have a conversion table handy). I’m not a tremendous fan of the GW standard floor level of 3” tall. While the building sets they put out are brilliantly detailed (the Basilica set especially) they’re enormous. Absurdly so. Have you ever measured one of the doors to a model? If a space marine is supposed to be 8 feet tall, that means the door is like 20 feet high. Why are all the regular doors in the 41st millennium 3 times taller than everyone who lives there? It makes the building look just silly. Also, if the door is even just 15 feet tall, that means the ceilings are all 20 feet high. Average construction heights are 10 to 12 feet per floor. Basically these pieces say that every building in the Imperium is a loft. That’s just silly. So, I’m going to experiment with 2” tall floors and properly scaled doors. It might be that the height of the floors is a design consideration as, looking at the half-finished monster building to the left of my work-space, I realize that 3 inches makes it much easier to place and maneuver models on stacked floors. But who knows? Not me and not until I experiment, that’s for sure.

As far as future projects go, there are many. I have a bunch of ruined hovels to finish. I have that alien lake and debris fields to finish. I have more alien jungle bases to finish. I have prototype walls to finish and cast (that will probably happen in January). I have “40k hills” to prototype and perfect. I have these hirst blocks to play around with. I have the “Shattered City” to finish. I have ideas for “Agrihive interiors” and “Iceworld” terrain. I have ideas upon ideas, too many really. And, yeah, I have a tendency to start one, then another, and another, before I finally get back to the first one to finish it. My brain is too ambitious, but man do I love building!

Thanks for reading all the way through! Looking forward to your feedback Dakka. Cheers!

 Warboss_Waaazag wrote:


Now, bear in mind these are miscasts, so to a builder who is trying to make something that looks like a container or a section of wall, an object spotted by air bubbles is just not going to work. I'm sure Lockark had little use for these in his own project and may have even written these bits off as "garbage". But for me this is a treasure trove. There's a million ideas running through my head for these objects and the next few weeks we'll all witness what happens with them.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH LOCKARK!

And thank you, Dakkadakka community for all your support and views and comments. Cheers!

Your welcome, and yah you bassicly hit the nail on the head.

=)

I knew it was still useful stuff, but the miscast collection was getting out of hand, I needed help culling it. lol

Here's a tiny preview of the massive update I made on my "Terrain I Make" thread. Go there for the real show.

What the hell waz I thought this was the real thread :( you been holding out on us.

On another note where do you get your plants from/what are they (the green ones) and you should put a table together (4x4) and set up terrain on it.

Technically this is the main thread. The other is just for finished stuff. I use plastic plants from a company called Silk Vision. They come in "bushes" (the one label I have in my hand says: 14" Plastic Boxwood Bush). They're usually $5 or 6 USD with 4 to 7 fronds that each have 20 or 30 plastic plant bits. I buy the ones that, once separated from the actual bush, equal out to costing about 4 cents each. I buy these bushes from places like AC Moore, Micheals, and Joann's Fabrics. Craft stores. I'd totally put these jungle bits together on a 4X4 but I sell them...and I don't have access to a 4x4 table. My own work space is a table less than 2 feet square. But I'm working on the "Shattered City" for a client that lives less than a mile away and with luck I'll be able to get some good photos of all the city terrain together soon. So many projects, so little time.

Wow...really digging those trees, the red/yellow/orange ones had something very alien to them!

The long poles with the individual leafs looks beautiful, that kinda detail really sets them apart!

Huh I guess that makes sense the hard life of a commission worker :( I know that feel. Sometimes I really want to take models I finished up to the FLGS to show them off but they have to go into the mail the next day to send off to a client.

Holidays have been crazy. I'll be back this weekend with a decent update. Hope everyone has had a good New Year.

A preview of finished things. More pics in the finished stuff thread.

Arise my thread! Sorry it took so long to return to this thread. I've been very busy. Here is some PIP shots of the second "small" adminastratum ruin. As always, comments, questions, and critiques welcome.












Here are some detail shots. I used Warhammer Fantasy movement tray panels for the sidewalk.


And here is Barry hiding out in cover.



The exteriors still need quite a bit of detail color and about a million more washes, but it's coming along. I finished the other piece, but forgot to get photos before delivering it to my client's place. When I deliver this one, I'll get a "group" shot of them together.

Thanks for looking! Cheers!

more threadcromancy from me. detail work on another large piece.
left overs to work with:

Gluing bits down




This was a wooden dowel already stuck into the rubble that I drilled the end of. I might have some limp wires sticking out of this, but I haven't decided yet.

Never content with as-is, I whittled this chunk of terrain down until it was suitably damaged:



Test fitting:

This piece was put here so that Barry wouldn't roll off the terrain when placed.


Every little white rectangular brick you see in the next few photos was manually placed.





Next step is a sealing/base-coating layer. Thanks for looking!

Looking really good. Love those trees. Buildings are coming out quite well. Any chance for a full table shot?

Thanks for the feedback, Gorgrimm! These buildings are going to a customer who lives a few streets away. Once I get all the pieces done, I'll be able to get a group shot before they officially pass into his possession.

Did more work! Chopped a section of low wall to bits; suitably battered.


Even did way too much work on the side I eventually glued face down on the ruin's base, but that's just how I roll.

Once I picked a spot for it, I glued it down and touched it up with more rubble. I want to add more debris around it, but I also wanted to seal/base coat this monster, so I mixed a 50/50/50 batch of glue/black craft paint/water (with probably way too much water) and slathered some on to the whole piece. I took these pictures when the whole thing was still wet and glossy. Where the seal is pooled it will shrink as the water in the mix evaporates. After this layer dries I'll need to put another coat of black/glue with a lot less water next time. I just like to be thorough.






Barry Ork inspects my work:


More progress shots when this layer dries. Thanks for looking!

HUGE update.
First up, a lake. With glossy resin water. It's just waiting for me to figure out what kind plants I want to use.





Barry taking cover.


These plants?

Or these "plants"?

That tall? or this small?

And then that building I'm working on.
Here it is after I sealed it again with a better concentration of pigment and glue, and then additionally base coated in grey.






Then base coated the crater inside the ruin in brown (technically I base coated it in rusty red first and then after deciding I didn't like the way that looked, covered most of it up with brown).



Then I layered on another grey (a mid-tone) over the grey areas and a couple of shades of brown over the brown, mostly by mixing the original color with the rusty red and a bone-like shade of grey. Then I added some spot washes in black and dark brown, picked out a few individual stones (probably about 50) that had been covered by the brown in the original drybrush grey color and weathered them with a black/brown wash. Then I drybrushed the whole thing in white and got started on the walls. The walls were base coated black and then loosely block highlighted in a 50/50 mix of a color called plum (which is a kind of dull magenta) and black. Then the exterior walls were streaked with white and red lines to create the basis for the black marble that all my "Administratum" pieces get. The interior walls were then stippled with different colors for each floor. I start with the darkest color and gradually lighten it. The bottom floor went from dark pink to light pink with the help of bone and the second floor went from midnight purple to lighter purple with the help of a lemony yellow. I still have yet to decide on a color for the top floor, but I'm probably going to go with a pale green or some such. This what all of that effort turned out.








There is a whole lot of color yet to add to this piece, but I'm glad it's coming along. Thanks for looking. Have a great day!

First off let me say, your Terrain that you make looks really good. I enjoy looking at it and want to follow in your design in the realistic looking buildings and rubble piles.

But the only thing I'm not liking is how uniform and square your bases look. To me I think, the base should be more of an abstract shape, as rubble doesn't fall in a perfect square.