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I'm very glad you're finding my tutorials helpful Knightley. Thanks for the feedback!

Try as I might, I simply could not get these images to load right side up. Anyway, here's a brief update for the modular sidewalks I'm making. I bought a package of these little wooden rectangles:


And added them to the preexisting model. Turns out they fit perfectly in the gaps I had left to fill:


Just pretend we're in space and you're looking at my terrain from above because of Zero G and everything will seem normal. Thanks for looking! Have an awesome day (in space).

So I base coated the tall spire I textured with my thumb:


It's probably going to need a second coat when I get up to this place again.

Then I started painting this leaning stone mesa:


First with a Phthalo Blue:


And then, because I decided to reevaluate this advice:

 Red Harvest wrote:
Some color to a few of those layers? Sedimentary rock tends to have different colored layers. See the Painted Desert for inspiration... I did

I added some of this color to the base coat in random splotches:


Here I mixed it right on my palette while both colors were still wet:


And the results:


I then started more or less randomly adding brown and red drybrushes to the rock face and base (also lost track of how many pictures I took).


And then some off-white color in random splotches on the rock face and the stones around the bottom of it. At some point in time I also added an ink wash of phthalo blue to the whitened stones and a red ink wash to the stone itself and the base.


It's not exactly the Painted Hills, Red Harvest, but I really like the way it came out. Thanks for the advice, sorry I had trouble taking it the first time around.

Then I moved on to flock and static grass:


Thanks for looking! Have an awesome day everyone! C&C always welcome.

I also did a little work on the stairs:



I used a pot of paint to make sure the planks glued securely to the side of the stairs:


That's it. Just a quick update today, Thanks for looking!

So apparently, and totally without realizing it, I've been holding out on you guys. I had uploaded these photos awhile ago and then life got real busy and I forgot to show them off. D'oh! Anyway, here is the piece in question before:


Here to show some scale and beautiful texture work (as I toot my own horn):


And then after sealing it and using some old plastic trees to create some scrubby "plants":


Thanks for looking and have an awesome day! C&C always welcome.

Looking good dude

I like the scrubby plants. Very desert-ish. I'll need to borrow the idea.

Nice work on the stairs and the rocky / muddy ground.

Nice use of the trees. I wonder which way the wind blows around there...

Could probably use some smaller bits of vegetation around those trees though, but that's me.

Gorgeous work on the rocks - very realistic...

 JoeRugby wrote:
Looking good dude

Thanks very much, JoeRugby.

 Red Harvest wrote:
I like the scrubby plants. Very desert-ish. I'll need to borrow the idea.

More than welcome to, Red.

 Dr H wrote:
Nice work on the stairs and the rocky / muddy ground.

Nice use of the trees. I wonder which way the wind blows around there...

Could probably use some smaller bits of vegetation around those trees though, but that's me.

Thanks, Dr H! There's yet more work to do and I agree more vegetation will look better. Some scrubby plants of some sort I think.

 Ruglud wrote:
Gorgeous work on the rocks - very realistic...

Thanks, Ruglud!

Thanks for all the feedback folks. More photos of more stuff soon!

I had another craft night with the ladies. While they knit, I build:


Garlic trees:


And clothes pin trees:


And some sort of new fangled tree:


More pics up when I start painting 'em. C&C always welcome. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

Those are looking fantastic , are they going to be bright colours or more earthy? I like the fact that some of them seem to have love heart shaped bases.

Some funky looking trees. Very alien. Looks good!

 Grag wrote:
Those are looking fantastic , are they going to be bright colours or more earthy? I like the fact that some of them seem to have love heart shaped bases.

Thanks, Grag! Yep, they totally do have heart shaped bases! I haven't really decided on a color scheme yet. It will probably be a mix of vibrant and earthy, though.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ckig wrote:
Some funky looking trees. Very alien. Looks good!

Thanks very much ckig! More photos up soon.

Awhile back I made this:


Which is a rubber mold of one of these (the base, not the ork):


Recently I poured a 2-part resin mixture into it and took photos of the results:


And then, of course, promptly lost the copy. Sigh, oh well. Guess I'll have to start again. Progress photos up soon.

Various assorted WIP shots for terrains. Tutorials up tomorrow or Sunday.



C&C always welcome! Thanks for looking!

very good work! will be the same on some ideas ! Could you help with an idea for - mushrooms. forest mushrooms.(очень хорошие работы! буду равнятся на некоторые идеи! не могли бы вы, помочь с идеей для - грибов. лес грибов.)
sorry for my english . automatic translator .

How are the spires n crags going?

How many plants bases are you up to? Look forward to seeing some pics of the collections set up as a table

Good to see more terrain happening over here. Welcome back.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! It's great to be back. I'm going up to the place where I'm building the rocks and spires on Wednesday so there will be updates in a few days. I'll definitely put a tutorial up for forest mushrooms. Can you elaborate on your idea, kenderthistle?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 kenderthistle wrote:
very good work! will be the same on some ideas ! Could you help with an idea for - mushrooms. forest mushrooms.(очень хорошие работы! буду равнятся на некоторые идеи! не могли бы вы, помочь с идеей для - грибов. лес грибов.)
sorry for my english . automatic translator .

Спасибо вам большое, kenderthistle. Ваша идея лесных грибов - Вы имеете в виду, как маленькие грибы поганки, что можно найти в лесу или вы имеете в виду, как гигантские грибы, как высокий, как дерево. Лес грибами или лесными грибами? Кроме того, извините за мой русский. Я использовал Google Translate.

хочется все варианты. грибы высотой как дерево. маленькие грибы, которые растут на грунте. грибы паразиты, которые растут на деревьях. комнатные растения в горшочках
я нарисовал несколько скетчей. но орки любят награбленные идеи .
хочу сделать грядку грибов. и прикрепить плакат " ясли ". в русском языке есть фразеологизм - Дети - цветы жизни.
вариант для моих орков и гротов - Дети - грибы жизни!

want all the options. mushrooms tall as a tree. small mushrooms that grow on the ground. fungi parasites that grow on trees. houseplants in pots
  I drew a few sketches. but like orcs looted ideas.
I want to make a bed of mushrooms. and attach the poster "nursery". In Russian there phraseologism(idiome) - Children - flowers of life
option for my orcs and grottoes - Children - mushrooms life!

любимец моего БигМека - гриб по имени "Игорь". my darling BigMek - mushroom named "Igor".

Some really alien looking scenery coming out here 'Zag

Nice work. Have any tutorials for these?

 angelofvengeance wrote:
Some really alien looking scenery coming out here 'Zag

Nice work. Have any tutorials for these?

In fact, I do. I'll start with the garlic tree because that's the one I found all the step by step pictures for first.

I bought a bag of styrofoam play vegetables. You might find them in a toy store or an arts and crafts store. Probably any store that sells "teaching toys" like those made by Melissa & Doug.



Pull the straw out of the top like so:



Then chop the round bottom off with a sharp knife (so as to make a smooth/flat surface):


Dry fit it to a wooden disk (I get mine from craft stores; they cost like 30 cents USD):


Before hotgluing the piece to the base:


I also add some of the chopped off nubs on some of the pieces. I also reinforce the join with extra hotglue so it stays put later during the build:


Then poke a hole in the top where the straw was (I used my closed clippers to make the hole large enough). Once you have your hole take a length of 18 gauge floral wire (again craft shops) or cut-offs from other fake plastic plants and hotglue them into that top hole:


Then proceed to coat your piece with hotglue, creatively:


Then, using elmer's glue (white glue), add craft sand:


Next steps tomorrow. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

Perfect alien world plant life. I'll have to make a few sometime. Maybe give a few a cactus like quality...

But leaving the stickers on the bases like that... It would drive me nuts not to remove them. I salute you for having the strength to do it

The stickers don't come off easily and I work on hundreds of pieces simultaneously. It's an extra and utterly unnecessary step. They will be covered by hotglue, paint, sand, and everything else in the final product anyway. To take the time to remove them is meaningless.

So here's the tail end of the "garlic tree" tutorial, at least as far as I've gotten with its construction:

Apply a liberal coating of this stuff:


For this effect:


Then paint in colors that you like (apparently I'm fond of rust red and poop brown):


When I apply more color I will post more pictures of the next steps. Thanks for looking! C&C always welcome. More tomorrow.

Those are wild alien trees

Great tutorial.

Like everyone else I love your alien forest landscape.

Did we ever get a table top shot of a forest? I think it would be spectacular.

Another vote for a table shot here.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Great tutorial.

Like everyone else I love your alien forest landscape.

Did we ever get a table top shot of a forest? I think it would be spectacular.

I wish I could guys, but I've sold most of my creations. However, next Thursday I'm going to that store I'm doing the crag table commission at and I'll bring what I have. They have tables there and I'll get something akin to a table shot that way. Thanks for the high praise!