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Those Turrets look really sleek. You could make them into, like, Tau or Tauist buildings and weapons batteries, or some Alien Dropship.


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Those pads on the sides could be used for some Titan-Sized models.

lliu wrote:
Those Turrets look really sleek. You could make them into, like, Tau or Tauist buildings and weapons batteries, or some Alien Dropship.
Those pads on the sides could be used for some Titan-Sized models.

These are interesting ideas, lliu. The only issue is that the turrets are really small. Only about as big a space marine. But they may work as Tau stuff. Might have to try my hand at that.

I am way too impressed with the quantity and quality of the terrain you make. Well done.

 cormadepanda wrote:
I am way too impressed with the quantity and quality of the terrain you make. Well done.

I'm very flattered, comradepanda. Thank you very much. I'll have another picture - packed update in a few days. Thanks for looking, everyone and have just a fantastic day.

That terrain is just mindblowing. What about those robots though, what are they?

 Malika2 wrote:
That terrain is just mindblowing. What about those robots though, what are they?

Wow, thank you!

The turrets are originally from the game Portal. Thinkgeek had a run of them and I had a 50 dollar gift certificate and couldn't decide what to get, so I bought a bunch. They were all "blind packs" so I got a bird nest and a comfort cube in addition to these walking turrets.

Sorry this blog is so haphazard, I just work on so much stuff simultaneously. Jungle "CDs"
Just another CD on this side:


But on the other side:















Then after clay and sand:






More soon. Thanks for looking. Feedback always welcome!

Here's a million more photos of my CD jungles WIP:
Here's where I learn the hard way that metal bottle caps are an excellent conductor of the heat put out of molten glue:


Glued on, the caps begin to build the body of the "hill":






A simple straw and what happens after I scissor it:







And then create irregular texture across the surface with hotglue:


And coat it all in clay:






Then embed aquarium gravel and a mix of medium and fine "ballast":







After these steps I water down 50/50 PVA or Elmer's glue and water and coat the whole piece. This will seal it and protect the clay from shattering as it becomes brittle when it dries. Then I base coat them in the brown and paint them. I almost always build 10 to 100 pieces at a time. It just makes construction go faster and then I have just a ton of terrain as a result. More tomorrow. I will never stop. Thanks for looking. C&C always welcome. Have an awesome day!

Your technique is quick and very effective. As always looking good.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Your technique is quick and very effective. As always looking good.

Thanks, Cam! I'm a firm believer in using simple materials to make beautiful things. One needn't use super expensive stuff just to make their art look perfect. You can make virtually anything with the simplest materials if you are inventive and willing to make mistakes.

There are no such things as mistakes, just WIP.

And indeed you are absolutely right, cheap as chips is best. On that note, I use grit for bird cages alot, dont know how it compares to the aquarium grit you use, would be interested to know. Also I use PVA and kitty litter for larger rubble, again interesting to see how others use different materials for similar results.

Interesting, if we do go post-apocalyptic, you have a hidden treasure in those terrain pieces if we go from paper to bottle caps!

Your wips are an absolute inspiration mate; I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You've totally made me push myself, particularly in the current League contest. Fantastic work.

Good work, 'boss.

I now have a hot-glue gun. My first thought on trying it out (had to check it worked, of course. New toy an' all) was the potential for making giant spider webs...

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback everyone!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Your wips are an absolute inspiration mate; I've said it before, and I'll say it again. You've totally made me push myself, particularly in the current League contest. Fantastic work.

Thanks very much, inmygravenimage! I'm very glad to inspire you. It's always good to give back to the community.

 shasolenzabi wrote:
Interesting, if we do go post-apocalyptic, you have a hidden treasure in those terrain pieces if we go from paper to bottle caps!

Hooray? But I will have to tear apart all my beautiful terrain to use it. Oh, dilemma!

 Camkierhi wrote:
There are no such things as mistakes, just WIP.

And indeed you are absolutely right, cheap as chips is best. On that note, I use grit for bird cages alot, dont know how it compares to the aquarium grit you use, would be interested to know. Also I use PVA and kitty litter for larger rubble, again interesting to see how others use different materials for similar results.

Yeah, it's really cool to get an idea of what everybody uses.

 Dr H wrote:
Good work, 'boss.

I now have a hot-glue gun. My first thought on trying it out (had to check it worked, of course. New toy an' all) was the potential for making giant spider webs...

You have no idea. Whether you want to or not you will soon have strands everywhere. EVERYWHERE, Dr H. And tiny balls of cooled glue. Just be careful with it, I once burned all the skin off my lower left pinky because I didn't realize it was right up against the super hot nozzle. It literally registered as freezing cold first, then pain, then hot. Stupid brain.

I'll have some more updates either later this evening or tomorrow.

Bunch more examples of jungle CDs, including one I made out of a water bottle and a broken pen:





























Apparently I take a lot of photos of my WIP. Phew!

Some excellent ales there, btw Blue Moon always pleases me. I'm less of a cider man, although good for making space orchards, I see

Yeah, but the caps could mean the difference between purified water to stave off dehydration, or bullets to defend yourself with! LOL!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Some excellent ales there, btw Blue Moon always pleases me. I'm less of a cider man, although good for making space orchards, I see

Yes. I'm not a huge fan of most ciders, either. But I frequent parties with folks who do. And they all know I collect caps for terrain.




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 shasolenzabi wrote:
Yeah, but the caps could mean the difference between purified water to stave off dehydration, or bullets to defend yourself with! LOL!

Alright, you win this round, logic.

And then this CD WIP:











Here base coated with brown:





Drybrushed blue:




Then red:




Then parts drybrushed in grey with a dirty brush and individual stones picked out in grey:




Then individual stones picked out in blue:




The "tree" stalks based in red:




The interior of those stalks painted blue:


The whole thing drybrushed in cream (with a dirty brush):






And finally white:




One could easily then coat these with flock or static grass, but I didn't just because I was lazy. And when I say "dirty brush" I mean a drybrush with all the previous colors still kind of caked onto the bristles. Buy a cheap brush for this. Like a 99 cent brush that you don't mind ruining, because this will do exactly that.

Next I clipped a bunch of leaves:


Mixed 2 or 3 parts water with the red and blue that was left over on my pallet:


And inked those leaves (this was a long and tedious process, fyi):


But the comparison is worth it:


Then I glued a bunch of leaf stalks into the tree stalks (I had a spare leaf that I glued to the base, too):






Tada! One complete jungle CD. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day. C&C always welcome.

Whilst very cool, it's quite a stark transition from trunk to foliage. Possibly more gradation?
Also, this evening I had a gingered beer from the mighty Badger - at 5.2%, worked a treat with me curry

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Whilst very cool, it's quite a stark transition from trunk to foliage. Possibly more gradation?
Also, this evening I had a gingered beer from the mighty Badger - at 5.2%, worked a treat with me curry

Yeah I hear what you're saying, but that isn't in the client's budget. So I build things a little simpler.

Gingered beer you say? That sounds quite good. Is it like spiced wine?

Wow! This is inspirational... And, about gingered beer, are you supposed to be talking about that in a website where at least 1 12 year old is on...

lliu wrote:
Wow! This is inspirational... And, about gingered beer, are you supposed to be talking about that in a website where at least 1 12 year old is on...

What difference does talking about beer or not talking about beer make? How does someone's age affect anything about the conversation? Are you kidding me? This is a website dedicated to the glorification and trivialization of war and destruction and you're worried about casual conversations about beer?

Well... If I am allowed to... Main root's ginger beer is fantastical.

Blandford flyer is an IPA style beer with ginger infused into it, rather than a fermented ginger ale.

Also, I'm fairly sure that 12-year olds are aware of the existence of alcohol.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Blandford flyer is an IPA style beer with ginger infused into it, rather than a fermented ginger ale.

Also, I'm fairly sure that 12-year olds are aware of the existence of alcohol.

Right. See? This is exactly my point. I'll have to give Blandford Flyer a thorough tasting.

For now, progress pictures of this two-story building I'm making (and by progress I mean I took a couple of shots in the beginning and then forgot to take anymore pictures until I made a lot more progress on it):




(to make sure the corners blend smoothly, I cut a groove exactly the width of the foamcore thickness):


Keep the left over pieces for use to glue the floors on top of:


Detail on the exterior:





One of the supports pulled away from the wall during gluing so I used some copper wire to simulate exposed nails:


And coffee stirrer sticks to portray floorboards, door frames and molding:












And then more copper wire to simulate metal rebar embedded in the walls and roof:






Thanks for looking, more updates when I have them. Have an awesome day; C&C always welcome.

You are a machine. Staggering level of output!

 inmygravenimage wrote:
You are a machine. Staggering level of output!

Interestingly, you're not the first person to say that of me. Thank you. I'm not sure where my work style comes from, but I can never just work on one thing at a time.

For some reason I've taken to calling this piece Knuckle Hill. Here it is, blue to red, to grey to cream to white to flocked to done:















Thanks for looking. have an awesome day!

Jebus, your skills and method is simple and rewarding. You are still blowing my mind here. If I only had a bit of what you do.