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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manticgames/terraincrate-3-bring-the-background-to-the-foreground

Can't see myself backing another crate of PVC. I've learned to hate how heavy all these full solid pieces are, basically needing their own foam trays or they will chip due to weight, whilst having soft detail and heavy mold lines.

The triangular gate and obelisk look pretty cool.

Looking forward to this, I have a 3d printer, but things like flora can be tricky to get good results from due to thin leafy stuff not working well on either resin or FDM. This seems like a good use for PVC.

Alien plants done well can look great, the more the better, the GW bracken forest things would work great with these.

Not sold yet, but interested. I'd actually been thinking I'd need to get some trees for scenery at some point in the future.

I'm guessing it will be PVC, which will be the usual royal pain to clean the mold lines off of. Not any worse than cleaning mold lines off of metal models, though. But once cleaned up, Mantic's PVC models can look quite good.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Can't see myself backing another crate of PVC. I've learned to hate how heavy all these full solid pieces are, basically needing their own foam trays or they will chip due to weight, whilst having soft detail and heavy mold lines.

It sure does add up when you have a full box of PVC, but at least it's better than the Polystone that MBA and GF9 use. Holy crap are those heavy!

I still really like PVC for terrain, I was enjoying painting Reapers Crypt of the Dwarf King last night and I have a Terrain Crate: Town Ruins set washed and ready for priming this weekend. The key to PVC terrain (and figures) is to use Vinyl, Leather & Fabric spraypaint as primer, comes in a bunch of different colors from a bunch of different manufacturers and it permanently solvent-bonds to the base plastic and stays flexible, so if any paint ever does chip off it'll only ever reveal the colored vinyl spray instead of grey plastic. Also works on HIPS and ABS, but everything already works on HIPS and ABS, and unlike Krylon Fusion or Rustoleum "also bonds to plastic" primers it isn't enamel based, so you can safely use enamel streaking grime, panel liners and oil washes.

But that's for fantasy terrain that can get away with being a little warped and imperfect. Scifi terrain generally needs to be crisp and clean and sharp, so I usually only like HIPS or MDF for sci-fi. PVC should be fine or alien plants and I do like the vibe these give off. They're very much like the old resin Armorcast alien plants or something out of Rogue Trader. I'll skip the KS and maybe pick and choose some specific kits at retail, if they hit retail.

I haven't had any complaints about the Terrain Crate products I've bought in the past. For the cost, it's a good deal.

won't do a KS anyway so we will see when those are out on the market

yet PVC for solid pieces as gaming terrain is ok and the only thing I would like to see would be pre-made holes for magnets on the different pieces
this would improve the kits by a lot

New Terrain crate article KS next week.

https://www.manticgames.com/mantic-games/kickstarter/bring-the-background-to-the-foreground-terraincrate-three-ronnies-explains-all/

And they confirmed on Facebook it’s the same PVC plastic as prior terrain crate sets.

Well, nice of them to confirm at least. I'll be passing on this latest KS of warped bendy gak that doesn't take paint particularly well.

Well, this is a tough one for me. I prefer not to do kickstarters anymore, and Mantic's haven't been bad for me - in fact I have good memories of some campaigns - but not always 100% satisfied either.

On the other hand, Ronnie uncannily looked into my mind and found the one thing I actually do need and am still willing to spend money on: forest / plant terrain for sci-fi. It's such a niche product category that I'm actually amused by the coincidence. I'm a Mantic "restic" veteran, too, and can take the PVC pain. It's true that breakage won't be an issue in that material. I'd prefer hard plastic like most folks, but if these trees were resin, I'd never buy them. Too much of a headache worrying about broken branches.

I'm sure I'll continue buying miniatures - I am posting here, after all - but I'm at the point where it's much more logical to focus on scenery for showing off the ones I already have.

In the message Dave C linked above, Ronnie goes at some length about how incredible the deals will be, with an emphasis on beating 3d printing costs. How true that turns out to be will be what decides whether I back or not. I suspect that getting a good deal will depend on how much of a bulk deal you want to sign on for, and since I don't need to fill an entire table, if the smaller pledge bundles aren't well-priced, I will definitely wait for retail. Definitely not looking to drop $200+ on a sci-fi forest, even (especially!) if it fills my entire kitchen floor.

Just checked that blog post. I guess I disagree with Mantic from the initial proposition that "realistic" trees look aesthetically terrible next to the Enforcers. I think they look fine. Sure, there's a place for specifically alien fauna and flora, but "Earth" trees still look fine, especially if we're supposing that human fighters on these planets can fight without all needing sealed suits. Humans bring that gak with, so assuming a place that has been terraformed enough for humans to run around or have settlements on has had some imports seems to totally make sense.

I can see were an earthly forest breaks immersion for a SciFi game with alien factions
I also have to say that I liked the 40k Alien Jungle plants we got in the past and looking forward to add this to the table

I would have liked to see this in HIPS, yet I understand why they go for PVC as the "ready to use" thing is kind of a trademark for the terrain crate stuff

If they are cheap enough, I’ll pick up some of the plants to either use as organic tech spaceships or converted into Triffid-like aliens.

 Azazelx wrote:
Just checked that blog post. I guess I disagree with Mantic from the initial proposition that "realistic" trees look aesthetically terrible next to the Enforcers. I think they look fine. Sure, there's a place for specifically alien fauna and flora, but "Earth" trees still look fine, especially if we're supposing that human fighters on these planets can fight without all needing sealed suits. Humans bring that gak with, so assuming a place that has been terraformed enough for humans to run around or have settlements on has had some imports seems to totally make sense.

Exactely.
During the battle for Endor I never thought "well, this would be better with neon colored, squid shaped plasme trees..."

Both can be pretty cool looking and fitting. Since the Mantic Terrain Crates are rather pricey for the content, I hope this box will be wort it.

 DaveC wrote:
New Terrain crate article KS next week.

https://www.manticgames.com/mantic-games/kickstarter/bring-the-background-to-the-foreground-terraincrate-three-ronnies-explains-all/

And they confirmed on Facebook it’s the same PVC plastic as prior terrain crate sets.

Ugh. That's killed it for me.
I wash and spray prime before painting, then use AP antishine spray after.
A few weeks later, those terrain crate pieces I invested heavily in last time are now sticky/tacky.
All my terrain crate pieces have gone sticky like this. If they use the same material... no way.

And for the record, I have no issues like this with the old 'restic', resin, metal or hard plastic from Mantic.

Do you spray with canned sprays or an airbrush?

I've heard Bones go tacky too if sprayed from a can. Must be a PVC thing.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
I've heard Bones go tacky too if sprayed from a can. Must be a PVC thing.

I've got stuff I rattle can primed (with standard Krylon) that are still tacky years later, despite layers of paint and two sealants (1 Krylon, 1 Testors Dull Cote) The air brushed prime stuff worked out fine.

That's crummy, I appreciate the forewarning. Guess if I invest these I'll be hand-brushing primer on them.

Like Gimgamgoo, I've never had this problem with the PVC that Mantic uses for figures.

 Azazelx wrote:
Just checked that blog post. I guess I disagree with Mantic from the initial proposition that "realistic" trees look aesthetically terrible next to the Enforcers. I think they look fine. Sure, there's a place for specifically alien fauna and flora, but "Earth" trees still look fine, especially if we're supposing that human fighters on these planets can fight without all needing sealed suits. Humans bring that gak with, so assuming a place that has been terraformed enough for humans to run around or have settlements on has had some imports seems to totally make sense.

Agreed, I guess Mantic have to try to encourage people to buy their product... what better way than to tell people that a product they currently use is wrong/bad.

I'll stick with the trees I have, they work well for both Fantasy and sci-fi.

Krylon Fusion - no tackiness.

I've heard Rustoleom's "bonds to plastic" primer (forgot the product name) also works

 lord_blackfang wrote:
I've heard Bones go tacky too if sprayed from a can. Must be a PVC thing.

IT's a PVC thing but not all PVC formulas react to the same so one brand of paint may effect bones white but not bones black. It's generally caused by the enamel bases in the can as, for example alcohol based spray paints don't seam to have any issues with PVC (at least none that I've painted up) but they're also 3x the cost.

Sealers are the same. I use brush on matte sealer as even if you use any spray cans to prime/basecoat adding a sealer layer can cause the tacyness as well. Nothing you can do to get rid of it as even if you remove the paint the plastic is still reacting and it bleeds up somehow.

I've used GW primer and Rustoleum for previous terrain crate offerings and haven't had a single issue.

It's why I suggested the Vinyl & Fabric spray upthread, too many primers leave the Terraincrate PVC (and Bones PVC) sticky. My first set of Vanguard Objectives was ruined because I used Rustoelum 2X spray and they just stayed tacky. The Vinyl and Fabric, also from Rustoleum, went on perfectly and I still use those pieces almost 3 years later with no chipping, no stickyness

I've used Halfords Grey/Yellow/Black Primers, as a base, then Army Painter sprays to get a quick colouring. It's ruined a lot of time painting and models I've purchased from Mantic. I don't know if it's both sprays, the Halfords or the AP that's caused the issue.

Bones have warnings about using spray cans, I'm sure I've read it either on their site or on the packs themselves.
It would have been nice if Mantic had given us that warning too. As it happens, I'm down by a fair bit of my initial Terrain Crate Kickstarter which I bought and now refuse to buy Mantic stuff unless it's on a sprue or in real resin. A real shame as I've always been pro-Mantic.

Going back to earth trees in space.
I agree they look fine, but I don’t get the additional To breathe we would terraform and those trees would be everywhere either.
If you are to assume space is very large (it is) and on many planets they have a breathable atmosphere, it’s not just ol Oak trees on every planet.
Endor is a terrible example because that’s just filmed in a forest.
But you could look at current space based film, Marvel stuff and many others etc, they breathe without a Pine in sight.

Long and short, Earth style trees fit very well, and are easy and cheap to get often. But some variance is welcome.
The main issue is the plastic I guess more than anything else. I never grabbed a terrain crate.


I don’t like the notion of Bones not being great for spraying, hadn’t heard that at all. Hopefully when I ever get round to all my Bones V stuff there is no issue there.

I've used Halfords grey primer on all my Terrain Crate stuff without an issue. This is the first time I have heard of anyone having issues with Terrain Crate stuff going tacky.

After reading early on that bones had problems with some sprays I have successfully used Vallejo brush on surface primer on all of the ones I have painted.

Danny76 wrote:
Going back to earth trees in space.
I agree they look fine, but I don’t get the additional To breathe we would terraform and those trees would be everywhere either.

I didn't say everywhere, and I also said alien flora and fauna certainly have their place. My point was that Ronnie's argument about it looking "bad" or "unrealistic" was a bad one and that we do indeed bring our crap with us when we go places to make life easier in the new place.

 Maccwar wrote:
I've used Halfords grey primer on all my Terrain Crate stuff without an issue. This is the first time I have heard of anyone having issues with Terrain Crate stuff going tacky.

After reading early on that bones had problems with some sprays I have successfully used Vallejo brush on surface primer on all of the ones I have painted.

Then maybe the Army Painter sprays I used for colour, or the Army Painter spray varnish are causing the problem?
Either way, for terrain pieces, I'd much rather spray them - they tend to be larger in general than single figures. If I can't use any of the massive collection of spray colours I have, then I've lost interest in the model. At least Resin, Metal, 'Restic', Hard Plastric and MDF can be sprayed without issue.