Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Well, back in the 2nd edition days, we often used styrofoam/polystyrene for buildings. In high school I worked in a warehouse as a receiving clerk and instead of tossing the packing material I often brought it home to use with 40K - just a little grey spray paint and presto. The grey spray paint made it look cool, but as an added bonus also partially melted it, making it look even better! I don't want to think how many brain cells I killed doing that....

With the change back to true LOS in to 5th edition, I was thinking of doing this again for some LOS-blocking terrain. I just bought a new printer and the styrofoam would look great for a big terrain piece.

Two questions:

1) Does anyone else do this?

2) Does anyone have good examples of some packing styrofoam from a printer, TV, etc. that would be a good for 40K?

Thanks,

Mez

I have in the past, but unless you really coat the surface before priming for paint, with some sort of sealer, such as PVA Glue, it really looks funky IMO when painted. If the type of molding for the styrofoam is right you can damage it up to look like a bombed out structure that blocks LOS.

It is a good budget way of making terrain pieces.

Mezmaron wrote:The grey spray paint made it look cool, but as an added bonus also partially melted it, making it look even better!

If you have a piece on which you don't want the melting effect, there are spray paints with a different accelerant formula that won't damage the foam. There's a Testor's kind, although I don't remember the specifics because I've switched to the much cheaper alternative of floral spray paint. The Design Master brand is usually available in a wide variety of colors at most craft stores like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Pat Catan's, etc.

And yes, my wife has even had to endure me poaching a big piece of packing styrofoam out of a dumpster we were walking by- dunno what it originally packed, but it's a nice 2'+ long piece that looks like a rampart wall of some fortress.