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I'm trying to improve my gaming tables appearance - currently it's a hodge-podge of dodgy styrofoam scenery and unfinished models, as well as wheels from toy cars, and a couple of huge pieces of (unfinished) fortification which take up a 6th of the board on their own - but I have to use as I don't have enough scenery otherwise!

I'm looking for some easy-to-use scenery to fill the table up a bit - ruins, mainly. I have a load of industrial laser cut scenery (enough to fill a 6x4 board entirely with 3 stories) but it's too damn finnicky to use with 40k. It'll work for games like Infinity where there are less models, but I can't be running my horde of orks over 2 narrow bridges. stuff gets knocked, models fall down, and it goes awry.

I've found TTCombat's laser cut scenery, and have ordered a couple of bits which really caught my eye. Have you got any good sources for scenery which won't break the bank, and don't constitute low walls? (I have 3 aegis' on the field at the moment as scatter terrain!)

Cheers!

I've been increasingly inclined to believe investment into a cheap 3d printer is the way to go.

Ender3 will run you about $170 USD (about price of 2-3 GW terrain kits), and you can find a lot of decent stl files in depositories. So even without working knowledge of 3d modelling you will be able to produce good amount of terrain/scenery.

Can confirm, 3D printers for terrain are dope. I have 2 ender3 pros going almost nonstop churning out terrain and its glorious.
So much awesome terrain on thingiverse. Filament can creep on you in price but it doesnt take long for the printed terrain count to far exceed the cost of buying terrain.

Build your own. It is dead easy and can look good with a little care.

You can pop to your local Wickes and get some gang boxes to make intact sci fi buildings dead easy. Just add various greeble and they look the part.

Like so-

Those five cost me £2.50(ish) per small building (minus existing greeble I already had) and the large one about a fiver.

Christmas is coming up too, so shops are filled with those big tubs of Twiglets and Cheeselets etc. They are perfect for LOS blocking terrain and quite cheap (plus you get a load of yummy Twiglets!).

Here's a giant centrepiece made from two of them, two of the aforementioned gang boxes and other recycled junk.-



I advise watching channels on Youtube like *deep breath...* BlackMagicCraft, TheDMsCraft, Bard's Craft, Miscast Terrain, Max DM Crafting, Eric's Hobby Workshop, Dark Matter Workshop, Wyloch, Terrain Made Easy, Luke's APS, Franky D Crafter, Tabletop Witchcraft, Scratch Bashing and The Tabletop Engineer (off the top of my head).

They'll give you loads of money saving ideas that I have only just scratched the surface of here.

Depends on what you mean by "cheep" -see my terrain resource topic here-


https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/782226.page

A quick EBAY search of 3d printed sellers like this site are also a good example

https://www.ebay.com/sch/canvastemple/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

For cheap nothing really beats foamcore, razorknife and glue, but the videos that make it look so easy to cut and measure it perfectly aren't connected to reality. Unless you have a large open work area and can stand above the table you're cutting on it can be very hard to get those perfectly even straight smooth cuts.

If you can develop the skill foamcore makes workable buildings for the imperium, orks and necrons.

DYI terrain is the cheapest. so many good youtube chanels have greta ideas.

You can recycle pretty much any ol junk.
Pringle cans, plastic packaging/tuppware plus some plasticard glue and straw etc. slap some textured tile spray paint for a out the bottle stone effect and you done.

there's also these to add detail to your homemade stuff:
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/medge/store.jsp?p=8#1
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/medge/store.jsp?p=52#2

There's a bloke who often shows his work in the Painting & Modeling Showcase section using these sprues to create wargaming scenery. Can't remember his handle though.

As someone who has recently been making some terrain, and looking into how to fill a table, in my case for Necromunda, I'll add my £0.02.

There is no such thing as cheap terrain. There is expensive, and less expensive. It is the most expensive part of the hobby. That's my view anyhow, if you're one of those people that walk around with £200 in their pocket at all times you may think differently.

However, you can mitigate the cost, by, as others have said, making your own.

I've been using styrene sheet, foamcore, and something I've not seen mentioned in this thread, XPS foam - the rigid stuff you get for floor insulation not expanded polystyrene, or bead foam as it's also known. XPS is commonly known as pink or blue foam, although now it's dark grey in colour. XPS stands for Extruded PolyStyrene.

Recently I've used styrene sheet (and A4 labels for printing out templates) to make myself some bulkheads, the type that came with the original Necromunda game back in the 90s, as well as some of the platforms from the original Necromunda. I've used XPS foam to make barricades (modelled on K-Rails/Jersey Barriers). I've used a combination of styrene sheet, balsa wood, and foam core to make myself a Warhammer Fantasy Inn. Although that's not yet quite finished.


It is time consuming, that's the downside, it is a learning process, it may not be as flashy and detailed as some terrain you might buy, but in the end making terrain is less expensive than buying it, and some of it's not that difficult to make. Painting it to look good, that's another thing...



P.S. There is no skill required to cut foam core.

I did most of my necromunda scenery with foamed PVC (brand names of foamex and Palight). Much easier to paint because anything with expanded polystyrene tends to have problems with spray paint. The 3mm thick stuff is good for most purposes with 5mm needed to bridge longer gaps.

I got all of the PVC for my board for about £20 from a plastics company selling randomly sized offcuts for very cheap. Shipping and glue were the largest expense really. Once you have a core of simple shapes you can then splash out on gubbins to make them look more realistic, or at least more interesting.

Short term you can always put some books under a towel. The new starter sets are going to come with terrain, as will Kill Team, and you can buy the terrain piecess seperately but it's hard to get cheaper than already included in a box if you play the models/army. Supposedly S scale or O scale model trains are in the same 28mm scale range, so you might be able to pick up some model train buildings etc in the same scale.

 Flinty wrote:
I did most of my necromunda scenery with foamed PVC (brand names of foamex and Palight). Much easier to paint because anything with expanded polystyrene tends to have problems with spray paint. The 3mm thick stuff is good for most purposes with 5mm needed to bridge longer gaps.

I got all of the PVC for my board for about £20 from a plastics company selling randomly sized offcuts for very cheap. Shipping and glue were the largest expense really. Once you have a core of simple shapes you can then splash out on gubbins to make them look more realistic, or at least more interesting.

Yeah, tell me about sofware keyboards on tablets....

I really like your buildings, you sure know how to cut foamcore right, any tips?

Anyway onto my post, I'm making a foamcore building now that's just a generic simple wrecked building. Here's the build so far.

120084036_3955404151142605_3283830127394949175_o by matt swain, on Flickr

It's just about 9x9x6" and I'm going to make the back half and the rear half of the sides collapsed along with about half the roof. Cut up the collapsed parts to make rubble consistent with the bamage and add little biths of crumbled rubble chunks, mostly shopped up sprue, for more detail.

This building's windows and doors were made using a toy comb/ruler/shape guide made for kids you can often find at dollar stores.

118770072_3876951635654524_8294288963753387353_o by matt swain, on Flickr

I'm going to use the cut out parts from the windows to make some barricade like rows on top of the roof, what of it it's collapsed, to suggest the building has/had some fortifications on the roof for people to stand behind and shoot over, plus it should give the building a consistent feel. I'll put some in the rubble too.

The shoot of foam it took to make this cost a dollar but it does take time to do. Painting can be pretty quick tho, if you have a black/dark grey primer spray that won't eat foam and a massive tank drybrush. Maybe layo n a good primer coat them sprinkle find sand on it while the paints' wet for a textured look...

I'm going to slap this on a 1' square piece of foamcore and rubble it up for a base, and so for a low $ cost but a fair amount of time you get a pretty large piece of terrain that looks passable. Now tell me what a piece of 3d preinter terrain that size would cost.


Construction tip: If you look closely at the edge up the upper wall piece you'll see it's been grooved to make assembly easier and stronger. Just cut halfway thru the foamcore along the edge,as far back from it as the board is thick. don't cut the other side of the card. carefully cut the foam itself down the side to get that groove and it makes putting but panels together fast, easy and with a stronger join. You can take a thick ruler to push down the foma in the groove for a smoother fit.

Its not foamcore

However, sharp knife and a steel rule and a set square. I also used gel super glue to prefill gaps and give a solid bond if the cuts weren't quite square.

Even so, everything is a bit wonky up close. However at normal playing distance and after a bit of paint it's not too obvious.

To keep it cheap you can avoid buying a square from a hardware store and use nearly anything that's large, thick, solid and squarish to keep your walls at 90d angles.

Here a heavy hardback book i bought at a dollar store serves as my square.


120181991_3955834304432923_5950254322372958052_o by matt swain, on Flickr

You could use bricks, a section of thick board, whatever. As long as you're in a degree or two of 90 it's fine.

I do recommend this glue, it;s a little expensive but it's as strong as it says it is.

120191525_3955834584432895_3404879501640154429_o by matt swain, on Flickr

If you got spare dollars I highly recommend this.
https://www.amazon.com/BL-123-Precision-Steel-1-2-3-Blocks/dp/B00092CJC6/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=metal+block&qid=1601062084&sr=8-9

This gets a lot of architecture students through the program for their physical models.

Midwinter Minis have a terrific quick guide to making concrete walls out of Styrofoam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJHGnXrHSs8

 bubber wrote:
there's also these to add detail to your homemade stuff:
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/medge/store.jsp?p=8#1
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/medge/store.jsp?p=52#2

There's a bloke who often shows his work in the Painting & Modeling Showcase section using these sprues to create wargaming scenery. Can't remember his handle though.

That would (I suppose) be me...

You can find all of these terrain projects here, for one handy reference. They're a mix of scratchbuilds using foamcore, foamed PVC and the like, and scrounged materials which can provide all sorts of inexpensive terrain options.

 bubber wrote:
there's also these to add detail to your homemade stuff:
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/medge/store.jsp?p=8#1
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/medge/store.jsp?p=52#2

There's a bloke who often shows his work in the Painting & Modeling Showcase section using these sprues to create wargaming scenery. Can't remember his handle though.

Insaniak.

My building is basically finished.

120344281_3963056857044001_355825087195086221_o by matt swain, on Flickr


120323429_3963055983710755_5379327770001743617_o by matt swain, on Flickr
120263010_3963056667044020_9191981855407439985_o by matt swain, on Flickr

I'm going to put it on a 1 square foot base.

You want cheap? This was made with a 1$ sheet of foam core and I could hake at least 3 more from the same sheet. It's not fancy, it's not perfect, the floors aren't quite 3". But it works as a piece of 1x1' terrain.

I have to say it was a learning experience. I learned from making this. I think my next one will be better. And maybe I'll make it faster too.

I'm going to do some basic detailing, slabs of broken building walls made from some of the stuff I cut away from the walls. Noting fancy.

Halfway thru I decided to put the windows cutouts as 'barricades' on top of the building for IG, PDF or even militia to stand behind and fire from. It gives the building a consistent look i think. Don't be afraid to try an idea you get halfway thru a project.

 Matt Swain wrote:
My building is basically finished.

Spoiler:

120344281_3963056857044001_355825087195086221_o by matt swain, on Flickr


120323429_3963055983710755_5379327770001743617_o by matt swain, on Flickr
120263010_3963056667044020_9191981855407439985_o by matt swain, on Flickr

I'm going to put it on a 1 square foot base.

You want cheap? This was made with a 1$ sheet of foam core and I could hake at least 3 more from the same sheet. It's not fancy, it's not perfect, the floors aren't quite 3". But it works as a piece of 1x1' terrain.



I have to say it was a learning experience. I learned from making this. I think my next one will be better. And maybe I'll make it faster too.

I'm going to do some basic detailing, slabs of broken building walls made from some of the stuff I cut away from the walls. Noting fancy.

Halfway thru I decided to put the windows cutouts as 'barricades' on top of the building for IG, PDF or even militia to stand behind and fire from. It gives the building a consistent look i think. Don't be afraid to try an idea you get halfway thru a project.

For a quick bit of detailing I'm rather fond of cutting out some lines with standard printer paper and gluing them around the edges to give a window frame sort of effect. Cheap, quick and looks good if painted a slightly different colour to make them stand out.

An example of what I've been working on.

Despite my original intent to make it as simple as possible i just couldn't resist detailing my building a little, but i kept t as cheap and simple as possible.

I filled in the back with rubble.

120499122_3969606769722343_76959395261167236_o by matt swain, on Flickr

I added some heavy shot pocks to the front and decided to add a little decoration to it so I put 'sills' under the windows on the front, then had an idea for a simple stylized set of Aquila wings and heads on the doorway to mark it as an imperial building.

I got one wing to an acceptable standard but had trouble with the second one and eventually said " it!" and made ti look like a wing had been there but was blown off by am explosive round hit.
120467653_3969607243055629_167438081697942443_o by matt swain, on Flickr

A close up of the adorned doorway.
120496286_3969607083055645_2390999874525130419_o by matt swain, on Flickr

I'm finally kinda happy with it for a first time job.