Terrain Showcase

Ok Gamers, if you followed all three of my recent tutorials (houses, roads, fences) and also my earlier tree tutorial, you will have a great deal of cheap terrain that looks great. If you're skeptical, I refer you to these pictures showcasing the finishes products:

I know that building isn't one of the tutorial ones, I had actually forgotten about that when taking pics. I finished that last night and wanted to show it off. Anyway,

This has been a journey for me. Starting a blog, working on all of this, and sharing it with you guys has been so much fun for me. I appreciate all the compliments I've received and I'll continue doing my best to provide you with good terrain on the cheap! Thanks so much for your support and happy gaming!

Stretching the Foamcore Dollars (Houses)

Hello Gamers!

This is Part 3 of 3 for my big Terrain Tutorial day.

Today I'm going to show you how to make five 28mm houses cheaply from scratch with a single piece of foamcore and some other bits and bobs.

Materials:

Foamcore/board - 1 sheet will run you around $2.50

Skinny Sticks - Discussed in previous Tutorials, used one bag at $2.50 Edit: a TMPer named MajorB recently made me aware that wooden coffee stirrers would work just as well and they're free!

Wallpaper - I used a 50 page book of Scrapbooking paper with cool designs which I snagged for 5 bucks at my local craft store.

Razor Knife - For cutting stuff (but you knew that already)

Ruler - For measuring and straightening cuts

So we're at 15 dollars right now. 15 dollars is less than the cost of a single commercial building, and I'm going to get you 5! Here's how:

Step 1: Building Layout

If you're going to do all this on a single sheet of foamcore you should draw your design out carefully. My buildings are roughly 6" x 6". Lay out the four walls and nothing else. To save foamcore I did not make any rooves. I will get to that later. Anyway, after laying it out it should look like this.

Step 2: Cut out the pieces

Make sure you do this carefully. Cut along your ruler, a wood or metal edged one works well for this. This step is super important so take your time. I find that using two or three shallow cuts works better than one deep cut. Anyone who has worked with foamcore before knows that it is posessed by voodoo magic and will dull your blades with unbelievable speed. As soon as you notice the cuts getting more difficult, you should change your blade otherwise you will rip the foamcore. Anyway, you should be here:

 Step 3: tracing out your windows and doors

This part can be a challenge if you don't approach it the right way. I trace a grid over all my building pieces in 10mm increments. It takes a while but it makes window and door placement very easy. A simpler option is to make a "window range".  If you want to copy me, just put a mark at 20mm and 40mm along each side of each piece. Connect the dots and you'll have a 20mm thick strip going across each piece. This is the "window range". If the bottom of your windows is 20mm off the ground level, and the top is 40mm, you will have a perfect 28mm window. Anyway, here's a picture of what I'm talking about.

The door is just as easy. If you made a "window range" as above then just put two squares stacked on each other stretching down to ground level to make your door outline. Here's a pic:

Here's what that looks like with a 28mm Wargames Factory American for reference.

Step 4: Cut out all the pieces. Just cut along the edges of all your windows and doors. Do not worry if you cut a little onto the wall around the window, we're going to cover that up anyway!

Step 5: Cutting the slots

This step is optional but I strongly insist that you do it. Cut a 3mm channel along each side of two pieces. These slots allow the walls to fit together snugly. If you don't do this you will end up with foam showing at the joints when you put this together. Make sure you remove all inner foam from the channel, but DO NOT REMOVE the layer of paper.

Step 5: Wallpaper

This is a new thing I'm trying to add texture and color to my buildings with minimal work and spending. I picked up a book of 50 double sided scrapbooking sheets and flipped through it to find the ones I wanted. I took the selected piece out and glued the building pieces to it. Please note, I used Liquid Cement for this. I tried plain old pva but the paper got all soggy and ripped during cutting. This is what you get:

Step 6: Interior Detailing and Flooring.

This part is optional, if you don't want buildings with playable insides then feel free to skip to Step 7. For those of you who do, get your skinny sticks out. Take your skinny sticks and start slapping them all over on the inside walls. Window sills, door frames, and wall frames look excellent. Just make sure you test fit the pieces as you do this. Nothing is more frustrating then having to chop your design to pieces because it's blocking your walls from fitting (been there, done that)

I skipped this step out of laziness but here's a pic from a previous building of what I'm talking about:

To do the floor, get your ruler out and make a 6" x 6" square out of cardboard (which is free from any dumpster or grocery store) test fit your wall pieces around it and "shave" the cardboard as you need to so it fits snugly. Now lay down the skinny sticks as planks and you're good to go. Picture for reference:

Step 7: Glue it!

Pretty self explanatory, glue the pieces together. I find hot glue guns work best because they're cheap and they work extremely fast. If you'd rather use PVA or Tacky Glue either wrap the building in rubber bands to hold it together or insert pins into the pieces after the glue. Once fully dry, you're almost done!

Step 8: Outer planking. This is exactly like step 6 but for the outside walls. Just lay on the planks as you see fit. If the pieces are too long glue them on anyway and trim the excess after it dries. Here's a picture of mine while the glue dried:

Step 9: Base it, or not.

Basing your buildings is entirely optional. I base mine because I like to add little bushes and wells and gardens and such to them for character. I used little wooden chalk boards I found at the dollar store.

That's it guys. You now have five buildings with interior and exterior detail that just need a bit of flocking and you're good to go! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I wish you the best of luck in your terrain making endeavors. Just remember you can always stretch that dollar further!

OK, so sorry guys I forgot to mention the roofing. This is step 9.1.

Step 9.1: Roofing.

To do this, simply cut out some more cardboard and test fit it to your completed buildings to get the desired size/shape. Go finish off that box of Raisin Bran Crunch and cut the box to little rectangle pieces. Glue these pieces onto your cardboard roof pieces and paint them your desired color. Done! Free roof!

Happy Gaming,
E

Here's another pic of a different building I did like this. If you followed all these steps you'll get five smaller versions of this for 15 bucks.

28mm Fencing Tutorial

Part 2 of the 3 part terrain Day Tutorial is here. As always, I strive to get the best results I can with limited spending and easy to follow construction. This section is on fences. Every period ever (just about) should have fences. They are freaking everywhere. As always, commercial fencing can be expensive. For those willing to put in a small amount of time and effort (while still saving a buck) check this out.

Materials:

Sprue Cutters - You already own these, so they won't factor into the price. However, if you don't own any sprue cutters, you probably misclicked onto my blog (sorry bout' that)

Skinny Sticks - These are bought at Wal Mart in a pack of 75 for $2.50. They are basically 6" long by 4mm wide sticks with flat ends. For those with no Wal Mart or UK gamers, you should be able to find something comparable easily enough and cheaply enough. I used about 1 1/2 bags for this, so let's say 5 bucks.

XL Popsicle Sticks - Labeled "Jumbo Craft Sticks" at Walmart, they come in a pack of 75 and are just really wide Popsicle sticks. 6' long by 1" wide. $2.50 per bag.

Square Dowels - I grabbed these at Michael's in 36" lengths for 50 cents a pop. I bought 3. they will serve as fence posts.

Clump Foliage - You probably already have this, but if you dont it's around 4 bucks for a 10 oz shaker online.

That's it. The total is $13. I made roughly 30 feet of fencing in 6" lengths with that money. Here's how:

Step 1: Cut out your fence posts. I cut mine in 1" lengths. For those not so math savvy, that's 108 fence posts.

Step 2: Glue these fence posts to your XL Popsicle Stick bases. I did one on each extreme end, and I used 4 for each fence section with a gate.

Step 3: Glue your skinny stick to the fence posts. I used two skinny sticks for each fence section. i did some crooked, some broken, some straight, and some bowed just for variety. A little dab of glue will do it, it doesn't take much. Give them time to dry before moving to step 4.

Step 4: Paint all the fences brown. Because I am lazy, I used a can of cheap brown spray paint I had hanging around. I forgot to take a pic here but it's pretty self explanatory.

Step 5: Flock the bases and add clump foliage once the flock dries. Yep, it's that simple. I went a little heavy with the clump foliage because A.] I like it and B.] these fences will line my roads and the heavy clumps will contrast the small clumps I used on the roads. Here's some pics of the end result:

There you have it Gamers! Roughly 30 feet of simple multi period fencing for $13. Here's how much I got:

As always if you have any questions/comments drop me a line here or on TMP and I will promptly respond.
Happy Gaming!

28mm Roads Tutorial

Hello Gamers!

I have finished up all my pictures for my big tutorial post! Each tutorial will be broken into a separate article, with a final showcase post showing them all together. First up is the roads. Commercial roads vary wildly in both price and quality. While there are a number of great pre-made roads out there the cost can be rather prohibitive for budget gamers like myself.

After much experimenting, I have found a system that works for me, which I will outline for you here.

Materials:

Cork Tiles - I get mine in packs of 5 from Wal Mart. They are 1 sq ft per tile, and cheap at 5 bucks. This tutorial used a single pack of cork tiles.

Razor Knife - You probably already own one, but if you don't go buy one for a dollar at a hardware store.

Ruler - Again, I assume you own one but for math purposes you can get them for 50 cents.

Flock - This tutorial used Earth Blend Blended Turf from Woodland Scenics. I used maybe 1/2 of the container so thats $2.75

Sand - I didn't pay for my sand (because it's free like everywhere on the ground) but you can get small bags of it at Michael's (or any craft store I assume) for 2 bucks.

Clump Foliage - This tutorial uses Dark Green and Light Green clump foliage from Woodland Scenics, which I will assume you already have, but if you don't a small bag will run you 4 bucks.

Let's total that up.

$15.25

That's a pretty low number for Terrain. How much does this get you is what you're going to be asking after seeing that. Here's what I got out of that $15.25:

x6 12" x 4" x 4" T sections
x3 8" x 4" Straights
x4 "Pie Pieces" (For making corners)
x12 12" x 4" Straights

That's roughly 20 feet of roads. I challenge you to find a commercial product with that kind of value. Now I know what you're going to say. "But Ethan how good do they look?" I'll let you decide after finishing the tutorial.

Step 1: Plan out your sections.

For ease of use and scale I made all my roads 4" wide. I got that number by measuring my tanks to eyeball what I thought was right. YMMV. If it helps you any, lay some figures out on the cork to get a better sense of how wide your road will be.

Step 2: At this point, you're going to cut them all out with your trusty razor knife. The Ruler you used to plan out your road sections will help here as well. Cutting along a ruler will keep your lines straighter.

Step 3: I should mention I spray painted my cork black, I honestly have no clue why, it is completely unnecessary. I think I was trying to test how well it took spray paint. Anyway, Run some pva glue along the edges of the road and smooth it out with your brush. Apply flocking and let dry.

Step 4: Once the flock is dry you may want to add another coat of flock. That is entirely optional and up to you however. Once you are satisfied with your flocking, put some pva down the middle of the road in a nice thick coat. You want some thickness here to help hold the sand in place. Apply the sand and let it stand for a while. Hold the road upside down (over whatever you are storing the sand in) and lightly tap to free excess sand. You may want to sand again once the first layer dries.

Step 5: This is the easiest part, and the fastest. Drybrush some brown over your sand and glue some clump foliage to the grassy areas of the road. I did mine sparsely since most of my terrain has clump foliage on it. You should end up with this:

That's it gamers. I knocked out all of this in a single afternoon and I'm quite chuffed with the result. Just wait until you see it in the big showcase post. If you have any questions/comments/concerns let me know here or on TMP and I will respond promptly. Thanks for reading and happy gaming!

Another building for the big game

Hey gamers!

As some astute readers may know I'm planning a big Company Level game of Disposable Heroes for Vic Con. Vic Con is a little 12 hour gaming meet with local gamers flocking to my buddy Vic's house for a day of miniature fun. My Terrain to do list includes:

65 Tree Stands
25 feet of Roads
14 Buildings
30 feet of Fencing
15 feet of Stone Walls

I am currently finished with the Roads, Fences, and Walls. I now have 2 of the 14 buildings, and am making progress on more. Anyway, here is a few shots of the completed building! Please let me know what you think here or on TMP. If there is enough interest I will do a step by step tutorial on the next building!

Destroyed Tank Markers and Tree Stands

Hello gamers! My wife was very sick (still is) on Easter Sunday so I stayed home to take care of her. Between changing her bucket (yuck) and getting her Ginger Ale I managed to get some small projects done. The first one is Explosion Markers which I use to signify knocked out vehicles. There isn't any need for a tutorial since the process is fairly straightforward. Simply stretch out some cotton balls and glue them around a Tea Light. Done. Not bad considering the Tea Lights are two for a dollar.

 Next up is the Tree Stands. I used to base my trees individually, but I found it quite a bother because they were always falling over and they never looked "dense" enough. I figured I'd try basing two or three at a time on blank CDs, and adding some bushes and rocks. I like the end result a lot. They certainly make laying woods out a lot easier. The bases blend well enough to not cause an eyesore but also give a clear picture of where the "cover" from the woods ends. Here's some pics:

I like these a lot and they were dirt cheap to make. I didn't do a tutorial but it's pretty self explanatory. Flock the CD. Glue on the rocks, trees, and clump foliage. Sprinkle some flock on the trees and bushes. Done ;]
Let me know what you think here or on TMP!

Basic Building Techniques and a Tutorial

Hello gamers!

We all put hard work into our little toy soldiers and we want our terrain to be equally appealing. If you're like me, you try to do this without breaking the bank. Some commercial buildings can cost up to 50 or 60 dollars a pop. That's crazy. Here is a short tutorial on how to get some good looking buildings with a little work and some foamcore.

Materials:

Foamcore/board
Cardboard (Optional)
Ruler
Ball Point Pen
Razor Knife (Mine is Self Retracting)
Hot Glue Gun
Glue Sticks
Skinny Sticks (Skinny Sticks are sold at Wal Mart and they are long/thin rectangle shaped wood)
Granny Grating
Some Paints

That's it. All of these things can be gathered cheaply. The total cost of materials shown was $10. I can make usually 4-5 buildings with one sheet of foamboard, so the cost is $2 to $2.50 per building. Pretty good way to make terrain without killing your wallet.

Step 1: Laying out the structure.

Once you have the shape of your building settled in your mind, begin tracing out the walls on the foamcore. Use a ruler and be precise. Putting in the extra time to make sure everything is straight and level will save you a great deal of headache later on. I try to draw along one edge so I know at least one side is perfectly straight.

Once you've sketched the outline of your building, layout where your windows and doors will go. I use a figure for reference for this. This may not be the case everywhere, but one thing I've noticed in my home is that the tops of my window frames are all level with the top of my door frame. I ignored that rule here, and paid the price ;{.

Step 2: Cutting and Gluing

Once that is done, cut out all the individual pieces but leave the doors and windows in for now. Foamcore has the peculiar ability to dull blades extremely quickly. It may be a good idea to have a few spares before starting. Once you've separated the pieces, cut out the doors and windows. The four corners of the window can be hard to do neatly, so poke out the corners with a sewing needle or other similar tool. This is what you're left with:

Before you get all glue happy, read Step 3 for Scribing. It is easier to scribe before you glue the building together, so if you wish to do this then do Step 3 before Step 2 (I forgot this time, but I always scribe before I glue).

 Now that you've scribed (or decided against it), proceed to glue your building together. First, cut a small groove where two walls will meet, this will hide the inner foam when the pieces are joined. It will look like this:

In the this picture you can see how the outer layer of paper will hide the inner foam when the two pieces are joined. This isn't necessary, but it looks much better this way. 

Now simply squirt some hot glue all over one piece and hold it on the adjoining piece. This should only take about 30 seconds. Be sure to remove any excess glue on the outside of the building. I like to add a second layer of glue on the inside to help strengthen it. Glue your two roof pieces together as well, but don't attach them to the building, unless you want them to be permanently on. Now you have this:

Step 3: Scribing

This is the really tedious part. Scribing is a great way to model stones, planks, bricks, and shingles. Begin to gently peel the outer layer of paper from your foamcore. I start at one corner and slowly work my way to the other corner. This can be very hard, if it doesn't all come off, don't gouge the foamcore trying (unless you want some bullet holes or explosion damage)

 For this building, I'm imagining the outer layer of the wall to be stucco, which was applied over grey stone. With that in mind, I drew shapes where I wanted the stone revealed:

Once this is done, trace out the object you want to model. Make a very light impression with the ballpoint pen. You will notice you can carve the surface of the foam this way. Once done, trace over your design several more times until it really pops.

Step 4: Painting and Detailing

I forgot to take pictures of the detailing stage but they are visible in the paint stage (sorry). Take your craft sticks and cut them up to use as door frames, window frames, and half timber. This is fairly self explanatory so have fun and throw on some detail. With that done, we can break out our granny grating. This is optional, but I like to use it in my windows because I like how it looks. Cut a square of granny grating and glue it inside your building, so it will show in the windows. Should look like this:

Now, before we begin painting, there is one critical stage here. Get some black wash (or really runny black paint) and get it in all the crevices of what you just scribed. This is super important, it dramatically increases the look of the scribed sections. 

Let it dry, and then paint your building to taste. I went with Black Cherry for the roof (Every building I make has this color roof). And a Chestnut Brown for the walls followed by Cocoa for the wood. The stones were painted Pavement.

After that you can detail further with some washing or dry brushing. The end result should look like this: 

This isn't the greatest building I've ever made, or ever seen. However, I'm pretty proud of it. This is a good way to get buildings for your games, and it comes with the added satisfaction of knowing that you made it. Best of all, it is easy to do, and very cheap. 

Let me know what you think either here or on TMP. 

Thanks, 

Ethan