Basic Table Terrain

In addition to jungle terrain, I need the usual assortment table top terrain of hills, etc that could work with most any scale.  I used polystyrene to make the basic shapes.  I used a hotwire cutter to shape the foam.  For the crags and rocky edges I used sandpaper to slice vertical and horizontal cuts.  I painted dirt and rocky areas, as painted the entire rest of the base a medium dark brown with craft paint to ensure any area not covered or thinly covered with turf wouldn't show blue foam through it.  I then used diluted Woodland Scenics (WS) scenic glue, approx. 1 part glue to 3-4 parts water and painted it on nice and watery and then sprinkled on some light colored blended turf earth blend in smaller patches, then covered the rest of the area with green blend.  This was pretty messes with the watery glue dripping off.  Once dried, I used the WS scenic cement, which seems to be a heavier dilution of glue, in a spray bottle and resprayed the surface of the terrain to fully adhere the turf.  Once dry it was ready to go.

Jungle Terrain Project

My ongoing quest to eventually host WWII South Pacific and Southeast Asia theaters battles had necessitated my creating jungle terrain.  After watching some good UTube vids of the Terrain Tutor, I delved into getting started.  First you need several supplies... I used Masonite for the bases, polystyrene foam insulation, assorted plastic plants from either fish supplies or from local craft store, plastic palm trees and bamboo, craft paint, hot glue gun, Woodland Scenics (WS) scenic glue and WS scenic cement, which is just pre-watered down scenic glue, and finally a bowl of expired herb spices (basil, oregano, other Italian spices), from the kitchen cabinet.  The latter gives a great scent to the terrain.

I cut the bases to assorted shapes on a bandsaw and beveled the edges with a grinding wheel.  I cut pieces of the polystyrene to fit as needed on the bases as raised plant beds for either individual or small groups of plants, or in longer strips and glued them in with wood glue. 

I used hot glue gun to attach the plastic plants to the polystyrene as I read that regular PVA glues were not good for adhesion of the plastic the plants were made from.  I then painted the bases with brown craft paint.  Once plants were mounted then I could use the scenic glue diluted roughly 50/50 spread across the bases and under the plants to then put on the herb ground cover.  On a couple bases, I put the ground cover on before the plants, and poked holes through the ground cover into the foam and mounted bamboo to make bamboo groves.

TRASH into TREASURE:  The Mountain Fortress

I’m always scrounging/saving something from the trash with the intent of transforming it or incorporating it into a gaming project.  Bits of used sprue, the clear contact lens packets (for windows), Styrofoam or polystyrene (for terrain or buildings), can lids (for basing groups of figs), or any other general crap that catches my eye.  Of course, this always draws a shake of the head from the Mrs. and a look on her face that says ‘Really? What are you going to do with that?  My sad sweet little man’.  As with all gamers or hobbyist, I think it’s about using a little imagination and creativity, plus a healthy desire to save some money here and there… prefab terrain, etc, isn’t cheap.
My latest find came while driving around during the city’s spring cleanup (any and all trash to the curb for pickup… no questions) looking for old used furniture for the Mrs. to refurbish (see dear, you do it too!!!).  Anyway, my Spidey sense was tingling as I drove past a box and immediately backed up to get a better look at what my eyes had spied.  In the box I find a brown plastic mountain thingy with a crane claw on top, mixed in with some Hot Wheels track.  I grabbed the mountain, and ditched the track.  The mountain thingy turns out to be from the Fisher-Price Geo Trax Mountain Blast Construction Quarry set from 2003.



I got it home and immediately began tearing off the crane/claw, shaving the tabs that hold the top to the bottom (now they just act as guides while allowing easy removal of the top if you want to put stuff inside), and removing a few other unnecessary bits.  I then washed it to get whatever child spit and coodies off that might be on it, which foreseeably might lead to disease, pestilence, and early death.  Children… Gods little petri-dishes!  I glued in some thin card stock over certain area to hide holes and make spots for figures to sit.  I sprayed on a coat of black spray primer, followed by a very light misting coat of brown.  I wet-brushed on a medium dark gray, followed by some lighter gray to highlight.  This was followed with moss flock (adds a pleasant smell as well), and then some turf grass in areas.  Finally, I glued the base to a cut-to-fit piece of brown Masonite, textured side up, which I can add additional grass, brush, weeds, etc to, and which will make it easier to pick up and hold too.  I’d like to create a couple interchangeable things, depending on the scenario, for the top of the mountain, ie. gun emplacement, radio tower, observation post, ray gun, etc.



It’s now set for use with any jungle, woodland, mountainous, or mysterious island, war gaming scenarios.  It’s not super high, which is ideal for storage and perspective, but has several levels, hidey-holes, and interior that can be used.  I foresee its use for some WWII Pacific Island scenarios, ie Peleliu, where the Marines had to assault fortified and entrenched Japanese defenders.

I added ground covering, which smelled great as it was made up of outdated herbs and spices from the kitchen cabinets.  It looks like a good jungle floor of old leaves and stuff.  I also used it on my jungle terrain bases.

Next Up… Scratch built tropical pacific huts and Guard Towers

Craters Craters Craters

In my continuing drive to eventually game WWII Pacific, I again opted to do a quick terrain project, which ultimately will also be useful in numerous other games.  What’s a war without some craters, whether artillery, mortar, or maybe the occasional meteorite.  I liberated some ideas I’d seen some others do, and pushed forward.  I started with the thin brown Masonite board you can get at most any building supply stores for around $9 for a 4’x8’ sheet, as it’s nice and rigid, and won’t warp like cardboard (don’t get cheap and try to skimp, you’ll be sorry).  I cut it down to some manageable sizes I could easily manipulate on a band-saw (a jig-saw would also work), and cut a variety of circles ranging from approximately 2 inches to 5 inches in diameter.  Making the discs perfectly round is not a requirement, as you’ll be covering the Masonite up anyway.  I further used the band-saw blade to bevel the edge of the circles somewhat, on the side I would be working on, by holding and turning the Masonite disks at an angle by hand against the blade. 

                    

Always good to be extra careful when working close to fast spinning blades, as spending evenings altering all my gloves to nine or less fingers would just be time I’d have to spend not working on my hobbies.  I digress…  anyway… after getting the discs ready, I moved onto the next step.  I used Liquitex Texture Gel

and mixed it with a cheap brown paint.  I applied the gel to the rough side of the Masonite (hoping for better adhesion), leaving barely any in the middle and forming a raised ring around the edge.  

I tried to leave room in the center of each crater for at least one figure base for small craters, to as many as three figure bases for the larger craters.  Having beveled the edge of the disc allowed the gel to go out to the edge without having either a visible lip of disc, or having a weak edge of gel exposed to possible damage.  The gel does get tacky and will stick to fingers etc.  It’s tough to get the gel smooth, and I intentionally left a lot of goopy texture overall to simulate heavily disturbed earth.  Another thing to remember is that when an explosion goes off, it’s pushing from the point of impact outward and depositing ejected material out around the edges, so I tapered the inner side of the crater walls outward.  I added in a few choice wood twigs in or around the crater to simulate small trees that were toppled in the blast, and some small pebble for rocks. 

I left the twigs pretty natural, and just snapped them off at desired lengths, leaving the ends a bit jagged.  Then I let the whole thing dry for a day.  When dry, the gel still has a bit of a glossy sheen.  I used a dark brown paint over the whole piece and crevices (except wood bits),

a blackish blast point with some radiating lines in the center of each crater (it’s ok to dry-brush some black onto some of the wood pieces to simulate charring from an explosion), then some of the original cheaper brown that I originally mixed with the gel to wet-brush upper edges of the surface inside and out to give a dirty/muddy effect, then finished with dry-brushing a white and brown mix on edges and highlights overall for contrast.  I was happy with the results, and ended up making several of each size so I could create one large or several smaller crater fields.