Well, this is our first official article for our Mini War Gaming website, so I hope you enjoy it!
Dave and I decided a few weeks ago that we really wanted to build some awesome terrain. We had received many inspirations from books and websites and had a tremendous desire to imitate what we saw as well as creating our own unique designs.
However, we quickly came across a stark reality - it costs a lot to make terrain!
Think about it, all of these things are not cheap:
-plywood (can cost up to $50 per sheet)
-polystyrene (the blue styrofoam used in insulating houses - very expensive when bought new)
-paint ($4 for a tiny little bottle from Games Workshop)
-sand ($10 for a small container from Games Workshop)
-flock ($10 again for a small container from Games Workshop)
-and more…
Now don’t get me wrong, we love Games Workshop. I could go there and hang out for hours. However, you have to admit that their prices are rather steep for things that you would use to make terrain.
This set Dave and I on a quest. Could we possibly find no cost (or at most low cost) alternatives to every single thing needed, and if so, how would we do it?
I mean, sure, you could find some scrap wood and polystyrene, but what about paint? And what about flock?
Well, lucky for you we did! And we are going to share all of that information with you.
Here are some of the experiments we completed in the past couple of weeks, and some more that we are working on right now:
1. How to make modeling flock MUCH cheaper than $10 per small container.
2. How to build a base terrain board for less than $20.
3. How to make realistic textures without spending a ton of money on expensive textured paint.
4. How to save bundles of money on paint AND still have it look great.
5. The best type of sand to use for terrain boards.
And more…
What kind of things would you like to see us do? Post a comment here and let us know!
Sincerely,
The Mini War Gaming Webmaster and Dave Nordquist
9 users commented in " Our Warhammer Terrain Building Experiments "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI think I have a solution for #5. If you know anyone who lives near a desert, there is an extremely fine type of sand that has zero water content. This gives the sand a very unique quality compared to most other types. Most sand has a slight amount of water that makes it insuitable for modelling purposes. To put it simply: the sand rots. If you’d like to know more, just e-mail me; I’m taking up too much space as is.
My friends and I have been building LOADS of terrain for decades! We have a few solutions for you that may meet your needs.
Water: Plexiglass!. cut out and tape news paper for the dep part, the spray brown around the edge, remember to fade it roward the news print. Allow to dry, remove news print. Paint deep blue or black. Flip the plexi over and paint the edge brown, then flock most of the edge. You now have water with shore line…cheap.
Paint: Take a sample to home depot and have them mix up a gallon of whatever you want of latex. For terrain bulding it is the BEST! Buy a box of texture, add to grey paint, apply to foam, wash with a black and BAM! Rock!.
Flock: I took flock to home depot and had them mix up a gallon of paint the color of the flock. I have found it to be a great extender of the flock.
Rock: Troll the home depot trash bin! You will be surprised at what gets thrown away. Same is true for contruction sites!.
Buildings: Electrical junction boxes make for some GREAT starter shapes for building. Add paint and perhaps even decals.
Decal paper: Buy some and print out your own decals. Much easier than painting on roller doors! Also allows for uniform number etc, much better than paint. This is after all, an empire! “Day has RULES!”
Inks: troll the “scrap book” shops for inks. Food colors also work well! and much cheaper!
See our web site for some of our terrain work.
www.quickfire2.net. See you at DRAGON*CON 08!
Make sure that if you are taking lots of stuff from building sites that you ask, ive got in trouble for taking stuff they were using before. I’m currently building a 6 by 4 tablefor my little brother, so far ive built the table and flocked it, all it needs now is some hills!
Alex
Show them all!!
And maybe more!!!
Because i don’t got much $money$.
I need some cheap alternatives….
So please show us!!!!
How do you make realistic textures without spending a ton of money on expensive textured paint?
please make some trees or some lotr terain becouse your mostley about 4k witch is cool and all igot sme marinens like 20 2 heros and a tank
Black sand at the beach is perfect for number 5!!!
do you think you guys could do a tuturiol on mgnetic movement trays for fantasy?
Cheers
Hey guys great Ideas!! When it comes to terrain biulding I’ve found a lot of new tricks if you don’t want to spend gamesworkshop prices you could try your local craft store. I’ve found that they can order most supplies like plastic card that they call stencil material althuogh it’s clear in color it holds any paint that I put to it and comes in 10 inch by 13 inch sheets great for cutting out fine details like rivets or wall shields they also carry most hobbie tools as well as small barrels and any paint you would ever need
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