Narcissus' terrain

The bunker is a very nice piece. Good luck with the Terragenesis contest - you'll have some tough competition. The piece is nicely sized in terms of usability and open enough that you can play around it which I think should always be the prime concern when building gaming terrain.

To add some character to the inside I would suggest a couple of posters, or maps on the wall which it looks like you were already planning. Aside from that maybe an equipment locker, or spare equipment lying around (lasguns leaning against the wall, helmets hanging on hooks by the wall?) might look good. Maybe you could add a hatchway in the floor so it looks like there is sleeping quarters for the soldiers who man the bunker?

Hope those ideas help!

Couple of spare guns against the wall, maybe.

Dang, this looks good. What did you use for the grid you've got on the floor there?

VERY NICE WORK! The Beasty has a LOT of potential. Have FUN detailing the piece.

Thanks for the ideas. I was planning to add in a few guns and helmets lying around. I was also planning to add a few propaganda posters. The one open box will be posters/leaflets as well. The squares on the wall will be computer monitors once they are finished. I think I will add some metal around the windows with yellow and blank stripes as well. I'm going to add a few boxes on the roof (for cover) and a ladder to it.

I really like pieces to be playable and to be designed in a way that they get well used. So the roof will have some cover and a way to get there. It will be a pretty tough base to crack once it is finished. There is a fair bit of cover for the defenders from all sides so it could be pretty difficult to take... There are not as many great firing lanes from the back though. We will see how it plays.

Arachas-The grid is darche, a thing used for crocheting or something. You can find it in the sewing section of stores. It is really useful as it makes great flooring or mesh and it is really easy to cut.

Jammydodger-I really like the idea of a hatch on the floor. I will have to think how I can easily model that it.

I like the bunker and I agree on trying to make the whole model playable. In most of games its the more terrain the merrier. One small suggestion I have though would be to stagger the firing slits. This is usually done on constructed bunkers.

Here some signs and stuff. I think that these may be of use to you for your project. I didnt make these and no longer remember where I got them all cred goes to the original artist. (Mods sorry if the pics are too big I hosted them full size so as not to lose any of the details for anyone that might want them. If they are too big I will take them down)

Wow, thanks for those pieces Doom! I'm sure they'll see a lot of usage, good find and thanks for sharing.

Can you explain what you mean by staggering, would it be staggered height-wise up and down the front wall, or staggered with a deep frame around them?

For roof-access I would suggest a simple ladder, the easiest way to make them is to glue individual (unused) staples into the wall at regular intervals.
For the hatch you could use something as simple as a rhino circular side-hatch (2nd ed, guess they have changed now).

This is a good example of a staggered aperature. It was done to reduce the effects of concussion and direct fire (limits the possibility of a round richocheting in)

Alright, after a long absence I am back. I've settled into my new place and set up a bit of a work area. Today I visited the hardware store and bought some parts for a modular terrain board. It will be based on 4 2'x2' square pieces of 3/4" masonite.

The idea is to have a necromunda style tech-ish base on one side. This side will work as a modern city or underhive. With some special walls I also plan to try and use it as a space hulk, underground lair, or factory building. Basically as a dungeon but 40k.

The other side will have a bit of a more classic city style basing. I am hoping to have a nice canal on this side and a variety of urban textures.

I made a small test piece to try out some different textures for the tech side first. This side will be flat as it will just be based on the base of the boards. I would really like to add some canals and other features but will have to skip that on this side I think. I will add some pictures tomorrow when I get my sample piece painted up a bit.

Sounds great - looking forward to what you have to show us!

Laney

Sounds indeed good, curious to them pics!

Narcissus!!! YOU ARE BACK! It is AWESOME to see you back... and it looks like you are in for a vengeance of work! I love the work you can pull out... You know, Laney and Komfritten have been hugging the terrain action over here. Maybe you can light some fire under them! HAHAH! Nothing like a friendly-competition to pump productivity.

Now... where the pics!?!?!?!

Okay, here are the pictures from the small test section I made. I wanted to test out different textures and paint effects to decide which I like best. I am still not totally sure though. I think I am going to use all of the different textures.

The first image shows the materials I used. Base is 1/8" hardboard. Left to right the materials are drywall tape, cardboard from space marines, and darche.



The second image shows the test piece painted. I first sprayed it with a textured rust brown paint. On the top half I drybrushed on boltgun metal. The lower half I lightly drybrushed Americana Raw Umber. I painted the hazard stripes using vomit brown, golden yellow, black, and some masking tape. I then used a sponge to lightly sponge on layers on raw umber, bestial brown, and vomit brown. I did a small amount of sponging with boltgun metal as well, to show wear.



I like the different textures and the hazard stripes. For the final product I will add larger rivets from plasticard to add more texture.

I need to decide which paint scheme to use (or both!). Should I drybrush metal on first or not? Which looks better, top or bottom paint scheme?

Top looks better, but they would look pretty good mixed together.

I like the bottom - darker and more well-blenden in my opinion.

and what is "darche" (?!) I've been trying to find that stuff - I *really* need it =)

I overall really like you theme, and I am sitting on the edge of my chair to see more (MORE!), and hopefully catch up on some of your techniques

Darche is stuff used for sewing or crocheting I believe. It is a plastic mesh with holes. You can find it at Michaels or Walmart or any sewing store. I try to buy it in black so that it still looks alright if the paint chips on it.

Mystery solved - I love this place

Both look ace - though I tend towards the bottom one a bit more.

Cheers Laney

Saw the the pic last night on my iphone and then I thought: "the top one".
But now I'm looking at it on my computer screen and I definitely think you should go for the bottom one!
"Americana Raw Umber', from which brand is that?

Americana is a brand of cheap-o acrylics they sell at Walmarts and craft stores in the US. Not sure if you can get it over there in the Netherlands, but finding a Raw Umber equivalent should be as easy as possible.

Ok, thanks for the info MasterSlowPoke.

Just a quick little update. I've been working on the boards a bit more. They are on hold now until I get some more granny grating to complete some sections. Not sure at the moment if I should hold off and paint all four sections together or do them two at a time.

In the meantime I have been working on a little bit of terrain.

The first piece was a WIP form months ago. I didn't get a chance to paint it as I was gone for 6 months. I touched it up a bit, glued the pieces down better, and added some more cover. It is now ready to paint!




I tried to build it with a bit of cover and some access to different levels to make it playable.


My favourite part is the strange broken tubes with electrical wires and things coming out of them.

The second piece is based on a $3 metal pencil holder I found at the dollar store. I got a little carried away adding details to a simple piece, but I am hoping it is quite playable. The big tank is a dental floss container, the pipes are copper connectors, the blue containers are mint containers. The plasticard is from a beware of dog sign. The balsa warped a lot on the main structure, so it looks a bit ramshackle. I'm planning to paint these mostly in a rust color scheme with some tanks and things with different colors for a little contrast.

WOW! You are a genius! Not only you are creative (I envy you) but your B&W pictures reveal the TRUE potential of the terrain. My brain puts any colors to it... and it looks PERFECT!

I will definitely steal the ideas one day!

Thanks for the compliments Mordheimer. I like the black and white for the same reason. It shows a bit more closely how they might look later on.

Industrial terrain like this is very quick and easy to make. Just find some interesting looking scraps or cans or gabage and then build something around it that disguises the original materials. It is pretty quick to slap two cans on a piece of hardboard and then build a small platform and stairs from balsa or plasticard. Now I just need to do a quick paint job on them and then make another 13 to get the board somewhat covered...

The first build of the top structure did not have the big covers over the cans and I thought it looked too much like just two tin cans. With the extra bits on top it is much more disguised.

Ace terrain - I'd love to try and emulate this kind of stuff - Excellent vision on pencil holder (I couldn't see it to begin with - hidden in plain sight).

Keep on inspiring!

Laney

Laney-I was just thinking the same a few minutes ago. I was thinking that I would like to make some more "clean" and polished looking terrain like yours (as opposed to my usual ramshackle and corroded and broken).

I painted the first basecoat on the pencil holder with it mostly unassembled so that the tanks and pipes inside the cages would get some paint too. Now I need to glue it and paint the rest of the outside.

I spray painted the basecoats on these two pieces this evening. I accidentally painted them with the wrong brown first (a satin spray) so I lightly sprayed my textured brown over top. I left a bit of a nice pattern with a little bit of highlights and some variety to the base rust. I'll add more pictures when I have finished painting one of the pieces.