Any open terrain projects?

**tesral** · 08-29-2008, 12:40 PM

How does the thin layer of spackle hold up?

**mrken** · 08-29-2008, 01:19 PM

Generally, when I use the spackling I don't put it on very thin. I tend to pack it inside the corrugation and in the spaces between the pieces. Then after it sets, I am able to sand smooth if necessary prior to priming and then painting and texturing. The spackling tends to get fairly thick and the primer soaks in pretty well. This process tends to produce a pretty durable piece.

Some of my pieces are ten years old. Now I do tend to take care of my stuff and my terrain is no exception. UV has aged the color of the green turf stuff I use, and there are dents in some of the pieces where they have been abused, but I can always touch them up if I feel the urge, but so far I have never done so.

I do have a large dungeon in seven pieces that is beginning to show age with dents, dings, corners separating and bits of plaster that has chipped off. That is going to be repaired if I find a buyer but it was my first piece and has been through about eight conventions. Lots of abuse moving it about and players banging on it. Still it is looking pretty good.

**tesral** · 08-30-2008, 03:08 AM

OK, I am not getting the method here. Do you stack the cardboard so that it is edge on to the plaster, giving more keying for the spackle?

FYI there are several light weight spackles out there I have actually used to fix walls with. They could find use in terrain.

**mrken** · 08-30-2008, 10:33 AM

Where I can, I stack and glue the cardboard diagonally so one layer will stiffen the other. This will reduce warping due to the moisture on thick pieces like mounds and tree bases where the base is flat and has no upright or other supporting pieces. The corrugation has all those holes for it's own rigidity, I tend to press the spackling into those holes prior to forming the surface. Sort of the way plasters used to work with lathe. Like the old mud and wattle method. It is pretty strong and quite light. It is the thin edges that are prone to damage if cut too thin. Priming and painting really helps strengthen this up if you allow the primer and paint to soak in.

This piece is about ten years old. The flocking is a bit faded but no chips or nicks. Notice there is a bit of warping. This is because there is nothing to enforce it to plumb. A piece of cardboard glued edge to the flat edge will rectify this, like a wall or a building. This is why I go with hardboard now on pieces like this. I am building a round tower in this next series and am using cardboard and spackling on a hardboard base.

**mrken** · 10-26-2009, 10:47 PM

Ok, it's been over a year now and I am still not finished with this one, but I am again working on it.

**Skunkape** · 10-27-2009, 08:54 AM

Wow, all that brick work carving! You're a better man than I with all that work!

I've recently, over the past 6 months or so been watching people who are using YouTube to upload video tutorials of creating gaming terrain. Once I can afford to buy an interface box for my computer, I'm going to be doing videos of my own, but even at around $90 for the box, it's a little beyond my budget at the moment!

I've started using MDF for my bases now and will probably continue with that for any kind of floating type terrain.

**mrken** · 10-27-2009, 02:01 PM

When you say floating type of terrain, you mean the terrain that you place on the table? I too have been using the MDF stuff these days as it is more durable than the cross bias cardboard and I like that. Not as cheap or malleable, but more durable.

As for the ability to video my work and post it on the net, yeah, I need another job. lol

Now, for the walls on the castle, yeah, one of the reason I don’t need another job. It does take a lot of time, but I suspect the results will be much better than the results I get with my current methods. Not saying the previous methods are bad, in fact I really do like them and think I will go back to them when this project is finished, as I am getting anxious to start the work on a few projects that I have on hold while this one is moving along at a snails pace. Not really interested in dropping this project as it holds so much promise and I am still excited about the results the more I do on it.

**Skunkape** · 10-28-2009, 08:38 AM

What I mean by floating terrain is pieces that are not locked together. For instance, World Works Games has terrain pieces that you can attach together to make a large single piece. See this youtube movie.

So you assemble these pieces and you get a large single piece of terrain, floating terrain would be more like a piece like the one pictured below...

The above buildings are part of a large terrain piece and float on the table.

This is the direction I want to go with most of my terrain, even for instance with dungeons, having the pieces be more modular that you can place on the table on the fly and then take off as you need or don't need them.

**mrken** · 10-28-2009, 03:36 PM

Hey Skunk, you talk about my pieces being labor intensive. Those houses made of match sticks? Those long ones for lighting the BBQ? Are we crazy or what? All this work for our games and the players never even notice. lol

WOW!!!
--- Merged from Double Post ---
Hey, thanks for the link Skunk. WorldWorks is great. I love my Watchtower. Still haven't made a fourth or fifth floor for it, would like to but I only have about 30 or 40 hours in a day like the rest of us.

**Skunkape** · 10-29-2009, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by mrken

Hey Skunk, you talk about my pieces being labor intensive. Those houses made of match sticks? Those long ones for lighting the BBQ? Are we crazy or what? All this work for our games and the players never even notice. lol

WOW!!!

LOL, never thought about it that way! Course, those aren't mine, but I see your point!

Originally Posted by mrken

Hey, thanks for the link Skunk. WorldWorks is great. I love my Watchtower. Still haven't made a fourth or fifth floor for it, would like to but I only have about 30 or 40 hours in a day like the rest of us.

Welcome!

**mrken** · 12-23-2009, 07:52 PM

Been taking a break from working on the castle because of friends encouraging me to do some work for AAM. The game uses 3" hexes so the terrain is a bit compact. Still, the stuff translates directly to gaming terrain. Take a peak.

Haven't finished these as you can see. Will be finishing them up in a few days. Still have several dozen of these hexes left to put together, but will be working on them when I can. Still have the castle up there on that shelf waiting for me to get back to it.

**Skunkape** · 12-28-2009, 10:21 AM

Looking great so far!

**Mead** · 01-02-2010, 10:40 AM

A friend of mine used Hirst space tiles and some WorldWorks paper walls on foamcore to create a low-budget 3D Space Hulk tileset. I got him a box of the dental-grade plaster so it would last a while.

We actually skipped Battletech to play more Space Hulk at the last Monkeyfest.

If I have pics of it I can't find em, sorry =(
--- Merged from Double Post ---

Originally Posted by mrken

Been taking a break from working on the castle because of friends encouraging me to do some work for AAM. The game uses 3" hexes so the terrain is a bit compact. Still, the stuff translates directly to gaming terrain. Take a peak.

[visions of btech maps made manifest PURGED]

Haven't finished these as you can see. Will be finishing them up in a few days. Still have several dozen of these hexes left to put together, but will be working on them when I can. Still have the castle up there on that shelf waiting for me to get back to it.

Great, now I'm gonna have to fight the urge to do this for oversized Battletech hexes. They look awesome!

**Q-man** · 08-11-2010, 08:45 AM

I've recently started making some plaster terrain using the Hirst molds. I haven't gotten much done yet though as I'm still figuring out some of the tricks to it. Anyway, some pictures of the works in progress:

The few pieces I have completed. A corner wall and two 3x3 floor sections.

A few field stone sections that need some painting. I was making and painting the floors and walls separate, then gluing them together after the paint dried. I'm not sure if this is the best way to do it though.

Some gothic sections that need paint as well. The top part of the larger corner section is a bit of a mess, I was just getting them glued together when my boys started crying. As I dashed away I guess I bumped them and now they don't line up right.

Some other stuff I've but together that still needs work. The two 3x3 painted floor sections I need to make walls for still. The large wall section needs a 6 inch floor piece to go under it. The pillar and the brazier won't be glued down, they are meant to be decorations in any room.