Laser cut Terrain

I received my 4ground tree bases.



The pic below shows 2 sets of tree bases. Each small tree stand is about $1.40.
Large is about $1.90.

 The tree bases can accommodate a nice sized tree:

 

Shipping is a flat $16, from ordering 1 to 10+. These tree stands would be nice in
the middle of the table so you can easily remove trees to place miniature stands.

 

Speaking of more laser cut terrain, my Sarissa Prec farm house:

 

Around the entire interior I place a line of PVA glue between the wall and floor to
strengthen it. Between 4ground and Sarissa, the buildings are nice enough for me.

Laser Cut Buildings

I posted a pic of the Sarissa Prec farmhouse I purchased for $23. The assembly was
easy using wood glue. I did use toothpicks at the inside corners to reinforce the
structure. I wonder in a club environment how durable are these buildings? In my
Normandy related scenarios, I feel on a 4x8 ft table, I will only need about 4 buildings
max. I still want to scratch build some buildings. Cost would be lower, time higher
yet I have time...

Jungle Work

Slowly working on the jungle scenery:

Nice bamboo trees, came about 50 per bag. Mounted them on a Litko 2" circle base.

Tree stands built so far

Sarissa Precision Farm house, easy to put together. Cheaper than the 4Ground buildings.

More Jungle Stuff

Little work this weekend, I have a flight to CA tomorrow. Here are pics of updates:

 

 

Once I figured (or stumbled) upon a jungle floor cover look, it was easy to continue

the process.

 

I experimented on adding leaves to the jungle tree tops. I don't like this look. oh well....
I plan my terrain goals in 3 months periods. By year's end I will have all my jungle tree
3 and single stands done, as well as the fields.

The next adventure is making a terrain cloth. Found great ideas via the web.

Next is switching gears to do Normandy. I have a lot of tree stands there to do. A lot of
K&M trees as well as Woodland Scenics.

Jungle ground cover

I decided upon a 'format' for my jungle ground clutter. Within the areas near the base of
either the palm or jungle trees I lay a thick floor of kitchen seasoning. Surrounding this
plainly a mixing of whatever terrain flock I have. This ranges from static grass to Spanish moss.

I think for a lot of terrain building, once you have a certain assembly line technique, you
can produce a lot. Once I get all my palm and jungle tree stands done, next is painting
the synthetic fur for fields.

More Jungle Terrain

A little more work with the Jungle trees.

I use Woodland Scenics Tree Armatures 5-7" TR1123, a heavy pair of snippers,
a good sized metal file, and sand paper

I snip off enough branches for a 'tall jungle tree". 

Sand of the stubs with the file and sandpaper.

Then twist the tree armature. I used furnace filter which I sprayed with black undercoat.

Then a spray of green.

 

I put 3 per stand (http://www.renaissanceink.net/catalog/index.php?cPath=7). Although

the website look resin, Jay has switched to plywood. I tease out the painted furnace filter

and with glue attach the filter. I do paint the tree trunks a dark grey, with lighter gray

dry brushing. 

Here is a collection of super market spices. I am doing an age test of how long it takes

them to turn brown. Many pictures of a jungle floor shows fallen decaying leaves. At a

certain point I will hit them with a good coat of spray sealer. Any yes it smells very nice.

My assembly line. I only get about 4-5 hours a weekend to work on these, but I have time.

More Jungle Stuff

I tried to simulate rows of cane fields. You can see the base of the mat, which I painted
brown to break the green pattern.

Here is my version of large jungle trees. Woodland scenics trees with the lower
branches snipped off. Furnace filter atop. Work in progress.

 

 Close up of the undergrowth. I used a variety of plastic aquarium plants.

In tandem with my planned village, they have to have crops. The banana trees are the
Pegasus plastic line. They are nice but the leaves are "fiddly".

Palm tree stand and small hill in progress. The tree stands I use from Renaissance Ink
website. Work in progress. Trying to get the "right" jungle floor scatter.

It is surprising what can be done with a few hours a weekend. Of course that takes
months.

Rules I have learned in terrain making:
1. Don't rush
2. Don't do too much at once or you get burnt out
3. Look at a lot of terrain pictures to get a "feel" for it
4. Use the internet, there are ALOT of great ideas out there

Jungle Terrain

My work schedule has me traveling Mon to Fri every week. This makes gaming very slow. Over the months I focused on jungle related terrain. My first goal was to make enough to cover a 4x8' table.



I tried to use terrain that has the right height for a 28mm figure. This is a variety of

aquarium plastic mat plants, various size palm trees, and synthetic fur. I used the

idea from a website about using the mat holder as the base. I made individual tree

stands to break the "clear" look of a field. The fur comes in a tan color yet after

review a lot of Pacific island pictures, they are more greenish. Yet I do like the color

contract. Each plant stand has been highlighted with a green/yellow to break the

monotony of the same color. I visit Michaels, Jo-ann's craft store a lot for terrain.

 

 

 

Next step is to finish the palm tree stands. More photos to follow.