# Terrain Time - not with Tim the Tool Man...



## alex_mac47 (May 3, 2009)

Evening guys,

I have been starting to work on some terrain pieces. The aim of this blog is to track my techniques and ideas whilst I develop a number of terrain pieces designed to fit into the story for my Urbanised Imperial Guard army. Army details are in my Sig block.

I am trying to stick to GW kits or conversions in a similar style - I like the style that GW terrain tries to recreate rather than the really SCI-FI style that other companies produce. 

I have worked a lot with greenstuff in the past and enjoy adding the 'accessories' to the standard kits to give them an individual character. All my pieces have been designed with a style/story in mind. Here is an example of a piece I did for a friend a while ago which was developed as a tactical command post in some old ruins:


















As part of my new projects I am working on a number of Administratum buildings in a similar style. 

This first one will be similar command post to the one above. The second story is detachable for easy storage. Note the 'reinforcement' that has been done by the defenders to keep the structure stable. I have added a lot of brass rod for the refro in the flooring and walls - took a LONG time and not sure I will do it again given its time consumption and how sharp the end result can get - tried with plastic rod but it tends not to work as well and breaks easily. There will be a lot of sandbagging to be done as well as large amounts of rubble and installing the CP in the base of the building with an antenna running to the roof. 
























I am also working on this smaller Administratum building that has been driven through by a vehicle - the gap between the pieces will be increased to factor for the width of a LRBT when it is mounted on a base. Here again is the 'reinforcement' done by previous inhabitants as well as a small plate bridge to keep the roof open for fighters to move freely across the gap. Goal is a lot of sandbagging and some small bits to add character.


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

Lookin' good! I'm really diggin' the sandbags. I made some up myself the other day and they look...less impressive. Not that I am unhappy with my results, but yours are mint! I also really dig the large building with double balconies. GW has some decent scenery kits for sure.


----------



## alex_mac47 (May 3, 2009)

ntaw said:


> Lookin' good! I'm really diggin' the sandbags. I made some up myself the other day and they look...less impressive. Not that I am unhappy with my results, but yours are mint! I also really dig the large building with double balconies. GW has some decent scenery kits for sure.


Cheers for your comments. As you can see, my grey sandbags were less good as the mix was too soft - it took a lot of failed bags to get it right so I appreciate your pain. 

I found a firmer mix was easier to work with, held its shape better and gave a better end result. My process was to roll the greenstuff it into a sausage and then cut it into smaller bits which were shaped by hand and then assembled. I did the crease/fold when they were part-set to minimise deformities and make them conform to the natural shape of the wall. I also took some nics out of the wall to make it look like bullet holes/battle damage rather than the drill technique. If you have ever worked with or seen sandbags the sand will always drain with gravity, leaving an even distribution rather than a perfect hole. This video was the inspiration for my process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWCG1SOJxOo


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

My sandbags look pretty sad in comparison to yours. I think I need to step up the general size of them so the get up above the waist. Not that they don't still give you a cover save for being 25% obscured of course. Here's a pic of what I got up to:













From the front a lot more of the model is obscured. I also just straight up used the handle on my knife to do the imprinting.


----------



## alex_mac47 (May 3, 2009)

ntaw said:


> My sandbags look pretty sad in comparison to yours. I think I need to step up the general size of them so the get up above the waist. Not that they don't still give you a cover save for being 25% obscured of course. Here's a pic of what I got up to:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That looks good man and it is a really awesome idea to use the handle for the imprinting - I will use that next time! Something I found that also added to the final product was laying them closely together. Real sandbags only work if there are no gaps! The size and shape of your bags is great! I reckon if you keep adding (noting they already give the CS you want) and pack them in a little tighter you will probably be happier with the end result!


----------



## alex_mac47 (May 3, 2009)

Greetings,

I have been working on a number of bigger pieces over the past few months. These are designed as larger centrepieces for my table but fit into the Corona theme for my army (see separate blogs).

*Lessons:*

I found in these builds that the GW kits are not designed for large builds - floor tiles are not a standard size, the individual GW wall pannels do not align well when put through multiple 90deg turns and even floor to floor, the tiles do not align neatly.
Plastic card is your friend
Design the whole building and then build the bits you want to play with
Using old sprue frames to support floors makes big pieces MUCH easier to build

I played a lot more with plastic card on this build to offset the 'standard' options, whilst not making it noticeably different to the kit. It also made substitution of large floor areas cheaper without just destroying them all. I covered these differences but adding small details from other GW pieces to tie in the new panels without changing the overall look.

*ADMINISTRATUM*
Here is my multi story ADMINISTRATUM. The goal was to make a tall piece of terrain with plenty of space for miniatures to fight from. Battle damage was thematically designed to save on GW kit pieces, whilst still showing the shape of the building as it would have been in its original form. I am tempted to make a second piece that caps the 'other end' of the building and make it a separate but equally impressive piece. We shall see how this one turns out...

Early stages:








Note the use of sprue frames to support the floor.

Coming together:

















Final stage:

















*MANUFACTORUM*
This was an interesting build which I sadly did not take progress pics of. There is more to come (eg: a mezzanine roof over the maintenance track) and the internal MANUFACTORUM equipment (eg: a LRBT armour cutter) but for now you can see the gist of what I am trying to achieve.

Main building:









Crane mechanism:
I have placed plactic card I beams as runners for a crane mechanism. To get the crane to be able to run sideways I have used a simple system to ensure there is still a full range of movement without making it complex or fragile.









Press-moulding of door reliefs:
These will be added to the top insets on the main doors.


----------



## ntaw (Jul 20, 2012)

Awesome to see you're back at posting this terrain glory. Keep up the good work pal, the buildings look great!


----------

