Zoggin' Terrain (zoggin-eck makes Fantasy and 40k terrain)

[Caiphas Cain]

Nice piece. The rusted metal turned out well.

[zoggin-eck]

Nice piece. The rusted metal turned out well.

(Very late reply!)

Thanks! The rust is one of those few examples where I've followed a GW article to the letter, and I was happy with the results. Perhaps I should take advice more often Also, it became one of those new techniques where you add it to just about every new model you paint, just because it's fun and new! (Oddly, I'd rarely painted rust before, other than using washes for undead/nurgle models, and then it just looked dirty or stained.

Speaking of taking advice, my good lady suggested lightening the skin on the rat a bit, since our own pets skin is so light, which I think looks better, even if I thought dirty, muddy rats made sense.



He's now glued properly on the graveyard.

[zoggin-eck]

OK, so I went to the hardware store the other day and left with a swag of plumbing and conduit fittings to make some Necromunda style terrain









I took the knife to these to rough them up a bit. I will add some smaller features like smaller pipes, wires and 40k bits to keep them in scale. This lot is pretty much a go at trying out some new paints and practice painting different metals, rusted steel and copper. Not the best, but it needs to be fairly quick with the amound I plan to paint up.

[zoggin-eck]

Some time ago I bought some Woodland Scenics tree armatures, but never got around to making them up (OK, I did one) as it's such a chore adding lichen/foliage to them. I decided to just do them up fairly bare and mix them with my existing trees, with clumps of low bushes to blend them in a bit. To be honest, I quite like this look, almost like regrowth after winter or even a bushfire. And, well, plenty of trees in forests where I live have scraggly, leafless branches poking out the canopy, so it look more realistic than using nothing but perfect railroad trees like I used to anyway.







Very quick to produce, I'll finally have a forest worthy of my Wood Elves (or for my greenskins to chop down )

[Tjarls]

Glad to see that you're updating again!

Whatever happened to your zone mortalis board?

[Daniel36]

This log is an inspiration. Very inspirational!
The walls are my fave. You say they are so easy to make, and I believe you, but you need to get that idea! Thanks for providing us with that.

[Lord Darius]

I love your smithy, but for now I can't wait to see what you come up with on the Necromunda front. Get to building!!!

[zoggin-eck]

Glad to see that you're updating again!

Whatever happened to your zone mortalis board?

Thanks mate! Bit of a gap, but I'm right into the hobby again. Zone Mortalis? Hmm, one of my many "never finish" projects I really do want to try it properly, but my Tyranid themed set ran out of steam as I got a bit bored with Tyranids for a while. Maybe I'll add to it again, but I'd like to do a more generic starship/underground setup, perhaps making it more useful as I could play Necromunda scenarios as well.

This log is an inspiration. Very inspirational!
The walls are my fave. You say they are so easy to make, and I believe you, but you need to get that idea! Thanks for providing us with that.

Kind words I'm really happy with the walls, too, and some hard cover will make a nice change, as I've usually played games with hedges (so soft cover). The idea is key, as you say. I often look at other people's photos and think "that's so easy, why didn't I think of that?" or sometimes just "I could do that, too" but then I actually have to get around to doing it myself.

I love your smithy, but for now I can't wait to see what you come up with on the Necromunda front. Get to building!!!

Haha, I just might have to! I have loads of pieces for Necromunda terrain to make. Nothing new, but I did take a photo of my current "test model" alongside the stuff I've painted so far:

[zoggin-eck]

So, here's the simple way I designate areas of trees. I wanted a base that would be easy for models and units to move over, as I've always found painted sand and bases with rocks etc. a bit rough to use, plus I hate chipping paint etc. I've made some simple ones with a piece of brown felt with the odd patch of static grass and foliage. Once trees are on it, it looks good enough. Ranked units can be easily placed without wrecking anything, just be sure to stick the flock down well (I used cheapo brand hair spray after the glue dried).

I did a small test using felt painted black, then drybrushed in different browns (exactly the same as the tree bases) and it looked ace. I may do it for all of them, if I can be bothered.





Actually, the whole "light sand with clumps of grass" look these bases give makes it look a lot like the game displays I've seen in historical wargaming, more than Warhammer. I think the fact that they are so sparse makes them look OK with green trees, as seen here, or with dead trees, which I'd love to make for some Tomb Kings terrain.

[DJ_Bucho]

Mate what steps (and colours did you use to get the wood effect on these gates? I'm trying to paint some pallets and wood piles and I'm after a light wood much like your lighter planks on your gate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
P.S. loving the terrain by the way, it all looks great and I'll be stealing your wall design for myself

[zoggin-eck]

Mate what steps (and colours did you use to get the wood effect on these gates? I'm trying to paint some pallets and wood piles and I'm after a light wood much like your lighter planks on your gate. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.
P.S. loving the terrain by the way, it all looks great and I'll be stealing your wall design for myself

Nothing too fancy, just lots of drybrushing, so get out those crummy, older brushes you thought were useless For timber, I generally undercoat black, then use two or three stages of drybrushing. A dark brown is heavily drybrushed first, with a mid brown over the top. For the lighter panels I used for variation, I used a bone drybrush over the top. If the black still showing isn't something you like, make sure the first colour completely covers (which is what I did for the yellow/bone plastered walls, which is just Iyanden Darksun drybrused Bleached Bone). This is pretty much my approach to many things. Leather and pouches, for example, I use basically the same colours, but layer them on.

In answer to your question, I had a go at painting a stick I was using to apply glue/mix paint (not sure why, I usually use the end of a paintbrush).



The pic below shows the paints I used for the terrain, and their rough citadel and p3 equivalents. Taking a look, this set of paints gives a different effect to the timber shown on the house in my first post and the wooden fences, which used Bubonic Brown as a mid colour.



If you make some walls yourself, I'd love to see them!

[zoggin-eck]

Yay, since a few people seem interested, I took a few shots of my terrain all set up. Next proper game I play, I'll take some photos then, too. On my gaming table, without all the paint pots and other junk in the way, I think it looks nice enough I plan on having a few themes/locations in mind as far as my terrain collection goes, with a few elements able to be mixed with others.

[pointyteeth]

Wow, that is some fantastic scenery! Consider me subscribed (and possibly stealing ideas :P)

[Tjarls]

I love how you both dare and pull off the use of vibrant colors

[zoggin-eck]

Wow, that is some fantastic scenery! Consider me subscribed (and possibly stealing ideas :P)

Thanks mate, steal away, I always do

I love how you both dare and pull off the use of vibrant colors

Haha, thanks very much. Vibrant colours might be a habit of mine, since I'm an animator, I'm used to using bright colours! The same goes for my models, I think.

[zoggin-eck]

Anyway, I'm lucky enough to now dedicate a room to my hobbies. And with that, I decided I needed a proper games table.

I didn't want a permanent setup, so it needed to be able to be put away easily, and the usual 6x4 foot sheet is a bit too awkward for me to move around in such a small room, so I went for four sheets, totaling 6x4 foot (OK, a bit under, since we've evolved totally to the metric system ). I'd love 8x4, but there's not quite enough room. I'm already having to remove furniture as it is!



The sheets are 120cm x 45cm. I could have gone for 120cmx60cm or 120cmx90cm, but I find this size easier to store when not in use. Four sheets laid across a folding table fits well. There is a small bit of overhang, but there shouldn't be and warping since they will be stored flat most of the time. That's the plan, anyway. I used 12mm particle board, which seems a good compromise between strength and weight. I probably could have used 16mm, but 12mm seems to be fine so far. If the boards warp terribly over the next year or two, it doesn't matter since this is just a quick, cheap setup anyway. By then, I may have a better idea for a board anyway. Maybe even a new place with a larger games room and space for a bigger, more permanent and sturdier setup. I can dream, my miniatures addiction prevents me/us from saving up enough



In this photo, you can see some pencil marks where I've mapped out where a river will go. The other side is left the tan colour.

I painted them a neutral tan colour, a shade or so below the felt I'm using for tree and swamp bases. One sample pot of 500ml was enough to give two coats on each side. I went over with two coats of clear polyurethane, water based, as I was doing this indoors. I still had the windows/doors open and exhaust fans running, though! I could only find a satin finish in the brand I wanted to use, which was too shiny still, so I went over with a matte finish water based polyurethane, which looks great. I used the clear to seal the edges of the board, as well. All of this will hopefully stop moisture, the bane of particle board, from affecting it and warping it. The plan is that this colour will look decent with my usual brown miniature bases. It should also look OK with all my different terrain setups (both existing and planned). Brown/tan suits my woodland Empire/High Elf/Loren setup, desert/Khemri, swamp/Albion, dead/wasteland and so on. My Lustria and underground/Skaven lair ideas involve plonking down so much terrain you will barely see the table anyway! A lighter colour also seems to make terrain features and models "pop" in my eyes. I find dark tables look great in photos, but at a distance models blend in a bit (just preference, I have perfect eyesight if you're concerned!). A proper "realistic" board with textured surface and integrated terrain features may turn up one day, perhaps on a smaller scale for skirmish games. On the subject of textured surfaces, I could have used textured paint or very fine render paint, but I much prefer being able to push regiments neatly across a board (since I mostly play fantasy). Textured looks great, but I still have bad memories of how scratchy the sand textured finish was! (Looked good, though).

[zoggin-eck]

On the reverse side, I decided to paint a river. Rivers are one piece of terrain I've struggled with over the years, never finishing them! I find detailed rivers look great but can be annoying in fantasy, sitting up high enough to make placing a unit half-way across awkward, with a reluctance to damage your new terrain piece Just as I've made my tree bases easy to place full units on/within, in order to encourage their use, I decided a less impressive looking painted river would get more play time than a pretty river section sitting on my shelf. Quick and easy to make, I'll give it a coat of gloss varnish to make it look wet.









Next up are some bridges. I plan on making two smaller ones that can be joined to make one larger (wider) one for different scenarios. I'll also make the swamp terrain/river edge pieces which can be grouped together on a base for swampland, or scattered around the edges of the river, giving it a little more realistic look.

[Nytelj]

Subscribed Mate, to all three of your threads

the terrain looks great, as do your mini's.

[zoggin-eck]

Subscribed Mate, to all three of your threads

the terrain looks great, as do your mini's.

Haha, a late thanks

[zoggin-eck]

OK, who's ever looked at the "Heroscape" tiles and wondered what they look like painted, rather than left that ugly plastic?



Well, beyond one nice Battletech board made from them, I couldn't find any photos other than a few with green flock just glued on, so I tried some out myself Hope you like.



Predictably, these will form a new campaign map. I'd love some of the Mighty Empires plastic tiles (Well, more than the two that once came with White Dwarf anyway), but can't really justify getting the set. Plus, I want to do all sorts of tiles, so would need multiples. These are more than good enough for now. Can't wait to do more!