The Tale of Terrain Builders 2012 – Month 4: April show off and May WIP

[Little Joe]

The Tale of Terrain Builders 2012 – Month 4: April show off and May WIP

What is it all about?
The aim of The Tale of Terrain Builders is to help motivate those involved to finish scenery for their gaming boards. We accept anything related to scenery building.

How does it work?
During the first week of a month you post your finished terrain in the appropriate thread. The remainder of the month is for posting WIP pictures of what you are building and to comment on the work of other participants. You shall receive feedback on your terrain in return and can ask questions, see many different interesting ideas and help/be helped by others with tutorials and advice.

What do I have to do?
Because not everyone can spare the same amount of time for various reasons, there are different levels of commitment. The standard level of commitment (Mens) is to create a single, reasonably sized piece of terrain per month. The lesser level of commitment (Boys) requires the completion of a piece of terrain every other month, but with the commitment to show progress each month! As a Noob you just need to show one piece of terrain you just finished.
A single piece of scenery at least the size of a hill or building will be considered one piece. A barricade, tree, rock spire or similar terrain can be entered in threes to count as one piece of scenery. I made a picture for a quick overview:



If in doubt, terrain that covers a diameter of roughly 6” is what we are going for, but this is a loose definition. Since the aim is to fill your board with terrain the rules are somewhat lenient.
A note on building whole Tables and Dioramas: simply break it down in monthly amounts of work for the level of commitment you entered in and we are happy to tell you what we think of it.
Just build and have fun and everything should be OK!

Can I have a break?
Because people have real lives: “yes you can!” You get one 'Joker', to use for a month you want to skip. During the Tale you can ‘play a joker’ by posting an appropriate picture and an explanation if you like. You should still comment if you have the time.
So for five months you have to come up with a piece of completed scenery or WIP pictures. That sounds easy but the first tale proves it is not.

In six months we will all end up with some nice terrain for gaming, and hopefully have learned a few tricks on the way, which is awesome!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q : How do I join the Tale of Terrain Builders 2012?
A : You should join us right now! Just post in this thread and you are in, please state if you want to be a Noob, a Boy or a Man.

Q : Can I build more than one piece per month?
A : Yes, you can build as much as you like. The maximum you can enter is two pieces a month and they will be awarded as such. We aim to have fun as a group and to help each other as much as get things done ourselves.

Q : What happens if I build a GIGANTIC piece of scenery?
A : If you create a truly epic piece of scenery, we want to see it. We also want to see how it is done so you use months of WIP up to the finishing post and it will be accounted for the epic piece it is that way.

Q : Can I include a short narrative with each months post.
A : Yes, we love background stuff! Write as much as you like, we will read it and rejoice. It might also help to put the piece of scenery in perspective.

[Little Joe]

The participants in this tale:



WIP is for work in progress.
bigWip is for work in progress that counts as a full months work (Mens) or two for Boys
done is for finished pieces. This counts for two months work for Boys
done (+1) counts for two full months for Mens (4! for Boys)
Joker is a joker and J's are for default (not requested) jokers.

My aim is to update this post once a month after a week. Anything will be recorded of course, but to get the change shown that month, you must enter the pictures in the first week.

[DarkLordBelial]

Will get my Entry for April Posted in the morning. Just need to edit the pics.

[Xazil]

Looks like I will be a joker this month . Too much to do and not enough time building. Have made some progress on my ruined tower so will end up posting it next month if nothing else.

[DAGabriel]

Sorry guys, I fear I have to drop out. Came out of a holiday with an inflammation of the eye which put me down 3 weeks and now have to catch up with a lot of work in the job.
Don`t see how I could press in the hours for painting in the next two months even if my eyes get better quick enough. Will try to stay in the ToFP, but that is about all i hope to manage.

[DarkLordBelial]

April : Hot Wire Foam Cutter.

As I mentioned in the April WIP thread - instead of a specific piece of scenery this month was spent putting together my home made foam cutter. I'd been meaning to do this for a while and finally got round to it after wanting to do a specific piece of scenery (more on that next month) but no easy method to cut the foam.

All of this was manufactured from stuff I had lying around the house apart from the wire itself which I'd bought a few months ago. I used this stuff:

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/s...ment-wire.html

I could have bought a whole reel of it from a specialist supplier, but decided to prove the concept before I did that. I promised to do a little tutorial so on with the show:



Step 1: I used some left over 3mm Hardboard I had lying around and drew out the rough shape of the cutter I wanted. You don't need to be super precise here, but make sure you leave a sensible gap where the wire will go so that you are not too restricted in the width of foam you can cut. I then used a jigsaw to cut out the shape, and sanded the edges to make them smooth.

Step 2: Next step was to collect all the equipment I would be using. This included the wire, some connecting wire (I just used single strand bell wire) The hot glue gun and most importantly the power supply. I'm sure there is some fancy way of working out the type of power supply you need but I just grabbed an old powered usb hub I had and was prepared to add a few electronics to step the current down if needed. In the end i didn't need to and it worked perfectly. For reference the power supply was rated at 7.5V and 2.1A.

Step 3: I could have just cut off the plug on the power supply and wired the unit directly in, but decided to utilise the socket in the hub to make things tidier. Also meant I could store the final tool neater.

Step 4: I used a soldering iron to remove the solder around the three connections on the socket that held it to the PCB. This was probably the hardest part and it took a fair bit of care to ensure the socket came away undamaged.

Step 5: Once the socket was free I used the multimeter to check which of the pins gave power and simply soldered a length of wire to them. The socket was then glued to the wooded frame. I realised after I fit the socket that the shroud of the plug made it difficult to insert in to the hole, so I cut away some of the wood to make an easier connection. This 'mistake' actually worked in my favour as it meant the plug did not sit proud of the handle and gave it a small amount of protection.

Step 6: Next I used an old switch I had in my bits box and soldered it in line.

Step 7: - No Step 7!

Step 8: finally I led the wires up to two screws I fixed at the top of the arms and soldered them in place.

Finally I placed the cutting wire across the gap and attached it to the back of the screws by twisting it around a few times. I plugged it in and switched on, waiting for the whole thing to go up in smoke. Thankfully I didn't. instead the cutting wire heated up nicely and a quick test run through so scrap foam worked beautifully!

Come back in May to see the tool in action on my next piece of scenery!

[Little Joe]

Little Joe: Mens

THIS MONTH:
I do not think I came ever this close to the deadline, I was working on the pictures 10 minutes before midnight:








HIGHS AND LOWS:
Highs: Well getting something done of course and with my touch of humour.
Lows: The spikes, oh the spikes. Painting this was a nightmare. Hard to reach places all over and to much surface as usual. But above all the spikes…

NEXT MONTH:
Not much left to chose from, probably the big rock.

[N810]

Almost finished the job on the bridge.
(more WIPs in my terrain blog)

[Xazil]

Inspired by everyones work, I have put couple of evenings into finishing off this months build. Hopefully Little Joe you will accept this late submission of the ruined tower.

Details: Cast in dark tinted hirst arts blocks, with a few coats of lighter greys painted on then a flocked base and into cracks in the structure.

[Little Joe]

@DAGabriel: I am truly sorry to hear that, we will miss your scenery pictures. But eyesight is of course more important, so get better soon.

@DarkLordBelial: That looks quite interesting. Good idea to just use an old power supply and the connector. Output would be written on the voltage booster, right?
Does the thickness of the wire have any influence concerning safety or would it just lower the output in the cutting part?
It looks like we are in for a great show next month, when you swash your new tool.

@N810 I strongly recommend to follow the link in your signature and watch the little helpers put it all together while you just swing a camera in the right direction. A great bridge, that fits really well with your terrain. The carvings make it stand out even more and the rope is like icing on the cake. It just looks so much better afterwards. But would not do so if not well executed beforehand, so job well done.

@Xazil: Such is the business of this Tale. I would have never finished anything this month without the absolute wish for freedom during the last month. It looks great, huge and well suited for skirmish games as well as large battles. Of course it will count, I am not that enforcing. This is about fun and the pleasure getting things done.

@Rikk: The list is updated, but I kept a spot free for you to claim the mark this month as well.

@Boys & all: I will send a reminder PM, there is always Noob level and basically anyone can post anything related anytime.

[Rikk]

Hi all,

First off, thanks LittleJoe, I've not had much time lately to do much painting at all, I'm 95% through the woods, small details to wood sticking through leaves and some bits to do on base and it's done, which I should get done this weekend.
I'll also be picking up, either another citadel woods or deathknell watch tomorrow and will make sure I get stuck into it this weekend (Unless weather is good in which I really need to finish putting up a greenhouse).

Here's my woods anyway

[Rikk]

Ok comments time for me, doing this quickly as early start tomorrow means I'm off to bed, so;

DarkLordBelial - Really like the effort you've put into that cutter, I so could not get that much motivation together, it's really nice to see it coming along and looking forward to see what you make using it

Little Joe - That is a great woods, really like the extra detail you've gone into to add the squig, snotlings, shrooms, etc

N810 - I know the water under the bridge isn't from this months work, but it really is stunning, most impressed with the misty steamy look it's got under the bridge, really makes it feel like a jungle theme.
The bridge is also awesome, v well suited to the theme with the rope particulaly good to me

Xazil - I really would like to get hold of some of that Hirst art blocks, I get very nervous about trying to make scenery myself, and think this would be a really good way to get used to making things, etc.
Great looking ruin, the base of it and moss around the ruin really ties in well with your game board which is under the ruins.
Can I ask how you find putting the blocks together and how much time it takes you?

[Little Joe]

@Rikk: Nice woods, I really like the colour combination you used there. The basing looks really good and the best part must be I haven't seen a skull on the whole piece. I will update the second post later on today.

Going through the thread again got me thinking, maybe I should add some of the cotton and small flock N810 has used on his tree to mine. And use a combination of the colours from Rikk's woods (brighten up the branch ends a bit and redish green ooze). The leafless tree has a few mould lines I would very much like to hide but looks better bare so I would like to keep it that way as much as possible. Well that would be for month 6 anyhow. I plan to "update some terrain then.

[Xazil]

DAGabriel - Sorry to hear, hopefully we will see you back after healing up.

DarkLordBelial - Love the hotwire cutter, makes the couple of old battery powered ones I have laying around look very sad. Great idea that I might have to steal.

Little Joe - Nice forest with a lot of extra details and good variety of trees. Basically a mini-diorama. Great greenskin touchs.

N810 - Love the practical nature of the bridge, the ropes and planks. Very nice detailing and it evokes a great feeling of setting.

Rikk - Great colouring on those trees, I think it is one of the best results from the tree kit I have seen. I like how muted down the base a little so that its not stealing the lime light from the trees.

The Hirst arts bricks are dead easy to assemble, you just use PVA (white glue) which gives you a 5 minute or so cure time to nudge peices around. There are guides on kits from the main site if you want to use it, but really you can have a huge pile of bricks and just dry assemble them for look then redo it with glue if you are happy. One tip on assembling that is the opposite of the Hirst site is to assemble upside down if you are worried. The plaster is sandable and as you assemble each layer you can sand the bottom smooth to make that layer even as there isnt any detail on the bottom. Although to be honest I build up and if there is gaps, let them be there and fill them with flock after painting to give vines.

If you are worried about casting them which is a whole long process itself you can buy the blocks precast and you just assemble them like they were a lego kit.

Next month will be my build guide which I'll go a bit further into the blocks amongst other things.

[Rikk]

Thanks all for the comments.
Here's my WIP for this month (Bought it yesterday)

Couldn't resist putting in the skulls from Little Joe s comments
Reason I went for another set of woods, is that I know I can get it finished in 2 weeks and that I really did not like the skulls on the deathknell watch kit
I'm considering getting the GW fortified manor kit, as will give me lots of options and almost give me a complete set of terrain for a board, then just a hill and I'm done.
Though I am seriously considering pre-cast Hirst art bricks to make a bridge, tower, ruins, etc (If I do this, then no fortified manor)

[Little Joe]

@Rikk: Too many skulls . Always good to have doubles, and it will look good in the group shot at the end of the tale.

@Xazil: Thanks.

And the last minute WIP for this month, I will finish the big floating rock:





I made two light shafts, added paper for strength, sand, stones and not seen here already applied one layer of grey. I will give it two sprays of other greys later on and finish the brown for the sand.

Tomorrow I will have to finish painting, start with the water and bushes and grasses. And finishing touches on monday and Tuesday. Easy peasy to finish in time.

[DarkLordBelial]

Rikk, that wood looks beautiful!

This months WIP from me is the beginnings of large rocky outcrop that I wanted to build for a specific scenario I had in mind - also gives me a chance to try out the hot foam cutter I made last month.

Starting with the base, cut out of hardboard.



Cut a piece of foam large enough for the base and marked out the rough outline



Went to work with the cutter and made some random chops to give me the basic shape.



Glued to the base and ready to undercoat



Undercoated and now adding the sand to represent the earth

[Little Joe]

@DarkLordBelial: Nice!

After about two hours of brushing, stippling and cursing the painting is done. In the second picture you can see the model that inspired this piece of terrain. The big faces are ghosts from the past. I wanted to show some of the weathered detail before covering it partially with bushes. Quite happy, here are the results:











I had a good idea for a skirmish board, actually two. I will make some more technical drawings and share them next month. Next up adding some green and stuff.