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Author Topic: A terrain board  (Read 1793 times)

Offline Charlie_

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A terrain board
« on: June 04, 2018, 08:35:12 PM »
I built a new terrain board over the weekend.

I built lots of boards (my first ever) last summer, which was a learning process. Currently they are mostly just plain or with roads, plus a few experiments with sunken features (ditches and some broken ground). This summer I'm going to make lots more, and am going for more adventurous pieces (rivers being the big one of course). Also I'm thinking long and hard about what sort of features I'll be doing and how they will connect.



Anyway, this is the first new one. I decided I wanted to try a board with integrated fences and bushes, which are normally separate pieces. The advantage being added realism, the disadvantage being less modularity. But I've carefully planned it and how it will link up with future boards (currently it will only be able to sit in the corner of the table, but future boards will give me more options).



But what about storage?

All my 60x60cm boards are stored in a little stack in the corner of the room, like so. (There are also 4 60x120cm ones that live under the bed). They are all flat, so stack nicely. Obviously this one won't stack unless it sits on the top....



Here's the solution - a 'hat' consisting of a spare MDF board with blocks of blue foam (the board was water-damaged and the foam were off-cuts).



This is put on top, and now it can be placed in the stack. It works well, and means I will be confident to make more boards with raised features and not have to worry about storage.



Was it worth it to have the bushes and fence built in, with the added storage hassle this entails? Individually, I'd say no.... but having both on one board justifies it I think. Especially with these shrubs (from the Model Tree Shop) - they wouldn't look so good on separate bases.



Though the clump foliage style bushes can obviously just be put down without a base.

In this pic you can see the built-in fence and some separate fence sections. They look fine together.



I don't think I'm gonna rush and make loads more with built in features like this. But I'm sure some of my future boards will have bushes and shrubs attached for added realism, and my storage solution will allow me to do this.



I'm pleased with how it came out. Next on the list is a boring flat board with a winding path to connect to this one, and then it's time to have a go at some rivers!!!


Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #1 on: June 04, 2018, 08:46:11 PM »
I'd say that was a success  8)

Have you thought about stacking/storing them on their sides. Might solve a problem of wanting a board that's at the bottom of the pile?
cheers

James

https://www.oshiromodels.co.uk/

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http://redplanetminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/
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Offline Charlie_

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2018, 04:41:41 PM »
I'd say that was a success  8)

Have you thought about stacking/storing them on their sides. Might solve a problem of wanting a board that's at the bottom of the pile?

Ah but then they will take up much more room, or at least they will when I get more done! Stacked like this, they will keep the same footprint and just get taller over time.

And if I need a board right at the bottom and have to move them all to get to it... oh well, it's not as if I'm setting up the table every weekend! Once every few months more likely.

Offline OSHIROmodels

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2018, 04:54:09 PM »
 lol Fair enough  :)

How many do you have planned?

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2018, 06:14:16 PM »
Looks good Charlie. I’ve used the same system of chocks to stack my high relief desert boards  :)

Offline traveller

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #5 on: June 05, 2018, 07:34:13 PM »
Neat solution! Storage of terrain is a constant problem  >:(

Offline Codsticker

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2018, 02:15:30 AM »
I love the look. If I ever get away from building small fixed tables this is what I would do.

Offline Silent Invader

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2018, 06:57:12 AM »
That’s a great tile Charli  8)
My LAF Gallery is HERE
Minis (foot & mounted) finished in 2024 = 0
(2023 = 151; 2022 = 204; 2021 = 123; 2020 = ???)

Offline Lost Egg

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2018, 07:23:13 AM »
Looks great, a characterful piece of land you got there.
My current project...Classic Wargame - An experiment in 24" of wargaming!

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=140633.new#new

Offline Charlie_

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2018, 08:16:35 PM »
How many do you have planned?

No idea!

I currently have 10 square (60x60cm) ones, 4 of which are plain, plus a few roads with some ditches and a few experiments with sunken features. Some of them I'm going to go back to and improve - plane the edges level and perfectly square, re-flock certain areas etc.
I also have 4 double-size (120x60cm) ones. Two plain, and two with roads (one long straight, one long curve with a small path coming off). I've had warping trouble with them, which I posted about a while back (and you gave me some good tips yourself!), which I've now sort of remedied so I'm happy with them. But I'm not going to do any more doubles, as the warping dilemma is too much of a headache, and more importantly I haven't really got any more storage space for them.

I don't know how many I will eventually, but next on my to-do list is...

1 - A curved path to link with this one, and to the aforementioned double board with the path coming off the road.
2 - Two stream sections, one curved and with a ford to cross with a road. Shallow water but steep banks.
3 - Another field to link up with this one, or be separate.

Beyond that I will do more steams and one day a larger river, and I've had all sorts of other ideas involving ditches, wetland, water-logged fields and such.... So the stack in the corner of my room is going to keep getting taller!

Offline Vanvlak

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #10 on: June 07, 2018, 06:35:19 AM »
Nice, and good idea for storage. I'm working on some similar boards, in 15mm scale however.
Looking forward to see more.  8)

Offline Hu Rhu

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Re: A terrain board
« Reply #11 on: June 09, 2018, 07:38:13 PM »
Excellent work on that tile.  I have to say I favour the vertical storage, since most of my tiles have terrain features on them. Agreed that it takes up a little more room but you can always use a simple shelving unit from Ikea to store them in vertical sections.