Buy or Make Terrain?

[Mr. White]

Companies making and selling terrain have given us more options than ever before, but are there still some of us that make our own terrain? Is that still a cheaper method? I'm not really counting 3d printed stuff, but more hand-made like in the 80s and 90s. Is anyone still making hills, rivers, and bridges?

A second question, are there specific types of terrain that seem better to just make and other better to just buy? This could be due to simplicity/complexity, cost, whatever. Which way to do roll with terrain?

[Elbows]

The answer to your question is: yes.

I do not make terrain "for fun".  It's not something I particularly enjoy, though I do get the little bit of satisfaction when completing something.  I make whatever I can't buy reasonably, or something that it is so simple...why not build it, etc.

Hills: upholstery foam, homemade.
Fences: easy to make, don't bother paying for them normally.
Trees: Built off Woodland Scenics armatures...definitely could never be bothered to make trees.
15mm Hayfields: how hard is it to cut up some door mats?
15mm wooden bridges: I have a saw and bits of wood, and I wanted a bridge for a game today (so I built one yesterday).
etc.

However, if I can buy a quality MDF building for $25-30?  Hell yeah I'm going to do that.  I don't have a workshop.  I barely have reasonable tools to make stuff - some people have 3D printers and an entire shop in their garage, or they do a job which means they have a bevvy of tools.  I do not.  My 4Ground Old West buildings far exceed anything I could do...and take very little time to assemble.  Same with my Dwarven Forge dungeon stuff.  I could not fathom trying to build that much dungeon terrain, etc.

PS: One thing I do really enjoy making is completely illogical Mordheim-style ruins and walkways...I do enjoy that.

[joroas]

Lots of companies like Last Valley making decent scenery for less than you could do it yourself.....

[BZ]

Untill now, I bulit everything: stone wall, fence, tower, Fachwerk house, tree, bush, swamp, hill, gaming table. Its the cheapest option and i enjoy it, altough its really time consuming.
But now, i bought a neoprene gaming mat (i dont want to grass a 6x4 table, and so i will have more options), and some mdf gantries (its pretty cheap, and all the flimsy handrails and beams would take too long time).
As I see, making fantasy terrain is easier then sci-fi (except some orcish things), because unregularity (what is more or less part of handcrafting) is there a feature and here a bug.
In my opinion basically, if you have time and mood for it, bulid it, if not, buy it.

[Harry Faversham]

I do both to be fair. Kind of mix it up a bit when I get fed up with painting figures.

[Rick F]

I generally make mine, if they're basic buildings. I don't object to buying stuff, but normally only if it's beyond my basic skills. Here's one of my Afghan villages made from balsa and wood filler.

[has.been]

I will buy, on occasion. I, too, will build. Various reasons:-
MDF/Resin etc might be too expensive, or repetitive (I can't stand all the town having
exactly the same bit of exposed brick), or too neat (also can't stand a building that
should be 'crumbly' but looks ironed & starched), or no company makes what I want.

[FierceKitty]

Buy, if it's available. I know my limitations, and there are experts out there whose products are far more attractive than mine. I'll make things if they aren't available commercially, or if I see potential for conversion (my Chinese pagoda was a frightful paperweight once, for example), and I have made many of my own trees, since I dislike flocking on wire (sheds worse than a Persian cat), but generally I'm happy to draw on the talents of commercial makers.

[tomrommel1]

It depends on availability of time or funds. Normally I like building terrain. I have terrain tiles from TSS. The old polystyrene squares. As I am from Germany it is very difficult to get these. Postage is quite high. So I got myself a polystyrene cutter and started doing my own. So rivers, hills, gullies, undulating terrain are all possible. I sometimes buy MDF buildings. Most recently I acquired a 3D printer and now I combine printed parts with scratchbuild pieces to get the stuff I want.

[Ockius]

I find it can be really satisfying making it, but I’m not very skilled at anything requiring precision or measuring so I wouldn’t tackle complex buildings.

I have done Celtic roundhouses, which are easy (old whiskey bottle tube, card cone roof, teddy bear fur thatch, poly filla daub walls), armature trees - big gnarly oaks, and a stone circle made of old corks.

I was really impressed by the effect you could get from this pond by Charlie Foxtrot Models - they sell an MDF base with shaped plastic insert, and do a guide on how to make a pond. The result is easy and effective!

Other than that I enjoy buying resin buildings and just painting them up.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I do both.

I have build MDF houses and bridges from Sarissa Precision and Terrains4games.
I also have some plastic ruined houses from Warlord and from Games Workshop's Lord of the Rings range.
I also have a set of games workshop hills.

But I also have other houses made from cigar boxes and walls made from XPS foam.
I tend to buy trees and palm trees and plastic plants but mount them on bases that I make.
I have some aquarium deco pieces that have been repainted as a Chinese temple and a Buddha statue
I have made my own rivers and roads.
I have made my own terrain mats including one from teddy bear fur etc.

[gamer Mac]

I have never bought terrain I save my money to buy the things I can't make figures, vehicles  and guns etc
I think with a bit of time you can build almost anything your self
With practice your stuff will get as good as anything you could buy
Also building up a good set of modelling tools, helps a lot

[Patrice]

Both... it depends. But I'm still making most of it.

I'm still making some houses (although I never finish them as well as I should) and recently I also bought some MDF houses but I intend to modify them.

For most things which include wood or stone I make them myself... with real wood or stone (with a light paint wash on them) so I can feel the real thing.

I also make my own Breton fields with their earthen banks and hedges (I would't find what I want on the market).

[Wyrmalla]

I'd tend to go for making it. For most stuff its miles cheaper than buying ready made kits. For instance large buildings can cost £50 and upwards, whilst the raw materials may set you back £10.

Its the smaller detail pieces and furniture which I wouldn't make myself. Things like vents, appliances, beds, etc. You can get away with making buildings from scratch as they tend to have lots of low detail areas - so you could well make a whole building in the time it would take to build a decent looking bed.

Other than making wrecked vehicles, I don't believe that I've sent more than £20 on a ready made kit. Raw materials can be used for so many things too, so its handy to have them for all sorts of projects.


Edit: Oh and its important to consider that there's all sorts of things out there that you can't buy kits of. So having the skills to make these yourself is great. Even with ready made kits I'd say that you'd want to put extra effort in adding more detail. To me a kit's just a starting point, and in which case unless the kit's fairly cheap, I'd consider if the added cost of buying the kit is worth it compared to spending extra time building it from scratch.

And of course there's always the bits of terrain which are simple enough to make that they don't really warrant buying them ready made. Unless of course someone's built one from scratch and is selling it on. For instance I made a wooden dummy Flak 88 for my WWII Germans today. The thing deliberately looks like crap. If a company were to make one of those in resin they'd charge the same price as for a real Flak 88. Whereas I made mine out of just off cuts of balsa.

[Braz]

Definitely a builder.
I find it quite enjoyable and relaxing and I really enjoy the designing aspect of it. It's Zen for me. The main thing is you get your vision of the terrain you want and satisfaction from having made something.

There are lots of wonderful pieces out there(used for inspiration) but still mostly building them myself. For purchases it's been mostly small accent pieces and detailing, furniture, barrels and diecast vehicles. And regular trees which I just never did; lots of inexpensive options available there.

Still building stuff but now I'm supplementing with 3D printing.