Quite a big terrain project (FINISHED! - 3rd October)...

[dodge]

oh yes thats fantastic, excellent

how much did those trees set you back? if you don't mind me asking

oh and where did ye get them 

dodge

[Captain Blood]

Thanks all.
I'm quite looking forward to getting the thing finished myself now! 

How did you manage to bulk out the foliage as my first look gave the impression they wouldnt take that much scatter stuff.

Luckily I already had a couple of packs of 'clump foliage' in the right colours in the cupboard, so I just tore it up and super-glued pieces on where there were obvious gaps 

how much did those trees set you back? if you don't mind me asking

oh and where did ye get them 

They come from model railway suppliers - you can buy them online. Look for Woodland Scenics 'value packs' of deciduous trees - you get different quantities depending on the size of the trees. About £20 GBP per pack. That's a pack of small and a pack of medium I'm using - so about 40 quid's worth. So round about a pound a pop. Not cheap, but no more expensive than the ubiquitous K+M style bottle brush trees, and (I think) a bit better looking...
I'm going to add a few taller ones as well, but too many tall trees tend to get in the way of moving figures around... 

[Overlord]

That is fantastic Richard.     
I know what I'm going to be ogling at BLAM.  (No Malamute, not the barmaids.  )

[Lowtardog]

Thanks all.
I'm quite looking forward to getting the thing finished myself now! 



Luckily I already had a couple of packs of 'clump foliage' in the right colours in the cupboard, so I just tore it up and super-glued pieces on where there were obvious gaps 


They come from model railway suppliers - you can buy them online. Look for Woodland Scenics 'value packs' of deciduous trees - you get different quantities depending on the size of the trees. About £20 GBP per pack. That's a pack of small and a pack of medium I'm using - so about 40 quid's worth. So round about a pound a pop. Not cheap, but no more expensive than the ubiquitous K+M style bottle brush trees, and (I think) a bit better looking...
I'm going to add a few taller ones as well, but too many tall trees tend to get in the way of moving figures around... 

I picked some up along with the foliage and for 30 trees and the leafy stuff it came to about £45

[Malamute]

That is fantastic Richard.     
I know what I'm going to be ogling at BLAM.  (No Malamute, not the barmaids.  )

Each to his own

[white knight]

I know what I'm going to be ogling at BLAM.  (No Malamute, not just the barmaids.  )

Fixed your post.

[Hawkeye]

Amazing board! Absolutely beautiful. I've always shied away from moulded and 'permanent' boards before, but this is great, and makes me realize that with a bit of planning that a moulded board can still be as versatile as a modular one - but much cooler looking!

Great work!

[Phil Robinson]

Sits back in awe

Splendid!

[DFlynSqrl]

That's an absolutely stunning board!  WOW!  Watching the progress has been great.  I'm sure all the players/onlookers will be drooling over it... you should figure out how to trap the drool and you'd have a running river too! 

[Hitman]

That is absolutely stunning. Well done. Great detail. My concern, if it was mine...will the tree spikes eventually tear up the styrofoam boards? If the do, that would be a horrific shame. Thanks for sharing and congratulations on a fantastic project!!
Regards,
Hitman
 

[former user]

splendid, awesome, unbelievable
but I guess You know that Yourself

I love to see the idea of the spiked repositionable trees, since I got a lot of moaning about the destruction of the board when I suggested this myself to others

you should make them really pointy
I wouldn't worry about holes
should the surface get a little bit worn out, I suggest drilling tiny holes and glueing fitting brass tubes into the scenery - when properly covered, only the small hole is visible and you can insert the spike without any damage (or other spiked items apart from trees: flying pose pins, road signs, lanterns, telegraph posts - whatever is tall and has a small base and thus tends to fall over during gaming)

[Captain Blood]

Thanks for the positive comments chaps 

The second layer of Realistic Water is curing - looking good but will probably need a third application.

The trees are all ready to be inserted, including a few big boys...

I love to see the idea of the spiked repositionable trees, since I got a lot of moaning about the destruction of the board when I suggested this myself to others

If I was going to jab each tree in roughly the same place hundreds of times, yes, it might get worn out. But I don't expect the usage to be that heavy. In the unlikely event that any area does become too 'holey' I will simply start using a slightly different area - and can easily make good the surface of the 'holed' area with filler and texture compound.

You'd have to make an awful lot of pin-sized holes before seriously affecting the basic structural integrity of a sodding great chunk of high-density styrofoam. 

I've always shied away from moulded and 'permanent' boards before...

Me too   
I finally decided that the aesthetic effect is so far superior to flat boards with laid on terrain elements, that it had to be tried at least...
Yes, storage is going to be a bit of an issue, as clearly the hills and undulations mean the three boards are not going to lay flat on each other.
On the plus side, they have turned out incredibly light, they feel pretty durable, and they require virtually no set up at all - apart from plugging in the trees...

I figure I'll store them face down on a shelf (so they don't gather dust on the surface) one on top of the other, using styrofoam offcuts as chocks to separate the boards and level them out for storage...

At first I thought the boards weren't green enough myself, but on reflection I think they look alright considering this is on the frontier and presumably recently deforested.

Thanks Aaron. I value your reassurance as a North American that it doesn't look too wildly off the mark. 

As I say, once you see it with all the trees in situ, I think it will all look a lot more verdant.

[garyapsledene]

The pictures are very nice indeed!

[former user]

for storage I could offer an idea:
you have three pieces of the same size
choose the 2 with the lowest profile
the most touchy of the two is your base
measure the elevation above ground of both, add together and add some security space
now cut styrofoam pillars of that height
and arrange them around the lower board
build a sturdy cardboard frame the size of a board, height of both boards + security space
glue the pillars on the inside of the frame to the positions most flat and suitable for both boards
turn the second one upside down and insert into the frame
both boards will be kept apart by the pillars
place the third board on top  (oh, forgot - make the frame a little bit higher so that it keeps the third board in place and its elevation protected)
you can even tie them together with elastic binding and transport them without any danger

[valleyboy]

I think you should take a bow Captain, your effort is impressively impressive
thank you, well done