Scale agnostic terrain

[jhonpog]

Hey all does anyone out there have some good examples of terrain that would suit all (most) scales?  I am looking for ideas and hope to steal yours


I'm going to try and make buildings without obvious doors or windows so they can work across the now 3 damned scales i am interested in sigh......

[Freddy]

Depends on what scales you are interested in. Hills, rocky outcrops are pretty much scale agnostic, as are most foliage. Bushes can be waist high, but also 2 man high, and modellers generally underestimate how big trees really cound be. An apple tree in a garden is around 4meters in height, an oak tree in a forest is easily 30m+

I play in 28mm and 1/35, I use this house for both with the door section changed. Later I discovered that 3*5 cm doors are a good compromise for both scales.

[jhonpog]

Thanks Freddy I do like what you've done with those doors. I might have to try something like that

Yeah I am trying to find a way to make my terrain making go further.  I used to collect 54mm figures and have this unfortunate tendancy, despite my best efforts to make terrain that looks great at that scal but not others.

Building height seems to be key. too high and it just doesn't looks 'right' in my brain....

[Inso]

For sci-fi... Rocks, Crystals, "alien" forests, Rivers (of water/lava/toxic ooze etc), sand dunes, different sized hemispheres/spheres or geometric shapes, corridors (either featureless or covered in "alien" gribblies)...

... also, if it's sci fi and it's a different planet, scale could be rendered useless depending on the size of the natural inhabitants so you could technically use buildings that were out of scale with the troops on the table ("Captain, we have stumbled upon a village where giants/little creatures have once lived"... like in Alien when they found the space jockey... a giant in a space suit).

Then there is the option of having reversible doors/windows for buildings that have a large scale on one side of the panel and a smaller scale on the other...

Lots of options for sci-fi/fantasy but it gets reduced when you start thinking about modern/historical scenery...

[Freddy]

Also walls and roads can be made to be scale agnostic.

Building height seems to be key. too high and it just doesn't looks 'right' in my brain....

The height of a building varies, what really definets its scale are doors and windows.
-avoid oblong doors- they automatically cause scale assumption. For scifi make rectangular and remote controlled doors- this way they can be a simple personal entry for a bigger scale and a vehicle entrance for a smaller one.
-avoid "lookout" windows, they tell a lot about scale, and not just their size but their positions too. "Lighting" windows do not cause those assumptions, they are often placed so that you even are unable to actually look through it. Go for small windows either in vertical lines or just below the top of the building.
The exceptions are the churches, they can have really big doors and windows. I use this one both for 1/35 and 28mm:



And when you are done with scale agnosticization and all your terrain are unisex, you can smuggle back the scale with some scatter terrain. 3-4 of them per scale collected is not a big deal, but they shall clearly refer the scale: bodies and scattered military equipment is petty obvious if you go into the violent direction, but stuff like barrels, a sunbed or a pair of boots in front of the door also do the job. For smaller scales, 1-2 parked or wrecked car.

[jhonpog]

Cheers Inso and Freddy thanks for the ideas. I do like the reversible doors and the in-scale scatter terrain as ways to push things around.

I'm going for sci fi buildings at this stage will look at flora later.   I've got a couple of things on the boil I'll post pics when I've got some finished-ish

[Basementboy]

Very helpful advice on this thread- will try to bear in mind when I’m scratchbuilding!

[jhonpog]

Rather than let crappy photography and average paint jobs get in the way I present to you all my attempts at scale-agnostic terrain for SW.

The garage/ hanger piece is from an old toy car elevator/ carpark split in half and laid on it's side. I've added some clear plastic and a door entrance. I quite like the look of this thing; quite Star Warsy and I didn't have to paint much as the plastic has yellowed over time. Looks best at 25mm I think

The small warehouse/ storage pod things are upended plastic containers for tomatoes that have a decent sci fi look plus some 3d printed window to act as doors.  I think these work pretty well in all 3 scales.

For comparison I have a 40mm stormtrooper (3d printed then a leg extension to bring to height), a stormtrooper from the most awesome WEG, and stormtrooper from micro machines.  Scales are roughly 1/43rd, 1/72nd and 1/87th.

I am trying to build enough terrain for a 20mm game I have in mind; lots of imperial army vs small rebel saboteurs in a city setting. 

But I've realised I, like many others, hopeless at sticking to a scale (I get distracted) so I need terrain to be able to do alot more work than a dedicated scale set.

Ideally if I had more time or motivation I would add more cables/ antenna etc (maybe later)

Cheers!

[Freddy]

I think these work well in all the scales you mentioned.

[jhonpog]

Cheers Freddy!