Space Marines shop Surplus Hardware too

[Astromini5]

Hi, my first modeling post (new to the hobby) highlights some terrain objects built from hardware scrap. I purchased some AT-43 during an online sale, so I needed an inexpensive source for 28mm bug-hunting surroundings. Locally, there is a warehouse that sells surplus building supplies, run by Habitat for Humanity. For spare change, you can get industrial grade bits that make a good beginning to finished structures. In the pic below I've begun construction of a communication dish, power plant, security tower, floor plates and gun nests.

Pending the arrival of some discount toys from Amazon, I'll update with the "alien monster" the troopers will be fighting.

[Mancha]

Woof, some of that stuff doesn't look so scrappy.  I could use that switch plate on the left in the upper picture.   

Welcome to the forum.

[zizi666]

Dang ! that's some nice scrap you got there.
I particularly like the silo-like orb thing.
Be sure to post some painted up pics.

[Bako]

That one bit's from a toilet, isn't it? Superb pull you've found there.

[Astromini5]

The spring-loaded outdoor switch plates make great reinforced hatches; the double one may be for a cryogenic sleep chamber. The "reactor gas tank" is a $2 toilet tank float, bolted to a plastic electrical box with a USB connector on the side. The sentry tower is fashioned from the stem of a telescoping exhaust vent, topped by a circular dome tweeter plate and capsule toy bubble half (in which a fig can fit). The studded floor strip is the reverse side of a plastic cd holder from IKEA, and the square tiles are the textured back of ordinary 4x4 ceramic tiles. Those will be affixed with magnets. The "reactor generator" in the middle is an array of chokes and coils from an audio speaker input crossover (yanked from a 25 year old blown out Infinity speaker).

I haven't even purchased model paint yet...just some house acrylic matched to "UNA trooper Blue". For overall ease, I'm thinking of using a very basic NASA/Space1999 palette of light grey, black, and a smattering of bright safety colors.

[supervike]

This kind of thing may be my favorite part of this hobby!

Inspiring!

[Bako]

Yeah. When it comes to terrain, just get the cheap crafters acrylic, or anything in similarly bulk quantities.