New member, long time lurker, first ever terrain piece

[Mason]

Welcome aboard, sir!

A bloody brilliant way to introduce yourself to us and your kids to the world of 'likkal men'.
 


Well done, sir!

[Mr Kissyfur]

Thank you very much all!

Things I have learnt through this process -

• Celotex is horrible. I can't find a supply of the pink insulation board that others here have used, so I used some leftovers of the loft insulation board I had after doing the loft. It's three layers of styrene sandwiched together with what looks like glass fibers inbetween. Extreme care was taken when cutting and sanding, and the whole thing got thoroughly sealed in with PVA before I did anything else.
• Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement is a complete con (it really is just watered PVA, and has the same finish as decorator's PVA...) and has a terrible diffuser on the spray gun. When I tried to use it to seal in the turf it was worse than the decorator's spraygun with the emulsion. Just big blobs of the stuff all over. I shall be using one of the kids' plant misters next time.  
• Woodland Scenics tree kits are surprisingly tricky. The main problem is the Hob E Tac stuff. I dutifully spead it all over the branches, waited for it to go clear then dipped it in the clump foliage. The stuff just won't stay on. Oddly, the lighter coloured bushes I bought for ground cover adhere much better. So I may be having light coloured conifers from now on.
• I have nowhere to store the board... I didn't think about that before we started. I made it the smallest size that would be useful for 28mm skirmish games, but unfortunately that's still larger than anywhere I have that I can sensibly store it   I haven't mentioned to my wife the wider board we're going to make to sit alongside it...  The kids sensibly pointed out we needed an extra board we could put buildings on...

Jimbibbly - sadly it looks like it'll be the brush. The decorator's spraygun is one I borrowed from my parents, it's almost as old as me and just has a variable nozzle that appears to do nothing at all. I have absolutely no idea how this would actually give a halfway decent finish on a wall! I was tempted to try the Aztec A470 I have (and have barely used) but figured emulsion would kill even the largest nozzle size...

[Quirkworthy]

Storage is always an issue with terrain and unfortunately there isn't really a way round it. Tops of wardrobes, under beds and so on, or perhaps in your newly insulated loft

[Mason]

I store the majority of my scenery in A4 paper boxes and since I have using them I have built everything with this in mind.

They are easily stacked, easy to find (for me anyway...) and best of all free!




(And, I would like to point out, I was asked to take the picture, (repeatedly, by another member of the Forum. I have not just decided to get everything out of the cupboard and stack it up... ).

[Captain Blood]

(I apologise for the lack of WIP pics, and the fact that to be honest this is nowhere near as good as the good Captain's efforts, so apologies for the poor imitation  )

My friend, you are selling yourself short - that is a simply brilliant looking board, every bit as good as mine.
I hope your boys are proud and impressed with their dad. They should be.

My dad made me a scenic terrain table when I was about 10 years old. For me to play with my Airfix soldiers on. Lumps of wood covered in chicken wire, covered in hessian soaked in plaster. Then covered in glue and sawdust and painted. It had cliffs and a river too.
I think that creation laid the seeds for my lifetime addiction to great looking terrain (although, like many people, I too took a long break from wargaming and modelling from my early 20s through to my mid-30s... )

The decorator's spray gun is a bit of a blunt instrument I must admit.
Obviously a proper airbrush would be better.
But with a lot of fiddling to adjust the airflow and paintflow, and a light touch (so you're only applying the lightest possible dusting of paint each time) the decorator's spraygun can work okay. But I agree it's not easy, and takes some practice to get it right...

Anyway. Great stuff, and welcome. Look forward to seeing what you do next 

[Malamute]

What the others have said, a great introduction for you.

[Ray Earle]

Great stuff. A very nice introduction. 

Old spray guns seldom give a good finish. Big brushes are the way to go.

The kids look like they're having a great time! Tanks vs. dragons! What's not to like? 

[Legion1963]

That's a lovely piece of terrain. And so good to see your kids enjoying it too. Teach your children well. Cheers.

[Mencey]

Beutifull board game, congratullations!!! 

[Eric the Shed]

Great entry, great build and well done ...two very happy Kids.

[Hellbeard]

Nice terrain! Beautiful children as well. So nice to see kids and parents sharing like that. Hope to see some project logs from you so we can steal your secrets!

[pacarat]

Start 'em young, and you'll have gaming partners for life!

I started with my son using a blanket on the floor, hills were books, buildings were Lego. All downhill since then 

Regarding the pink foam board - have you considered maybe using paper mâché over wire or card framing  (similar to the model railroaders). I've also seen plaster wrap used - this is similar to what is used for casting a broken limb.

[Doomsdave]

Panzers vs. Skeletons on beautiful terrain. I like the cut of your jib Sir.