ACW Terrain on a budget?

[rebelyell2006]

I have permanently moved to a nice mountain town, and now that I have a workbench I'm thinking about ways to put together terrain pieces appropriate for American Civil War at 28mm to complement my Texans (and perhaps in the future New Mexican volunteers).   I'm particularly thinking about the Trans-Mississippi Theater in Texas and New Mexico, with its abundance of stone and adobe structures, mesas, and vast plains.  I can find popsicle sticks at Family Dollar for fairly cheap, but wood planking/siding was (and still is) not too common outside of bridges as far as I can tell.  Are there good ways to build bridges, arroyos, adobe houses, and stone buildings, on a public sector salary?

[roadskare63]

Hi rebelyell2006,
I would think if the wood planking/siding was going to be painted, maybe some heavy card, like from the back of a legal pad over foam core would work...I use it for siding, cut up for roof shingles too.
As far as the adobe, and stone buildings, how about paper mache over newspaper covered by foil to maintain a shape...bridges, maybe some cheap bass wood from a home improvement store
might work...but I'm sure some of the other killer artists on this site might have more and or better ideas...
Good luck,
Carl

[Silent Invader]

Filler (spackle?) over foam board is a common technique.

Use the forum search function for "Adobe" by "Malamute" and you'll find a lot of threads like this one: all excellent stuff.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=6006.0

[duhamel]

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=11269.0 

[rebelyell2006]

I can't believe I didn't think of filler over foamboard.  Thank you!

[6milPhil]

Cork is quite a good material too: http://www.matakishi.com/makingbuildings.htm

[FifteensAway]

And foam core can be had for cheap by hunting up abandoned signage - this is an election year so there should be an abundance of the stuff all over the place.  Just have to ask your self - use to build or save for when it becomes a valuable collectable item! 

[rebelyell2006]

or save for when it becomes a valuable collectable item!

Ewww no.  Not for political reasons, but ever since I started working for the museum field, I swore to never collect anything I don't actively, physically use.  I can expect the municipal election signs and posters to come down after the April run-off, so hopefully there will be a plethora soon.  If not, then the local hardware stores sell cork for good prices.  And I still have the thick corrugated cardboard boxes from moving here...

[FifteensAway]

I know others use it but I'd approach cork with considerable caution - it doesn't wear well in my experience.  And I was kidding about collecting but sounds like you've scoped out some sources.

[rebelyell2006]

One other option, that would be better for prolific workbenchers (which means not me) would be to buy directly from shipping and business wholesalers.  While looking at Tyvek rolls, I discovered that Uline will sell foam boards at cheap prices, but when purchased in bulk.  Michaels craft store sells 4-packs of 11x14 sheets for $7.49 dollars a pack.  Uline sells 25-packs of that same board for $25 dollars.

[Cory]

I found 1/2" rigid insulation to work well. A 4x8' sheet is only $15 and would build a town plus a 4x4 board to put it on.

[FifteensAway]

The main 'ingredient', so far, in the old west town I'm building (at a glacial pace) is repurposed panelling we took down from our dining room and replaced with wainscoting.  Must be 1/4" thick.  Used it to create most of the shells I'll detail with more appropriate coverings and details - the core if you will.  So, there are lots of choices that can be affordable I guess.  Helps that I have a table saw and other power tools, of course.