Jungle Terrain UPDATED 3 13 09 ~ Comments, Thoughts & Advice Welcome!

[~ Tom Teriffic]

As I mentioned elsewhere, we played our first Lost World Dino Hunt recently.  It was so much Fun that I was inspired to get to work on more jungle & lost world terrain.  Here are a few shots of some of the pieces I finished in the last week or so.

These are all mounted on some 60 X 40 and 60 X 20 mm bases I had ready, for mounting 25 mil troops for DBX.  I don't think I'm going to bother going back and flocking the edges (they don't really show up when you're playing).

Our Hero, Tomas, making his way through the jungle.

The undergrowth thins out.

Another view of the edge of the undergrowth ~ I think I have about fourteen bases of this type ready to use.

Close up of Tomas going through the tall grass.  (Yeah, he's still on his painting base!)

Another view of the new tall grass.  I only have two of these bases, but man, I like the grass.

A Lost World Jungle!  In the front right the zap-gap I used is visible.  I've since switched to, and fallen in love with, a hot glue gun.  I need to go back and touch these areas up!

These are some of my favorite plastic plants.  After I finished gluing a few bases together I realized that Grimm was right ~ plastic plants like these really should be inked and drybrushed!  I'll pull these apart after our next game, this Friday, and re-do them.

Any suggestions on colors to use for the stems and leaves???

As you can see in some of the pictures, I have begun to paint the ferny plants stems.  Just painting the stems makes a big difference!  (Sorry, I'm not sure how much in it does in the photos, but in person they look good enough that I'm wondering if I need to go back and do the foilage!)

Any and all comments, thoughts and advice are very welcome!

Thanks for looking!
 ~ Tom Teriffic

Edited to correct a photo's posting.

[Hitman]

Simple and effective. A bit of dry-brushing and it might help you get rid of some of the shiny look, but leaving the shiny look makes them look wet, and let's face it when you are in a jungle, there is going to be a lot of showers so that the foilage looks shiny and wet. Personally, I think they look fine!! Thanks for sharing.

[Bako]

Not bad. I really like those fan plants in the last picture. Been looking for some of those myself.

[Wolf 359]

After looking carefully, re-looking, and scrutinizing some jungle terrain I bought from a local craftsman, I have to say that the pieces look pretty great the way they are. Having spent a great deal of time in jungles when I was in the service, the 'wet' look is effective. Sure you could dry-brush something on them, or paint them up a bit, but it's not a bad-looking set of terrain, my friend.

[keeper]

Picking out the stems has improved it, but I think the foliage looks pretty darn good, just as it is!

I think you might have just inspired be to do something with those piles of aquarium plants I bought a while ago ... thanks Tom

[~ Tom Teriffic]

Goodness Gents, thank you!  I appreciate your kind words.  I would like to get around to doing some more painting on them but, honestly, I'm having so much Fun putting 'em together that I keep making more!

I know what you mean Hitman.  In some ways I like the sheen, which somehow the flash brought out more on the silk plants.  Maybe I'll find the time to go back and dry-brush some for variety.

Bako Ikaporamee the fan plants are a recent acquisition from A.C. Moore craft store.  I put most of them aside to at least paint the stems but gave in and made up another three bases of them last night!  And four more bases of yet another type . . .  I may try to take some more pics to post.

Thank you keeper it's nice to think I might have helped someone else get motivated to make up some jungle bases!  They are Fun and Esay.  Looking beyond the aquarium aisles I just discovered big packs of some great plastic plants that are used for herps . . .

Fortunately my Wife thinks they're cool too!

Thank you all for your kind comments!
 ~ Tom T

[artshiraz]

Greetings

I don't know if they sell some FolkArts or Waco Acrylic in your location.

I would recommend EU829 Shamrock in the FolkArt Plaid Acrylic line or
Matt Acrylic lacquer -green- by Waco  (Deco-Spray)

The Waco Spray is superb. You spray the green color right over the plastic ferns and it doesn't look like plastic (well shiny) anymore.

The Shamrock Color is almost the same tone but from FolkArt and -not- a spray but acrylic paint. You have to drybush but it will look great in the end, I promise.

[~ Tom Teriffic]

Thank you artshiraz!  I'm familiar with the FolkArts  acrylic.  I'll look for the Waco spray.  It sounds like exactly what I need.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again
 ~ Tom Teriffic

[~ Tom Teriffic]

(Hoping I've done this correctly!)

For awhile now I've been in the studio during the day and making jungle/lost world terrain at night.  And I've made a lot of terrain lately!  It's not all finished and I'm certainly not finished making terrain.  But here are a couple of quick shots of where I'm at . . .

I had a couple of minutes before my Friend David & Thomas came over for a Dino Hunt game tonight, so here are a couple of quickly taken shots before they got here tonight.  My aplogies for the blurriness ~ I was in a rush and wasn't wearing my glasses!  We left the table set up and I hope to be able to take some more aethergraphic images tomorrow.

Thank you artshiraz for pointing me to the spray.  It's perfect!  I couldn't find your suggestion, but here are before and after shots of the same item touched up with Design Master Olive Bright 790.



It doesn't show well in these images, but the original (some of my favorite plastic aquarium plants, purchased years ago) was pretty much unbearable in person!  The lightly sprayed versions look great in person!  Thanks!

One of my favorite bits of foliage are these talls grassy/reedy/bambooy plants.  Hit lightly with Design Master Prairie Grass to accent them.


Here's an abbreviated view of the (pretty much) 6' X 4' table for night's game.

And another view


If there;s interest in more I'll be happy to try to take some better images tomorrow ~ with my glasses on!

Hope you enjoy!

As always, suggestions and comments are Very Welcome!
 ~ Tom Teriffic
(The game was a Great Success and another recruit was made.  As the evening ended Wally/Thomas was talking about the Lost Temple he wanted to build and Zeb/Zed/David had generated a score of Encounter ideas!  I had a blast and my Friends had Fun too!  It doesn't get much better than that.)

[gamer Mac]

Very, very nice.
I can never seem to find a good variety of plants. You have some crackers.

[Christian]

That's come a long way since the first post... it looks amazing! Well done!

[~ Tom Teriffic]

Very, very nice.
I can never seem to find a good variety of plants. You have some crackers.

Thank you gamer Mac!  I am blessed with both an A.C. Moore and a Michael's (generic) 'crafts' stores a few minutes from my home here in the US.  And with a wife that is very tolerant of my propensity to buy things that I'll use someday . . .

 ~ Tom T

[~ Tom Teriffic]

That's come a long way since the first post... it looks amazing! Well done!

Thank you so much Christian!  I really do apprecite that.  I'm having a lot of Fun making this terrain; but it can be kind of a lonely undertaking.  You don't really know how you've done or how folks will react until you host a game or, as I've know discovered, post some photos.  (LAF is the Perfect venue for that!)

I'm hoping to record some more, detailed, images this weekend.  If you're interested, please stay tuned!

There is lots more in the works!  My goal is to cover my table in lots of different 'jungle' terrain multiple times as our characters move through different areas . . .

We'll just have to see where I get to and where this wonderful new Fun Adventure leads!

 ~ Tom Teriffic

[Hitman]

Very nice looking T.T. Thanks for sharing your updates...by the way, photos looked fine even without your glasses. 

[Christian]

No problem T, looking forward to it I'm putting some jungle bases together too, it is very absorbing and lots of fun.