Hey guys,

Just thought I'd post this because a) it might help others, and b) I'm pretty pumped.

For experienced terrain makers this might look pretty minor. It's quite a small piece. However, it is the first thing I ever finished relating to terrain and it also allowed me to learn some techniques.

Basically I am trying to build some Jundland Wastes themed pieces that I can play with. This piece will be part of the "border" of my table, providing a little bit of cover and making the table not a perfectly flat rectangle. I've never played a miniature game, so I have no idea how usable this will be... but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Here is an imgur album with my progress - it was very easy to do and should hopefully provide some guidance to anyone who was in the same shoes as I was a month ago. It should also provide some context as to what I'm trying to do.

https://imgur.com/gallery/PxkXd

Anyway, terrain making is fun and not that hard! I very much encourage others to give it a try if you never have. Start with a desert, it's very forgiving!

Very nice, off to a good start.

Great job. I really like the formation you got in your pieces. I honestly think that EA's Star Wars BattleFront is a great inspiration for builders. Essentially it is a miniatures table in video game form. Every map provides unique terrain and cover.

Keep up the amazing work and keep posting your progress.

As another new guy, solid effort. Nice effects.

Looking good! The paint job is excellent

1 hour ago, TUZ said:

Looking good! The paint job is excellent

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm worried about some of my dry brushing - I ended up with some blots because I had my paint a little thicker than I needed. Tutorials aren't lying when they say your brush should basically be devoid of paint (which doesn't make sense, but hey, it works!)

Hoping the next one will be even better.

Looking great! I think I should do a couple of these for my Lah'mu board.

12 hours ago, Copes said:

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm worried about some of my dry brushing - I ended up with some blots because I had my paint a little thicker than I needed. Tutorials aren't lying when they say your brush should basically be devoid of paint (which doesn't make sense, but hey, it works!)

Hoping the next one will be even better.

I find achieving a good drybrush result, especially on larger pieces, such as rock formations etc., can sometimes require more finesse / restriant than maybe is first thought.

In my experience, this is because there can be an understandable desire to DB a large model or multiple scenery pieces quickly and hence you work with a bigger brush and more paint... so it's easy to fall into the trap of feeling you can rush the process a bit.

I've been painting for years and still have to discipline myself sometimes to several layered drybrushes over just the one to get an overall better end result. I also like to dummy drybrush a paper towel several times before i actually drybrush the main model itself. This helps dry out / prepare the brush and leaves much smaller residule paint particles (almost dust like) on the bristles. In this way, through practice and a more delicate application, you can start to achieve a finish not too dissimilar to an airbrush...

So definately don't worry about your drybrushing; it looks great buddy, and will get even better over time / experience ?

I'd love that on my table. Slopped sides help, and it seems a proper height. Cheers to the efforts!

Looks great! I plan on making similar scatter terrain and it's encouraging to see the great end products amateurs can produce.

Great job!

Dot a few tufts of dry grass around and you'll make the already good bit of terrain better.

4 hours ago, Amanal said:

Dot a few tufts of dry grass around and you'll make the already good bit of terrain better.

That would look real good...although I have trouble picturing grass growing on Tatooine...

So, what would those Banthas' poodo?

17 hours ago, Amanal said:

Great job!

Dot a few tufts of dry grass around and you'll make the already good bit of terrain better.

Where do those come from? Or do you have a tutorial for how they're made? I'm also hesitant to add them to Tatooine... I don't know if I've ever seen grass in any of the movies... however I have a couple of ideas for other planets that I think that would be perfect for.

I updated the IMGUR album in the main post, but my second piece is complete. Quite honestly it didn't come out as well as the first. I think the primary reason is that the first piece I had more defined "edges". My rocky sloped sides were more jagged. I don't think this was the case for the 2nd piece (you can see it in the sand image in the album) and subsequently I don't have the colour quite as good. I also had a red ink wash that I used before the dark wash in the first one. It was a mistake at the time, but in retrospect it might have helped to further define my edges. I might try it again with my 3rd piece.

Still, its manageable. As I said, IMGUR album is updated with these images. I have 4 more pieces to make to provide the "frame" for my table. After that I have some neat ideas for movable scenery. I may eventually fix all of these pieces to a table, or make a second table that's fixed... I dunno, I'm really enjoying making this stuff.

Grass tufts come from several suppliers:

http://www.gamersgrass.com/

http://www.sceneryexpress.com/Silflor-MiniNatur/products/1217/

The trick is to add variety, just 4-5 clumps on each piece.

As I have stated many times over, WE are our own toughest critics. Your piece looks great and you should be proud of your accomplishment. I could see some canyon type formations completing this table.

My first table is going to be a space station interior. My next table is going to be based on the Gaozan Badlands Cargo map from EA's Battlefront game. Canyon walls, elevation changes, fallen ships providing cover.

Keep up the great work and keep posting.

Hey guys, one more post for now until at least after Christmas. However, I finished my other four pieces. As always, the full imgur album can be reached by CLICKING HERE.

Here are some finished pictures. One thing that is super cool is that because of the way I made it, I can actually work with a couple of configurations (which is lucky but was never intentional). I actually think the pieces will work better for a 3x3 400pt out of the box game. My intent though is to build some more things to populate a 6x3 full-size board. This was a fantastic experience though, first time ever making terrain and loved it.

So anyway, here are my 6 finished pieces in a couple of configurations.

Any questions, let me know!

4 hours ago, Copes said:

Hey guys, one more post for now until at least after Christmas. However, I finished my other four pieces. As always, the full imgur album can be reached by CLICKING HERE.

Here are some finished pictures. One thing that is super cool is that because of the way I made it, I can actually work with a couple of configurations (which is lucky but was never intentional). I actually think the pieces will work better for a 3x3 400pt out of the box game. My intent though is to build some more things to populate a 6x3 full-size board. This was a fantastic experience though, first time ever making terrain and loved it.

So anyway, here are my 6 finished pieces in a couple of configurations.

Any questions, let me know!

That is excellent! It's a great frame for your games. Can't wait to see what you put in the middle. I really like that that it can easily adjust to different table sizes as well.

I agree I wouldn't add vegetation if this is Tatooine. This is amazing work. I intend on doing something similar and buying the desert bundle from Imperial Terrain.

This looks incredible, I woud love to play on a board as good as this

On 12/7/2017 at 1:10 PM, Copes said:

Hey guys, one more post for now until at least after Christmas. However, I finished my other four pieces. As always, the full imgur album can be reached by CLICKING HERE.

Here are some finished pictures. One thing that is super cool is that because of the way I made it, I can actually work with a couple of configurations (which is lucky but was never intentional). I actually think the pieces will work better for a 3x3 400pt out of the box game. My intent though is to build some more things to populate a 6x3 full-size board. This was a fantastic experience though, first time ever making terrain and loved it.

So anyway, here are my 6 finished pieces in a couple of configurations.

Any questions, let me know!

Can they be pushed together so they create a plateau in the center of the board?

On 11/22/2017 at 8:37 AM, Copes said:

Anyway, terrain making is fun and not that hard! I very much encourage others to give it a try if you never have. Start with a desert, it's very forgiving!

Terrain making is a riot! I love it. Great job my friend keep it up.

17 hours ago, Patteous said:

Can they be pushed together so they create a plateau in the center of the board?

I don't see why not. I've packed them away for the time being, but when I pull them out next I'll test it. They are not all the same length, so it might not be perfect... but it should be close enough to be playable.

On 12/14/2017 at 10:09 AM, Copes said:

I don't see why not. I've packed them away for the time being, but when I pull them out next I'll test it. They are not all the same length, so it might not be perfect... but it should be close enough to be playable.

Very delayed response, but I was back from holiday and decided to move forward with my next piece. I pulled out the ones I had made, and unfortunately they don't look very good when you push them together. If I had been smart I would have designed them to fit. They can be pushed together, but the various tiers don't line up and I didn't do anything to colour the backs of the terrain. I had never thought to make them work in the centre... had always thought of them as edge pieces. Something to do better in the future.

Anyway, I wanted to at least have a fully functional 3x3 board for legions release. The goal for the full year is to fix these pieces to some sort of 6x3 setup with some modular pieces. For now though, I decided I needed something larger as a centre obstacle. Then I'll sprinkle around barricades and maybe some supply crates.

So, between now and legion's release, I'm going to finish a plateau, using the same technique I used for the ridges. I'm not sure how it will play - it is tall enough that it can't be walked up by units, however it could be climbed using grappling hooks, or with Luke's Jump ability (I think). As an Empire player, I am already thinking this is going to be a painful position for me if my opponent gets funny and puts an objective up here. It should divide the board up nicely. I'm thinking for 3x3 I'll use 2 corner pieces, this plateau, and then 1 or two of the smaller edge pieces I made to frame a nice area. Should be more than enough terrain when adding barricades.

Anyway, here is the plateau so far. Basically increasingly larger pieces of the same shape stacked and glued.

EDIT: As a note, here is kind of what I'm going for... only shorter and flatter on top so it can be interacted with as opposed to just being an obstacle.

On 26/11/2017 at 6:01 PM, Copes said:

Where do those come from? Or do you have a tutorial for how they're made? I'm also hesitant to add them to Tatooine... I don't know if I've ever seen grass in any of the movies... however I have a couple of ideas for other planets that I think that would be perfect for.

I updated the IMGUR album in the main post, but my second piece is complete. Quite honestly it didn't come out as well as the first. I think the primary reason is that the first piece I had more defined "edges". My rocky sloped sides were more jagged. I don't think this was the case for the 2nd piece (you can see it in the sand image in the album) and subsequently I don't have the colour quite as good. I also had a red ink wash that I used before the dark wash in the first one. It was a mistake at the time, but in retrospect it might have helped to further define my edges. I might try it again with my 3rd piece.

Still, its manageable. As I said, IMGUR album is updated with these images. I have 4 more pieces to make to provide the "frame" for my table. After that I have some neat ideas for movable scenery. I may eventually fix all of these pieces to a table, or make a second table that's fixed... I dunno, I'm really enjoying making this stuff.

The first pic made it look like the supremacy