June Terrain Challenge

By AldousSnow, in Terrain Building

Alright everyone, the first Legion Community Terrain Challenge is here! For more general info about this, please see the original thread.

Create any piece of terrain from a prequel planet.

This month's guidlines are simple.

Let's keep things open for this month. The Clone Wars are on the way. Lets start thinking about where our droids and clones are going meet for battle. Give it some good thought, as this could be the setting for the rest of your terrain pieces. Maybe it'll be a Geonosian rock spire, or a lava pool from Mustafar. Perhaps a Kamino platform or wreckage from a Coruscant building.

Show us your work by uploading a photo or two to this thread. Image hosting sites such as Imgur are recommended. May the Force be with you.

Question, because I'm that guy: by "prequel planet," do you mean the planets seen in the Prequel Trilogy, or in media from the prequel/Clone Wars era? (be it the TCW show, books, comics, games, etc)

8 hours ago, Alpha17 said:

Question, because I'm that guy: by "prequel planet," do you mean the planets seen in the Prequel Trilogy, or in media from the prequel/Clone Wars era? (be it the TCW show, books, comics, games, etc)

In the spirit of having fun and making something you really want to see on your table, I say all Clone Wars era is open territory.

I have been going back and forth all week. But I've finally decided that I'm going with Felucia for my Clone Wars terrain. I'm mainly typing it here so I don't chicken out and change my mind. What have I done to myself...

Ok, I agonized over Geonosis or Naboo, but I'm going to go with Clone War era wrecks instead 'cause they'll be the most flexible for a variety of settings to start...

Thinking of doing a ARC-170 and an ATT wreck with removable smoke plumes so they can either work as "Clone Wars just got destroyed" wrecks, or "Galactic Civil War battle on the site of an older Clone Wars battlefield" wrecks...

I'm a few days into my piece, and I already know by the end of this I'm going to be able to write a book about plastic flowers and plants from the dollar store.

Ok my "raw materials" have arrived...

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Such a pretty ship, it's a shame to cut it up, but it's just enough underscale that it feels wonky...

I've decided to push the limitations to their absolute limit, and will be creating terrain for a custom world--Arvon IX, a Gotal colony that was caught between those wanting to join the Separatists and those wanting to stay with the Jedi. My excuse is that the Gotal are from Antar 4, which appeared in the Jedi: Dooku comic, and so since this is a colony of Gotal it's basically the same thing.

Now I just need to find some way to acquire an excess of Gotal heads...

6 hours ago, Castlecruncher said:

I've decided to push the limitations to their absolute limit, and will be creating terrain for a custom world--Arvon IX, a Gotal colony that was caught between those wanting to join the Separatists and those wanting to stay with the Jedi. My excuse is that the Gotal are from Antar 4, which appeared in the Jedi: Dooku comic, and so since this is a colony of Gotal it's basically the same thing.

Now I just need to find some way to acquire an excess of Gotal heads...

I think Mel's miniatures does custom head sprus? I could be wrong, but something to check out.

Okay, taking a break from Hoth to do the heartbreaking thing to my ARC-170...

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Starting with looking at a bunch of photos of crashed planes I realized being totally accurate would not make for good cover, so I came up with a design where each wing can break off and dig into the ground to provide a nice bit of heavy cover in either direction. I also decided to go with a berm to be possibly used as a light cover section for the main fuselage.

I tried basing with plasticard because of the bad warping I had on the AT-AT foamcore bases, but golly... was it a real pain to cut an form!!! Easily four times as long as foam core and the whole time I was sure I was gonna break something or cut myself. Gonna try and get some of that foamed PVC signboard next.

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I built up the berm with tin foil to save paper clay and to give the clay something to adhere to... the plasticard while stiff is also hella slick and I'm now kinda worried about how well stuff will stick to it. I may spray prime the whole think before putting any texture or medium on it to give stuff more stick...

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After the tin foil I positioned the pieces of the ship (which I had hit with a bit of black spray for a burned look) and started pilling up paper clay to make it look like the ship had dug into the ground and wasn't just clipping into the surface like some janky video game!

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I think this the most natural looking arrangement, but I hope the three pieces should give a lot of flexibility in making lots of different looks for the crash to suit the any given table. We can even spread them across a table to make it seem like multiple downed ARC-170s.

I did do some last minute sanity checks on usability with some legion figures, and I'm pretty happy. The two lower wrecks will be very suitable for trooper cover, and the tall wing can either block LOS or give some cover to taller units like AT-RTs, Droidekas, etc. When I add the optional smoke plume that will also give more LOS blocking options.

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Gonna let the paper clay dry over night, and tomorrow glop on some acrylic mud. When that dries all I have left to do is paint some ground scorching and highlights, glue down the ship pieces and debris, and make some smoke. I should be done this ship tomorrow!

I don't think I'm going to make the crashed Droid Fighters in time for the June challenge, but I'm more confident now in how to make these, and I will have something iconic that I can use to make any table feel properly Clone Wars! Thanks again @AldousSnow for running this!

I'm not sure what your procedure is, but I suspect that you're doing it wrong if you're having trouble cutting sheet styrene. It's super simple to cut and shape. Just heavily score the surface and snap it.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if it does warp, given that the paper clay shrinks as it dries but if you've put it on thin enough, mostly using the foil for bulk, you might get away with it.

Having said all that, the gouges in the ground look great! I like how it looks like the aircraft hit the ground and skidded along in a curved path. If the materials don't fight you too much, this is going to be great!

Ok here we go! My official participation for June, I present "ARC-170 Down"!
It... was a bit more work than I expected... but very happy with the results!

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And I'm very happy with how varied they will play too!

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Nicely done! You might consider MDF for your next terrain base. It can be prone to warping but it's sturdier than foamcore, cuts nicely, and can be more easily textured than styrene sheets.

2 hours ago, SFC Snuffy said:

Nicely done! You might consider MDF for your next terrain base. It can be prone to warping but it's sturdier than foamcore, cuts nicely, and can be more easily textured than styrene sheets.

Thanks!

Yeah I am for sure not doing plasticard again.. 🤮

MDF is what everyone recommends, but I am deathly afraid of power tools! 🤣

So I'm prolly gonna try foamed PVC for the Vulture Droids... 💸 💸 💸

Very nice. As I said on FB, that turned out great.

Here's just a few of the pieces for you on my June docket. Some fun building and bringing these to life. Still nee to figure out some color for the doors but lots of fun.

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2 hours ago, Sword named Folly said:

Here's just a few of the pieces for you on my June docket. Some fun building and bringing these to life. Still nee to figure out some color for the doors but lots of fun.

Those vines look gorgeous! Very lush.

Did you scratch build these or find some buildings that could go Naboo/Theed themed with the right colors?

1 hour ago, Sword named Folly said:

The buildings were a find from TTCombat a British based MDF laser cutter. They are meant for a 32mm game set in Venice. https://ttcombat.com/collections/streets-of-venice

Wow they're perfect! Just need a few domes into the mix!

Alright, official submission for June. Did a few small pieces to try out some different Felucia rock and plant materials. I'm now feeling more confident going forward on some larger scale terrain pieces.

Accompanied by Prune Face, a Mon Cal sniper, and a baby Nexu.

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I'm already so happy with what I'm seeing here. You all are amazing me. 🏆 🏆 🏆

You guys make for a hard act to follow! Well, here goes.

For my submission to this contest, I wanted to make something that would work for both the Clone Wars, as well as fit the tables I already have (desert town, muddy trenches, and an urban ruin). Jabiim or Mimban were naturally considered, but since I had plenty of terrain for them, I decided to do something for my urban ruin table. The Clone Wars gave us a few great examples of urban warfare, but making them fit my table was the more difficult part. Naboo scenery would work, but aside from the BFII battle, there wasn't much action there during the Clone Wars. Christophsis came to mind, but the buildings were weird, and didn't fit, and the same problem applied to Courscant. Then I remembered: Muunilist. In the original Clone Wars cartoon we are shown fighting in the neo-classical buildings of the Intergalactic Banking Clan's treasury world. So, here is my take on that idea.

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The table is centered around a banker's villa, and has obviously seen some heavy fighting. An AAT tried to use the building as cover, but was destroyed, and crashed into the building. The penetrating hit on the tank is clearly visible, as is the vehicle's former commander, now a collection of scrap on the turret. Even one of the AAT's anti-personnel blasters took a hit, and now hangs by its wiring.

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A snail tank likewise was taken out by advancing Republic forces.

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Clone Commandos have occupied the baker's villa, and are preparing to hold it against a CIS counter attack, while two ARC troopers are reconnoitering the area around the snail tank. The commando's sniper has already set up in the upper story of the building, and is taking advantage of a damaged corner of the building. A CIS ammo can lies open behind him.

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A neat trick that I stumbled onto was that the vehicle hit markers from Bolt Action are almost perfectly sized for the AAT's hatch, so it's a simple matter of dropping in whichever one fits the scenario/theme of the game we're playing. If its a Clone Wars game, the fire fits. If it doesn't, the smoke options may be better.

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I hope you guys enjoy this one. I had a lot of fun creating this terrain, and inventing the backstory of why it all game to be how it was. If nothing else, this just got me even more excited for the release of the Clone Wars factions.

Everything in this thread is fantastic--great work, everybody!

For myself, I've just now finished my CIS Outposts. Certainly not as high-quality as the rest of the stuff on display here, but built at next to no cost with minimal difficulty:

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Couple of prefabs slapped together for a forward outpost/research facility, painted in theme with Separatist vehicles/ships. IA Stormtroopers here for scale.

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Research tower/Headquarters--columns inspired by Muunilist.

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Rear view. Pretty sure this one's my favorite of the two.

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Production center/maintenance bay. If we wanna get technical, this would probably make a pretty shoddy repair bay, but eh, it's wargaming scale.

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Rear view. Those pipes were a total hassle. For anyone curious: plastic drinking straws do not like to hold paint.

Both buildings were cobbled together from stuff I had lying around, mostly from previous failed projects (these are both just a bunch of little cardboard shacks glued together). Most of the detail comes from little bits and bobs of cardboard and straws, and a half-decent paint job to tie the whole thing together. Not much compared to the professional level work most everyone else got out, but considering I could have finished this in less than a week (got distracted by a move, darn inconvenient thing), I call it a win in my book. Plus, it's the sort of thing any schmuck with a stack of cardboard and a glue gun could stick together, so maybe it'll inspire somebody to take a risk and try building something.

Anywho, that's my piece for the day--can't wait to see what else might be planned for this month, and what's the plan for next!

5 hours ago, Castlecruncher said:

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Rear view. Those pipes were a total hassle. For anyone curious: plastic drinking straws do not like to hold paint.

These are so good. Amazing job. I've too been down the disappointing path of straws. I've found that aquarium tubing works great, and takes paint better after priming. And you can give it rigidity by feeding kabob skewers through the center for straight lines. E17GMqp.jpg

All of the black building trim on my Ord Mantell board used this method.

Wow, all of these look so good! If we were all together we could set up multiple Clone Wars tables today!!!!

On 6/24/2019 at 10:25 PM, AldousSnow said:

Alright, official submission for June. Did a few small pieces to try out some different Felucia rock and plant materials. I'm now feeling more confident going forward on some larger scale terrain pieces.

Accompanied by Prune Face, a Mon Cal sniper, and a baby Nexu.

The rock formations look great, and the colors of the plants are giving a perfect Felucia vibe!

On 6/25/2019 at 9:22 PM, Alpha17 said:

You guys make for a hard act to follow! Well, here goes.

For my submission to this contest, I wanted to make something that would work for both the Clone Wars, as well as fit the tables I already have (desert town, muddy trenches, and an urban ruin). Jabiim or Mimban were naturally considered, but since I had plenty of terrain for them, I decided to do something for my urban ruin table. The Clone Wars gave us a few great examples of urban warfare, but making them fit my table was the more difficult part. Naboo scenery would work, but aside from the BFII battle, there wasn't much action there during the Clone Wars. Christophsis came to mind, but the buildings were weird, and didn't fit, and the same problem applied to Courscant. Then I remembered: Muunilist. In the original Clone Wars cartoon we are shown fighting in the neo-classical buildings of the Intergalactic Banking Clan's treasury world. So, here is my take on that idea.

[...]

I hope you guys enjoy this one. I had a lot of fun creating this terrain, and inventing the backstory of why it all game to be how it was. If nothing else, this just got me even more excited for the release of the Clone Wars factions.

OMG the story here is incredible, and the AAT wreck really sells the whole setting. Ever since the original Appleseed manga I've had a soft spot for urban combat stuff and this table looks amazing!!! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

6 hours ago, Castlecruncher said:

Work on the CIS forward outpost was halted due to a relocation of the main base (Translation: just finished moving and haven't had any time the past couple of weeks to work on the build). That said, the past couple of days I finally put some paint on these bad boys!

This looks terrific too! Especially for scratch built stuff with found materials. The structures are absolutely tops!