I’ve been trying to put together some area terrain, specifically a scarif table. I have some plastic palm trees from amazon, but I need something to attach them to. I’d like to make an area piece with 3 to 4 trees and then some sand, shrubs and maybe grass glued to it, but I’m not sure what materiel to use. I tried sculpting some clay with plasticard under it, but the clay warped, and it’s kind of brittle. Any suggestions? I want something rugged that will hold up to use, so foam is out.

I use those palm trees, too, and I use pink foam with spackle cover, so it hardens. I haven't had any issues with wear and tear.

3 hours ago, manoftomorrow010 said:

I use those palm trees, too, and I use pink foam with spackle cover, so it hardens. I haven't had any issues with wear and tear.

Those look great, but this is for a store’s terrain, so I really need something that’ll last. Ideally I’d like something I can 3d print, but I’m not sure what to even look for.

34 minutes ago, NeverTellMeTheOdds said:

Those look great, but this is for a store’s terrain, so I really need something that’ll last. Ideally I’d like something I can 3d print, but I’m not sure what to even look for.

ohhh gotcha, okay, so they'll be handled by people other than just you lol. Are you looking for removable trees, or having them basically stuck in place?

I think spackle would be the best material to put on your base for hardness and texture. As long as your base is durable, like plasticard or MDF, spackle would be hard for someone to break up or damage. And you can glue the trees onto the base material, then spread the spackle all around them pretty thick, it'll dry and basically seal them in place so they can't come off (if you're looking for that).

On 3/4/2020 at 3:05 PM, manoftomorrow010 said:

ohhh gotcha, okay, so they'll be handled by people other than just you lol. Are you looking for removable trees, or having them basically stuck in place?

I think spackle would be the best material to put on your base for hardness and texture. As long as your base is durable, like plasticard or MDF, spackle would be hard for someone to break up or damage. And you can glue the trees onto the base material, then spread the spackle all around them pretty thick, it'll dry and basically seal them in place so they can't come off (if you're looking for that).

The trees don’t need to come off. Do you mean something like this?

1 minute ago, NeverTellMeTheOdds said:

The trees don’t need to come off. Do you mean something like this?

Exactly

I put that on my foam, let it dry, then I put PVA/paint mix on it, let it dry, then I do PVA/water mix and sand for texture. Then I go over that with PVA/paint mix to seal it. Then I put on flocking, or whatever foliage. It winds up being incredibly solid on the surface. So if you're using a more solid base than foam, you should be A-OK

Have you tried thingiverse or myminifactory? There are a lot of hills and trees you can print.