Thursday 5 October 2017

Terrain Interlude

Not the most exciting of posts, but with the main focus currently on Zomtober, I decided to have a flurry of activity on some terrain projects as a break from assembling, priming and painting miniatures.

I've been admiring the laser cut mdf bases that have become de rigeur for representing woods on the tabletop for some time, and was part way through trying to come up with a similar DIY solution to replace my Old Skool bits of green felt, when a chance find on ebay resulted in a pack of six self-assembly bases plus inserts being ordered from a local seller for a very competitive price!
The two-part bases were quickly assembled with wood glue, and my current collection of trees stuck on the inserts with UHU all-purpose adhesive (99p a tube in Home Bargains!) - the bases take five trees each. Some foliage "blanks" will allow for some variety though, but I'm also planning on getting some extra 40mm round bases and some more trees to "fill them out" in the future.
Then some "textured paint" was knocked up from cheapo acrylic paint (a green lightened with a little yellow from Home Bargains again), filler, sand and a dash of thin PVA glue. This was stippled first onto the inserts and then the bases.
Once that had dried, a close-enough match was mixed with the green & yellow paint, and thinned before painting the bottom of the holes.

When I previously ordered my bitz from Blotz, I included some other little goodies, and thought it was high time I took them out of their zip lock bags!
A set of benches, a skip and a couple of mail boxes / litter bins quickly assembled and ready for painting.

Finally, I've also got round to finishing off  painting a set of resin office furniture from Ainsty Castings (Office Desk Set: 9215). To be honest, the only item which needed any work was the office table top, with its computer terminal and general clutter - the rest was just sprayed matte grey, and then given a wash with Army Painter 'Dark Tone' before picking out the drawer locks and water cooler buttons.
I think the clear resin water container is a neat idea!

So, that's the end of the interlude, and it's back to the Zomtober challenge - thanks again for dropping by and I hope everyone is getting ready for Halloween (and seeing if there's anything useful for the gaming table among the 'Trick or Treat' shelves!



12 comments:

  1. I thought the Blotz I got a while back is quite good. Think I have a couple of sets of the office furniture too, but your version looks much better than mine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Fred. I wasn't aware of Blotz kits until Andy featured some on Da Gobbo's Grotto - I've been a big fan of them since :-)

      Delete
  2. These are all really useful items, Greg. I hope you show your trees on the new bases you've got here. I can see the advantage of having them clumped together in little groups. The furniture items are great, especially the water cooler.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly will Bryan, the paint was fresh when I took the last photo ;-)
      Of course, the trees can still be used without the bases - the inserts they're now mounted on gives them loads of extra stability and I won't be as worried about nudging the table :-)
      The office furniture definitely won't be my last order from Ainsty!

      Delete
  3. All nice, handy items to have :-) . I really must do more of this sort of thing myself...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Hugh. It's been a nice "pick up" job as well as a welcome distraction from the mini's - plus I'm cheating by leaving the bench staithes 'natural wood'
      ;-(

      Delete
  4. What a lovely collection of terrain bits. I’ve got the mail boxes to do myself as well as some skips albeit they’re TT Combat versions. That water cooler is bloody brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cheers Andy be doubly careful about releasing the tiny parts of the mail boxes. They tend to de-laminate if you rush 'em - don't bother asking how I know ;-)
    Definitely no fault on the part of the manufacturer by the way, it's just that they're SO thin.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great terrain bits and though I've never been that convinced by the 'stick in' trees option yours look very good.
    The blotz and Ainsty pieces are all very useful and look the part.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks Joe, I just HAD to do something to make the trees more stable anyway, so sticking them to the 40mm round bases has been an improvement in itself :-)
      The little bits of terrain have been sitting waiting for a 'round tuit' for ages - I get quite annoyed with myself when I buy a "ooh, must have" item and then do nowt with it (like the TTCombat bus shelter that's still in it's packet!)

      Delete
  7. Fantastic stuff! Those bikers look the business :) And I'm right there with you regarding hobby time and buying the "ooh, must haves" lol!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Ivor, and sorry to hear that you suffer the same affliction!
    I think the gentle sex refer to it as "Retail Therapy" and get away with it - doesn't seem to work for us blokes though ;-)

    ReplyDelete