snitchythedog

Made up of bits that were taking up the majority of a bin.  I decided to match them to the rest of my terrain and make them generic enough for most systems including Malifaux.  Managed twenty-two bases.  I still have bunches of fencing to do. 

Hope you like.
Snitchy sends.

I am liking the small details on your buildings.  What did you use for texturing your surface?

Snitchy sends.

I whipped these up out of off cast hirst arts blocks.  Not a new concept but here is my take.

Hope you like. 

Snitchy sends.

I say run with it.  One thing that might help move the sketchup plan to the real world would be a plastic card template for the edges of your rock faces.  That way you are  going to have pieces match up every time from every angle.  That is generally how I do river sections to make sure they mate up correctly.  Ditto on the question about the tops being playable.  Having it as an option would effectively make this two boards.  Canyon and tunnel.   Watching with interest.

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This link might help you.  He made a fully playable zeppelin and has quite a few photos and he explains his process quite well. 

Hope that helps.

Snitchy sends.

I grew up in Arizona so I have a couple of suggestions.  Stands of brush (most common).  Cactus patches (second most common).   Water tanks/troughs.  Barb wire fencing lines always encouraged growth at their bases.  Empty/abandoned shacks. 

I built rocky spires similar to the ones back home.  Here is an example.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

I have one of these that fits into my forest slot base.  Might be an idea for some hazardous terrain. 

Snitchy sends.

Just finished my Monty python inspired dice tower.

Cast from Hirst Arts molds and topped with Studio Minatures "The Castle Guard"

This was to go along with my killer rabbit turn counter.

Hope you like.

Snitchy sends.

On 07/08/2016 at 4:14 AM, Lizzy Lovecraft said:

My bank account does not thank you for that link to Sarissa Precisions, Snitchy.   They've got so many things I want!

They are nice but very dear on the wallet.  Nothing to do with your trains request but another couple of laser cut MDF manufactures are 4 Ground and war bases.  I have ordered form all three and they are all pretty good in their own way.  You just have to find what you want at a price you are willing to pay.

Good luck with the train.

Snitchy sends.

First off a good reference for scale.

S scale is the closest, if you can find it since it is not a popular scale.  You can do it a lot cheaper.  The ik folks have been using holiday trains for ages.  They work since terrain is representative and just a part of an actual scale train will cover the majority of the board.  Another option that is cheaper is to use some of the MDF kits that are available such as this one.

For me cheaper that I can dress up is always better than completely accurate.  Hope that gives you some other options.

Snitchy sends

3 hours ago, MrDeathTrout said:

Smashing work all around.  Now I am intrigued, how did you do the stitching?

Snitchy sends.

Just did a quick how to toot on my blog for making sand runnels.

Hope you like.

Snitchy sends.

On 17/06/2016 at 8:44 PM, Franchute said:

Which product do you use for the water effects?

On 18/06/2016 at 7:21 PM, sycorax said:

@Franchute It's Envirotex Lite. Fantastic stuff. Wouldn't recommend anything else for water effects anymore. Follow the instructions and you can't go wrong.

Sorry, I just saw this thread again.  For those who have not used envirotex lite there is a good primer on the Hirst arts website. Linkey

It is great stuff.  The big thing is to remember it is resin and does generate some heat from the chemical reaction when it is setting up.  Deep pours can get hot enough to melt foam surfaces even under your surface texture.  Just a tip from someone who managed to destroy a whole table a few years back in one pour.    Set me back about three weeks of work and almost a hundred dollars. 

Again Sycorax very impressive build. 

Snitchy sends.

10 hours ago, lusciousmccabe said:

Cool trees! Where did you get them from?

I picked them up at my LGS.  They are from Pegasus Hobbies and if you do take the plunge I would highly suggest that you pick up only the style "A" trees in either height and not the style "B".  The Style "B" fronds are pretty brittle so they can and do break.  You should be able to find them from several online vendors. Hope that helps.

Snitchy sends.

Just wrapped up another project that had been sitting for a while.  My palm forest templates.  Sorry for the other manufactures product but it gives a good impression for the scale.

I am pretty happy with the basing since I can use them either as set templates or stand alone trees. 

Hope you like.

Snitchy sends.

Very impressive board.  It looks like you used envirotex lite for the water effects.  Those channels are pretty deep so my question is did you do them in multiple pours or was the whole thing done in one shot?   Again very nice build.

Snitchy sends.

15 hours ago, prof_bycid said:

Did it come with the planting benches or did you add them?

Those are all photo-etched brass.  Mostly from a GW scenic basing kit that cost too much for what it was.  I liked the selection of plants so I picked it up a couple of years ago and then never used it until now.   Thanks for the comps.

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18 hours ago, Omenbringer said:

Snitchy, is that a Velvet Elvis between the windows in the first image you posted?

Yes.  It is an Easter egg.  I try to hide them in my terrain periodically for fun.  Most folks missed that one on the first go around.   

Snitchy sends.

My solution for building interiors is to add interior details only cover the floor 1/2 inch from each wall.  Even rooms with limited interior details can be more interesting than a blank wall.  Here are a couple of examples. 

You can go nuts with it and make the building seem positively cluttered as long as you keep it to the wall.  Building within the first 1/2 inch of floor space from the wall gives the appearance of interior clutter without taking up the space. 

Personally I prefer to have buildings with playable interiors.  They make the game more visually appealing and tactically more interesting.  That is just my preference and since I do not build for tournaments anymore I can pretty much build what I want.  Like everyone else said make sure there are multiple entrances and exits.  A dead end building will not be used. 

Hope that helps.

Snitchy sends.

On 03/05/2016 at 7:32 AM, graeme27uk said:

What should the maximum size of a single terrain piece be?

I have to agree with the posts above.  The whole table can be one piece or you can go much smaller.  It all depends on what it is that you are trying to do.  Try to figure out a theme for the table you are setting up and see if the terrain base sizes makes sense.  I also have to agree with restrictions on movement since that will end up being the focus of games (like a single bridge on a river that crosses the board).

On 03/05/2016 at 7:32 AM, graeme27uk said:

Also, the purchasable buildings I've seen seem to be out of scale with the models, bring too small in general. What size should a typical building be?

Building scale in wargames is relative.  In many cases buildings (or vehicles for that matter) will be built at a reduced scale.  In most cases it is becasue many terrain manufactures do not build buildings with accessible interiors.  My general rule of thumb is that if I build with an interior I will build a realistic sized building.  If the building does not have an interior, I build at a reduced scale so it does not take as much space on the table (reducing space for game play).  

My best suggestion is to either build or purchase terrain that works and looks right for friendly games on your own board.  If you are building or purchasing terrain for a tournament table then worry about the rules lawyers.  Personally I don't worry about them since I only play friendly games. 

Hope that helps.

Snitchy sends.

I have decided to force myself to finish all of the projects sat on my workbench prior to starting any more.   Saying that this weekend was pretty good.  I finished some pipeline sections for a sci-fy game that I am not going to post here since they are from a different genera.  I also finished these two.

First is my greenhouse.  From a Warbases kit with PE plants from GW and 4D.

Next is my campfire.  I needed one for some gypsy terrain I am working on.  The ember technique is Richard Windrow's from his Terrain Modeling book.   If you do not have his book or have never read it, it is a worthwhile purchase.

Hope you like.

Snitchy sends.

4 hours ago, Jewomie said:

Thanks for the help! I checked out greenstuffworld, only issue there was they are in Spain and I'm in the US.

if you do decide to order from them then check out this.

You would have an unlimited supply then that does not need to be ordered.   I can tell you that these guys are really good.  I ordered some of their basing rollers and received them here in the UK the same week.  Granted they are only on the mainland but the punch is worthwhile.  I found a similar one at Michael's in the states in their cheap punches bin.  It only does one type of leaf but it works.  Unfortunately it was not something that they stocked all the time so that can be a bit hit or miss.  Maybe worthwhile to check there or at Clair's or Hobby Lobby if you have either of those in your neck of the woods.  Hope that gives you another option.

Snitchy sends.  

Snitchy sends.

If this is what you are looking for:

Then they were birch catkins.  There have been several retailers over the years that have sold them either dyed or in their natural color.  Most of them have stopped since from a business point of view it is labor intensive (to separate the usable shells from the seeds) and the sales slump since in many areas they are free and readily available.  My suggestion is if you find a retailer purchase them.  If not then you just need a birch tree to have an unlimited supply.  Here is a bit of a thread discussing separating the seeds from the shells.  Linkey

Hope that helps.

Snitchy sends.

On 08/04/2016 at 0:40 PM, Aeglos said:

I'm thinking of using hot silicone with 5mm thick cork and then drilling some effects into them, but I'm very interested at what the pros would do ^_^.

Paint will not stick on the silicone.  You have a couple of options.  If you want the flexible fire effect then you can use latex caulking.  Just look for the paint-able caulking and you will have the right stuff.  Second option is to build up your flame with putties such as green stuff.  There are several tutorials on the internets for sculpting flame.  sculpting fire In both cases you will have to paint the fire effect.  Another option is to build up the fire with clear or inked resin.  if you cut out clear plastic from a blister pack in the shape of flames you can bulk them out using clear two part resin.  I have added a link to show the technique applied to making water in a fountain but the principal is the same.  Just scroll down to the fountain portion of the page. 

Hirst arts resin water toot

  Hope that helps.

Snitchy sends

On 01/04/2016 at 11:11 PM, spectrehorseman said:

that's pretty cool, I especially like the wagons. Are those from a kit or scratch built?

The wagon and cart are a kit.  4 Ground  The gypsy caravan  in the wide shot is scratch built. 

Snitchy sends.