Yes thats right folks, after nearly 5 years mouldering in my garage I finally got the motivation to take them all out and finish painting and basing them all. I was inspired to do this by fellow author here on objective secured, Arcade81, and his plans to start running a narrative campaign, which we will be blogging about on here.
He was sprucing up his existing terrain and I decided it was high time I did the same to mine. I find that painted terain and armies really helps to bring out a narrative in games and makes experience the much more immersive. I have now completed over 80% of my terrain pile, and have made a good start on the other 20%. It helps when the weather outside is nice and I can sit out and enjoy the whole process (with a beer in hand of course ;) ).
My terrain consists of a cities of death ruins bundle, a crater set, an old crashes space ship from a previous GW starter set and a few other bits and bobs. The buildings were all airbrushed and then drybrused and weathered to make them look old, blownup and worn. I found some acrylic crackle paint online which I have used above the windows and blown up bits to try and simulate fire damage. This has worked ok but it has been a bit hit and miss in places. The final stage was to use some army painter quick shade varnishes and then matt spray, which works pretty well and creates wuite a nice weathering effect all by itself. On a few I cut up some craters and added them to the bases and I really like how this has came out. It adds a nice interest to the bases.
The craters were very simple. I just glued sand to the outer plastic rings and sprayed the whole thing black. They were then drybrushed grey and water effects were added to try and make them a little more interesting. This has worked ok but I had the bottle sitting in a drawer as long as the terrain so It had gone off and turned brown. I did not mind this so much as it makes it look like dirty water but the shrinkage has been massive. Hard to believe that each crater was filled till over half with the water effect.
Finally I worked on the crashed space ship. I picked this up a while ago on Ebay as I think it is a fantastic piece of terrain and it makes an nice focal point on the battlefield, to either create missions around or just to look cool. I did not spend alot of time painting the parts, just speckling and drybrushing rust onto it to make it look worn, but I am happy with it overall.
I am pleased I can now field a whole table full of painted terrain, and will certainly take some pics of my next game with it to show. Anyway look out soon on the blog for more info on our upcoming narrative campaign. I for one am looking forward to it and have started making a little custom terrain piece to use (if you follow me on Twitter you will have seen a few pics of my work in progress). Catch you all soon :)
NafNaf out!
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Awesome work mate. Really puts me to shame with my slow terrain progress. With my airbrush and some drybrushing I could easily get the lot done in a weekend so I need to stop making excuses and crack on!
ReplyDeleteCheers dude :)
DeleteI think terrain can be a bit of a chore, and if you are not in the mood it can be horrible. Luckily I had both motivation to do it and the weather was nice so I could sit outside, and I managed to get a massive chunk done. Only taken me 5 years though :D
looks very nice. What did you use to base the buildings?
ReplyDeleteHey thanks :)
DeleteI used either MDF or hardboard that I had spare (usually the stuff with laminates on from old cupboards, which help it not to warp). I used chopped up sprues, cork as sand for the base texture.
Great stuff NafNaf, I've had a terrain splurge recently (blog label Terrain) and found it quite rewarding, quick to do and detailing not so important, terrain can by its nature be 'messy' and slapping some paint on does make the difference, basecoat, wash, drybrush, few details, base, done. Makes the battlefield look so much better and makes a better game I reckon.
ReplyDeleteAlex needs to get his finger out!
I also use 3mm Hardboard, or accross the pond its called Fiberboard I think. Cut with jigsaw and sanded smooth edges with normal sandpaper, PVA glue works well with it to affix the buildings and the sand. I then fix the sand 24hrs later with a hefty spray of purity seal before painting.
Cheers Siph :)
DeleteYes I saw all the terrain you have been doing and it looks awesome. You are right there is nothing better than having a game on a fully painted table. I pretty much followed what you have said, lots of drybrushing, washing ect with not much attention to detail and it still looks good. I think terrain needs to be painted like that otherwise it never gets done, they can be incredibly time consuming if done with all the details.
Instead of using purity seal to affix the sand after gluing I use watered down pva glue mixed with black paint. This holds incredibly well and also shades the sand so when it is basecoated it does not show through. Also saves on buying lots of purity seal :D
Love the craters in the building ruins, that's stolen for my next cities of death kitbash! Great idea mate
ReplyDeleteThanks :) . Yeah I am really pleased how that has come out, it adds a nice interest to the bases
DeleteGreat job Nafnaf. Excellent job making the terrain interesting, while not going to crazy on details. I like the variance in tones, colors, and textures. Very awesome. Now setup a nice board shot with a game in progress!
ReplyDeleteThankyou Greg :). I am pleased with how they all came out, and am glad I did not go crazy on the details, otherwise they would probably stay in the garage for another 5 years :D
DeleteI am really looking forward to having a game using all this painted stuff. I have the games and gears boards as well I want to use which will make it look even better hopefully.
I had never thought to combine the craters with the buildings like that - simple and brilliant! Love how they all turned out - nicely done, man.
ReplyDeleteThanks dude :) yeah they turned out pretty well fortunately, and were nice and simple to do
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