Re: [SGII], [DSII] Can't see the forest for the....

>I'm picky when it comes to terrain, so I use primarily stuff I've found
in
>model RR stores or, please forgive, from GW.  I had a friend who was a
>regional manager for GW, and he used to get me all kinds of stuff at
60%
>off the retail price, which made it a *lot* more attractive.

GW does some stuff really well.  Their terrain tends to be in that
category.  All of the 1/300th scale stuff they've produced has been
gorgeous, especially the plastic ruins this time around.  Faux-Gothic or
no, you can make some really nice pieces with them.

For that matter, the 28mm ruins are pretty damned nice too.

>If you want "dead and burned" trees, you can get the (I think woodland
>scenics)  bag sets, which come with a bunch of plastic "trunks" and
bagged
>foam stuff to use for folliage.  I just put the folliage aside, bend
the
>trunks into shape, base them, and hit them with a very light coat of
black
>primer.  This will give you a black/brown burned look, which you can
>accentuate with a bit of drybrushing and inking.  Fast, and looks good
for
>"dead" or "burned out" forest.
>
>I tried actually assembling them as trees, but wasn't very satisfied
with
>the result.  They are intended for static train displays, and don't
hold up
>well to the rigours of the gaming table.

Same problem here -- in fact, I'd forgotten about them since.  Using
them
as burned/dead trees is an excellent idea, and will fit well with the
rest
of my terrain pieces...I have a lot of ruins and post-apocalypse type
stuff.	I'll have to go digging for them.

>I've been collecting useless CD's for a while now - have a big pile
that
>I'm looking for something to do with...  Didn't think of putting trees
on
>them, though.

I save all kinds of crap, and I've got somewhere close to 30 AOL disks.
They've been waiting for a project, and this should do just fine.

>They would be a bit... regular.  Perfectly round...
>
>I guess if you base them with the same flock as your table (if you
have,
>for an example, one of KR's battlemats), they'd look ok.

A guy I know had a whole bunch of trees on round bases -- two or three
trees to each base, on very thick plastic.  I had misgiving when I first
saw them, but when flocked, they blended into the rest of the table just
fine.  So yeah, I'll be flocking them.	And adding small rocks, and
using
acrylic gel medium to add some texture.  They shouldn't stand out much
at all.

>How about this.  While I know that mentioning GW usually sends someone
>on-list into a frothing frenzy, they do sell some useful stuff.  You
can
>buy bags of bases.  Their normal "slottabases" aren't very useful, but
>recently they're started selling some larger, round bases that are
quite
>thin.	They are intended for larger models, are maybe 1.5" or 2" in
>diameter, and are at most half the thickness of their usual bases
(maybe a
>couple of mm at most - to mix units...)

I'll check that out.  Bases are among the things that GW does right --
the
new flying bases, for example, are quite nice indeed.

>See if there are any plastic suppliers in your local yellow-pages (or
>equiv) and see if they have some offcuts they might be willing to sell
you
>at a decent rate.  1/16" stuff would do just fine, and will be stable
>(won't curl up like foamcore or cardboard).  Using a "solid" base like
this
>(or cut hardboard - which is by far the most durable, but requires
either
>power tools or a lot of patience) makes for great terrain - but
sometimes a
>bit inflexible.  It annoys me to know end to want to position a model
*just
>there* but have it blocked by a glued-down tree...

I tend to be a terrain perfectionist myself.  I like my boards to look
as
good as possible. -- but then, I've been spoiled.  This is the kind of
thing that I've been used to:
http://www.users.voicenet.com/~rjfrantz/images/G2.JPG

I will, however, look into a plastics supplier.  I know that there's one
in
Philly, near the convention area.

>I want to try using watered down white glue in a spray bottle, spray
onto
>my felt (precut to shape, probably) to get a relatively even coverage,
and
>then sprinkle flock.  The idea is to make forest-mat pieces that will
go
>onto my battlemat, but in a slightly darker shade.  They'll represent
the
>edges of the forest area, and then I'll put a couple of individually
based
>trees on them to make them more visually appealing.  That way, I can
move
>the trees around on the base if I need to stick a model where the tree
is.

This is, actually, what I've been doing, with the jungle trees and green
felt cut into shapes.  The disadvantages are that the trees keep falling
over -- easily solved if you have more foresight than myself -- and that
it
takes longer to set up a really large table.  But again, that's not a
huge
problem.

>Hey, KR, if you're listening, here's an idea for you.	How about doing
>pre-cut (or cut-out-able) forest bases like this.  I know you have
>pre-printed felt mats for roads and stuff, but are they flocked?  Do
them
>in a slightly darker shade of flocking, and they'd be great for this...

I think that he already does make these.  He did a few years ago, at
least
-- I remember ordering them for Jenkintown, more than once.

John Crimmins
johncrim@voicenet.com
http://www.voicenet.com/~johncrim