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

Hi, 

some good suggestions so far!

>Date: Tue, 01 Jan 2002 11:28:39 -0500
>From: John Crimmins <johncrim@voicenet.com>
>Subject: [SGII], [DSII] Can't see the forest for the....
>
>So...trees.  What do you use, how do you base them?  I've been making
do
>with GW "Jungle Trees" for SGII (which, frankly, look damned good if
you do
>nothing more than give them a thin coat of green ink) and some bizarre
>sculpey creations that my wife made a year or so ago, but it's time to
get
>some more things done.

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.

But my favourite trees were purchased at a locak RR Hobby shop.  I just
look for discounts/sales/good deals - normally the good ones are a bit
pricy.

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.

>
>The jungle trees are on individual bases: that's coming to an end. 
They
>fall over at the drop of a hat, it's a pain to place them all, and AOL
has
>considerately sent me a whole bunch of free bases to work with.  In
>addition, I've picked up some more normal trees (meanr for model RR
use)
>which are going to get the same treatment.

Hah!

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.

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.

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...)

These would be *excellent* for basing trees (one big one, two small ones
for SG, several DS size), and I bought a bag with this purpose in mind.
The price was pretty reasonable, and you get a bunch - 15 or 25 or
something.  I forget exactly.

>DSII, I've been making do with pieces of lichen on top of green felt. 
It
>works, but it doesn't look all that good.  I've got some bumpy
chenielle
>ready to be chopped into evergreens, but I'm not sure how to base them
yet
>- -- bases have a bad habit of warping on me, usually several months
after
>I've finished working on them..  Any suggestions?  The AOL CDs are too
big
>for this purpose, unfortunately.

You could buy some sheet styrene and use that...

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 was in a local craft store a while back, and they were selling sheets
of
felt (about 12" x 9" or so, for about $0.50) in different shades.  I
bought
a bunch, intending to try to flock them.

I know KR uses a slightly complex process to create the battle mats (I
think he screen-prints the glue, and then uses a big sifter to apply the
flock - he told me at GZG-ECC last year, but I don't remember everything
he
said).	I'm thinking this might be possible to replicate, at least on a
smaller scale.

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.

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...

Anyway, that's it for now.