6mm (AT) terrain (signboards, cranes, canals)

[Kierdale]

I’ve recently began making some terrain for 6mm gaming (Adeptus Titanicus or other 6mm Sci-Fi #cough#BattleTech#cough#) and thought I’d share my stuff and progress. If any of it provides inspiration, great. Or if you can give me ideas

My son suggested a desert-themed board so I stated brainstorming from there. We wanted water features (the image of big ‘robots’ wading through water is so cool) but I’ve made sectioned rivers before and getting the water effects to look right at the joints is tough. Plus you don’t get a lot of rivers in the desert but I didn’t want to be limited to an oasis or small streams, so decided to make some big concrete canals, with locks at the end of each section (to stop the water effects spilling out when I pour it!). I’ve only made straights so far, of various lengths, but will do some angles and maybe a junction piece in good time. I’ll also add some bridges, one collapsed into the canal, one complete.

Photos of that to come.

Buildings. Living here in Japan storage is always an issue so…matryoshka terrain!

Gretchin so you can judge the size. I don’t have any AT minis (yet).

And then building 2 goes into building 1, to be the right hand one here:

And the lefthand set becomes this:

Another terrain piece I really wanted was a solar farm. Again, the image of mechs striding through, trashing it nonchalantly

I used some textured plastic sheet for the panels, stepping them to angle them, and painted them with Borealis Green colour-shift paint over gloss black to give the look of solar panels. I got some tiny plastic I-beam girders to add a bit more angle to the panels.

On the central building there are decals that say ‘Caution’ and ‘No Step: Honeycomb Structure’

If anyone has more suggestions for suitable terrain I can scratch build, I’d love to hear them.

Any more ideas for uses for the I-beam girders? Make a crane??

[Sherrypie]

Getting strong Neo-Tokyo / Tokyo-3 vibes from these. Looking good.

[Dosjetka]

I like what you've done so far, Kier. :tu: What can we expect to see next?

[LameBeard]

I’m looking forward to seeing those canals cutting through the desert. Where nature meets man-made is cool on a board.

 

What else apart from buildings could work as LOS blocker - a mesa?

[Kierdale]

Getting strong Neo-Tokyo / Tokyo-3 vibes from these. Looking good.

Thank you! Your suggestion makes me think I need neon now! :D And big display signboards atop buildings (to be trashed, kicked down and/or stomped on).

 

 

I’m looking forward to seeing those canals cutting through the desert. Where nature meets man-made is cool on a board.

 

What else apart from buildings could work as LOS blocker - a mesa?

Yes, mesa from layered cork would be a good, easy one. I'll get more work done on the canals tonight. I was hoping to finish painting them, but then remembered I wanted one with a broken bridge in it, and then had an idea: have one small section with a container ship stuck diagonally across it ;) name it the `NeverGreen` or something...

 

I like what you've done so far, Kier. What can we expect to see next?

 

Ideas on the to-do list:

* fallen skyscraper

* truncated pyramid buildings (again, stacking smaller inside larger for storage)

* stacks of pipe (like you'd find on a building site)

* cargo containers

* perhaps a proper dock-area that can be placed next to a canal section

* a crane would be good

* chemical plant

* at least roads at ground level, but better would be elevated ones build in sections so they can be damaged and removed (elevated would be better in a desert too so they don't just get swallowed by the sand)

* ground-level pipes (oil...whatever...maybe some kinda sealed-tube train)

* my local 100 yen store, over a year back, had some small (say, 15cm by 15cm) sheets of very short fake grass (for people to make cute craft dioramas). I didn't buy any as it was too nice, too clean, but really regret it now. I'd like to do a (clearly artificial) garden, surrounded by concrete. Perhaps it would normally be sealed by some kind of energy field over the top to keep sand out. Model some craters in it. I'll have to search the various 100 yen stores in my area.

 

When brainstorming - not particularly focusing on grimdark but "what would be fun to fight across in a city" - I did even think about a sports field but realised that a football (that's "soccer" for you colonials) field would be over 30cm long (105m. As 1mm is supposed to be about a foot, or 3mm about a meter), and would make knights/titans/mechs seem disappointingly small. Similarly, wind turbines are usually 130 to 300ft...so 130 to 300mm. Again, so big they'd make the models small. I could just make them smaller, of course.

 

I've got a lot on my list, but more ideas are welcome :)

I’m looking forward to seeing those canals cutting through the desert. Where nature meets man-made is cool on a board.

 

What else apart from buildings could work as LOS blocker - a mesa?

 

[Kierdale]

I added lock gates and started pouring the resin! A bit of coelia Greenshade added. By this morning it had turned to gel (only about 2mm depth) so it should be dry tonight and I can do a second, clear, pour to add depth.

Working on some 30 degree corners, a 3-way junction and bridges.

[Dosjetka]

Those look really nice and they're not even finished! Looking forward to seeing the end result. :tu:

[malika666]

Sweeeeeeeeet!!!

[Kierdale]

Thanks!

I’ve now run out of Water Effects :( but hopefully I’ll be able to get some more next week. :tu:

In the mean time I have one complete bridge and one broken one made and ready for painting, and got started on a battle-scarred park. Will paint and weather the foam as concrete, put the grass sheet down and then weather/scorch that. Then add some ground pastel for desert weathering.

Plastic cement did a good job on the foam!

[Kierdale]

I got some progress done on the bombed-out park. Stuck the grass sheet down and used Stirland Battlemire to build up the craters. Once that’s dry I’ll drybrush them and generally rough up that lovely lawn a bit more :D

I’ve also ordered the AT Manufactorum terrain set as I couldn’t resist it!

[Kierdale]

The ruined park is done. The grass is a sheet of about 1mm height.

 

Park by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

Park by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

Park by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

Now working on the two bridges (one intact, one not), a cargo ship to stick across a canal section, and the canal corner sections.

[Naryn]

Really like this idea and the execution is perfect, nice work! What's the plan for the bridges?

[Kierdale]

Actually the bridges are done. They’re very simple but I’ll post images soon. I’ve been making a cargo ship over the last three days, for use as an objective to be placed in the canals (to be protected or destroyed)…or simply as scenery. Originally I was going to fix it into one of the canal section, jammed across it, but now think I’ll keep it separate and useable. And it’ll have ‘Nevergiven’ written on its side, ‘Nevergreen’ on the other, in memory of this year’s Suez Canal hiccup ;)

 

Photos of the bridges, ship and the so-far-completed canal sections coming soon :)

[Kierdale]

Well that’s stuck!
There’s gonna be a delay on those corpse starch rations.



A couple of the canal sections.


The complete bridge.


The knackered bridge.

It was difficult getting the bridges to sit flat - after making them there was a bit of warping - so I put them both on a some plastic wrap on a flat surface and put a fair amount of superglue around where they would touch the tabletop, and sprinkled sand over these areas (hence all the debris you can see on the finished pieces). This dried rock hard and I was able to peel them off the plastic no problem. They're now stable and have very little gap. I also used sand to fill the blank space under the ramps of the two broken bridge pieces so they are weighted and don't fall over. When next to a canal section that supports them, but it means I can also use them without the canals, going over a road or something.

I need roads.

[LameBeard]

I love those bridges, the sand looks great.

[Naryn]

That plastic wrap idea is genius, I'll have to try that. The canal sections look great and I love the weathering on both bridges. The rebar especially is a nice touch.

[Kierdale]

Thank you very much!

 

I finished four more buildings, the three smaller fitting inside the largest. By chance the smallest also fits atop the largest!

 

4A2591AD-2C81-47B4-9BDD-FA7C7352F01D by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

AABE9F66-CA3B-4DCD-B46C-BBDD0F0534DA by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

90D6121D-223A-4867-B248-5A92A0E1E604 by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

7455FF5E-3AD7-4517-A406-A0BBC1B435A9 by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

D9C34B01-143E-4150-806D-3697D8C6BA45 by Kierdale Models, on Flickr

 

 

I’ve finished making the Adeptus Titanicus terrain box I bought so will get painting it soon. It’s excellent!

[Kierdale]

Some WIP on parts of the Manufactorum set. I’ll get it all painted up, put some decals on then finish weathering.

I couldn’t help but make one of the towers as a Hoth-like power/shield generator building ;) (beige one in the background).

Oh and some simple plastic pipe cut to sections and stacked.

[Naryn]

Love the texture you've achieved on these!

[Kierdale]

Thanks!

Some of the completed manufactorum pieces. I’m working on the cranes now.

The silos are great for hiding mechs/knights behind, and the piping makes for interesting ground decoration. As we’re doing a desert board I must remember to do the stone counterweight blocks at the back of the cranes as sandstone.

It doesn’t show up much except for on walkways but I’m putting very diluted sand-coloured paint on all horizontal surfaces (and in many crevices) so it dries like built-up sand. On many pieces, while it was wet, it felt like I was applying quite a lot but when it dried there was not so much affect, so it’s a tricky thing to get right.

[Kierdale]

First up some big signboards for flimsy scenery. Cookies for those who get the movie reference ;)

I should do some more 40K-specific ones. Corpse-starch, Creed litany, etc.

The two cranes from the GW set.

And with some of the canal sections. I put a dropped container, and some floating barrels in one section.

[Monstra Sumus]

Nevergreen. 10/10. You win the internet sir. 

[Kierdale]

Nevergreen. 10/10. You win the internet sir.

 

Thanks! :D