Terrain is cool, but what makes a battlefield come to life is SCATTER terrain, little nothings all over the board that don't actually provide anything game-wise, but makes it look like a real place. I just made a bunch of dead cadians to scatter over my 40k boards, it's always strange to see HUMAN cities and buildings being fought over by aliens and I thought adding them would add some more story to the board.
Casualties and other "bits" that make the tabletop look like a habitat are game changing (excuse the pun). My main environment is desert and so its a bit more excusable to have the places... look deserted.
One of the most satisfying "terrain" projects I've ever done was making treasure tokens for Frostgrave. I just populated some bases with weapons, trinkets and things from my bits box. I also made a whole bunch of tiny, tiny things from scratch; potion bottles, candles, scrolls, etc. It was super fiddly work, but it was really satisfying and it made the tokens into something that looks worth fighting over. It adds a surprising amount of value to the game.
Yeah, scatter terrain is really useful. Creates lots of line-of-sight blocking. Can be plopped down anywhere to fill space. Easy to store, easy to make. I recently made a bunch of covered cargo pallets out of craft sticks, wood blocks, paper towels, and some 3d printed ammo boxes and barrels. Among other things. They really make the battlefield look like a real place. Really look forward to using them in a game. As for casualties, I imagine historical minis would be useful for filling out corpses. Since actual GW Guard miniatures are pretty costly, and you don't really _need_ terrain to be made from GW figures. Historicals are much cheaper. Some plastic kits even come with cadaver models in them, though any figure lying in the mud can play the part. Ones that would work well might be WWI French infantry (Kriegsmen), Soviet (Valhallans), or Afghan/Zulu War era British (Praetorians).
Weirdly enough, one of the best additions to a table for me was a path/road with a row of rocks on each side. It really defined a crossroads for the battle.
Ya they do balance each other out nicely. I can't chip away at projects. I'm more all or nothing my self. I wish I was more the other but we can't chose our hobby habits. I did paint 144 figures in one day though so there is that.
I have one bit to add to using terrain as a soothing side project: excellent way to dump paint from your pallet. Even on a wet pallet, you end up with paint that is getting useless, or you're finished with the colour. Have a terrain piece handy and slap it there. Waste not, want not.
I think wylok has some of my favorite terrain videos, I built a pipe organ and stained glass windows using his videos for a cathedral I was making and I get complemented on it all of time
I build most of my own terrain due to a tight budget and also to scratch that crafting itch. I'm taking a break from mini painting (painted up a few new members of a Peacekeepers team and some wasteland creatures for This Is Not A Test) and RPG work this week to paint some scratch built post apocalyptic terrain as well as some store bought stuff from Reaper Miniatures and Pegasus Models (got some nice gothic stuff like ruined buildings, pillars and statues) for Reign In Hell. Most of the terrain will have a nice, basic color scheme of greys and browns. Just want to sit back and bang out some stuff. Its very therapeutic for the hobby to just paint something that doesn't take a ton of work and you can get a lot done in a little amount of time. It's a really good way to cleans the modeling pallet so to say.
This video helped me a lot! I have a lot of anxiety about painting my more expensive minis as I'm a new painter. I don't know why the thought of practicing techniques on terrain never crossed my mind. Thanks!
Hello :) I am a new painter as well and a thought which really helped me was that you are doing your best when you are painting models you really love and care about. And also after finishing model I like to draw the year+month I finished the model on the baserjm. This way I can put them in order and you can see your process and getting better. It's insane haha
Since I've accrued a fair number of painted models in my fledgling (Fallen) Dark Angels and Dark Eldar armies, I've started doing terrain projects in between sets of models. You know, so I have an actual board to set games in. It's been great fun. I made a pool of radioactive waste out of a dollar store picture frame (the glass panel creates the appearance of liquid for very little effort). And I built a bunch of cargo pallets out of wooden blocks, wood craft sticks, paper towels, gauze, copper tubes, and some 3d printed bits I bought off the internet. Currently I'm painting 4 Hesco barriers, made of dollar store floral foam cut into 2x2x3 pieces, wrapped in duct tape and dry wall tape, and some sand in the top. The paint is just some discount paint + primer jars they sell at the hardware store, that were in colors I could work with. I'm just sponging the paint on, it's easy. Like Real Life hesco barriers, these will be very flexible as terrain pieces. My only problem is I'll probably need to craft a whole lot more of them. But, again, it's an easy project, so I can crank them out fairly quickly.
Yeah, I bought a skirmish game in January '22, painted the models and then started building terrain, I've made a 2'x2' set of tiles and houses plus some scatter. I haven't actually played the game yet.
Thanks for this. I just purchased a huge Dungeon Saga Kickstarter pack and another huge Drakerys Kickstarter pack for an absolute song. The Drakerys pack alone was worth nearly $700 US. They are going to keep me busy for months and what I would like to do is construct a massive 3D dungeon for them in modular form. They came with a lot of terrain stuff so this video was really well timed.
MDF is a wonderfully dimensionally stable material ... just don't let it get damp! Surely the Mantic space plane(?) should be half submerged iin a swamp? 😀 Re corner ruins - my gut instinct is that corners will be stronger than walls and more likely to remain standing longer. Need to look around and find more about how buildings act when subject to destructive force.
I've been working on three hobby projects per year: Building an army, painting an army, and building and painting terrain. I first started doing this back in 2019. I first rebuilt my Imperial Guard army. Once they were built I would focused on painting the army one unit at a time. From there I would regularly switch from painting Guardsmen to either building a unit for my Beastmen army, or build and paint a terrain piece for my jungle table. As my focus was divided on three separate aspects of the hobby throughout the entire year, I was able to paint 2000 pts of Guardsmen, build 2000 pts of Beastmen, and build and paint an entire jungle battlefield complete with ruins, a river and even a waterfall. A couple of tips: If you build an army before painting it, keep the army in a display cabinet but keep it out of sight. Focus on painting 1 vehicle/monster/character or a unit of 5 to 10 models at a time. You'll find that your unpainted army gradually becomes fully painted as you're not staring a horde of miniatures at the painting table. And tip 2: I highly recommend building and painting your army one unit at a time. You'll find you won't be overwhelmed with a horde of miniatures to paint. If you want to play games, use one that is already built and/or painted while you work on getting the new army completed.
really cool video, lately what im doing when I get bored, of minis, is I paint the measurement sticks and movement ranges for my Star Wars legion army xD its easy, and super rewarding to see cool rulers when you play :)
I like to make terrain a lot. I prefer it to painting minis. But, when I say make terrain, I mean make terrain. Assembling and basing 3d printed stuff is NOT making terrain. It’s model assembly.
Adam, firstly awesome video, I too like to have terrain pieces kicking around to to work on, secondly Terrain Machine's website looks like it is down and they are out of business.
So awesome you posted this, last year making terrain boosted me back into painting minis again. I spent two months making rivers trees farms etc and it really energized me. Thanks for the post!
Give your minis a world to live in - Even just a few thematic terrain pieces base coated and dry brushed with 2 lighter highlights will be a great break from detail painting and can motivate you to populate this little world with more finished miniatures.
Next time you work with Reaper Bones give it a bath in isopropyl alcohol for a day or two first. It will crisp it up a little bit. Other people on UA-cam can explain it better than me.
I use this technique often, no pressure , I relax more while doing terrain. I've been painting minis for a solid 4 months. I am messing with cans turning into canisters.
Starting on Kill Team recently, I had some terrain from my Star Wars Legion that I can use for now, but this reminded me I really need to sort some that suits what I will be playing 40k wise soon! Great video!
Yeah I tend to switch around between miniature painting and terrain crafting all the time. I simply go where inspiration takes me. It also keeps the hobby interesting. Thanks for the vid. I really enjoyed your little showcase of your terrain.
I appreciate the suggestions. I've not painted anything for 3-4 weeks now, hit a motivation block due to work/lfe and being tired. I've got a few terrain pieces that have been sitting in the wings. Maybe I'll break those out and get some paint down.
I feel you on this. As an Ork player, I see 90+ of almost the same model, then a nob once every 30 or so boyz. I've focused on some of the orky barricades I have found from various companies as well as the Octarius Orky terrain from recent releases. Palette cleansers like terrain really help with keeping the motivation, especially if you are working on very clean models that require precision.
I have also used terrain to motivate myself to hobby when I just could not get started with miniatures. Maybe the next step is to paint a handful of miniatures that can be posed thematically on and around the terrain pieces to boost my motivation, or play a game with the terrain just to spark a sense of overall accomplishment .
@@waynegoddard4065 I reckon that I spelt it wrong - I think I managed to fix it now (easy to miss when all english words are underlined with a red marker as they are not part of my native language.). ;)
Very true. I am currently working through my pile of terrain (before KT Space Hulk comes out and I go all ham on new modular 'build your own spaceship' sets), and I keep building warbands/kill teams/units in-between without even planning to, because when you have cool buildings - you really want to put someone inside. Painting is fun for me, so it is never a problem, but building miniatures is the most tedious/unfun part for me. So during this winter I literally ran out of built models to paint and could not bring myself to build anything else for couple of months. And building terrain somehow triggers 'I want to build models too!' So since my terrain project started, I got two KTs and a Warcry warband built, and I feel like there will be a unit or two of necron warriors in upcoming weekend for me as well.
This Video is my philosophy. Terrain is what sustains me in the hobby and is my favorite part of miniature Wargaming. I'd never get any armies done if I couldn't intersperse miniature painting with making terrain. Good advice for Bones terrain also. I made sure to base the Dragons Don't Share Tower sections on pieces of hard board and years later they're nice and flat.
I'm starting to proactively paint bases before making a start on minis and it really helps having the base ready for them once you fill in the little details. That being said, I currently have 10 Zephyrim who need flying bases, magnets and backpacks sorting out simultaneously, bleurgh!
Great advice! I'm in a bit of a painting slump at present and I do have 2 terrain pieces I can assemble and paint and see ifithelps. Ones a small mdf ruin for Frostgrave and the other a Reaper Bones portal which I also plan on using in Frostgrave too. It's made from clear purple plastic and has some Chinese dogs on either side.
Good video Atom, been working on a bunch of mdf terrain to build a Shanty town as a break. I like to think of it as a holiday where you build the destination.
Thanks for the food for thought. I finished a Kickstarter season of minis and am kind of hitting a slump trying to figure out what to do next. Worked on some assembly and basing for new stuff, but I'm finding color selection for the minis isn't clicking. Something different might just be the ticket I need.
yeah! Finally! I think Terrain is the most important part of my motivation. Building "worlds" or windows into "a" fantastic world where our minis battle it out . Thanks for the Video! Agree totally! One of my healing moments when I do not want to paint "minis"
That is a great advice! I use terrain or Sylvaneth to paint when "waiting for the paint to dry" on other stuff. Currently I am painting some barrels and chests while listening to this video and it is amazing how much terrain and Sylvaneth can be done that way.
I often switch to some terrain when I want to make a thing but lack the focus to do something 'important'. It is also good to remember that hobbies happen after the bills are paid, homework is done and all that stuff. It is also ok to let yourself be unmotivated for a while or motivated in a non-hobby direction. A great man once said..."Just walk away." Take some time to read that book or watch that show. Get some air and touch grass. Take a nap even. These all clear your head from the stuff we bring home from work and school and let you see the hobby from a fresh perspective.
I've been putting off painting a bunch of trees for a forest themed Kings of War Vanguard board I started a while back but this has motivated me to get them finished.
I'm pretty much stuck doing terrain for the next 6 months or(probably) more, although strictly speaking it isn't sci-fi or fantasy as it's my house. Maybe I should go for a table-top theme with my remodelling (better half runs in shouting NO!). Actually, she quite likes skulls.
This video was so helpful. I got burnt out painting the same shade of blue on my Chaos Marines, but I need to do something. So I painted my Killzone Chalnath terrain and it was so satisfying. I am much more motivated to work on my minis more.
I agree. I have terrain, scatter terrain and a couple of different types of mini's going at the same time. Currently I have going 4 hills, 1 cave entrance, 13 sci fi fantasy trees made of rope, an owl bear, Aeronautica Imperialis Avengers, a Frostgrave wizard and some treasure for Silver Bayonet. Get tired of one, move on to another. I get way more accomplished this way.
The plastic that the white and grey Reaper Bones is made of doesn’t react well with rattlecan primer. Something to do with the propellant I think? Brush-on primer or airbrush primer works much better. Thanks for watching!
It's a chemical reaction between the PVC material Bones is made of (which makes it so durable too) and things they put in rattle cans. Not all cans produce the issue, but you're rolling the dice any time you do this. Even a can that worked before may not work another time if you spray closer or if humidity is high that day, for example. There are too many factors to be sure. If you've triggered one, the chemical reaction will still happen even under varnish, though you can often take away the sticky feel by covering it up. Don't take a chance and just avoid that method of priming for Reaper Bones. Bones original and Bones Black are both PVC based. Anything brush or air brush will work, just not spray cans.
I'm pretty new to the hobby on the whole but I know I like making my own terrain (partly because it's fun, partly because I'm not rich), and I find having a terrain project on the go helps you fill up your workflow while sometimes you are waiting for paint/primer to dry on a mini. Making better overall use of whatever time you have to paint and build things is a definite positive.
If you have the space, start a bits box of little pieces of junk. I've made terrain out of broken electronics, food packaging, old toys, etc. Once you start doing it, people will pitch in. Every time I see my mom, she has trash for me. :)
I nearly always have a terrain side project on the hobby table as like you say its easy to crank out a "!win" if you aren't in the hobby zone, and you can use the cheap paint from the art shop, the stuff that comes in tubes $1/£1ish a tube, goes a lot further than mini-paint and if just fine for terrain (and Ink and Medium can make a passable wash, not as constantant as the magic of Earthshade etc but again good enough)
This is exactly what I do. I haven't finished my army in a year, but I have been creating 2 terrain "masterpieces" which have inspired me to continue my army painting, when I'm done with these. Altering focus is always good.
Never, ever use a rattle can on Bones. Reaper will tell you this. There is a chemical reaction between the PVC material of Bones and things they put in a lot of rattle cans (like propellant). It may not happen every time with every can (some people swear they've always sprayed Bones and never had an issue), but you're taking a risk with your model every time you try it. Also, all Bones (and many models) should be washed to remove mold release agents so that things like paint and primer will stick better. Bones original and Bones Black are both slightly hydrophobic, but after they've been washed you can just paint on them with undiluted paint without priming (if you want). Bones USA is Siocast and doesn't have that problem. Some of their terrain is injection molded polystyrene and not Bones at all. Their plastic machine is named Thomas because it's blue and looks a little like a certain cartoon train.
I love that you made this video. I've recently been going crazy making terrain and actually like it better than mini work, but it's also becoming the catalyst for going back to my minis. Where some people make the terrain for the minis specifically, I'm finding the opposite is true for me and it's really helping my motivation. Cheers!
This was a TERRAIN-TASTIC video. Thanks for making this video. Mmmm I wonder if you get people who only just paint terrain and nothing else in this hobby.
The cool thing about terrain of the sort you showed is that it's pretty easy to build just with crap one has lying around. No need to buy or 3D print anything: just get some cardboard, a cutter and glue and go to town. Easy to scratchbuilt a scifi bunker, a fantasy house, some ruined walls, etc. Some base colors, drybrushing and presto! A satisfyingly serviceable piece of terrain.
I've found that talcum powder helps counteract the problem of sticky Reaper Bones. Talc it, leave it for a while, if still sticky, talc it again, until it's dry enough to re-prime (with anything other than a rattle can).
Depends where you're based and what you're looking for. If it's mdf I'd look at TT-combat, warcradle and kromlech (There are plenty of others as well). Card wise there's battlesystems or you can print your own from places like Peter's paper boys, drive through rpg and wargames vault. Plastics - have a look at Renedra, Mantic and Archeon studios dungeons and lasers. Hope this helps
I've never scratch built anything or used MDF but I love Plastic Terrain and have a bunch of it after 7 years in the hobby. Problem is storing it!!! For now most of my terrain lives in shoe boxes under my bed and I pull them out when I need them.
I believe this. When I was waiting for Necromunda 2017: I blitzed a MDF terrain pack to get a tables worth painted. Then during Covid when I lost a lot of motivation for anything, I went back to that terrain to add more details and weathering. Doing terrain used to be something I wouldn't do but last couple of years I think I've painted more terrain than I have models.
Looks like Terrain Machine shut down, sadly. Appears development costs exceeded their revenue stream, which is both a pity and a sign it was not marketed properly, or possibly even at all - I had never heard of it till this video. It ought to have done really well, given that the 3D printing market is actually expanding still, and gaming is also expanding, at least based on sales.
😆 So true. I have a few projects on the go at the moment and couldn't get up any motivation so decided to do some cleaning and tidying in my hobby shed. Usually put a UA-cam video on in the background and guess which one I happened to play! Very topical 😁
I thought the idea of Terrain Machine was great, but when I went to check it out, it turns out they closed up shop two months ago. Does anyone know if there's going to be a v2 on the horizon?
This video just came out at the perfect time, i was not enjoying painting up entire armies, i finished a few warcry boards worth of terrain and really enjoyed it, im not working on a 6x4 40k table worth of terrain and enjoying the process, it's really satisfying to create a good looking battlefield.
Nice take on painting options. Agree that painting models consistently burns hobbyists out sometimes and terrain's faster and easier depending on the scale. If wanted can also revisit small pieces from time to time and add extra detail also. If you ever want a selection of Support Free 3D Printable Terrain look up Sacrus Mundus. The only thing I didn't care for with their Patreon is they typically release the models towards the end of the month. They do hit all genres though and to date haven't need supports on any models of theirs yet.
I was just working last night on my red harvest terrain. It's been primed for at least 4 or 5 months now and I'm finally starting to dry brush it. Not sure if I like where it's at right now but any forward step is progress. Think I might try a wash next.
Terrain can be extremely cheap to make. I have found large coffee creamer containers work great for all kinds of things from windmills to hills to grain silos to bunkers and watchtowers.
Having terrain around to work on can also help with those times when you spectacularly over-estimate how much paint you needed for something else and are too cheap to let it go to waste. Sci-fi/cyberpunk terrain in particular is good since just about any colour can be justified somewhere.
Nice to see your in progress stuff. I totally agree with the idea of doing terrain when you're just not feeling it. I'm actually way behind in the amount of terrain I need but it can be messy with the big stuff. I have a few things on the shelf, like a set of walls that just need drybrushing and I think I'll be doing them tonight as I've lost my motivation recently because of just being too tired to focus after work.
Also I highly recommend painting mobile infantry tanks which your space moons can fit inside and do the interior decorations decor lighting and all that stuff if you will at a whim of your knowledge and capacity
Terrain is often the most important part of wargaming working and being fun to play. The real downside is that no matter how much you have, there's always some bit that you still need for each project and so it's never ending.
Just a heads up, Terrain Machine is actually now defunct. The site shut down at the end of July because the creator couldn't cover the cost of keeping the website open.
Terrain is cool, but what makes a battlefield come to life is SCATTER terrain, little nothings all over the board that don't actually provide anything game-wise, but makes it look like a real place. I just made a bunch of dead cadians to scatter over my 40k boards, it's always strange to see HUMAN cities and buildings being fought over by aliens and I thought adding them would add some more story to the board.
Casualties and other "bits" that make the tabletop look like a habitat are game changing (excuse the pun). My main environment is desert and so its a bit more excusable to have the places... look deserted.
One of the most satisfying "terrain" projects I've ever done was making treasure tokens for Frostgrave. I just populated some bases with weapons, trinkets and things from my bits box. I also made a whole bunch of tiny, tiny things from scratch; potion bottles, candles, scrolls, etc. It was super fiddly work, but it was really satisfying and it made the tokens into something that looks worth fighting over. It adds a surprising amount of value to the game.
Yeah, scatter terrain is really useful. Creates lots of line-of-sight blocking. Can be plopped down anywhere to fill space. Easy to store, easy to make.
I recently made a bunch of covered cargo pallets out of craft sticks, wood blocks, paper towels, and some 3d printed ammo boxes and barrels. Among other things. They really make the battlefield look like a real place. Really look forward to using them in a game.
As for casualties, I imagine historical minis would be useful for filling out corpses. Since actual GW Guard miniatures are pretty costly, and you don't really _need_ terrain to be made from GW figures. Historicals are much cheaper. Some plastic kits even come with cadaver models in them, though any figure lying in the mud can play the part. Ones that would work well might be WWI French infantry (Kriegsmen), Soviet (Valhallans), or Afghan/Zulu War era British (Praetorians).
Scatter terrain makes the game!
Weirdly enough, one of the best additions to a table for me was a path/road with a row of rocks on each side. It really defined a crossroads for the battle.
This was a well-conceived, thoughtful, and beneficial video for everyone in the hobby. Well done. Thanks.
About every 10th mini, i get bored and switch to terrain. As synchronicity would have it, I was painting some kegs while I watched this. lol
I love, LOVE, (like, not eros) making terrain. Weathering is my favorite part of models, and....yeah.
Ya they do balance each other out nicely. I can't chip away at projects. I'm more all or nothing my self. I wish I was more the other but we can't chose our hobby habits. I did paint 144 figures in one day though so there is that.
My man, spot on right there: it is getting the feeling of achievement quickly without too much thinking process.
I have one bit to add to using terrain as a soothing side project: excellent way to dump paint from your pallet. Even on a wet pallet, you end up with paint that is getting useless, or you're finished with the colour. Have a terrain piece handy and slap it there. Waste not, want not.
@11:20 Too late. 😬 But I've gazed into the abyss for years 🔥👁🔥. It's fine.😌
I think wylok has some of my favorite terrain videos, I built a pipe organ and stained glass windows using his videos for a cathedral I was making and I get complemented on it all of time
I build most of my own terrain due to a tight budget and also to scratch that crafting itch. I'm taking a break from mini painting (painted up a few new members of a Peacekeepers team and some wasteland creatures for This Is Not A Test) and RPG work this week to paint some scratch built post apocalyptic terrain as well as some store bought stuff from Reaper Miniatures and Pegasus Models (got some nice gothic stuff like ruined buildings, pillars and statues) for Reign In Hell. Most of the terrain will have a nice, basic color scheme of greys and browns. Just want to sit back and bang out some stuff. Its very therapeutic for the hobby to just paint something that doesn't take a ton of work and you can get a lot done in a little amount of time. It's a really good way to cleans the modeling pallet so to say.
This video helped me a lot! I have a lot of anxiety about painting my more expensive minis as I'm a new painter. I don't know why the thought of practicing techniques on terrain never crossed my mind. Thanks!
Hello :)
I am a new painter as well and a thought which really helped me was that you are doing your best when you are painting models you really love and care about. And also after finishing model I like to draw the year+month I finished the model on the baserjm. This way I can put them in order and you can see your process and getting better. It's insane haha
@@eetennak966 This is a great idea! Thank you for your reply. I'm putting dates under my bases from now on. Happy Painting my friend! 🤜🤛
Terrain is nice but personally like painting bases really helps me out
Since I've accrued a fair number of painted models in my fledgling (Fallen) Dark Angels and Dark Eldar armies, I've started doing terrain projects in between sets of models. You know, so I have an actual board to set games in. It's been great fun. I made a pool of radioactive waste out of a dollar store picture frame (the glass panel creates the appearance of liquid for very little effort). And I built a bunch of cargo pallets out of wooden blocks, wood craft sticks, paper towels, gauze, copper tubes, and some 3d printed bits I bought off the internet.
Currently I'm painting 4 Hesco barriers, made of dollar store floral foam cut into 2x2x3 pieces, wrapped in duct tape and dry wall tape, and some sand in the top. The paint is just some discount paint + primer jars they sell at the hardware store, that were in colors I could work with. I'm just sponging the paint on, it's easy. Like Real Life hesco barriers, these will be very flexible as terrain pieces. My only problem is I'll probably need to craft a whole lot more of them. But, again, it's an easy project, so I can crank them out fairly quickly.
I have these large bursts of hobbying.
Very helpful videos. Also terrain adds much to the miniatures when playing. Keep up the good work.
Building and painting terrain is like a blessing for the soul
Yeah, I bought a skirmish game in January '22, painted the models and then started building terrain, I've made a 2'x2' set of tiles and houses plus some scatter. I haven't actually played the game yet.
👍👍Great advice and great examples 👌
At 11:40 my mind's eye says stalagmites 👍
Thanks for this. I just purchased a huge Dungeon Saga Kickstarter pack and another huge Drakerys Kickstarter pack for an absolute song. The Drakerys pack alone was worth nearly $700 US. They are going to keep me busy for months and what I would like to do is construct a massive 3D dungeon for them in modular form. They came with a lot of terrain stuff so this video was really well timed.
MDF is a wonderfully dimensionally stable material ... just don't let it get damp!
Surely the Mantic space plane(?) should be half submerged iin a swamp? 😀
Re corner ruins - my gut instinct is that corners will be stronger than walls and more likely to remain standing longer. Need to look around and find more about how buildings act when subject to destructive force.
I've been working on three hobby projects per year: Building an army, painting an army, and building and painting terrain.
I first started doing this back in 2019. I first rebuilt my Imperial Guard army. Once they were built I would focused on painting the army one unit at a time. From there I would regularly switch from painting Guardsmen to either building a unit for my Beastmen army, or build and paint a terrain piece for my jungle table.
As my focus was divided on three separate aspects of the hobby throughout the entire year, I was able to paint 2000 pts of Guardsmen, build 2000 pts of Beastmen, and build and paint an entire jungle battlefield complete with ruins, a river and even a waterfall.
A couple of tips: If you build an army before painting it, keep the army in a display cabinet but keep it out of sight. Focus on painting 1 vehicle/monster/character or a unit of 5 to 10 models at a time. You'll find that your unpainted army gradually becomes fully painted as you're not staring a horde of miniatures at the painting table.
And tip 2: I highly recommend building and painting your army one unit at a time. You'll find you won't be overwhelmed with a horde of miniatures to paint. If you want to play games, use one that is already built and/or painted while you work on getting the new army completed.
At the end, I always expect Uncle Atom to tell me to see me in hell...
'3D printed by a friend' - reference to the legend, the awe-inspiring hero, the one and only Milk Can/GameFor GamingMattR
Can 100% agree. I usually take longer breaks from painting, like Summer, etc. and I often get back into it with doing terrain, so rewarding!
really cool video, lately what im doing when I get bored, of minis, is I paint the measurement sticks and movement ranges for my Star Wars legion army xD its easy, and super rewarding to see cool rulers when you play :)
I like to make terrain a lot. I prefer it to painting minis. But, when I say make terrain, I mean make terrain. Assembling and basing 3d printed stuff is NOT making terrain. It’s model assembly.
The architects of the 41st millennium should just design all their buildings out of corners, that way they wouldn't fall down as much.
Adam, firstly awesome video, I too like to have terrain pieces kicking around to to work on, secondly Terrain Machine's website looks like it is down and they are out of business.
So awesome you posted this, last year making terrain boosted me back into painting minis again. I spent two months making rivers trees farms etc and it really energized me. Thanks for the post!
Give your minis a world to live in - Even just a few thematic terrain pieces base coated and dry brushed with 2 lighter highlights will be a great break from detail painting and can motivate you to populate this little world with more finished miniatures.
Next time you work with Reaper Bones give it a bath in isopropyl alcohol for a day or two first. It will crisp it up a little bit. Other people on UA-cam can explain it better than me.
Described me. Look forward to painting all day, then by the time work is done, kids in bed, etc, I am always tired and end up doing nothing.
I use this technique often, no pressure , I relax more while doing terrain. I've been painting minis for a solid 4 months. I am messing with cans turning into canisters.
When I can’t decide which project to work on or get fed up painting the same models all the time, I build or paint some generic terrain.
I liked a lot that you talked about it and also showed examples of resourced and your own successes and trie-outs. Thanks!
Starting on Kill Team recently, I had some terrain from my Star Wars Legion that I can use for now, but this reminded me I really need to sort some that suits what I will be playing 40k wise soon! Great video!
Holy shit, uncle Atom was calling me out in this one
It's like Shawshank Redemption... in SPACE!
Great advice, I try and paint tiny buildings almost everyday. Steady bricking y'all!
Painting terrain is incredibly liberating... just get out the drybrush and get to work. Rather zen
My favorite terrain is mystic circle (stone henge) by Reaper
Yeah I tend to switch around between miniature painting and terrain crafting all the time. I simply go where inspiration takes me. It also keeps the hobby interesting. Thanks for the vid. I really enjoyed your little showcase of your terrain.
Absolutely this, 100%! Top video! - Annie
Never seen anything so reminiscent of shawshank redemption
Please share more built from scratch sf terrain for inspiration.
I appreciate the suggestions. I've not painted anything for 3-4 weeks now, hit a motivation block due to work/lfe and being tired. I've got a few terrain pieces that have been sitting in the wings. Maybe I'll break those out and get some paint down.
Trouble with terrain is that it takes up a ton of space on the shelf.
I feel you on this. As an Ork player, I see 90+ of almost the same model, then a nob once every 30 or so boyz. I've focused on some of the orky barricades I have found from various companies as well as the Octarius Orky terrain from recent releases.
Palette cleansers like terrain really help with keeping the motivation, especially if you are working on very clean models that require precision.
“Palette cleansers” 🤣😂🤣
I have also used terrain to motivate myself to hobby when I just could not get started with miniatures. Maybe the next step is to paint a handful of miniatures that can be posed thematically on and around the terrain pieces to boost my motivation, or play a game with the terrain just to spark a sense of overall accomplishment .
Do you eat your lishments?
@@waynegoddard4065 I reckon that I spelt it wrong - I think I managed to fix it now (easy to miss when all english words are underlined with a red marker as they are not part of my native language.). ;)
Very true. I am currently working through my pile of terrain (before KT Space Hulk comes out and I go all ham on new modular 'build your own spaceship' sets), and I keep building warbands/kill teams/units in-between without even planning to, because when you have cool buildings - you really want to put someone inside.
Painting is fun for me, so it is never a problem, but building miniatures is the most tedious/unfun part for me. So during this winter I literally ran out of built models to paint and could not bring myself to build anything else for couple of months. And building terrain somehow triggers 'I want to build models too!'
So since my terrain project started, I got two KTs and a Warcry warband built, and I feel like there will be a unit or two of necron warriors in upcoming weekend for me as well.
Also, a week till new game? Cannot wait!
This Video is my philosophy. Terrain is what sustains me in the hobby and is my favorite part of miniature Wargaming. I'd never get any armies done if I couldn't intersperse miniature painting with making terrain.
Good advice for Bones terrain also. I made sure to base the Dragons Don't Share Tower sections on pieces of hard board and years later they're nice and flat.
Perfect timing. I've been in a terrain mood.
Terrain is one of my favorite parts of hobby.
I'm starting to proactively paint bases before making a start on minis and it really helps having the base ready for them once you fill in the little details. That being said, I currently have 10 Zephyrim who need flying bases, magnets and backpacks sorting out simultaneously, bleurgh!
Great advice! I'm in a bit of a painting slump at present and I do have 2 terrain pieces I can assemble and paint and see ifithelps. Ones a small mdf ruin for Frostgrave and the other a Reaper Bones portal which I also plan on using in Frostgrave too. It's made from clear purple plastic and has some Chinese dogs on either side.
Good video Atom, been working on a bunch of mdf terrain to build a Shanty town as a break.
I like to think of it as a holiday where you build the destination.
I've been working on a lot of 40k terrain lately and have been adding a lot of "debris" to the ruins.
Thanks for the food for thought. I finished a Kickstarter season of minis and am kind of hitting a slump trying to figure out what to do next. Worked on some assembly and basing for new stuff, but I'm finding color selection for the minis isn't clicking. Something different might just be the ticket I need.
yeah! Finally! I think Terrain is the most important part of my motivation. Building "worlds" or windows into "a" fantastic world where our minis battle it out . Thanks for the Video! Agree totally! One of my healing moments when I do not want to paint "minis"
That is a great advice! I use terrain or Sylvaneth to paint when "waiting for the paint to dry" on other stuff. Currently I am painting some barrels and chests while listening to this video and it is amazing how much terrain and Sylvaneth can be done that way.
I often switch to some terrain when I want to make a thing but lack the focus to do something 'important'. It is also good to remember that hobbies happen after the bills are paid, homework is done and all that stuff. It is also ok to let yourself be unmotivated for a while or motivated in a non-hobby direction. A great man once said..."Just walk away." Take some time to read that book or watch that show. Get some air and touch grass. Take a nap even. These all clear your head from the stuff we bring home from work and school and let you see the hobby from a fresh perspective.
I've been putting off painting a bunch of trees for a forest themed Kings of War Vanguard board I started a while back but this has motivated me to get them finished.
I'm pretty much stuck doing terrain for the next 6 months or(probably) more, although strictly speaking it isn't sci-fi or fantasy as it's my house. Maybe I should go for a table-top theme with my remodelling (better half runs in shouting NO!). Actually, she quite likes skulls.
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
Mel the Terrain Tutor keeps the mojo going. Helping improve my MDF stuff. It definitely keeps the hobby going.
This video was so helpful. I got burnt out painting the same shade of blue on my Chaos Marines, but I need to do something. So I painted my Killzone Chalnath terrain and it was so satisfying. I am much more motivated to work on my minis more.
I agree. I have terrain, scatter terrain and a couple of different types of mini's going at the same time. Currently I have going 4 hills, 1 cave entrance, 13 sci fi fantasy trees made of rope, an owl bear, Aeronautica Imperialis Avengers, a Frostgrave wizard and some treasure for Silver Bayonet. Get tired of one, move on to another. I get way more accomplished this way.
Wait, sticky for three MONTHS? What is going on with the reaper bones stuff? I’m outta the loop.
The plastic that the white and grey Reaper Bones is made of doesn’t react well with rattlecan primer. Something to do with the propellant I think? Brush-on primer or airbrush primer works much better. Thanks for watching!
It's a chemical reaction between the PVC material Bones is made of (which makes it so durable too) and things they put in rattle cans. Not all cans produce the issue, but you're rolling the dice any time you do this. Even a can that worked before may not work another time if you spray closer or if humidity is high that day, for example. There are too many factors to be sure. If you've triggered one, the chemical reaction will still happen even under varnish, though you can often take away the sticky feel by covering it up. Don't take a chance and just avoid that method of priming for Reaper Bones. Bones original and Bones Black are both PVC based. Anything brush or air brush will work, just not spray cans.
I'm pretty new to the hobby on the whole but I know I like making my own terrain (partly because it's fun, partly because I'm not rich), and I find having a terrain project on the go helps you fill up your workflow while sometimes you are waiting for paint/primer to dry on a mini. Making better overall use of whatever time you have to paint and build things is a definite positive.
Unfortunately Terrain Machine ceased support without providing STLs, so we had a couple weeks to download stuff, then it's done. :(
Was depressed over how shitty 40k has become (except narrative). Started building 8 ZM tiles and havent touched video games for a week!
I really appreciate these vids, Uncky A. It’s great to hear practical ways of keeping the hobby fresh and engaging. Thanks mate. 👍🏻
If you have the space, start a bits box of little pieces of junk. I've made terrain out of broken electronics, food packaging, old toys, etc.
Once you start doing it, people will pitch in. Every time I see my mom, she has trash for me. :)
I nearly always have a terrain side project on the hobby table as like you say its easy to crank out a "!win" if you aren't in the hobby zone, and you can use the cheap paint from the art shop, the stuff that comes in tubes $1/£1ish a tube, goes a lot further than mini-paint and if just fine for terrain (and Ink and Medium can make a passable wash, not as constantant as the magic of Earthshade etc but again good enough)
Please do a video on Terrain Machine! I had no idea that was a thing!
Okay maybe I'm dumb, where do I even find this app?
Well, it turns out it may have gone out of business, I’m afraid. That’s a real bummer, as it was a great thing. Thanks for watching!
@@tabletopminions Aw darn! Thank you for the great content!!
This is exactly what I do. I haven't finished my army in a year, but I have been creating 2 terrain "masterpieces" which have inspired me to continue my army painting, when I'm done with these.
Altering focus is always good.
Never, ever use a rattle can on Bones. Reaper will tell you this. There is a chemical reaction between the PVC material of Bones and things they put in a lot of rattle cans (like propellant). It may not happen every time with every can (some people swear they've always sprayed Bones and never had an issue), but you're taking a risk with your model every time you try it. Also, all Bones (and many models) should be washed to remove mold release agents so that things like paint and primer will stick better. Bones original and Bones Black are both slightly hydrophobic, but after they've been washed you can just paint on them with undiluted paint without priming (if you want). Bones USA is Siocast and doesn't have that problem. Some of their terrain is injection molded polystyrene and not Bones at all. Their plastic machine is named Thomas because it's blue and looks a little like a certain cartoon train.
I love that you made this video. I've recently been going crazy making terrain and actually like it better than mini work, but it's also becoming the catalyst for going back to my minis. Where some people make the terrain for the minis specifically, I'm finding the opposite is true for me and it's really helping my motivation. Cheers!
This was a TERRAIN-TASTIC video. Thanks for making this video. Mmmm I wonder if you get people who only just paint terrain and nothing else in this hobby.
The cool thing about terrain of the sort you showed is that it's pretty easy to build just with crap one has lying around. No need to buy or 3D print anything: just get some cardboard, a cutter and glue and go to town. Easy to scratchbuilt a scifi bunker, a fantasy house, some ruined walls, etc. Some base colors, drybrushing and presto! A satisfyingly serviceable piece of terrain.
I've found that talcum powder helps counteract the problem of sticky Reaper Bones. Talc it, leave it for a while, if still sticky, talc it again, until it's dry enough to re-prime (with anything other than a rattle can).
Anyone know of a good place to get get good terrain for a good value. This teacher would really like some more bang for his buck if possible.
Depends where you're based and what you're looking for. If it's mdf I'd look at TT-combat, warcradle and kromlech (There are plenty of others as well). Card wise there's battlesystems or you can print your own from places like Peter's paper boys, drive through rpg and wargames vault. Plastics - have a look at Renedra, Mantic and Archeon studios dungeons and lasers. Hope this helps
@@Orinoco-C0G US based looking for some solid plastic that is ready for prime or maybe a little kitbashing. I want more verticality in my terrain.
I've never scratch built anything or used MDF but I love Plastic Terrain and have a bunch of it after 7 years in the hobby.
Problem is storing it!!! For now most of my terrain lives in shoe boxes under my bed and I pull them out when I need them.
I believe this. When I was waiting for Necromunda 2017: I blitzed a MDF terrain pack to get a tables worth painted. Then during Covid when I lost a lot of motivation for anything, I went back to that terrain to add more details and weathering.
Doing terrain used to be something I wouldn't do but last couple of years I think I've painted more terrain than I have models.
Looks like Terrain Machine shut down, sadly. Appears development costs exceeded their revenue stream, which is both a pity and a sign it was not marketed properly, or possibly even at all - I had never heard of it till this video. It ought to have done really well, given that the 3D printing market is actually expanding still, and gaming is also expanding, at least based on sales.
😆 So true. I have a few projects on the go at the moment and couldn't get up any motivation so decided to do some cleaning and tidying in my hobby shed. Usually put a UA-cam video on in the background and guess which one I happened to play! Very topical 😁
Excellent video! I'm planning to build a 3D board for Riot Quest, and I think I'll have fun doing it.
I thought the idea of Terrain Machine was great, but when I went to check it out, it turns out they closed up shop two months ago. Does anyone know if there's going to be a v2 on the horizon?
Check out Imperial Terrain- that seems to be the new location
@@elrondorio good looking out! Thanks!
This video just came out at the perfect time, i was not enjoying painting up entire armies, i finished a few warcry boards worth of terrain and really enjoyed it, im not working on a 6x4 40k table worth of terrain and enjoying the process, it's really satisfying to create a good looking battlefield.
Hey, Uncle Atom, nice T-shirt, perfect for a Tyranid player. Where did you get that? Thanks.
Do you have a link for Terrain Machine? All I find is a 2021 Kickstarter. Thank you.
Nice take on painting options. Agree that painting models consistently burns hobbyists out sometimes and terrain's faster and easier depending on the scale. If wanted can also revisit small pieces from time to time and add extra detail also.
If you ever want a selection of Support Free 3D Printable Terrain look up Sacrus Mundus. The only thing I didn't care for with their Patreon is they typically release the models towards the end of the month. They do hit all genres though and to date haven't need supports on any models of theirs yet.
get into kings of war where bases is a "terrain" project on its own. really upped my motivation for painting which Warhammer FB never gave me.
I was just working last night on my red harvest terrain. It's been primed for at least 4 or 5 months now and I'm finally starting to dry brush it. Not sure if I like where it's at right now but any forward step is progress. Think I might try a wash next.
Terrain can be extremely cheap to make. I have found large coffee creamer containers work great for all kinds of things from windmills to hills to grain silos to bunkers and watchtowers.
Having terrain around to work on can also help with those times when you spectacularly over-estimate how much paint you needed for something else and are too cheap to let it go to waste. Sci-fi/cyberpunk terrain in particular is good since just about any colour can be justified somewhere.
Nice to see your in progress stuff. I totally agree with the idea of doing terrain when you're just not feeling it. I'm actually way behind in the amount of terrain I need but it can be messy with the big stuff. I have a few things on the shelf, like a set of walls that just need drybrushing and I think I'll be doing them tonight as I've lost my motivation recently because of just being too tired to focus after work.
Also I highly recommend painting mobile infantry tanks which your space moons can fit inside and do the interior decorations decor lighting and all that stuff if you will at a whim of your knowledge and capacity
Terrain is often the most important part of wargaming working and being fun to play.
The real downside is that no matter how much you have, there's always some bit that you still need for each project and so it's never ending.
Just a heads up, Terrain Machine is actually now defunct. The site shut down at the end of July because the creator couldn't cover the cost of keeping the website open.
Just a heads up, I believe the Terrain Machine is no longer active however, you can still pick up similar pre-built sets at Imperial Terrain