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Trees?
Jul 14, 2005 16:23:57 GMT 12
Post by Aaron on Jul 14, 2005 16:23:57 GMT 12
OK so some more noobie questions, this time about terrain.
My mate just bought a pack of tree’s, they are all glued together and looking great but what do people base them on?
Wood? Foam board? something else?
Also before gluing them on do you do anything to the base to make it less flat? Should I maybe rough on some permafil to give it some shape (just very mild undulations 2-3mm).
We’re looking at splitting the trees into 2 woods and the way they are designed you can remove the trees from its base so we plan to glue the tree base down but not glue the trunk in.
My plan is
Foam board (because I have some & I don’t have any way to cut wood), permafil the base for some shape, glue down some texture, spray black, paint, add the tree bases, flock. Sound ok?
Also these trees are the kind with plastic tree trunks you glue foam to, any advice for a product to put over the foam to help glue/seal them onto the tree? Would spray varnish work or would that turn the foam funny?
Thanks for the help!
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Trees?
Jul 14, 2005 16:51:31 GMT 12
Post by PitYak Studios on Jul 14, 2005 16:51:31 GMT 12
Not quite sure I follow your plan, but I would probably glue the trees down, then add permafil, texture, spray, paint, flock in that order.
Spray varnish would probably be ok, but as they say, check on a seperate area first.
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Trees?
Jul 14, 2005 16:51:33 GMT 12
Post by c0d3monk33 on Jul 14, 2005 16:51:33 GMT 12
Trees eh? Intriguing...from where? Are they Woodland Scenics jobbies? Very pricy? He asked curiously.
I have the technology to cut almost infinite amounts of 3-5mm MDF if you can supply some. I own both a bandsaw and a jigsaw. These days I use the bandsaw for all my modelling requirements though. Great for cutting curved scenery bases.
Mind you with patience you can cut 3mm MDF with an Xacto blade...just don't expect the blade to be useful afterwards! Hacksaws are good (but labour intensive) too.
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Trees?
Jul 14, 2005 20:44:47 GMT 12
Post by dustand on Jul 14, 2005 20:44:47 GMT 12
Cork tile, every time. it is my prefered substance of almost all modeling.
*EASY to cut, blades ware out in about 2 hours of constant cutting
*Has two textures, one slightly rougher (the down side). It can be drybrused to look like concrete, the other side is smoother, looks more finished (internal walls).
*hot glue is perfect for it, not much glue (maybe a 2-3mm bead along the join), the hot glue bulges can be trimed by sliding your knife down the structure (wait till its REALLY cold). It Holds like a rock but can be carefully sepparated
*Your can pick chunks and gouges realy easy (ruins) and the chunks you pull out make great debris
*Its VERY hard to make it warp.
*You dont need to seal ANYTHING before spray painting
*Pva is good for glueing card and light materials.
*You can push stuff into it
*You can sand it
*you can carve retail in (might even be able to do poker work on it.)
*it comes in 2 great thicknesses, 9mm and 4.5mm, Spotlight has stuff that is paper thin, it would be mint for 28mm canvas (ala tent)
BUT
*9 1x1 tiles is rather pricy at $15 (still cheaper than foamcore?)
*it seems to run out fast (if I am on a terrain binge I will do 9 tiles in under a week
Thats it...
Unless I have something laying around that will be base and terrain, i base everything on cork tiles. If you got hot glue a cork tile and a sharp blade, you can build most of anything, its the most treasured material in my bits box.
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Trees?
Jul 15, 2005 8:37:37 GMT 12
Post by Aaron on Jul 15, 2005 8:37:37 GMT 12
The trees are woodlands scenics cost $36 for 14 trees which whilst I didn't buy them, seems pretty reasonable to me.
Well the reason for not adding the tree's until later is that Im not wanting to paint them. If I add them before undercoat I'll have to paint the trunks to make them match the bases. If I leave them until after painting the finished product wont be as good over all but still much better than leaving them free standing/falling.
Hmm cork tile aye. So where would I aquire some of those? Bunnings/Mitre 10 or would spotlight be better? Are they just like the cork flooring tiles or something different?
you say you use them for walls too, so they must be pretty stiff?
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Trees?
Jul 15, 2005 10:10:35 GMT 12
Post by PitYak Studios on Jul 15, 2005 10:10:35 GMT 12
I've looked at those trees before, and while they're not exactly budget, I thought they looked reasonable.
The best stuff I've seen in the local shop is about the same price, but all you get is a lump of old dried bush. Some weed that some enterprising soul has stuck in a carrier bag and is charging 30-odd bucks for. I though about ripping the idea but I couldn't sell old twigs with a clear consience.
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Trees?
Jul 15, 2005 11:18:54 GMT 12
Post by dustand on Jul 15, 2005 11:18:54 GMT 12
Yup they are just cork floor tiles, I usually get 6mm ( I think I said 9 before), it seems to look about the thickness you would expect a civilian external concrete wall. I havent calculated to scale it up and check. if you make a basic corner ruin like in the GW how-to make wargames terrain (first edition) you get a great idea of how strong a material it is. The biger it gets the weaker it is though, but the comparitive strength loss in a 1x1 area is not going to be a problem.
Spotlight only had the paper thin one. its a real rip because so much for on sheet of 1x1. you are paying cause they can cut it that thin, not for the materials.
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Trees?
Jul 15, 2005 11:45:04 GMT 12
Post by Aaron on Jul 15, 2005 11:45:04 GMT 12
ok well thanks for the advice.
I'll give the foam core a go (I have some I may as well use it) for the trees so hopefully by the end of the weekend I'll have completed one of the woods!
I also bought some varnish (at last) so Im hoping that will work on the trees to keep on the foliage but thats really beside the point as I needed some for my figs.
IF I get them finished I'll post a pic of how they turn out.
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Trees?
Jul 16, 2005 19:55:53 GMT 12
Post by Aaron on Jul 16, 2005 19:55:53 GMT 12
Ok well I made a start on my trees when I got home from work today. I placed out the trees in interesting shapes on the foam core then drew around them. Chopped it out with my hobby knife then went round the edges rounding them off. One interesting thing I discovered is that is that you can sand foam core quite successfully. A layer of permafil went on just to give a bit of shape to the base then PVA and texture on top of that. So far I think they look pretty good. At this point Ive left them to dry. I've tried the varnish on one of the trees and it seems to have worked. The foliage is still a little delicate but it is much better and I figure if I give them another coat when I do the entire base that will finish it off. So far no sign of any change to the look or texture on the trees but i will check tomorrow am before doing the rest of the trees. WIP Pics: www.album.co.nz/a?921 |
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Trees?
Jul 17, 2005 10:05:16 GMT 12
Post by c0d3monk33 on Jul 17, 2005 10:05:16 GMT 12
Looking good! Are those 28mm or 15mm scale trees though? Is the terrain for WHFB or FOW? Or did I miss that already?
I'm surprised your foam card didn't warp when you apply the poly-filla...but now it's all dry I imagine it's all pretty solid. I look forward to seeing them on the game table!
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Trees?
Jul 17, 2005 11:38:16 GMT 12
Post by Aaron on Jul 17, 2005 11:38:16 GMT 12
The longer narrow one seemed to warp slightly along the peninsula section. The others seemed fine but I haven't been out to look at them this morning so during the overnight drying they could have changed.
They are probably a bit big for FoW but that wont really stop us using them. I do have those 2 other sets of trees (the smaller pine trees & the much smaller light green ones) which, depending on the success of this lot, I could base as well to make another wood more FoW size.
I think the advantage of trees is that they can be anything from chest height to 15 times the size of a man so you can get away with more variety.
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