Making terrain on a budget: Hills

I want to make my terrain as game friendly as possible but also look better than the 2D terrain that has become popular lately. 

Its not that I have a problem with 2D terrain, it's just a bit expensive for me

So my aim was to make some hills as cheaply as I could that also look good but don't cause models to fall off them all the time.

First off I cut out the shapes I wanted out of MDF. I got this from the bottom of a draw in a set of old flat pack furniture when I moved house.

The cork tiles I got really cheap from a DIY shop it was reduced in price because the pack had been damaged and where no good as tiles

After cutting out the sizes of cork I wanted I roughed up the edges by scrapping at an angle.

After gluing the cork layers together I put something heavy on them and left them over night.

The next day I glued on the sand, including putting some on the cork.

I painted the dirt the same colour that I base my army with, I really want my terrain to match my army as much as I can.

The rocks I painted dark grey then dry brushed light grey.

After that all I had to do was add some static grass and they are done!

Even when I place models on the edges of the hills they don't tend to tip over which is a problem I often find with hills.

Overall I am really happy with these hills and price wise they only about £1! I used paint and static grass I already owned and the MDF was free so the cork was the only real cost.

Looking forward to having a table full of home made terrain!

What do you think of these hills? Is there any terrain you would like me to make?

Picked up some new terrain

I picked up a Barn terrain kit from Renedra, and figured I would do a review.

The kit consists of three sprues. The left (in the pic) includes the two ends of the barn and the main wall and roof of the lean-to section. 

The other two sprues are exactly the same containing a wall of the main barn and half of the roof in each. 

This is quite a clever way to produce the kit as the lean-to part covers the window on one side of the main barn. This makes both sides look different even though they are made from the same piece. 

Here is the barn fully assembled.

Also included in the kit: two ladders, pitch forks and a cart wheel. 

Nice extra bits of detail.

The kit went together very easily, the beam details on the edge of the roof panels guide the roof onto the wall neatly. 

Some minis for scale

I used plastic glue to assemble the kit but reinforced it by gluing the barn to a sheet of mdf board as a base.

The barn takes paint well but, like with most models, I advise undercoating before painting.

I also got some barrels and sandbags to use (having already used some on the base of my Storm strider)

Overall this was a very easy to assemble kit that looks great and was cheap to boot. I especially liked the ability to augment it with other products to make it unique. I'll write more about these another time, as I've been using them on other projects as well.

What do you think of the Renedra barn? I think it will work as a great piece of terrain for Warmachine or any other 28" wargame.

More pictures to follow when I have finished painting.

You can find Renedra's website here

Trencherpocalypse Painted

Its finally done! The Trenchpocalypse is over... this has been the biggest painting project I have ever completed. This is 95 points of Trencher models...

First up Trencher Infantry with Command attachment and three weapon attachments, plus an extra weapon attachment for my other unit that I painted over two years ago. I have matched my old paint job but I feel I have improved over the last two years so the old unit will have to get some touch ups at some point.

The Officer

The Sniper

Couple of the unit for the old front and back shots

Trencher Commandos with three weapons attachments

My promise to myself to have a ginger in every unit continues

Scattergunner weapon attachment

Trencher weapon crews, I doubt I will ever get a second Cannon crew

The Chain gun is a neat model, the covering fire changing from a 3" aoe to a wall template is a big improvement  

The loader for the chaingun is a giant, really tall man compared all the other trenchers even kneeling he's nearly the same height as a standing man.

The Cannon crew have some really great looking models full of character, they were a joy to paint among the other trencher units

I love how this guy has a bunch of firing plans or orders in a pouch and in his hand.

Solos and characters

Murdoch was a fun model, he has the same style as the commandos but a lot more weathered and torn clothes.

The toughest man alive Maxwell Finn!

I tried my best to paint his face with as much detail as I could. Things I normally don't do for models in units. I tried to give him stubble (looks better in real life the light makes it hard to get a decent picture)

Trencher master gunners! I have two of these guys, not sure I will use two in one list but hey they are done now and I have the choice to use two should I want to.

I like the way this Trench buster looks like he's running.

These Ogrun were really fun to paint, and they are huge easily the size of a light warjack

This one I put his foot up on the sandbags which makes it look more like he's aiming a gunshot. This makes the two of them look different enough

And thats it! It was a hell of a grind at times painting these all at once but once they started coming together it was very satisfying. I have now painted all available Trencher models.

There is a character solo Major Harrison Gibbs which is set to be released in November, but he should be quite easy to paint up in the same style. 

Big thanks to all those who produce warmahordes content on YouTube and Podcasts I watched/listened to a hell of a lot while painting this lot!!!