The ASWA Hobbit Fan Club reports success! Trees and Goblin caves for everyone!

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I think I am going to drill out the tops of the the cut offs to make them look more like hollow trees. There are lots of places to put figures. This may work out better than I expected.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Nicely done!

_________________
No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

Too tall but too cool


I have about ten large trees for the Old Forest I need to finish up with lichen and bases. The larger trees are for some tree houses. They will have to be cut down but I do not know how much yet. I might just use them for doll houses for the Hobbit Fan Club.
I need to paint the bark with black glue.I need to finish up Goblin Town. I will need to cast some more cave floor parts as well.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Aren't you the needy guy, then? Ha!

Fantastic stuff. You are inspiring Me to take more nature walks/scenery collection tours!

_________________
Respectfully,
Jonathan

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly

Battle Companies

Looks very good. May I ask what model is the Wraith

_________________
"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

I guess that is one of those loaded words

I think it is a Citadel import Witch King from the late 70's or very early 80's.

I do not know why photo bucket cuts the edge off of the photo.

More older figures mostly from the 80's

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I painted the last of my processed lichen. I will make one more base, glue up the bark and drill out the holes for the tree trunks.I will paint the rest of the bark back drops and the bark on the tree bases at the same time. Then I will flock the bases. I will flock the lichen separately. I am going to make a Party tree and lots of Mirkwood twisted trees as well.
Comments and questions are welcome.


I worked on the tree canopies some tonight after the paint dried

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Creepie Mirkwood Tree

I am going to use flat bark so that figures can stand on the base and on the rocks. I think I will use a smaller base for two of the large trees. They will me more useful that way. I want to make one more Mirkwood twisted tree. That will be the limit to what I can store and still make a few tree houses.

I think it is worth pointing out that that when you stand and look at the table it looks like the table is covered with terrain. When you sit the trees are tall enough that there is more than enough room to move the figures. There are lots of places to climb and jump and fall. It will never have to be set up the same way twice.
I will drill out the bases for the trees and paint the bark. The next step will be to mix up some flock for the bases.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Can you elaborate on what you do with the canopy material? I have lots of the lichen and have been collecting various branches to use as simple trees as well, but it appears you're painting and/or flocking yours from the pics and quick descriptions. I have only ever used the lichen 'as is' from the bags. Do you paint w/ spray paint (before it goes on the trees I'd assume) and then add some flock while it's still wet or do you have a different process? What type of flock do you put in the trees? Any sealant after the fact?

advTHANKSance!

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Most people buy processed lichen that has already been dyed.I pick mine fresh. I have to treat the lichen with glycerin and color it. I used to use dye but most railroaders don't use dye any more because the salt rust the track.The same with homemade saw dust flocking. I paint the lichen with brown or green cheep spray paint. I let it dry. I use clear cheap spray gloss to attach the first layer of flocking before I glue it to the tree. I use cheap hair spray to add lighter colors and to seal it.
The spray paint in the photo cost $1.05 at Walmart
I use the same brand clear spray paint to add colored flocking to the lichen. Use gloss it is important.
I use this http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics. ... y/FineTurf over lichen.
I use green then the color burnt grass
I don't remember what brand of hair spray - look for one with no perfume.

I am going to write something up. Linda will edit it for grammar but more important she will make sure it is clear to some one that has not done this for 40 years.
Ask lots of question and make suggestions please.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Okay...
What do you do with the pine bark pieces for terrain use? I picked some up a few weeks ago and not really sure what to do with it; its very crumbly so when i want to break the bigger bits into suitable sizes it just sort of shatters and makes a mess.

You seem to have a knack for making trees. I would love to see your interpretation of a 'black-hearted tree' from LOME. they wouldn't be much use for games without profiles but they would make some awesome Dol Guldur-themed terrain features.

By that I hope you mean you're writing something for the OR archive? That would be great. Also If you know a good way of using cardboard and other super-cheap material for terrain please share
What do you use for bases? is it MDF? if so what thickness?

Also Mr. Oldman you've probably seen this, but I found this article (clicky) which might be helpful for Beowulf.

I may have mentioned this before, but on the old GW site they had a guide for making Durburz' lair which was pretty much a heap of dwarven masonry made from styrene and foam card (also MDF I think), with some goblin alterations, like animal hide sleeping mats and freehand goblin graffiti. And a dwarf king's throne festooned with spikes made with toothpicks. It looked cool. You could add some skeletons to the goblin town stuff; cos even goblins have to eat sometimes. Also maybe some wall-mounted torches. You could drybrush some OSL in there for added awesomeness. Treasure piles would be cool too. There's a guide on the TerraGenesis archive somewhere for that.
EDIT: Yep, I did mention it once previously, on the Amon hen thread.

I suggest writing a general techniques article, for "Foundations of terrain making" describing various methods of stone texturing or working with HA bricks, or making trees or whatever, with varying degrees of difficulty so anyone can learn something despite differences in skill levels.
Some reviews of different products would be good too, so people can figure out what sort of things to purchase for their 'needs'.

As beowulf said, 'advTHANKSance.'

_________________
Backlog reduction Oath Participant

It can be a mess. You don't have to do as much with pulp wood scraps because the tree was green when it was cut.I like really big chunks from dead tree trunks. They can be very crumbly because they have started to decay. I have to wash them and kill the bugs. Put the bark on a cookie sheet in the oven on low heat till it is dry. That takes care of any bugs.
The nice thing about bark is that it is wood. So it can be nailed, drilled and taped, glued, pressed and clamped like wood.I use carpenters glue instead of PVA, white, or school glue. I also use black glue when I paint it so that it holds together better.
Base 1/2 MDF
You can see from the photo that I have glued and clamped the bark and tree to the MDF. The glue will hold the bark and tree together and press the curve of the bark flat for a much better bond. I will pin the trunk to the base with a small dowel rod so that it will survive 4 year old children and plastic dragons.
So what is black glue? I add black craft paint to the carpenters glue. I sift sand or saw dust on the wet glue. It is much easier when it is time to paint.
Bark painted with black glue.
You can see that most of the sand and saw dust soaked up the paint and glue. A good way to make bases too.

Yes I saw that that. A very useful site.

Sadly, I never saw that

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

The next step drilled, clamped, flocked.

Waiting for highlight flock The net foliage does not look as good to me.

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thanks for the tips, by carpenters glue do you mean stuff like Titebond/aliphatic resin type of glue?
Also was that half-inch MDF?
What sort of polystyrene do you use? pink, white, blue or all of them?
Also maybe you could add some small spiders made of polymer clay, or use miniatures
Thanks and I look forward to more updates on goblin town.

_________________
Backlog reduction Oath Participant

Great series of Mirkwood-stuff there! Nice twisted trees!

You'll have a very personal and unique Mirkwood-army in it's own natural habitat!
Very well worked out all together! Well done!

_________________
CMON-gallery

Some great stuff in this WIP OW. I really like your use of natural materials and the amount of effort you've put into it all together. Keep up the amazing work.

_________________
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Jake

You are welcome and thanks for the comments
carpenters wood glue like Titebond or Elmers
Medium density polystyrene comes as green, pink and blue and I have been told purple. It works well for most projects. The white packing foam is less useful. I do use them all. 1/2 is half-inch.


I do have some spiders about

_________________
"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Man...that is just creeping me out!

_________________
No one feels as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

My son saw your spiders and went crazy over them. We've been reading through the Hobbit and just read about the battle with the spiders a couple of nights ago, so it was very fresh in his memory. He wanted to know why I didn't have a cool spider army like yours.

_________________
Respectfully,
Jonathan

Do what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly

Battle Companies