Building large 2,000 pt armies is going well, but I am looking at making the terrain for Osgiliath. I have some small ruins and such, but am looking at making large pieces like in Zorpazorp Gaming's model. Do you think the foam type board that comes with meat trays would work?(after bleaching). I have a surplus, and it would be the best material for me to use. Also, do you think tacky glue would work, and what paint do you recommend?
I aim to make...
1 bridge
Citadel of the stars
4-5 large buildings
4 smaller buildings
Some river trays
1 extra island, leave room for a palace eventually.

I already have done some 3d printing for 1 large building, 1 round pavilion, and 2 small wells. I aim to print 2 large connecting buildings. I will jot be anchoring most buildings, leaving customization open, but the foam ones will be anchored. I will post pics of the printed ones, and my existing terrain.
As for river trays, I have some 1 inch square foot boards I am going to use.
Thoughts, opinions?

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By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, men of the West!

I don't have experience with meat tray foam but I'm curious what you'll 3D print, I just bought my own printer and was also planning to print some buildings.
Do you print normal buildings or ruins for them and do you create your own or use other files?

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The men of Dale are fighting a battle with my brush at the moment.
3 guys will never know the grey again... rest in peace

That poll made me snort soda.

I'm in the maybe camp. I think the trays could work really well for building walls, but you will need something like hot glue to stick them together. Railroaders love to pin foam together to help make it straight. If you make a frame to hold the pieces straight, it should work. I also think it would work well for rivers.

For thicker things, I would advise against it. I have tried to glue small pieces together before and always have problems getting my knife through the glue lines. I have no idea how a hot wire cutter would deal with the glue.

You *can* use the pea foam that comes in electronics and appliances as packing, it works especially well for framework of hills and other big, thick, cumbersome things. People might even pay you to take it. Try appliance stores for material. It makes a terrible mess when you break or cut it, so I would try a wire cutter on it.

But if you really want to carve something into non-straight lines, you will have to break down and buy hard board insulation. Otherwise, all you will have is a mess on your hands.

Any paint will work, but the propellant in some aeresols dissolves foam. Check a test piece before committing, unless you are going for nuclear waste zone.

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I will upload the link for Tinkercad. I generated my own files.

_________________
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, men of the West!

Started today. Large ramp is for on the Gondorian side for bridge access. The two large flat panels are bridge walk pieces. The large building and pavilion are 3-D printed. Have others to post still. I also cut out one small building. Everything is pinned in place right now. I still need to trim the ramp. Just a quick update.
Edit-Where are my pictures! I uploaded them as files.

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By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, men of the West!

Yeah, you can't upload as files. They have a size limit. You have to link photos using the [img] tag from Photobucket or another 3rd party site. Yes, it sucks. Photobucket is spam central. At least Photobucket is letting users link images again.

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

Are you gonna make it the way Zorpazorp did. I mean, that you can switch buildings because you use ´standard´ lengths of the bases for the buildings?
Or will it be buildings alone, without a ground that it stands on?
I will like to see some pictures if you're finished.
And I will soon post some pictures myself, working on a Minas Tirith/Osgiliath project myself. Mayby you can use some of my ideas. I've used the 'ruins of Osgiliath box' as a base for a big building, which is made out of 3 ruined sections and some foamboard to make some other walls.

Oh, I am far from done. I have yet to glie or paint. The buildings will also stand alone, as I like the different angle options. Also, I will NOT be doing the shingles and stuff. I habe 128 guys coming in that need painting and such. I am doing the following details-block work, vines, tile, and straitions and cracks. Not a 5 star production.
I will try to get pics through a third party site, but one update I learned. Meat trays have a curve that continues 1cm on some under the bottom. Also, i did bleach these, so, ya know, Faramir will not get salmonella or anything.

_________________
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, men of the West!