Wall & Foamcore Tutorial Part 2

Last night I got another wall done. Nothing fancy. I have been noticing a minor problem with my last two walls, though. when foamcore sits around for a long time and isn't entirely flat, it will bow a little. Because of this, I'm having a harder time gluing things together because they're not entirely flush. No biggie, though. Once it's painted, you probably won't be able to tell it from any other wall.

So let's make a foamcore building. The first thing you want to do is to pull out graph paper and draw it out. As you can see to the left, I have drawn out a simple intact square building that is 5x5x3". If you're starting with no buildings and want to make a lot of them, I recommend settling on a scale so that you can use multiple pieces and they look like they belong together. Or you can make each piece different. They're your buildings! I base almost everything I build on 5x5" and use 3" for each floor. If I had to start again from scratch, I might go to 6x6 or stay at 5x5 and use 2.5" per floor but I'm pretty happy with the scale I use currently for the most part. As you can see, each of the sides is the same and I've put in dovetails of a sort for stability when its assembled. You could totaly make them interlocking teeth but this is good for a simple building. Also remember that this is supposed to be in three dimensions so you have to account for the thickness of walls when you draw this out. That's easy with 4/inch graph paper. Just use a 1/4" (one grid block) to account for thickness since the foamcore will be 3/16" thick. Not quite the same, but certainly good enough for our purposes. I drew in a door and windows on a couple walls. You may or may not want to cut them out. Sometimes, I paint the doors or windows on. Often I cut them out and then glue a scrap piece of foamcore behind them so the depth is there. Paint black in the recessed area and it looks great. When you get into more complex buildings, you may want to think about places to slot things to add more stability or functionality but that's for later.

I also drew out a base and a roof. Note that the base is 5x5 but the roof is 4.5x4.5. the building is 5x5 but you have to account the the thickness of the wall so the roof is 4.5x4.5 to fit between the walls when they're glued together. And how will the roof stay up? Well, if you check out the previous page, I have some bars up there for roof supports. Glue them on the inside corners and then set the roof on top of them. If you want to be clever, you could cut out the doors and windows and cut a larger piece of foamcore that can cover the door and windows on the inside and can also support the roof. They're your buildings and you can do whatever you want with them.

Lastly, you probably want to go out and make photocopies of your templates for several reasons. If you like the building, you can use the same template over and over without redrawing it every time. If there's something wrong with the drawing and the building doesn't fit together, you can erase and redraw a couple of lines and the template is fixed. Of course, you use up a lot less graph paper that way. Lastly and more importantly, the actual paper in graph paper is weaker than standard copy paper which means it's more likely to tear or warp a little when you glue it to the foam core. Also it's less likely to peel off cleanly once you've done your cutting.

Now you've designed your first building. That's the hard part. Tomorrow you're going to put it on the foamcore and cut it out.

Wall & A Foamcore Tutorial Begins

This is what I got done last night. What is it? It's a wall. It's three inches high and has a walkway on the back so that minis can stand on the wall and look or shoot out. Normally one can crank out several of these in an evening, but last night being...complicated, I was only able to manage one. It did get me thinking, though. Making things out of foamcore is really simple but I never did it until a few years ago, primarily because I thought I couldn't do it. But it's easy as all get out so I'm going to start a tutorial on making buildings and structures out of foamcore.

What is foamcore? Foamcore is a type of board that is created by gluing and pressing paper to the sides of thin sheets of polystyrene foam. The end result is a light, durable and strong board which can easily be cut or shaped. Most foamcore is white with white backing paper. It can be found with other colors of paper and, more recently, in black with black foam.

What do you need to start making buildings? Well first you need some foamcore. What kind of foamcore will be right for you? Well, good old white foamcore, in my humble opinion, is the best. Why? You can get it many places and sometimes cheaply. While you can find it at art stores and grocery stores, check out craft stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. They almost always have it cheapest and often have sales on it. Let's assume you're looking for a 20x30" sheet. At art stores, it tends to be a little expensive ($3-4 per sheet). Grocery stores will have better prices but still be a little high ($2-2.50). Craft stores will often have it cheapest ($1-1.50) and when they have sales you can get it by the arm load. Last time I picked some up was during a sale and I got it for 50 cents a sheet! Black foamcore is another good choice but for a different reason. It's very expensive ($5-6!) and only art or craft stores will have it. The big upside, however is that if your terrain gets damaged for some reason, it'll be harder to tell because the rip or tear will be black. You can pass it off as part of the design or construction. But if white foamcore gets damaged, there's this obvious white spot sticking out. If you're making something that will only get moderate use (you and your buddies), white is fine. If you're doing something more high traffic (club or store terrain) use black. Either way, start with white because mistakes are much cheaper... You'll need a few other things, too. Graph paper (4/inch), glue sticks, PVA or school glue, an exacto knife and a little bit of room will finish you out.

Over the next few posts, in addition to whatever I manage to accomplish normally, I'm going to walk designing, cutting and building a simple structure, give some tricks and ideas on how to embellish them and show some other buildings and structures you may want to consider. When we're done, you'll be able to make an entire world of terrain on your own!

Old Ruins

I mean that title in both senses... So last night I sprayed down Whirlwind #1 again and the various other stuff with it and then sat down and found myself in a bit of a quandary. What now? I don't feel like assembling another Rhino frame for Whirlwind #2. I don't feel like digging into one of the Predators. I don't feel like gluing and cutting foamcore. But I want to do something so what should I do? The answer was actually staring me in the face. Many, many moons ago, I acquired a bunch of 3rd Ed. ruins, drybrushed on some white and fortress gray and that was it. They were bland and boring but serviceable. Now I'm looking at them and thinking about how bland and flat they are. Well, enough was enough! I decided to pretty them up for a new millennium. And since it wasn't all that complicated, I managed to get a bunch done. Basically I painted either snakebite brown, golden yellow, bleached bone or a combination thereof onto all the brick areas, trying to give it a more desert stone look and then drybrushed them all with space wolf gray. I'm not jumping for joy over how they came out, but they're quite a bit better than they were before.

A funny thing is that to my eye, the brownish color seemed flat and blended into the stone but looking at this picture, they look decent without being garish or overwhelming. In fact, for the past weeks that I've been posting these pictures, I find that I may be kinda blah about how the thing itself came out, but once I look at a picture, I'm happy with the outcome. It looks like I've come up with a standard operating procedure for the future. Whenever I paint something, I take pictures of it. If I like the pictures, it's fine. If I don't, back to the drawing board or painting station until I do like it. Brilliant!

I took a look at the box for GW's Mines, Bombs and Booby Traps. A bazillion resin markers for fairly cheap? Not bad, guys. I think I'll pick one up when I have money again. I already want to get a Blastscape to add to my craters, a Battlescape and some Defense Lines. And yes, I do have a soft spot for the other buildings. Sure, I don't need a Bastion because I can make equivalents much more cheaply (and have) but for the most part, I've been very satisfied with GW's buildings. Their minis I'll find for as cheap as I can, but their buildings I'm actually willing to pay full price for because they're usually worth it.

The plan for tonight is to start gluing the templates for short walls and towers on foamcore so that I can start cutting in the next few days and then, with the time remaining paint up Whirlwind #1. Not that I'll have much time after that, but if I do, I think I'll start assembling Whirlwind #2. That's the plan, but then again, no plan survives contact with the enemy. Let's see what I actually manage to accomplish...

Webway Portals

So last night I was wondering what I wanted to do with the little time I had. I thought about my Predators and about making some more foamcore walls and towers since I've been thinking about Planetstrike. But I decided to get in there and finish something outstanding before going on to something new. I pulled out the portals and got to work. Drybrushed Bleached Bone and then white over them. They're OK, but I wonder if I shouldn't have flat out painted them Bone or something similar. Either way, at this point, I was ready to have them done and, as with many other pieces of terrain I have, they're good enough. I'm sure if I put them on a table, people will recognize what they are and that's the point. Cracked open the cheapo bag of plastic gemstones and glued those bad boys on and voila! And I've got enough stones left to make another one if I like. I'm thinking I may make two or three really tall portals (the original template is full page size and these were shrunk down to half size) but not this week or really anytime soon. I find that cutting curves is not only hard, but it stats to hurt my hands after a while. Maybe I'm just old. We'll stick to blocky Imperial architecture for a while.

I sprayed Whirlwind #1 and the launchers and plates last night. I also found a couple of repair jobs I should just whip out. As I mentioned before, I was thinking about towers and walls. I have several types of foamcore walls: small inch high walls like hasty fortifications, 3-inch high walls with walkways that are good for compound or fortress walls and 6-inch high, 2-inch thick walls that are more like city walls. The taller walls are good designs that are sturdy and easy to build. I might post scans of the templates for other people to use. The towers are three story tall towers with an open area on the third floor and a roof. I made them to be stand alone towers but they could go well with the really tall walls. I'm also thinking of making a stepped tall city wall. Something where three inches up there's a level that can be defended with troops and then at 6 inches there's the top. That way, defending forces can put twice as much firepower on a wall and invading forces can fight their way up the wall. I'm thinking about the Whirlwinds, too. I should have flipped the pieces and resprayed them last night or this morning but I didn't so I'll have to do that when I get home so I've got at least another day before I can work on those.

Planetstrike

Well, it's been quite a long weekend what with in-laws and parties and all that jazz. Unfortunately, I had no time to get in there and get anything painted what with having people over all the time all weekend and all. But hopefully that will change tonight.

So, I went out and got Planetstrike this weekend (though I probably shouldn't have). Having only power-skimmed it, I'm liking it. The fluff is interesting and I like the possibilities that this format presents. Part of me is wondering how an Apocalypse Planetstrike might work out, but I have the feeling that that would be the work of weeks to get something like that going. That and setup would be half a day on its own. I think I will keep that idea in the realm of idle speculation for now.

One other thing... While preparing for this weekend's festivities, I ran back across another Predator that I must have found recently and then forgot about again. That's two Preds I have waiting now, one old school, one new school. I might work on those later this week, but I think I should finish the second Whirlwind I started last week and then paint both Whirlwinds. Oh, yeah, the Eldar warpgates, too... Alright, maybe the Predators will have to wait until next week.

My one little bit of crowing... A few friends who are current or former 40K players came to the Saturday party at my house and I got a few impressed compliments on the amount of terrain I have managed to build and amass over the last few years. That was cool. It's nice to have your work complimented. That's not why I do it, but it's nice nonetheless.

Whirlwind Launcher

Last night was kinda hectic for a number of reasons. I only really had time to build the launcher for Whirlwind #2, cut off the plate and glue together the top doors for Whirlwind #1. Not too much accomplished, right? Actually, I'm quite satisfied. This is the ultimate goal. I'm not trying to complete everything I have within a time frame. The goal is to make sure I do a little something every day. Well, this isn't much, but it's something. Besides, if I really had to, I could just paint up the launcher and then put it in the Razorback I just finished instead of the lazcannons. I could run four Whirlwinds that way without putting together another thing.

What I really need are tables. I have this big space in my current house that I could play games in if I just had tables to play them on. Unfortunately, I don't have money to go out and buy them right now. This is especially tragic because a little while back, I had the money but not the space. What I also want to do is take a page from the Realms of Battle board. I kinda like that way it's made and the entire set of boards, while a little expensive and skull-covered for my liking, is worth it for what you get, but why spend $300 on a board with 6 panels when you can buy 2'x2' sections of birch or some other hard wood for $4-8 apiece and then paint them/terrain them anyway you want? I plan (once I have tables) to buy 20 boards, paint each one of them a different color on each side (either green, tan, gray, white or black) and then I'll have eight of any one color or I can combine different colors for different surfaces (plains on the outskirts of town, desert at the edge of a paved base, etc.) and, with cheap paint, will cost less than $150. Or, maybe, I start small with six for $40ish and add a few new ones each month. That beats $300 with a stick. Of course, maybe I should get some tables first...

Whirlwind

This is Whirlwind #1 from my Suppression Force. Strangely enough, this one took quite a bit longer than I thought it would to assemble. Maybe it was some of the interruptions over the evening. Maybe it was the launcher assembly which seems quite delicate at times. Of course, the top plate and main weapon have not and will not be glued on so I can run it as a Rhino if need be. When all the Rhino frame vehicles I have are done, I'll have five that can serve double duty as either a Rhino or whatever it is supposed to be.

Oh, yes, note that the picture kinda sucks today. Usually I take the pics in the morning when the sun is coming in (natural light pics tend to be the best) or I take them inthe evening under the room lighting and then correct the color a bit (the lighting in the living room is a bit yellowish as are most incandescent bulbs). This morning it was overcast outside so I used the flash. As the wise man said, "meh". Not a fan of the flash for this, but what can you do?

I've been thinking that maybe it is time for me to try to talk to some people about doing an Apocalypse battle. The people I normally play with don't like Apoc too much and I kinda understand why. With D-strength weapons, a lot of things you can bring to the filed can and do go up in smoke very quickly. If you only have a small force, that means you can be completely wiped out or wiped out to the point that you can no longer have an effect on the battle in the blink of an eye. That's why, instead of having multiple players with smaller forces combined into a big force, I want to play an opponent with a large force against my large force. Losing 2,000 points in a turn is a big deal when you control 3,000 but not so much when you control 10,000. And I really want to put these bad boys on the field in a big battle. I've fielded a Company in 3,000 points before and that was cool, but it could be better. Maybe I should talk to BFG about it and see if anyone is willing to play me...

I don't know how much work I'll be able to get done over the next few days. The in-laws are coming into town for 4th of July shenanigans so there's house cleaning, party preparation and pie making that have to be done between now and Saturday. I'll see if I can get in a bit of time. The goal isn't to complete everything immediately. It's to keep going little by little...