Trees - terrain making

After a too-long hiatus from my blog, I'm jumping back in with some terrain making. Regular updates will now a be a thing I promise :)

I thought I’d take you through the process I went through in making some trees for my table.

The materials I used were:

4Ground Terrain tree bases
Woodland Scenics deciduous tree armatures – 5” to 7”
Woodland Scenics clump foliage, light, medium and dark green
Woodland Scenics Hob-e tack
Static grass (I use Noch Spring Meadow) 
 PVA glue
Hot glue gun 
 Polyfiller
Sand and gravel 
 Paint

The 4Ground bases are dirt cheap and very easy to simply put together. I forgot to take a picture of them before I started, but you can see them here: http://www.4ground.co.uk/Default.aspx?page=268&pid=306

The large base is £1.30, the small base is £1. Bargain – even with shipping to Australia. All of the bases with shipping came to about £16, or around $30 Australian.

They consist of two main pieces, a base and a top plate that has the holes cut into it for the tree bases. The tree bases are nice sized discs that allow for lots of room for you to add additional modeling if you desire.

With the bases constructed I then painted them black, put polyfiller around the edge to give it a smooth, non-stepped look, and put filler in random spots to make the ground a little more contoured. I then glued some larger pieces of gravel in random spots to simulate some rocks and boulders, and then finally flocked the whole base with sand.

When everything was dry I painted the bases brown and drybrushed them successive lighter shades. I painted the boulders grey. I have no idea if this is actually geologically correct – grey rocks on brown earth, but it looks very visually appealing to my eye.

I stuck the bases of the tree armatures onto the 4ground bases and modeled these in the same way – filler, rocks, sand, paint.

When this was all dry I put on the static grass.

Okay, so the trees themselves. I watched a few youtube videos on how to construct a tree using armatures and clump foliage, and as I’d never done it before, I followed these. Trevor from Woodland Scenics (what else would a Train guy be named) makes it look easy.

So I twisted the branches around and got the armatures into a shape I was happy with. It’s worth noting something here. The branches are positioned on the trunk on two sides only, so you need to twist them around to get full coverage over the whole tree. Even then, they tend to gravitate back towards one side. This actually worked to my advantage in putting the trees on the terrain bases, because it meant I could align the two flatter sides and branches weren’t getting in the way. However, if you were looking at creating individual tree stands, I would even go so far to clip off branches from the trunk and glue them on the faces that don’t have any branches.

With the armatures done, I lightly airbrushed the trunks a brown colour to give them a less plastic look. I then painted the branches with hob-e tack and waited the required time to let it set. When dry, it’s a tack substance that lets you put clump foliage directly on the area that has been painted with the tack.

So I did this, and they looked good. I left them to dry overnight. In the morning, I would say half of the foliage had shed and fallen off the branches. I could easily pick off large parts of other foliage as well. So I turned the trees upside down and shook them, and most of the foliage came off. I reapplied the hob-e tack, and waited longer this time for it to set, a good hour. I went through the application of foliage process again, and then put them to one side overnight.

Next morning, a similar but less disastrous result. Less shedding, but still large clumps had come away. I got out my hot glue gun and used that instead. Worked a treat. My single biggest piece of advice here is that hob-e tack, as well as being appallingly spelled, is junk. It might be okay for a fixed layout, but it just doesn’t have the staying power for terrain that is being continually picked up. The hot glue gun is a little messier, but gives a much better bond. Also, don’t “dip” the tree into a bowl of foliage like our man Trevor does – this gives terrible coverage. Take the individual clumps and pinch them into the branches – it’s a much firmer contact between the foliage and the branch surface areas.

With this done I sprayed everything vigorously with matte sealer. This hardens the foliage and makes the whole tree sturdier. Note that they are still a bit fragile. They are fine if you store them well and get them out to put on a table, but I wouldn’t want to be stacking them in a box at a club or something similar. 

Final word on the foliage. I bought the three colours that Woodland scenic sell: Light Green, Medium Green and Dark Green. There is almost no colour difference between medium and dark green. IN direct sunlight you can just tell the difference. I’d go with light and medium, you don’t need all three. Also, make sure you only use one colour on one tree. Trees don’t have big colour variances in their leaves, so a mixture of foliage on the one tree will look strange. I have seen examples of this online and they look weird. Use one colour for each tree, but you can then vary the trees on the bases.

Hope this gives you some ideas if you’re thinking of going down this path with your trees. 

Some WIP shots of my Assault Terminators.

Thoughts on Vallejo paint...

Vallejo paint

VGC paints on my paint station, with an Army Painter Strong Tone ink wash. You can see how the medium has separated from the pigment in the Parasite Brown bottle.

 

There are dozens of companies out there selling paint specially formulated to be used on models and miniatures. If you are entering the world of painting for the first time it can be a little daunting.

Most painters, myself included, will use a mix of paint from several different companies. I use Vallejo paints almost exclusively, with some Games Workshop here and there – but very little.

If you are starting out painting, there may be a local Games Workshop in your area, or an independent game store that stocks Games Workshop paint, so you might be tempted to start there as it is easy to get a hold of. First up, there is absolutely nothing wrong with GW paint. The range is now very extensive and it’s a great paint to start using, You will not encounter any serious issues with consistency or quality.

The problem, like most things GW related, comes from the cost. It simply isn’t worth what you pay. Many moons ago, when I started painting, GW paints came in cylindrical pots that were 20 mls and fairly priced. The first major pot redesign saw them change into a hex shape and drop 3 mls, to 17 mls. Still fine, still pretty good quality. The disaster came in the late 90s when they changed the size substantially to 12 mls and made the lids screw caps, which promptly got glued shut by paint after about three uses. The bottle design stayed, as did the size, even when the paint cap changed to a flip cap. The current design is a good little pot – the operative word being little, that is hard to knock over and has a flip lid. It’s still 12 mls though, and it is still pricier than most competitors whose pots contain more paint.

I made the switch to Vallejo some years ago and haven’t looked back. The Vallejo Game Colour (VGC) range was originally modeled on the GW range, and matched it both in tone and naming ) VGC’s “Bloody Red “to GW’s “Blood Red” for example). With GW’s range having undergone an extensive overhaul, the close conversion between the two ranges is no longer there, but it doesn’t really matter: The Vallejo range is superior quality and quantity. Vallejo pots are 17 mls and the paint itself is a slightly thinner consistency than GW. The pigment is much smaller, meaning the pigment and the medium often separate in Vallejo pots. You will see a milky liquid on top of the solid colour of the pot has been left to sit for any length of time.

As a result, shaking the bejeezus out of a Vallejo pot is entirely necessary. Failure to do so means you get medium on your palette, not colour. The less medium in the pot, the thicker it gets, the sooner it dries out. I purchased some glass beads from a craft store and put one in each of my Vallejo pots, which speeds up the agitation process.

Vallejo is cheaper than GW paint as well as being more voluminous. Online, this is even more apparent. You get much more paint for your buck with Vallejo, and as we all know, in this hobby you need every cent you can muster.

The biggest criticism of Vallejo pots is also its biggest selling point: the dropper bottle. Some people hate them, some love them. I prefer them to the flip lids of GW style pots, but either doesn’t really bother me. Your paint doesn’t sit on your desk open with a dropper bottle, meaning it is not exposed to air and so it will probably last longer. But some people prefer taking paint from the pot with a brush to put on the palette for mixing, some prefer squeezing it out with a dropper bottle. That’s really about it.

Vallejo is often criticized for their metallic range, and GW is usually declared a winner on this one. It’s not true. The Vallejo metallics are practically identical to GWs. Consistency is fine. I think this is an often-repeated internet rumour that people say to make themselves sound knowledgeable on paint without having tried them. Vallejo also make a series called Model Air, which is designed for use in an airbrush. These metallics are even better, being packed with nearly twice as much pigment as normal VGC paint. You can use these with a brush, they don’t have to go into an airbrush.

Vallejo has a range of Extra Opaque paint that was released as an alternative to GW’s Foundation or Base range. These are designed as base colours and can go over any primed colour, even black. GW’s Foundation paint is actually slightly better here in terms of consistency. For example, if you have a look at my Flesh Tearer Marines, it took two coats of VGC Extra Opaque Red to get a solid base colour, whereas the GW Base Red colour did a practice model in one coat. But I didn’t like the colour as much and preferred the Vallejo red. The Extra Opaque range is a great set though and I use them a lot.

There’s no two ways about it, GW washes are vastly superior to Vallejos. Vallejo’s washes dry chalky, whereas GWs give a much better finish. It pained me to have to go back to GW, but they really do have a better product here. That was until I discovered the Army Painter…

The Army Painter is a Danish company that started off selling a dipping method for miniatures – a way to paint up models quickly by taking a model painted in basic base colours and dipping it into a jar of liquid that stains the model and gives immediate shading. It’s an old miniature painter’s trick that goes way back. It’s essentially wood stain varnish dyed to either a brown or black colour. Anyway, the Army painter has gone from strength to strength and now sell their own range of paint and inks that can be used as washes. Three coloured inks are available, Soft (light brown), Strong (dark brown) and Dark (black). You can use these on any colour to add instant shading. Games Workshop did have these same colours covered in their old washes range as Gryphon Sepia, Devlan Mud and Badab Black. With their new range and formulas, these have changed to Agrax Earthshde (doesn’t that roll off the tongue?) and Nuln Oil. These are pretty good, but inferior to the Amry Painter inks. If you are new to painting, these will give you instant results to be proud of. And even if you’ve been painting for years, these will change the way you look at shading models.

I haven’t tried any of the other manufacturer’s paint on the market, such as the P3 range, Reaper, Foundry  etc, so I can’t comment, but those paints have their fans and suit other painter’s needs. If you are a fan of these paints, please leave a comment!

That’s about it really. My advice is simple. If GW paint is all you can get in your area, go with it, it’s a great product. But be aware you are being ripped off. Online shopping means you can have Vallejo delivered at a great price and it will last you a lot longer. I can’t recommend it enough.

EDIT: I have since found out that the new "Layer" system of paint that GW uses is already thinned in the pot. That is, the paint is already thinned down with water. This is just ridiculous. The entire point of having the paint slightly too thick from the pot and thinning it on your pallette is so you have complete and total control of your paint consistency. For this reason, I'd avoid this paint if I was you. Go with Vallejo, P3, Reaper, Foundry, or Cote d'Arms.  

Flesh Tearer Sanguinary Guard

Okay, the last of my completed Flesh Tearer models, for now (Assault Terminators are nearly done), the mighty Sanguinary Guard.

These models were converted and modeled by PaganFoam from my designs. As you can see, he did a fantastic job. The Banner Pole had to be an icon to reflect the barbaric nature of the Flesh Tearers - a renaissance style banner is okay for the Blood Angels, but it seemed logical that the Flesh Tearers would have a totem pole, probably constructed on the battlefield.

The piece is another resin casting from Chapterhouse Studios. These are their vehicle icons for the Flesh Tearers, but I am using them mainly as banner icons.

The colour scheme came about from a desire to distance myself from the golden angelic look of the Games Workshop colour scheme. That scheme suits the Blood Angels, but the Flesh Tearers need to be dark and sinister, and I thought the death masks suited this look perfectly, which is why the whole squad has the, I used the basic pallet of the Flesh Tearers - Red, black and white to make sure there was some unity in the army, while stil giving these guys the unique scheme that they deserve.

This was my first attempt at primarily drybrushing a Marine model. The black armour and wings were drybrushed, while the otehr details were done in a more traditional hilighting. I wanted the look of the armour to be statue-esque, and I thought drybrushing would give the best result here.

These models were also the first I painted to use Army painter ink washes extensively. Quite simply, these washes are superb, easily the best on the market. Buy some immediately, they will improve and speed up your painting no end.

Flesh Tearer Bikes

I've always loved the Space Marine Bike models, and the Attack Bike. These models are some of the oldest Marine models I own, going way back to when they were first released in the mid 90s.

The Flesh Tearer icons on the fenders were made using Greenstuff. I am no modeller, using greenstuff is something I've always struggled with. There's a trick to it, which I haven't learnt yet.

I had the work done by a user named PaganFoam, check out his youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/PaganFoam/ I don't know if he is still doing painting/modelling commsions, but I'm sure he'll be accommodating if you contact him.

Some more modelling work of his is seen in the Sanguinary Guard models.

 

Flesh Tearer Assault Marines

Alrighty, it wouldn't be a Blood Angels successor chapter if there wasn't Assault Marines. Now, I like Assault Marines, but I think they are over-represented in BA and BA-successor lists. Just because you can select them as troops, doesn't mean you always should. The most important thing for me about an army is its visual appeal and impact on the table, and so a mix of Assault and Tac Marines is a must. I couldn't imagine a Space Marine army without Tac Marines.

Anyway, here are some of the jumpy fellows:

Flesh Tearers Tactical Marines

First up, let's have a look at my Warhammer 40,000 army, the Flesh Tearers.

This is a constant work in progress. I paint this army primarily for enjoyment, as I rarely play 40K anymore.

Let's have a look at some Tac Marines first.

The shoulder pads are from Games Workshop, and have a sculpted Flesh Tearer icon. The resin bases are from Back 2 Base-ix, ( www.http://www.back2base-ix.com/ ) an awesome Australian company that sell of all manner of Wargaming accessories. Their resin bases are stunning and are also incredibly cheap - 10 x 25mm round bases like you see here sell for A$6.95

The backbanner icon you can see on the Sergeant is a resin piece from Chapterhouse Studios ( http://chapterhousestudios.com/ ) - more on them later.

The colour scheme is based on a deep red, not the typical red-gore colour that produces a more browny-red that is often associated with the Flesh Tearers. I like the deep red better.