Beardgoblins Burning Sands terrain:

[Beardgoblin]

Hello!

Not content with the long weekend, I booked a couple of extra days off, and spent this afternoon knocking my first terrain for Burning Sands into place…

My dainty size 7 (and a half!) foot for scale – there was a banana, but I eated it.

A gaming surface is terrain, right?

Its a little out of true (if you look at the corners…) – one of the battens was a smidge too long, it turns out.

Quick trip to B&Q (its 2 mins on foot from here) tomorrow for some trim pieces for the edges and it’ll be fine once textured.   Maybe not so good for the eventual addition of 3 more like sized (for total 4’x4′ surface).  But it’s the first dedicated gaming surface I’ve had in… 14 years(!) so I’m not too worried about that right now!

 

Now for some colour testing 🙂

[Angel Barracks]

4′ x 4′ ? Holy Smokes sir!!

[Beardgoblin]

Angel Barracks wrote:

4′ x 4′ ? Holy Smokes sir!!

Eventually – this humble 2×2 will be plenty to get me started!

[Darkest Star Games]

Any start is a good start.  Now hop to it!

"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."

[Thomaston]

Looking forward to seeing this come along.

Tired is enough.

[greg954]

Thomaston wrote:

Looking forward to seeing this come along.

what he said

Are we going to get the whole shabang here? Not just the terrain and scenery but also the miniatures, story, rules with any tweaks etc……I know I’m all want, want, want but I’m very noisy.

[Beardgoblin]

Thanks for the encouragement and support folks!

The weather tried to put a bit of a spanner in the works with the most… disappointing… thunder storm… ever… but I was able to get a bit more done on the board :

Now with added trim!  Having the raised lip will bug me far less than having the playing surface askew on the battens!

I’ll fill the gaps at the edges and then lay sand on the surface at the weekend (back to work tomorrow ).

I used 2″ deep battens, so I can ‘double side’ the board – top = traditional flat+textured play area.  Underside = 2″ deep table area for more three dimenional table features – rivers, wadi’s, clifs, sinkholes, etc etc etc!  Something I always wanted to do, feels good to be implementing it at last.

greg954 wrote:

what he said Are we going to get the whole shabang here? Not just the terrain and scenery but also the miniatures, story, rules with any tweaks etc……I know I’m all want, want, want but I’m very noisy.

In this thread?  No, this is just for the terrain.  When I figure out which is the most appropriate section of the site I’ll post there about actual play/story, and I’ll either showcase mini’s there or in a thread in the relevant section of the forum.  As for rules, I intend to use Burning Sands – seems just the right blend of speed, action and granularity for my needs/tastes, and also feels eminently tinkerable, too.

 

Here’s a quick rough of my first terrain piece – I’m going to use the Repaer Bones Ogres (I have 3 thanks to the Bones 3 KS a while back) as Giants, and I think this will be a remnant of one of the roadways that linked their now crumbled civilization.  Down in front is a Ral Partha ‘Demonworld’ Dark Elf wizard type for scale (18mm to eyes, so should scale with Copplestone etc):

Need to get more Renedra square bases to use for flagstones!  The pillars are some rather shonky plaster casts from a Hirst Arts set that I picked up on ebay.  Seems no one is selling them anymore, shame, can’t see myself shelling out for a mould of my own.

 

And Whilst I’m going on and on, the next pic is a montage showing the sort of desert look I want to achieve with my natural terrain:

Thanks for stopping buy and reading all this.  My first wedge of Crom’s Anvil stuff is in the mail, hopefully they’ll be here for the weekend

[kyoteblue]

Looks good.

[Rhoderic]

Wadis and gullies would be awesome to see.

How about the desert shrubs in the photos you’re using for inspiration. Any plans for how to model that sort of vegetation?

[Beardgoblin]

Cheers guys!

Rhoderic wrote:

Wadis and gullies would be awesome to see.

Hopefully, if I can pull it off properly!

Rhoderic wrote:

How about the desert shrubs in the photos you’re using for inspiration. Any plans for how to model that sort of vegetation?

I’m looking for suitable tufts to use (larger ones, I guess) and trawling ebay and other sites for suitable twig or twig like materials.  Haven’t found anything that quite works for me, yet.  It’s probably time to pay a visit to the local Hobbycraft, they often have suitable terrain materials in their dried and artificial foliage section.

I’m open to suggestions/recomendations if anyone has any

[Mike]

I have used these guys in the past. May be worth a look?

https://www.serious-play.co.uk

[Mike]

https://www.serious-play.co.uk/collections/grass-tufts/products/straw-10-12mm-tall-wild-grass-tufts

[Mike]

Also use this stuff.

https://www.hattons.co.uk/346132/Tasma_Scenics_TAS074237_Field_grass_natural_brown_15g/StockDetail.aspx

[Beardgoblin]

Mike wrote:

I have used these guys in the past. May be worth a look?…

Yes!  I’ve used them before (through Ebay) and have been wracking my brain trying to remember their name! Serious Terrain? Serious Scenery? Scerious Models?  Thanks for resolving my brain-fart crisis

Those straw tufts look just the ticket, too – much more washed out than the ones I’ve found so far.  I have some of the long grass stuff in a pale green, now I think on it (in one of the many, many boxes of long dormant hobby material), but not the brown, so I’ll have to get some, as its ideal for this project.

Thanks for the pointers!

Here’s a couple of quick pics of a terrain piece I’ve been working up as I wind down to turn in for the night:

Found some more Hirst Arts casts I’d been working on for a fallow Frostgrave idea.  Now repurposed to make a ruined Giant Sietch (I’m stealing the word from Dune to refer to ‘artificial rock dwellings’ ).

Another angle:

“It’s behind me, isn’t it?”.

“It” being some sort of Firedrake/Dragonkin D&D bendy plastic miniature, also unearthed in my frenzied hobby-foraging this past couple of days.

Needs building up with rubble and sand, but I’ll let the PVA dry on the main structure first.

And so to bed.

[Rhoderic]

Looking good!

As for shrubs:

For larger bushes, there’s something to be said for rubberised horsehair or coir (coconut husk fiber, available both rubberised and “plain”) as a substrate for flock, as long as you go for a “less is more” approach and spend some time trimming it.

I’ve seen good-looking shrubs done with seafoam, and apparently you can make your own rubberised version of it by dipping it in latex (this is just how horsehair and coir are rubberised anyway), which is meant to make it much more sturdy, but personally I still can’t quite bring myself to trust it. It just seems so awfully frail. I’m still going to experiment with toughening it up with PVA, or perhaps even latex and PVA in successive coats. Even then I’d feel reluctant to use it for tree crowns, but for small, low-growing shrubs… maybe. Woodland Scenics “Fine Leaf Foliage” is seafoam with foam flock on top.

I also have some ideas about PVA-hardened lichen as a substrate for flock. I must get around to actually experimenting with that. People tend to overlook lichen as a substrate material to combine with other materials, the established convention being that you either use it unembellished as a low-effort, low-visual-appeal shortcut to modelling vegetation, or you don’t use it at all.

Some other ideas off the top of my head: scrubber pads, Polyfiber, Green Scene Coarse Foliage Fiber (sort of an in-between of Polyfiber and horse-hair / coir in terms of coarseness), and select MiniNatur/Silflor foliage and ground cover materials (quite apart from their tufts). All have pros and cons that I won’t get into now, lest this turn into an article-length post.

[Geof Downton]

Beardgoblin wrote:

I’m looking for suitable tufts to use (larger ones, I guess)… I’m open to suggestions/recomendations if anyone has any

http://www.tajima1.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=282517

Towards the bottom of the page you will find “Small Fuzzy Bushes” and “Large Desert Bushes” which may meet your needs.

One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.
Ahab, King of Israel; 1 Kings 20:11

[Beardgoblin]

Great suggestions @Rhoderic and @Geof Downton.

I had just purchased some ‘seafoam’ when I came back and read your comment, @Rhoderic – I’m in agreement on its apparent fragility, but Serious Play had a sample/starter pack of it for £3 so I picked one up whilst I ordered those tufts @Mike suggested.  I always, always forget about rubberised horsehair, and consequently have never tried using it.  Might be time to look in to that now!

Those bushes look like they’ll be really useful for acheiving the look I’m going for, @Geof Downton!  However, I blew my weekend beer budget on tufts and grass recommended by @Mike last night, so I’ll have to wait until next week now before I can order some!

Tangentialy, my (first) order of stuff from Croms Anvil arrived today, cracking mini’s and though the only terrain I ordered was a pillar and a wall cap/firebowl the casting is super sharp – can’t wait to prder some more!

 

Here, Eydis and Erland survey their new surroundings, which appear to have had porridge spilled all over them (stodgy mix of sand, gravel and PVA for first layer of rubble):

I have done some more work on the board, but its just gap-filling and not noticably different from whats been shown so far – it’ll get texture, and hopefully paint, over the weekend.

 

Cheers!

[Rhoderic]

I’m very interested in seeing where you’re going with the “porridge”, i.e. what it’s going to look like on the finished piece. I might want to steal the idea off you.

[Beardgoblin]

Rhoderic wrote:

I might want to steal the idea off you.

By all means

 

Its just sharp sand (the type with gravel pre-mixed in) and PVA in a gloopy mix (can’t give you a ratio, I sort of made it up as I went).  Still noticably grainy whilst you’re mixing it.

Its looking pretty good as is, now its set.  I think I’m going to just add a few pieces of cut stone type rubble between the fallen pillar and broken pillar, then cover the rest of the base and a few strategic areas with fine sand and call it done:

Figure is a Xyston Maccabean Rabbi.

[Gone Fishing]

That is one great  figure! Terrain is looking most promising!

[Beardgoblin]

Cheers, hopefully they’ll all look better with paint on 😉

Been a busy day, and some progress made – sand/PVA mix drying away:

I’ll be back after dinner with some more  progress on the terrain pieces.

I may also have thrown caution to the wind and flexed the ’emergency plastic’ and received a veritable cavalcade of tufts and terrain materials from our rather beleagured postie this morning…

[Mike]

Ha!

Will that not warp with all that PVA?

[Rhoderic]

Beardgoblin wrote:

I may also have thrown caution to the wind and flexed the ’emergency plastic’ and received a veritable cavalcade of tufts and terrain materials from our rather beleagured postie this morning…

Have had that experience. Have become addicted to it. There are worse ways to live.

[Beardgoblin]

Its not as bad as it looks – the sand was pretty moist as I was in too much of a hurry to air it out to dry it off before busting out the glue.

Its also on a fairly robust frame, so fingers crossed.

And if so, its already a little wobbly from one of the battens being about 1/8 inch too long, so hopefully they’ll cancel out!

And if not, well, we have some coasters to wedge it with 😉

[Mike]

I aired mine out in the oven… 😀

[Beardgoblin]

Rhoderic wrote:

Have had that experience. Have become addicted to it. There are worse ways to live.

I can handle it, its not a problem!  I can quit any time!

Mike wrote:

I aired mine out in the oven…

I should probably have done the same, but was just that keen to get on with it

Here are some more pics of todays developments:

For @Rhoderic is a pic of the ‘porridge’ mix:

Not quite Delia’s stiff peaks, but hopefully this’ll give you an idea of what I’m mixing.  Just sharp sand and straight PVA.

Here is the board as it is stood 5 mins ago:

This thread is literally just a string of pictures of glue drying now.  Maybe I should get out more?

Nahhhh…

Growing terrain collection:

Right is the first piece I ‘roughed up’ the other day (and that got tweeted! I saw that! ).  Needs a bit of something doing with the joins on the pillar, and then good for paint.

next (in front) is a 50mm round base in 2mm mdf, Renedra bases (20×20) chopped into distressed flagstones, and a Croms Anvil bare pillar with a fire-bowl plinth on top and home made metal ring (waiting one me finding my stash of teeny tiny model chains).  And adding the fire-bowl.  And pinning the column to the base.

Behind that is the ruined ‘Giant Sietch’ now ready for paint.

On the far left a barely started bit of ‘rough ground’ – couple of ragged layers of cork and a resin cast from, I think, a Woodland Scenics rock mould.  Bought a set on ebay ages ago – sadly seems no one is selling them anymore – add that mould to my Hobbycraft shopping list, I guess!

The terrain bases I’m using are from Supreme Littleness, cut in 2mm MDF and you get eight for a touch under £5 (pkus shipping).  The 50mm base came from ebay, not sure of the seller, but there are plenty to pick from!

Painting will start when the board is done, so that I can match the colour!

Cheers for reading!

[OldBen1]

It looks like you are off to a great start!  I look forward to seeing your next post.

[Mike]

loving the chain on the pillar!
Got any scenarios planned?

[jagannath]

This is coming along lovely – exactly the type of terrain I picture for this stuff, ruined columns and smashed temples. Ace.

http://www.bladesandblasters.com

[Wouter Wolput]

Wow, that all looks so perfect.

I’m currently also in the process of making terrain for Burning Sands, but the level of detail doesn’t even come near to yours.

Outstanding work all over!

[Angel Barracks]

Looks some ruins and rubble type stuff is on the cards for me next the eh?

[Beardgoblin]

OldBen1 wrote:

It looks like you are off to a great start! I look forward to seeing your next post.

Cheers, glad you’re enjoying it!

Mike wrote:

loving the chain on the pillar! Got any scenarios planned?

Thanks – once I find the small brass chains, I hope it’ll look a lot better with a short lentgth of chain hanging from the ring!

As for scenarios – for this piece specifically, thats why I got the Priestess set and this pillar from Croms in my first order – Stop the ritual! Rescue the captive!  It can also be used as a hitching post for guard beasts of various flavours, too 🙂

jagannath wrote:

This is coming along lovely – exactly the type of terrain I picture for this stuff, ruined columns and smashed temples. Ace.

Thanks!  Glad you’re liking them, after all, this is all your fault!

Wouter Wolput wrote:

Wow, that all looks so perfect. I’m currently also in the process of making terrain for Burning Sands, but the level of detail doesn’t even come near to yours. Outstanding work all over!

Thanks Wouter, high praise indeed!

Don’t be shy about sharing your stuff here on TWW, its always good to see other folks toys!  I might see some idea’s I wouldn’t have thought of myself 😉

And I cant really take credit for all the detail – 90% of it is right there as part of the castings I’m using .

Angel Barracks wrote:

Looks some ruins and rubble type stuff is on the cards for me next the eh?

Can never have too many options when it comes to quality ruined terrain though, gets my vote!

I’d say I’m sorry, but I don’t think either of us would beleive that

Thank you one and all for your kind words and encouragement!

And now, a question for you all.

Which is best*:

A: Two trees of similar type.

B: Two trees, different types.

I can’t decide.

And finally, a teaser.

What in the name of Apis is going on here?!

Going to be messy and fiddly getting these finished, so may be a while before seeing the finished articles!

Thanks for reading!

*I will also accept C: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”

[Mike]

Beardgoblin wrote:

Which is best*:

Hmmmmm I prefer the top leaf, but feel it is too small for the trunk.
The bottom leaf helps hide the pineapple style trunk but to me feels more like a tree leaf.
Myself I would use the top leaf but a smaller trunk, maybe half bury the pineapple body if you have nothing smaller?

Though the bottom one if it must be a choice from those two.

Some sort of tree/cactus thing for the eggs?

[Rhoderic]

Beardgoblin wrote:

And now, a question for you all. Which is best*: A: Two trees of similar type. B: Two trees, different types. I can’t decide. And finally, a teaser. What in the name of Apis is going on here?! Going to be messy and fiddly getting these finished, so may be a while before seeing the finished articles! Thanks for reading! *I will also accept C: “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”

 

This is nothing I have strong convictions about, but if the trunks are going to be the same, I’d go for fronds of one and the same type. For the second frond type (whichever that ends up being), maybe make a different kind of trunk and have fewer trees of that variety in your terrain collection overall to avoid the impression of “artifice” that a 50/50 mix would give.

As for the eggs… the beginnings of primitive statues maybe?

[Beardgoblin]

Thanks for thoughts on the trees –

I think they are trying to represent varieties of this fellow:

Jubaea chilensis kz4
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Though being cheap plastic tat (lets be honest ) from China they don’t quite get there.  Still, I think they have a clumsy, spikey charm to them!

I like the weird pineapple body, so its a feature not a bug for me, though I think flattening out the bottom end and blending it better with the ground is a good idea (see below for first try at that).

I don’t want to do too much work on the trees themselves though – and I have several varieties to mix it up on other pieces.

I agree on the desire to avoid artificial homogeneity, @Rhoderic , but as noted above I have plenty of tree options to get variety across several terrain peices.

All it comes down to is I cant decide between the two options in the previous post.  I like them both.  Perhaps I’ll just have to do one of each

Window still open for further opinion/suggestion…

And now the fruits of this afternoons labours:

The unfinished, now ready for paint, ‘rough ground’ piece from yesterday.  The Croms Anvil pillar with firebowl and chains (I found the chains! I get them from Rbmodels) and a second ruined Giant Sietch, still needs the bare MDF concealing with fine sand.  Sadly thats all the pieces in that style I have, so won’t be making anymore like this unless I can find another seller (Hirst Arts bits).

Scale reference provided by the YMCA chorus line (Ral Partha, Croms Anvil, Xyston) whilst Dobin the Battlefront pack mule is decidedly unimpressed by all that frivolity.

Mike wrote:

Some sort of tree/cactus thing for the eggs?

Rhoderic wrote:

As for the eggs… the beginnings of primitive statues maybe?

Interesting ideas, but I have something much gribblier in mind!

Thanks for reading folks.

[Mike]

Giant worm/caterpillar/centipede.

[Rhoderic]

Really cool! Feeling very inspired right now.

The palm tree with the more teardrop-shaped fronds in the newest photos is a variety I’ve searched for myself but haven’t found (at least not in the specific platform for shopping from Chinese vendors that’s the most convenient to use in my country). No matter, though, I’ve got enough other varieties.

As for the chorus line, I was reminded more of this: YouTube LINK. (“Harmony and understanding” is precisely what all that Conan stuff is about, right?)

Beardgoblin wrote:

Interesting ideas, but I have something much gribblier in mind! Thanks for reading folks.

Smoke effect markers or suchlike?

[Mike]

Mad cacti

[Beardgoblin]

Rhoderic wrote:

Really cool! Feeling very inspired right now.

Cool, show us yer stuff! 😉

Rhoderic wrote:

I was reminded more of this:… …(“Harmony and understanding” is precisely what all that Conan stuff is about, right?)

ROFLMAO!

Rhoderic wrote:

Smoke effect markers or suchlike?

Mike wrote:

Mad cacti

Nope, nope!

Ok, I’ll put you out of your misery…

Enourmous termite mounds/bug nests!

00 1999 Termite mounds in Australia
W. Bulach [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

[Mike]

Fire Ants!!! Good call.

[Author]

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