Hey,after hearing Mike Randles talk about that Games Workshop book on terrain (a few months ago) I went and bought one. While it wasn't a waste of money, I was disappointed in what it didn't contain. The trees were more directed at cartoony sci.fi stuff, and weren't as realistic as I would have liked. They didn't tell you that one of the best ways to make large rocks is to paint that large pine bark nugget mulch. They didn't say anything about textured paint. So, I looked in some model railroading books. Most of their techniques produced very realistic looking terrain, but I think some of it would be too fragile to work with wargaming. So that wasn't what I was looking for either. And that got me thinking ( yes, it hurt, yes, that's dangerous, etc, etc), the best terrain I've seen has been built by members of HMGS MidSouth. So how about some of you guys sharing your wealth of knowledge? A good list of building techniques would be a fantastic addition to the newsletter, or better yet, the web page. Here's a couple of my tips to start: Foam cutters = good. Cutting styrofoam with a knife = thousands upon thousands of tiny, white, statically charged particles that will cling to your clothes, clog your vacuum cleaner, and thoroughly annoy your wife. Painted pine bark nuggets make excellent boulders. You can't use regular spray paint on styrofoam unless you *like' the melted, spider webby look. It you can find latex spray paint, it will work. Micro scale conifers can be made by cutting short pieces from a fake christmas tree branch. You cut the piece to the right length, trim it to the right shape," then flock it. Wilton makes the best tropical palm trees for 20/25mm figs. They are intended to be cake decorations. Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty is God's gift to the wargamer. It's as easy to use as plaster, but dries harder. Rubber molds can be made from tubes of silicone caulk. You have to build the mold up in layers (not more than 1/4 in. thick), make sure you've injected the rubber into the details, and try not to trap any air bubbles. It takes some practice, but I've made a *lot* of castings that way. I usually cast with the water putty, but they can withstand the temperature of melted lead a few times. Back to Dispatch June 2000 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com