Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Some 20mm(?) Terrain

All,

Well, it's not often that I go for terrain, but I decided to spend a little time and money.  I absolutely needed some 20mm stuff, and then I looked for some other stuff that could be used for at least 15mm and 20mm, maybe even some 10mm.  Some of it worked ;)

This post is a mix of stuff I bought then made myself, and of stuff I bought on the internet (some from Ebay, and some from a fellow TMP member).  In any case, it will all see the table pretty soon.

The whole mess, everything I've recently acquired/been working on.  We've got a couple rocky hills, some rough ground and trees, a fenced in utility shop, and some 'scatter'-type terrain.  Let's get to it.

Different side.

Another.

Here's the utility shop.  Now, I'm not very talented when it comes to this stuff, but I found this model railroad stuff online and decided to give it a shot.  I was taken aback when I opened it: very clearly made for actual modelers with talent, not some lunkhead wanting to play toy soldiers.  But I rolled up my sleeves and had at it: pull everything out, sort it, figure it out, line it up, put it together, put it on the base, then paint it.  And I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  It's not going to match Panda or Slavin, but it's good enough for me.

Except one thing, but we'll get to that.

Lots of scatter and junk, which I really like, makes it look better.  You've got a car trailer, doors, a hood, gas/oil tanks, water pumps, tool boxes, stacks of cordwood, etc...

Another look.

One more, and then some closeups.

Wheel barrow, trailer, some drums, a snow blade, a dolly, some jack-stands.

Wood, gas/oil tanks, a hood, a trash can, the water pump.

Again.

Now let's get to the problem...

So, I mentioned this was model railroad stuff; I bought OO scale terrain, thinking it would be great for my Elhiem 20mm troops.  I read that OO is 1/76, and I read that 20mm is 1/72, so I figured it would be okay, right?  It's not terrible, but at center left is a 20mm guy, and at center is a 15mm guy.

It looks a bit too small for 20mm, and a bit too big for 15mm.  I think I can live with the disparity for this terrain piece, but it's much more dramatic in some future pieces.

Again.  Hell, in this photo it looks (to me) as perfect for the 15mm guy.  There ain't no way in hell that 20mm guy is pushing that tiny-ass wheel barrow.  Hell, he could probably pull the auto trailer!

With one of my new trees.

Next piece, and I really like this one.  It's a chicken coop!  The pics aren't great, but those little white things all over the place are chickens.

Again.

Another look.  Went together real quick and easy, and I think it looks great.

Back to our 20mm and 15mm chaps.  It's looking more 15mm to me, albeit with some very big chickens.  Whaddaya think?  I think it works for the 20mm guy; I mean, chicken coops aren't exactly single-family homes.

Again.

This is where it gets ugly.  Not the terrain itself, I absolutely love the scatter stuff, where here we have some drums, some potato sacks (with wheel barrow), and a stack of tires.  But it's really small.

Again.

Those drums only come up to our 20mm hero's shins...

Looking much better for our 15mm guy.

Next we've got some more drums, a wooden crate, and a stack of various (mostly automobile) metal parts.

Again.

With the guys to show relative size.

Last scatter terrain piece, with drums and crates.

Again.

With 20mm giant.

And 15mm guy.

So, I'm kinda let down with these.  I'll get use out of them for my 15mm guys, but I bought them for my upcoming 20mm campaign...

That's all the stuff I made myself (phew!).  Next up, some hills I bought on Ebay.

First look, with our 20mm and 15mm guys atop.

Different angle.

Another.

The other hill, with our guys still on it.  I should have put 10mm troops on here as well, I believe I can use these hills with 10mm guys too.

Again.

Another.

And one more.  That's it for the new hills.

Next, I bought some rocky bases/rough ground and trees from TMP member "Grunt1861," and he was fantastic, gave me a great deal and got the stuff here in a hurry (little did we suspect that I would be the one not ready to start the campaign!).

There are three textured/terrained bases (I absolutely love the rocks!), and about 20 trees.

Another look.

Again.

With the 20mm and 15mm troops.  And this is the way I foresee using these; to represent rough ground or scatter terrain, with the trees used mostly between terrain features.

Showing one of the rocks.

Ahh, a little bonus material: some as yet unfinished terrain.  I bought some modelling clay and some 'do it yourself trees.'  So far all I've done is branch the trees out then stick them in some clay, allow it to dry/harden, then spray paint them khaki.  I need to paint the trees, put clump foliage on them (something I'm a little worried about as I've never done it before), then flock the clay.  I think they'll be cool once finished.

Well, that's my new terrain, so it's ready, and the troops are ready.  Stand by for action!

V/R,
Jack

4 comments:

  1. I agree with your scale comments but in the midst of the battle I think you'd get away with a multitude.

    I like my terrain clatter as you know but if you sat down and carefully examine some of the size proportions of various objects you'd find the absurd and the ridiculous in equal measure.

    I love your finds- you did really well

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    Replies
    1. John,

      Thanks man, and I hope I can get away with it on the table. I tend to go up a scale, using 15mm terrain with my 10mm troops.

      V/R,
      Jack

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  2. Hey Jack,

    I too agree with you about the scale, but now you have a load of extra 15mm terrain and, like War Panda says, you can still use it for 20mm tables, just put it in places around the edge of the action so it appears in the background, it won't bother you during play and the photos will still look good.

    For those tree armatures, you could try a hot glue gun to stick on the clump foliage but Woodland Scenics do a tacky PVA glue that works well. I always spray dilute PVA glue on afterwards to coat everything, soak the clump foliage and make sure it's well and truly stuck - usually takes 24 hours.

    Cheers, Andy

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  3. Andy,

    Thanks man, I'll have to look for that tacky glue, maybe the hot glue gun.

    V/R,
    Jack

    ReplyDelete