Hirst Pipe Mold Terrain

The 5th ed 40K rules put a new spin on terrain building.  LOS now strictly governs what a model can see.  Area terrain, the abstract fuzzy space of trees or ruins on a platter, is gone.  The solution adopted by Adepticon is to place all terrain objects on 3 inch disks with matching sockets in a MDF base.  The Hirst Arts Pipe molds, along with the Sci Fi molds, provide an excellent resource to build all the required objects.

Pumping station made from 5/8 Pipe mold, 3/8 Pipe Mold, Station Builder, Star Ship Wall mold and the Star Ship Deck mold.

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FTW contest: Figure Base

From the Warp is sponsoring a best base contest.   Getting motivated was a bit of a problem until I needed a proof of concept test for a pot topper.

What’s a pot topper?  It is a 6 inch disk of static grass used with silk flower arrangements that can also be cannibalized for miniature ground cover.   Look for pot toppers at Michaels Arts and Crafts – mine cost $1.99.  Opening the topper took a sharp scissors and a bit of patience.  The static grass sheet is stiff and full of texture.  When cut apart, the clumps are between 4 & 6 mm tall.  At this point, I’m not certain if they are any improvement over loose static grass, but I see great potential for the grass on larger projects such as terrain.   In any case, the clumps are a much cheaper alternative to Silfor.

The rest of the base is made from more conventional materials:  a bit of bark for the stone & field grass for the tall plant spikes.  Painting is a simple combination of dry brush and wash.  The whole project took about 2 nights of puttering around time in front of the TV.

Quick Links: Okko

Okko is a two player game of samurai warriors based on the comic by the same name.  Published as board game with paper figures, the game was originally intended to be played with pewter miniatures.  YIU (who did such an excellent job with the Alkemy jungle board) created a set of terrain features to support the 3D aspect of the game.

The French language Okko forums contain two WIP threads:  tower and compound. Additional notes in English at the Wyrd forum.   Check out the Fortin and Okko galleries on Photobucket or the unofficial Okko blog.

A handy trick to create rocky ground using a heat gun over insulation foam.  Finished effects shown above in the display bases.