Chicago Terrain Factory: Terrain and Modeling in 28mm scale
Here you can find How-To articles pertaining to casting, modeling and terrain building; reviews and links on the hobby, as well as army spotlights for my Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer Ancients armies. Schedule permitting, I will be posting new content every two weeks (with what time life, family, and work leave for the hobby).
How did I get here? Some 25 years ago I began gaming when I discovered D&D in the 5th grade. Since then, I spent most of college rolling dice & flopping cards, opened a game store, spent a bit of time as a vampire, started pushing little army men around on a table and finally helped run and organize one of the biggest tournaments in the US. Feeling the need to do something else, I began designing and casting my own resin models.
If you happen to be in the Chicago metro area, feel free to shoot me an email [ChicagoTerrainFactory (at) Gmail.com] if you’d like to talk terrain & casting, or to get a game in at the Games Workshop Battle Bunker.
Chicago Terrain Factory 
#1 by Chris Fielitz on April 18, 2007 - 7:10 am
I like website. I am really intrigued…what do you mean by plasticard “sculpting”? I look forward to seeing you To Do List get done.
#2 by chicagoterrainfactory on April 18, 2007 - 7:56 am
Thanks for droping by Chris.
When most people think of sculpting in this hobby, the first thought that comes to mind is green stuff. Have you ever tried to get a perfect square out of squishy epoxy? It will drive you to madness if your not gifted. Instead, use a straight edge & and x-acto to cut all the shapes you need. Found objects are your friend – no need to shape a perfect ball out of putty if you can find a ball of the right shape all ready to got. The objective counters for Adepticon https://chicagoterrainfactory.wordpress.com/gallery/ were created using these techniques. Next time I work on item like this, I intend on documenting the process.
#3 by Cranberry Muffinman on November 16, 2010 - 2:01 pm
heya your blog is great but i can’t find ur email anywhere to ask you some painting questions. at your pic https://chicagoterrainfactory.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/alkemy-jungle.jpg can you email me a list of paints and steps you did to get the concrete look?
#4 by James Swallow on April 17, 2011 - 1:56 pm
Hello! I’d like to collaborate with you about a few ideas for resin casting tutorials. I think that we could combine knowledge and come up with some very nice tutorial videos or photo blog to help out this great community. You left a question and or comment on my blog a while ago and I was hoping to hear back from you after my response, however, I did not. I think that you may have some tips/tricks that I do not and vice versa. I believe that casting is becoming more popular than it has been in the past ten years and there is really no true resource out there. It would be great for the tow of us to share our tips and our mistakes we have learned.
Kind Regards,
James Swallow
#5 by Mordjinn on August 4, 2011 - 3:16 am
Hi. I’m building a wargaming table and was wondering how did you do the stone street texture on your Warmachine City table? Is it some ready made plasticard/mold/mat or did you custom cut it to the foam? Thanks and keep up the great work!
#6 by chicagoterrainfactory on August 4, 2011 - 7:30 am
The Warmachine table was done by the staff at Privateer Press – I was just lucky enough to snap a few photos at Adepticon. I would guess that the stone texture on the bridge is just card stock cut into random squares. That’s how I would duplicate the effect.