1. It's gotta be sturdy.
2. Have a plan.
3. Make it last.
Some general advice here. Whenever you make something, make sure you play the game you're making it for. There's subtlety's to how mechanics in the game work that aren't always apparent from the start. Also, don't wait till it's done to play games on it. Often I'll build a whole table and play on it a lot before making adjustments, or taking the time to paint it. Nothing worse than spending months on a project and you find out something simply doesn't work, or isn't used the way you intended.
It's gotta be sturdy.
Warping, weight, and damage over time are all things to take into account. This comes down to the materials you use, and the tools you have access to.
Warping
Warping is common when using Masonite/hardboard. The product is great but you have to use adhesives that have a low water content. PVA glue, even wood glue, can be absorbed by the wood causing it to bow up. I use the masonite board with a textured white finished side and super glue my resin/plastic to it. Followed by adding sand with wood glue.
Whenever possible use something sturdier, I learned the hard way and used some heavy books to hold the wood flat while it dried.
Weight
Weight means the terrain isn't going to be bumped and shoot across the table. This is where choosing the right materials matters. Drywall compound is your friend here! Have some Munitorium containers? Pack some drywall compound in those bad boys. Want your ruin to be more solid on the table? Fill in some steps with insulation foam and smother them in drywall compound! Cleans up with water, you can break it off if you need! I have gallons of the stuff. Here's a step by step on how I did this with some classic soda can terrain.
Give it plenty of time to dry, and as it does you'll see cracks start to form. For the taller building below, before I glued the roof on I coated the insides with a healthy amount of drywall, especially near the bottom. for the shorter one, I piled it in before gluing on the tiles, then used wood glue to cover the drywall with sand, leaving some cool cracks that naturally formed.
Once you add sand and some paint, you really get a cool affect that helps add weight to the terrain and makes it look like the floors collapsed down! I also like to leave overhangs with the tiles here, sometimes adding details like cabling, or fallen support structures.
Another useful tool is to pick up some ABS Pipe (black plastic pipe) and use it to reinforce the levels of a sector mechanicus walkway. Don't make my mistake and use PVC (white plastic pipe) because if the paint gets scratched off it's really obvious.
The pipe was cut with a miter saw and I used 2 part epoxy glue (do this outside, the smell is awful) and attached the pipe to the platforms. I added some bass guitar strings and zip ties for added detail. The plastic round bit is the flange from the back of my airbrush booth I put a 4" DIY snowglobe into.
Have a plan
There's a lot to take into account when starting.- How much terrain are you going to make?
- Does your mat have roads? Have you laid out the bases of the buildings to fit inside those roads?
- Will multiple things fit in various places on the map? If not your table could become stagnant fast.
- How will the terrain block LOS?
- How will your terrain encourage player interactions?
For our latest project I gathered all the resin battlefield in a box terrain and laid it out on a city mat to make sure it fit between the roads well.
Then taking those pieces I made 3 template buildings that the rest of the terrain will replicate. This uses the most pieces, and helps streamline building.
Once done I built a prototype after a quick run to the hardware store!
I used 1/4" particleboard as a base and a 2"x3" plank of wood as a floor. it looks very obviously like wood but the proof of concept is there. Afterwards we used 1"x4" wood planks and a thinner base. Because these are solid resin buildings I had to drill into the walls and the base with a 1/4" drill bit and used a 1/4" wooden dowel super glued in place as a huge pin. The resin will break before this thing comes off that base.
These buildings block LOS at ground level up to 3" from the front and side. They allow you to take cover, but be exposed, or be behind the walls on the back so I could still come around the sides and shoot you, and they're super sturdy!
Make it Last.
Having durable materials and building things sturdy will go a long way to make sure your terrain lasts. A few additional things to keep in mind.
- Save the colors you used during the project. (That's why I started this blog lol )
- Make sure it's stored well.
Not everyone knows how much work goes into terrain. If someone at the shop is mistreating something politely remind them to be careful and how much work goes into making it. I've never seen it done out of malice, only absent minded neglect. That said, I've seen people stack heavy rule books on top of MDF terrain I spent months on. Or shoving terrain haphazardly around causing it to get damaged. Asking for their help in keeping the terrain nice has always stopped those behaviors.
Few things with storage.
For weekly used terrain shelves are great or even ready to go on tops of tables. The less handling the terrain needs the better.
Storing terrain loose under tables means it's getting bumped and damaged as players shuffle it around between uses. it also means that it collects all that game store dust, plus runs the risk of being kicked, or hit with chairs.
Having bins from the start helps a lot as well. you can build your terrain to fit well inside the bin, keeps the dust out, and you protect the plastic from random kicks, spilled sodas, or whatever else.
Most important of all, ask for help. You can go fast alone, but you go farther together. Our FLGS has a lot of folks who had the time to pitch in and we'll have more new terrain done in a few weeks than I could have done in a few months, maybe years.
If you'd like more pics of terrain we've made.
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