Terrain Challenge – Something Happened Somewhere

For our build, we are opting to go with a more subtle post-apocalypse, with most of the damage having happened long ago and the Earth works towards slowly reclaiming it. Perhaps an area where the only real loss was that of inhabitants. Along the lines of small town USA.

With that said, our current list of ideas covers quite a bit different styles of terrain. We have decided that we will be making paved roads first. 2-lane, and enough to go completely across the table, with at least one 90 degree turn and a t-intersection.

Then we will move onto the real meat of our terrain, the ruined buildings. Current plan includs:

That is a lot of work for roughly 7 1/2 weeks. Some supplies are already incoming so we hope to have something to show you guys on Thursday. I already have some parts for the water tower and plan on starting that real soon.

It has been another long week for me. Really wasn’t able to get much done. Had some grand plans but we were met with a few setbacks that have really held things up until now.

Part of our issue was my lack of proper tools for the job. When I was attempting to cut bases out of 1/8″ plywood, found the Dremel to be very much lackluster in this area. Ended up using an oscillating power tool with a saw tool on it. Worked for this temporarily, but I do need a more permanent solution. Further research required.

We had also purchased some ePVC off of Amazon. A 2’x4′ sheet for a good price. However, this came to us rolled up into a rectangular box and when rolled out, it was holding the shape of the roll. Currently have this under a flat piece of wood with weights on it. After a few hours, it was looking nice and flat. Decided to give it more time so that it does flatten all the way. Will be ready for our roads very soon.

While there was some setbacks, we make some progress, however minor it may have been.

Researched a ton on water towers and found and center pipe and legs for my water tower. Just need the tank itself and I’ll get that started. Have been thinking of using a ball from those ball pits kids play it. Little worried it won’t be tough enough to hold its form after cutting into it.

We also got our (soon to be) pavement cut out. We are using sandpaper (this tutorial) for nice and easy pavement. Currently have 220 and 320 grit. Once the ePVC is ready, we’ll get some glued down and painted up nice.

The last thing I was able to complete was the roof frame for the first Army tent. More of a tester but I like the results so far. For the tents, the idea is that it should be accessible on the inside. I am designing the roof and walls to be separate so that it can be easily removed to greater play-ability. Can’t wait to be able to show you a completed one.

Feel like we got a good bit done this week. Really moving forward with the plans and getting some stuff knocked out.

First up, the roads. Once we were able to get the ePVC cut up, it was as simple as applying some glue and rolling out some Milliput. With the ePVC as a base and the Milliput on the edges, these things feel tough as nails. Once the Milliput dries fully, we can get the basing and painting complete.

Next we have the telephone poles. I really just wanted to add these for a little scenic flare. Unfortunately, the glue quickly dried and pooled up when applied directly to the ePVC bases we were using. The other one has a base coat of Burnt Umber, which should adhere the glue better. Lesson learned, but we can still make the other two work. May just try a little less water next time. Next for them is some LED lights to simulate insulators and give them wires.

This is the beginnings of the Water Pump Station. Base could have been bigger, but I didn’t have plans to make the building accessible, with the door boarded up. The front fence will be open and a cut out piece in the back for movement through the fenced area. Once the poles dry, I’ll give it some paint and go from there.

Last but not least, we have the frame of the military tent with the removable roof. Got some sand down on it as well so I can start painting it up, then moving onto adhering the fabric to the frame. Next time I will include a mini for scale in all of my pictures.

Could the days please slow down a little? Can’t believe it is almost August already!

Progress was a bit slow this week, but I like how the color is really bringing things together. After we get everything flocked and highlighted, its time to damage them up.

We (hopefully) cleverly used black ePVC for the bases of our roads and with one of the smaller ones, we will try various techniques to damage them. With the black beneath, I believe we could cut out some decent potholes using the black beneath and just adding a touch of texture. The biggest thing we can do is to have grass and such growing through cracks. Have parts of the road sides spilling onto them.

Making this a relatively quick update this week as I have much work to do but as a little bonus, I cut out and made some road barriers. They’re looking nice, but now its time to damage them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Worked really hard this week and have a lot to show. Sorry for the late post but was on a roll, and wanted to get some things looking nice before I did. Had a lot of help this week but I am going to start with what is my favorite so far, the power lines.

The look was to be overgrown, but subtle. A little bit of damage, but mostly just forgotten.

Next up we have the titles namesake, the abandoned water pump station. Thought having some writing on it would a fun way to make it stand out. Need to rust up the roof, fence and barb wire still but I like it a lot.

These are overall shots of what we’ve made so far sitting on our 4’x4′ table. All of the pictures were taken by my lovely wife. She also assisted the flocking of the roads. Speaking of roads, they are nearly finished. I did a little experimentation on the smallest one and liked the results so will continue with that. Maybe add some oil stains and such.

You will also notice the beginnings of a house with a removable roof. It is in a bit of a rough state at the moment as it will be requiring some more sanding (we used plaster to help hide seems). We also made some various scatter to throw around.

Lastly, a little preview of the military tent. Turns out cutting fabric is sort of difficult. Powering through but just taking me a little longer than expected.

First of all, sorry for the radio silence. Been hard at work, on and off of hobbying. Updates got harder to make but, I will go a little more into that further down. Lets get some pictures of the final state of the project before the August 31st deadline. The pictures below are on my 4’x4′ table at home.

So what has been happening? A lot really. I was able to get the water tower built but not without its trials.  I’ll go a little more into the details of each piece below. Hang tight, cause I can get wordy haha.

The Water Tower

Ah yes, my project nemesis, the water tower. My first issue with it was finding something to be a suitable tank. Water towers can be basically any shape and size, so I probably fretted a little too much on the ‘perfect’ tank. I finally settled on a 5″ styrofoam ball. Plastered and sanded it. Didn’t quite get it as smooth in most places like I want, but I think the rust helps break it up. Got a little heavy handed on the rust and it sort of looks like an ice cream sundae but I plan to go back and fix it up to be a little less yummy looking, as well as get more overgrowth on it.

The Abandoned House

This is the piece that my friend . It is a really nice piece with a removable roof for access to the inside. With the boarded up windows and the way the tile roof looks (sandpaper with a Secret Weapon wash), this thing looks amazing.

The Pump Station

What I ended up with on this one is exactly as I imagined. With the final rusting, I think it looks great. My only regret is not making the base a little bigger so the fencing wasn’t right on the building.

The Electric Poles

Personally, my favorite thing in the project. Just love how they ended up. When you put them next to the roads, they just look amazing. They were simply, but I think they bring some of that familiarity of regular life to the battlefield.

The Roads

Didn’t quite end up where I wanted on these. While I was working on the water tower, I kind of forgot where I left the t-intersection to dry, and didn’t get back to it until these pictures. Worse things have happened. Plan is to get that finished very soon. Cracks in the road ended up just being painted on but give a nice overall effect. May use a different material for the base of it next time, or just find some truly flat e-PVC.

The Military Tents

Oh man, fabric is tough. Finding a fabric that looked right was more difficult than anticipated. What I did find, was difficult to work with. The frame came along great but I will need to get some help with the fabric to get them finished.

Cars, Barriers and Trash

These were just little side projects as things were drying. Of particular note, finding correctly scaled cars, cheaply, was not easy. We were only able to find the two in the pictures and even those were difficult to find. Will be doing more bargain hunting soon, hopefully we can get lucky.

Final Thoughts and Moving Forward

Of what we were able to get built, I think we have some great looking pieces with just about enough to fill a 3’x3′. It’s vague enough to be used in different settings. Need just a little more scatter terrain, and voila. I am definitely proud of what we do have. But….

I was hoping to be a bit further along with everything. Beyond just various delays, to difficulties finding the correct materials, I can say that one thing I learned, is that I need to get organized. I really felt like a mess every time I needed to do even the most simple of tasks. I think my next project is going to be a reorganization of my hobby space. Things are sort of haphazardly placed with not really rhyme or reason. Stay tuned for that in the near future.

Thanks everyone who came in and looked at the project. I truly appreciate all of the likes and views. Happy hobbying!