Post by sotf on Aug 12, 2014 22:02:49 GMT
These are all some basic tips that I've utilized for my recent work on both a OA campaign and with what I've put together for the Ronin minis skirmish game. Some of them are also things from a few friends who have made some themselves. So, here's a few things that would probably work for a lot of the Oriental Adventures settings.
Tiled Roofs
These are rather easy, take corrugated cardboard and remove the outer card layer on one side. Then clean it up, and the end result works quite well for the right appearance. It tends to work better if you measure and cut the basic shapes for the roof first.
At the top joint, take a wooden dowel, such as the cheap ones in craft isles with the bags of a dozen foot long ones for under $1...just get the same size for the project if you're doing walls or similar things...same building should be the same size.
To add more detail, you can use a pair of scissors to groove out the dowel, to add more layers of tile take more strips of cardboard and strip the outer layer off of both sides and layer it up the solid base piece. You can also add other detail by taking straws and split them length wise and then cut each strip down to the right length as discarded tiles...
For painting, base it black, either with a spray for non-foam or just use black paint. I used a terracotta color that I got from walmart recently, but I've used various other mixes to have the more dull appearance a tile should have followed by a dark wash.
Bamboo
If you want to add chunks of bamboo to your terrain, you really need two things, foam and a mix of straws of different sizes. The foam should be thin cuts that can fit where you want the bamboo, use a pencil to poke a small hole where you want the bamboo.
Then you take the straws and cut them to a mix of lengths, the wider straws should be taller. One end should be cut at a visible angle and the other side should be flat. Take the flat end and press it into the foam, and work it into position over the pencil marks. Then remove them and add glue before putting it back in place firmly and hold until it starts to work if it's drooping, hot glue isn't normally the best option here because it can easily melt or mess up the fit. Tacky glue tends to work the best for it. Let it dry completely before the next step.
For painting, base it black (mix a small amount of sand into the paint by sprinkling it on as you go, especially around the top edge), then you want a pale yellow-green, I use one called grass from the craft paints, followed by stripes of a darker green (not entirely sure which one I use, the label came off a long time ago on me), that should make the bamboo look striped with even stripes. Then you take white and add a thin line to the center of each dark stripe as well as a thin touch at the very tip.
Cherry Trees
This one is something a friend has used and it looked rather good.
First you want some rather good looking, small trees. The best looking ones he did came from a cheap plastic toy set (He'd gotten some from a farm, jungle, and dinosaur sets), clean the lines and base them. My group tends to use old CD's with the shiny side up and scratched up with my knife. Use a dab of hot glue to attach them and use rocks and whatever else you want to cover the basing for it. (CD's work well for more scatter terrain). You can easily use the hot glue to add a gnarled root system from it, even attaching the tree to a rock and building the roots around it...normally you can fit two or three trees to a base. I tend to like the look of two with a path down the middle.
Make sure the tree limbs are spread out, then spray it black, and paint it.
For the trees, take some scraps of the pink foam and rough sand paper. Basically just grind it down and collect the dust. It works perfectly for color and if you're using foam for other things, is just a couple minutes work to make. You just need the smaller trees, and unfortunately a lot of the card and toilet paper tend to not work quite as well with that size, though a wire core with a mix of masking take and toilet paper would probably work well for the size and the strength you'd want.
Paths
Okay, this one is a lot more generic, but it's a useful thing to have.
The basics is that this again focus' on CD basing, mainly because you can easily leave small gaps between the bases and rotations of them to add twists and turns while still making them look nice. The three types I've used are normally just using hotglue and the larger craft sticks with some sand/grit.
For a dirt trail, just use hot glue texture where you want the pathway, it's rather easy to have the muddy texture, and before it dries add a few small rocks and dust it with a fine sand.
For the others, they are different types of "tile/stone" pathways. For the first, I just take the craft sticks and measure them out in length with another stick and basically cut them square. It works as a good one for stepping stones type pathways, either on its own or mixed with the previous dirt trail to make it be a bit more used.
For the last, I tend to use 1 1/2 inch lengths, then have them 3 pieces wide with the outside edges the same starting points and the center up by 1/2, have a small gap around the internal edges...
Tiled Roofs
These are rather easy, take corrugated cardboard and remove the outer card layer on one side. Then clean it up, and the end result works quite well for the right appearance. It tends to work better if you measure and cut the basic shapes for the roof first.
At the top joint, take a wooden dowel, such as the cheap ones in craft isles with the bags of a dozen foot long ones for under $1...just get the same size for the project if you're doing walls or similar things...same building should be the same size.
To add more detail, you can use a pair of scissors to groove out the dowel, to add more layers of tile take more strips of cardboard and strip the outer layer off of both sides and layer it up the solid base piece. You can also add other detail by taking straws and split them length wise and then cut each strip down to the right length as discarded tiles...
For painting, base it black, either with a spray for non-foam or just use black paint. I used a terracotta color that I got from walmart recently, but I've used various other mixes to have the more dull appearance a tile should have followed by a dark wash.
Bamboo
If you want to add chunks of bamboo to your terrain, you really need two things, foam and a mix of straws of different sizes. The foam should be thin cuts that can fit where you want the bamboo, use a pencil to poke a small hole where you want the bamboo.
Then you take the straws and cut them to a mix of lengths, the wider straws should be taller. One end should be cut at a visible angle and the other side should be flat. Take the flat end and press it into the foam, and work it into position over the pencil marks. Then remove them and add glue before putting it back in place firmly and hold until it starts to work if it's drooping, hot glue isn't normally the best option here because it can easily melt or mess up the fit. Tacky glue tends to work the best for it. Let it dry completely before the next step.
For painting, base it black (mix a small amount of sand into the paint by sprinkling it on as you go, especially around the top edge), then you want a pale yellow-green, I use one called grass from the craft paints, followed by stripes of a darker green (not entirely sure which one I use, the label came off a long time ago on me), that should make the bamboo look striped with even stripes. Then you take white and add a thin line to the center of each dark stripe as well as a thin touch at the very tip.
Cherry Trees
This one is something a friend has used and it looked rather good.
First you want some rather good looking, small trees. The best looking ones he did came from a cheap plastic toy set (He'd gotten some from a farm, jungle, and dinosaur sets), clean the lines and base them. My group tends to use old CD's with the shiny side up and scratched up with my knife. Use a dab of hot glue to attach them and use rocks and whatever else you want to cover the basing for it. (CD's work well for more scatter terrain). You can easily use the hot glue to add a gnarled root system from it, even attaching the tree to a rock and building the roots around it...normally you can fit two or three trees to a base. I tend to like the look of two with a path down the middle.
Make sure the tree limbs are spread out, then spray it black, and paint it.
For the trees, take some scraps of the pink foam and rough sand paper. Basically just grind it down and collect the dust. It works perfectly for color and if you're using foam for other things, is just a couple minutes work to make. You just need the smaller trees, and unfortunately a lot of the card and toilet paper tend to not work quite as well with that size, though a wire core with a mix of masking take and toilet paper would probably work well for the size and the strength you'd want.
Paths
Okay, this one is a lot more generic, but it's a useful thing to have.
The basics is that this again focus' on CD basing, mainly because you can easily leave small gaps between the bases and rotations of them to add twists and turns while still making them look nice. The three types I've used are normally just using hotglue and the larger craft sticks with some sand/grit.
For a dirt trail, just use hot glue texture where you want the pathway, it's rather easy to have the muddy texture, and before it dries add a few small rocks and dust it with a fine sand.
For the others, they are different types of "tile/stone" pathways. For the first, I just take the craft sticks and measure them out in length with another stick and basically cut them square. It works as a good one for stepping stones type pathways, either on its own or mixed with the previous dirt trail to make it be a bit more used.
For the last, I tend to use 1 1/2 inch lengths, then have them 3 pieces wide with the outside edges the same starting points and the center up by 1/2, have a small gap around the internal edges...