Well,

I am bitten by the terrain building bug at the moment and have found some incredibly cheap and fast ways to make some nice looking terrain.

Roads:

Go to any major box store (I bought some at Wal Mart and some at Ace Hardware) and by shelf paper for kitchens. They now sale a thick rubbery roll with bumps and rough finish that perfectly mimics both cobblestone or dirt roads as well as the surface of water.

Take an exacto knife and cut the pieces you want. I cut lots of straight and long pieces for roads, I cut out some curves, T intersection, Y intersections, 4 ways, i/2 turns, 1/4 turns etc. Two rolls for under $8 bucks and I now have 40' of road way. Both dirt and cobblestone.

The fun part is, with a few quick dry brush coats of either Dark Grey, then Medium Grey (for urban), or Dark Brown, Medium Brown, Light Tan (for dirt), you get a better looking product than what I see on the market going for $30+ for 10 feet.

I am also going to do Water courses, both wide rivers and streams. Spray paint Dark Blue and then dry brush in lighter shades of Grey to show a wind whipped effect.

HEDGES

buy a pack of 1/4" thick plain green scrub pads $1-2 per pack. But them in either 1/2" or 1" strips of about 6" long. Hot glue them to jumbo craft sticks. I made 10' of hedges in ten minutes for under $5. Later when I get time I will add some glued on sand or dirt and just do it quick and cheap. Eventually it will look very nice.

HOUSES
All the craft stores sell small cardboard boxes with lids which are 2-3" square. These fit two infantry stands inside. Prime and do a quick work of doors and windows and you have houses with removable roofs. $.50-$.75 per house and some quick coloring or painting. I will look for an easy way to do this on the computer and print out a bunch of walls that can be printed and glued to the houses. You can also buy larger boxes for two story and bigger buildings for less than a dollar each.

So that is what I worked on today at home.

Chris

Sounds really cool! This weekend I REALLY want to play a game. You should also bring down these as well!

Thanks!

Hey Chris, Corbin here. Sounds like a great way to build terrain for a little money! Can't wait to see them.

Terry and I were wondering if you guys are having a game next Sunday? (4-15) Also he wanted to get your book back to you, as he now has his own.

I've collected quite a bit of stuff over the last few weeks (2 Armored Rifle Platoons etc.) and I'm almost ready to field an army! Terry bought a Panzergrenadier Company and we have spent most waking hours learning the pains and pleasures of painting little men in lead suits!

Thanx for everything and I hope you had a great Easter!

Thanks Corbin. I plan on being at Merlyn's on Sunday at around 10 a.m. to play with or against anyone that shows up. I will bring some terrain with me and both my German and Soviet armies. I will also bring the before and afters of the terrain so everyone can see what I am doing and possibly start building their own.

My next task is to make some nice hills for Merlyn's. The ones that are there now are horrible. Plus I would like to see a few more 2'x4' sections put together for them. I plan on doing some reversibles with tan on one side and green on the other. For Desert and Europe. Plus I want to do some winter boards for Soviets.

I figure around $40 and I will have 3 pieces of 4'x8' 2" thick foamboard. Some tan and green paint and a serrated knife and we should have some new boards. I will see how it goes.

Chris