Making a nice looking alien jungle the easy way.

[Vet Sgt]

Making a nice looking alien jungle the easy way

Would you prefer to play on a table that doesn’t look like a carbon copy of Earth? Do you just want something a little different from every other jungle you have seen? This is a very simple technique that can be done in literally any color you want.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2013cropA1.jpg

It also takes very little time, in fact it took me almost as long to flock the bases as it did to make the vegetation.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2016cropA1.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2423crop.jpg

My Tau army is painted with a yellow, green, and orange camouflage. Yes, I had to put a little green in it for those times when I have to play on a green table. As you can see they blend in well on this table. No matter what your army color is you too can make vegetation to match it.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2071cropB.jpg

[Vet Sgt]

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1945crop.jpg

To make silk flower vegetation start by taking the flower apart and remove the petals. Usually the plastic pieces holding the flower together aren’t glued and merely need to be popped off of the stem.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1949crop.jpg

Depending on the manufacturer and type of flower this will give you anywhere from one to six rings of petals from each flower.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1954crop.jpg

Pull the center of this ring through a small hole and you are rewarded with a fern like plant. This small hole can either be a hole in the base itself, or a small washer that can then be glued down to the base.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1953crop.jpg

Pull the petals through the hole till you get the desired height of plant you want, and glue it from the underside. After it is dried trim off the extra bit of flower petal from the underside with a sharp knife. Generally speaking the thinner each individual petal is the better the plant will look. However even a medium sized petal will give you a plant that looks something like a giant cabbage.

[Drew da Destroya]

That's a really cool idea. Looks very nice, too!

Thanks, man!

[Vet Sgt]

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1951crop.jpg

For my bases I use something called a roofing washer. They are very flat, don’t ever warp, and are very cheap. They also don’t have a hole in them so they are perfect to use for bases. They sell them by the box at the hardware store in the same section as the nails.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2075cropB.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Structures/DSCN2016crop.jpg

[Thorsson]

Nice job dude. Really creative!
Im really feeling the autumn colours on those pathfinders!

[BuFFo]

WOW!!!!!

One of the easiest, and best guides, I have EVER seen for this hobby...

I am actually going out right now to go buy these materials and make me some forests!!!

I have been figuring out HOW to do this for the longest, and it never occurred to me to use plastic flowers for this.

I BOW TO YOU!!!!

How did you make the trees? Did you just buy plastic trees for that, or did you make them out of materials?

[isotope99]

Excellent, I like that they are easy to store not being on huge bases. an dunlikely to tip models over as relatively flat.

Just have to be careful to find the right type of fake flower, this could result in some terribly garish battlefields otherwise. :cool:

[Vet Sgt]

Thanks for all the comments guys! I am glad you are finding it to be a useful idea.





How did you make the trees? Did you just buy plastic trees for that, or did you make them out of materials?

The trees are just a slight modification of the technique. Instead of pulling the petals through a hole, I wrapped them in floral tape and secured them to an armature made from wire. In other words they are exactly the same as every other tree you have ever seen just with flowers stuck on instead of flock.

[fuzzbuket]

Wow thats one of the simplest and coolest terrain tutorials out there :D

[Vet Sgt]

This will also work with yarn.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2431crop2.jpg

This is another way to easily make a completely different type of plant, which will match the colors of the silk flowers that you are using

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1993crop.jpg

Same basic technique, just replace the flower petals with several strands of yarn.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN2000crop.jpg

After you have flocked the base then untwist and separate the yarn

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/New%20Tau%20Pictures/DSCN1995crop.jpg

[Vet Sgt]

Here are a few distance shots so that you can see what a whole table looks like done up like this.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2420crop-1.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2415crop.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Jungle%20terrain/DSCN2412crop.jpg

[DrLove42]

Love it.

A question...is the Tau terrain in the background yours as well? How did that come into being?

[MarshalAdamar]

Very cool! I've been looking for a way to make some good looking terrain on the cheap!

[fuzzbuket]

ill second the request for a tau tut :D

but that terrain is fantastic :D

[BrotherAlpharius]

Great tutorial. The orange yarn "bushes" have actually given me an idea for some 3D blast markers!

[Vet Sgt]

Thanks for the comments; I enjoy hearing your thoughts on what I have done.


The orange yarn "bushes" have actually given me an idea for some 3D blast markers!
Interesting idea you have there, I wonder why I didn’t think of it myself. Now that you mention it they do look a lot like a blast marker.



A question...is the Tau terrain in the background yours as well? How did that come into being?


ill second the request for a tau tut :D
Yes the Tau terrain is mine. I did something on how they came into being at Advanced Tau Tactica, if you are interested. http://www.advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=15490&st=0&sk=t&sd=a


http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Structures/DSCN2012crop2.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Structures/DSCN2069crop.jpg

I also did a tutorial on making these two structures, if you are interested.
http://www.advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=15964

.

[Vet Sgt]

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/384JPGcrop.jpg

The same technique but done in red.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/385JPGcrop.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/388JPGcrop.jpg

[rustbucket]

What did you use to make the trunks of your red trees? They look very cool!!

[Vet Sgt]

What did you use to make the trunks of your red trees? They look very cool!!
The trunk is made by a company called Armorcast.

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af50/gartheng/Tau%20Pictures/630L.jpg

http://armorcast.com/store/index.php?cPath...50e29413ca71f97 (http://armorcast.com/store/index.php?cPath=120_37&osCsid=f3727c42ef0b9267450e29413ca71f97)

[rustbucket]

Thanks Vet Sgt. I appreciate it. I used to have a bunch of armourcast stuff but don't remember these. They definitely look pretty cool.