@thesuperjohn57 No, but they try to eat my grasses, and knock down the miniatures I have for scale comparisons. :) Now they have a satellite water station on the work bench, so they are regular work companions. Lucky for them that they are so loveable.
love these more vertical pieces, I think the extra dimensions than a flat board make for some interesting engagements. Would a thin piece of sheet metal for a base of the hills help with the edge/chipping weakness problems of the foam? I dunno about sharp edge/ wobble of unsupported sheet metal but could be more durable.
@chicophi220 I'm not confident I can work with sheet metal. I have used hard board in the past and it is sufficient. I probably should have done so with this piece, but the budget provided, didn't really allow for it. I went way over budget (my time, not customer money) on the project as it is. You'll see what I mean in the upcoming finished video. :)
Your work is top-notch and your YouTube channel is now my favourite - thanks!
I have a couple of quick questions, if that's ok?
First - how do you cut the polystyrene boards (and keep them square)? Are you using a jigsaw, or a (possibly fixed?) circular saw?
Second, when you cast rocks and such, are you using the tuf-stone? Do you have permanent moulds made for the rocks and cliffs, or do you make temporary, single-use moulds for each project?
@Terranscapes Excellent. I can see now how getting a square edge for each board piece must be very difficult, if you are using a hot wire - even if it's fixed in place.
I've got some designs for a set of 600mm square boards set into a folding wooden frame. I've no idea if it'll work but I'm confident. No idea when I'll find the time to get it done though! Your work provides lots of ongoing inspiration and motivation.
@perceptal Sounds like a cool project. I would love to see a video of it when its finished. I made a folding game table a while back and its so heavy, its a bitch to travel with. :( I would love to do a better one down the road.
@unkhter Hydrocal is a much lighter plaster. Sometimes railroad modelers are placing surface details over chicken wire or cardboard foundations so weight can become an issue. Its also much more fragile but since railroad terrain doesn't get handled, not a concern. I use Tuf Stone to resist chipping. Still, the hill is getting heavy so I have been wondering if down the road I should try out something else. :)
Friend of mine used a kind dental plaster as an alternative (though for other purposes: mold making). thought it was a bit lighter than regular plaster but very expensive, tough as rock but with a very short cure time and it was difficult to remove from any tools you use :)
@unkhter Merlin's magic by any chance. Dental plasters tend to be quite a bit more expensive. Not a problem for hobbyists though, but when I go through 100lbs of plaster every 3-4 months, it starts to add up. ;)
Im abit curious is this piece going to be 1 solid piece or are you planning to keep it as the 4 hillsections and the ruins as seperate pieces so the parts can also be used seperately for cornerpieces?
Would you consider overlapping the sides with rocks on this or future builds? Instead of having a straight line up all the side, have an occasional rock overlap the line about 1/4" or 1/2 " to break up the straightness of the joints. I've seen a guy make terrarium pieces on youtube, and he makes his joints ovlerlap so that they can't be seen. But since your pieces are movable, I'm not sure if this would be a pain for you to consider so that they all match up with each other.
@greywolf65301 Very interesting idea. Hadn't even considered it. Thinking about though, if the rocks overlap by themselves, I would be too worried about them chipping/breaking. I would need to dovetail the foam and that is too complicated for me at the moment. I agree that would be nice to break up the line on the cliff. I've been having trouble tightening up the seams as it is though. ;)
does your cat sometimes hide your paints or supplies? :P
thesuperjohn57 1 month ago
@thesuperjohn57 No, but they try to eat my grasses, and knock down the miniatures I have for scale comparisons. :) Now they have a satellite water station on the work bench, so they are regular work companions. Lucky for them that they are so loveable.
Terranscapes 1 month ago
love these more vertical pieces, I think the extra dimensions than a flat board make for some interesting engagements. Would a thin piece of sheet metal for a base of the hills help with the edge/chipping weakness problems of the foam? I dunno about sharp edge/ wobble of unsupported sheet metal but could be more durable.
chicophi220 1 month ago
@chicophi220 I'm not confident I can work with sheet metal. I have used hard board in the past and it is sufficient. I probably should have done so with this piece, but the budget provided, didn't really allow for it. I went way over budget (my time, not customer money) on the project as it is. You'll see what I mean in the upcoming finished video. :)
Terranscapes 1 month ago
Your work is top-notch and your YouTube channel is now my favourite - thanks!
I have a couple of quick questions, if that's ok?
First - how do you cut the polystyrene boards (and keep them square)? Are you using a jigsaw, or a (possibly fixed?) circular saw?
Second, when you cast rocks and such, are you using the tuf-stone? Do you have permanent moulds made for the rocks and cliffs, or do you make temporary, single-use moulds for each project?
Thanks! Happy New Year.
perceptal 1 month ago
@perceptal Thanks. :)
I cut the foam for square edges using a hot wire table I made. I tried using a table saw originally and its a bit dicey. Not recommended.
For the rocks, I am casting them in tuf-stone. I use woodland scenic molds that I have remastered using latex. Its more flexible that way.
Terranscapes 1 month ago
@Terranscapes Excellent. I can see now how getting a square edge for each board piece must be very difficult, if you are using a hot wire - even if it's fixed in place.
I've got some designs for a set of 600mm square boards set into a folding wooden frame. I've no idea if it'll work but I'm confident. No idea when I'll find the time to get it done though! Your work provides lots of ongoing inspiration and motivation.
perceptal 1 month ago
@perceptal Sounds like a cool project. I would love to see a video of it when its finished. I made a folding game table a while back and its so heavy, its a bitch to travel with. :( I would love to do a better one down the road.
Terranscapes 1 month ago
well done its coming along great, you should be proud, i can see you have put alot of detail and time into it, so well done haha :)
what was the opening song? it sounds familier :)
MrWolfification 2 months ago
@MrWolfification Song is just something I found on the web. Thanks.
Terranscapes 2 months ago
The cliff casts is that some homemade or frmo woodland scenics ?
Tumling79 2 months ago
@Tumling79 Woodland scenics.
Terranscapes 2 months ago
That hill is such a beast! Thanks for the heads up on the sculpt a mold, I will have to try that out. 8-)
MacAttack001 2 months ago
The cliff face looks epic!
Grifftrogg 2 months ago
Looks absolutely stunning Mike, can't even imagine how awesome it will look when it's done. Just brilliant.
safr05 2 months ago
looks great allready, looking forward for more progress vids on this ;)
love the "soft cast" idea, looking at the result, it's something worth experimenting with.
unkhter 2 months ago
@unkhter check out railroad rock how to videos. They pioneered the technique.
Terranscapes 2 months ago
@Terranscapes thx for the tip, found quite some how to's out there for the latex plaster molds :)
lots of them suggest using hydrocal plaster instead of normal plaster, any comments on that?
unkhter 2 months ago
@unkhter Hydrocal is a much lighter plaster. Sometimes railroad modelers are placing surface details over chicken wire or cardboard foundations so weight can become an issue. Its also much more fragile but since railroad terrain doesn't get handled, not a concern. I use Tuf Stone to resist chipping. Still, the hill is getting heavy so I have been wondering if down the road I should try out something else. :)
Terranscapes 2 months ago
@Terranscapes thx
Friend of mine used a kind dental plaster as an alternative (though for other purposes: mold making). thought it was a bit lighter than regular plaster but very expensive, tough as rock but with a very short cure time and it was difficult to remove from any tools you use :)
unkhter 2 months ago
@unkhter Merlin's magic by any chance. Dental plasters tend to be quite a bit more expensive. Not a problem for hobbyists though, but when I go through 100lbs of plaster every 3-4 months, it starts to add up. ;)
Terranscapes 2 months ago
Wow that backside looks delicious. Can't wait to see that side get painted up. Looks extremely realistic.
gazeebo88 2 months ago
Im abit curious is this piece going to be 1 solid piece or are you planning to keep it as the 4 hillsections and the ruins as seperate pieces so the parts can also be used seperately for cornerpieces?
Irtehdar 2 months ago
@Irtehdar Separate. Need to just for shipping, but allows for various table edge/corner configurations as well. :)
Terranscapes 2 months ago
Would you consider overlapping the sides with rocks on this or future builds? Instead of having a straight line up all the side, have an occasional rock overlap the line about 1/4" or 1/2 " to break up the straightness of the joints. I've seen a guy make terrarium pieces on youtube, and he makes his joints ovlerlap so that they can't be seen. But since your pieces are movable, I'm not sure if this would be a pain for you to consider so that they all match up with each other.
greywolf65301 2 months ago
@greywolf65301 Very interesting idea. Hadn't even considered it. Thinking about though, if the rocks overlap by themselves, I would be too worried about them chipping/breaking. I would need to dovetail the foam and that is too complicated for me at the moment. I agree that would be nice to break up the line on the cliff. I've been having trouble tightening up the seams as it is though. ;)
Terranscapes 2 months ago