I like to think I'm fairly competent when it comes to making certain types of terrain for gaming use. Rocky outcrops are my bread-and-butter when it comes to stuff I make for my Etsy shop. But I have been wanting to extend a little into more diverse pieces, such as buildings. And while, in the recent past, I have dabbled in the odd ruin or platform here-and-there, I wanted to try a few more substantial bits. Skipping back a little, one of the first testers of some new-type (for me anyway) terrain was very basic. I'd recently bought a basic hot-wire cutter for foam and tried it out on a few spare lumps, just to find my way with it and to see what the results would be. The end product was nothing special - it was the wire doing the work - but I was quite pleased with the look of the slant outcrops. And, just seeing them in their natural white styrofoam, made me think of, initially, painting them up as simple white snow wastes or icebergs. In the end I decided to go fo...

Well, this post sort-a, kinda-a flows on (eh? see what I did there) from the last one, in as far as my adventures using resin more regularly. Having managed to salvage a misted pond I'd made, I wanted to make a more competent version of a waterfall I made a while back and cringe a little how I let it go.     At the time, I was reasonably happy with it, but the more I saw of it, the more it made my teeth itch. But I still liked to overall look of the piece ... just the water aspect annoyed me*.     So I dug out the styrofoam and card and set about making another one. But thought I'd keep this one a little more compact and - dare I say - simple. Although this one does have two falls, albeit smaller.     I don't want to completely dump on the previous resin I used, but this second brand (Teexpert) just seems to be playing a little easier with me.           I also used some more of the AK Still Water ... which I can't mak...

  In the past few years of painting models for both commissions and to sell on the shop, I've been slowly taking more time over the photography of the finished models. Originally it was just so I'd have a decent picture for my own portfolio, and use a plain white background. But over time I made some basic quick-n-dirty bases and backgrounds to show the model in a setting . I kept them pretty generic at first; a simple grassy base and rock backdrop and a road surface with a grey concrete backdrop. Not great, but as a start, I was encouraged by the results. It set the model off nicely and, especially for the shop, offered an impression of the model in a game setting.     After these very basic versions, I made two more, both with much more detail to them. In each case they were a little rushed, but again, showed promise and did (in my own opinion) look a step up from the previous ones. So far they've been okay, but I've noticed that they could be with having more area of...