Terrain Craziness: Terrain Season Update

Making progress but still so much to do

For me, Spring and Summer are the months to work on terrain, and assemble and glue miniatures.

• First, the light is better, which is important because it's not as if the lamps I use when I am painting miniatures are much help when paining a 60cm square board.  
• Second, I can work outside if necessary.  
• Third, the paint dries more quickly, and you're often using heavy washes and thin paints to ensure the paint gets into every crevice.
• The weather is better for priming over the summer, so Spring is a good time to get everything tidied up and glued together.

Terrain season is well underway, and I have been focusing on my Realm of Battle Cityscape board and the Sector Mechanicus scenery to go with it; I am looking to recreate a chemical plant.  There are going to be plenty of platforms for infantry to use to their advantage, and I want to avoid the main problem with ruined buildings; namely that you tend to just play around them and use them simply to block lines of sight.

That's a lot of dry brushing

I have finished painting the concrete and tarmac on five boards and have almost finished the sixth.  I think I have got through 6-8 pots of Administratum Grey, and equal numbers of pots of Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade.  The metal details - things like oil barrels, ammo boxes, doors and pipes - will have to wait, as will adding mud effects.  The priority is to build and prime the Sector Mechanicus Scenery.  I have been busy assembling that too and starting to experiment with layouts to get an idea of how it should look and how much I need to allow the infantry to really make use of it.  The answer seems to be a lot, and more platforms in particular.

It's a simple fact that I won't have time to weather the terrain much this Summer - that will be a job for next Summer - it will take a Herculean effort to get everything painted to a playable level: the pipes painted copper; the plasma glows and so on.  At the same time, I have been assembling my Forgeworld backlog ready to prime and base coat: a Sicaran; a Spartan; two Basilisks; a couple of quad mortars and a couple of rapier lascannons.  Meanwhile, the Siege Tyrant terminators are sitting on their painting corks only part painted.  So much to do and so little time.

Experimenting with the scenery layouts to get an idea of how the scenery will look and work

There will be plenty of space for the Space Marines and the tanks.  Afterall, this is the Horus Heresy so there are
going to be plenty of big tanks.

I still haven't finalised the layouts for the Sector Mechanicus scenery but I am beginning to get a picture in my head
of how things will look

It should have the right look once the pipes and ladders are added, and of course when the chimneys and storage tanks
are painted.

I haven't thought about what can go on the platforms yet.  I think I will have my work cut out painting the first level
 this Summer