I grew up seeing scratchbuilt terrain in GW army book photos and reading the White Dwarf Modelling Workshop of how-to articles. In the indie scene of the hobby there are so also many amazing creators in the indie side of our hobby. All of this has really inspired my terrain builds, I'm just riffing on what I've seen others do and I'm learning as I go.
Ok so all this rambling is getting to a point. I've got a couple of posts planned with some step-by-step guides to terrain builds to help out anyone interested in making their own DIY terrain, but I thought I'd start with a guide to where to get your supplies and what I use for my builds.
As with anything in the hobby, don't feel like you have to go out and buy everything all at once. You can plan out a piece you want to make and just buy what you need for that. You will have stuff leftover, embrace it and use it to inspire the next build!
Also none of this is wargaming terrain exclusive. If you’ve got trains or model cars or action figures on your shelf, they’d look a lot cooler on a scenic display.
Make a sewer for those turtles, a bombed out factory for your tanks or a castle for your knights.
Hardware store (Bunnings in Australia):
- XPS insulation foam, the blue stuff. Comes in sheets about 2” thick. I use these to make hills and to add elevation to pieces. Can be cut with a knife or hot wire cutter. People do some amazing things making bricks and walls out of foam.
- Cork floor tiles. I use these for bricks and stones. Tedious to cut but the edges break great for ruins.
- Plaster of Paris. Used for casting statues and can be stippled on for texturing rocks and cork bricks.
- Pine bark chunks. Used for natural rocks, cliffs etc.
- 3mm MDF for terrain bases. Can be cut with a knife but it's quicker and easier to use a scrollsaw or jigsaw.
- 12mm MDF for gaming boards. I buy larger sheets and get them to cut them down at the hardware store to the size I need.
- Coconut fibres. Use for grasses, thatched roofs etc
- Coconut coir bricks. Rehydrate and break up. Great for additional ground texture
- PVA glue. Use neat for general gluing. Dilute with water for sticking down basing textures.
- 2 part epoxy glue for faster bonds or pieces that need extra strength.
- Super glue / CA glue. Get the cheap stuff.
- Cheap spray paint for priming terrain.
- Multipurpose filler. Used for filling gaps and coating XPS foam to protect it from being dissolved by spray paint, I stipple it on to cork bricks for texture.
- Sand and dirt for basing and texturing terrain (just get it from the garden if possible)
- Tools: Stanley knife, metal ruler, large paint brushes, wire brush for texturing wood
- Balsa wood / craft wood. For anything that will be wood texture - huts, bridges etc
- Chains
- Canvas drop cloths. Cut up small pieces to make banners, tents etc
- Pipes, mesh etc. Check the plumbing section for lengths of pipe, tubes, junction boxes etc. Look for cool shapes.
- Scroll saw (power tool). Used for cutting MDF for bases. BE SAFE, USE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
- Small orbital sander (power tool). Used for bevelling MDF bases, rounding off foam hills etc. BE SAFE, USE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
- Safety goggle, dust mask. Use these. Your eyes and lungs are important.
Dollar store:
- Cheap acrylic craft paint
- Cheap oil paints (but better from the art store)
- Cheap brushes
- Coffee stirrers. Use for boards for fences, floors etc. Scrub in a wood grain texture with the wire brush
- Random stuff for terrain - kids toys, Halloween decorations, pipes etc. Particularly useful for sci-fi terrain. Look for cool shapes.
- Tea leaves. Use for ground cover texture and leaves
- Googly eyes, sequins, buttons etc. Use for rivets, bolts etc
- Foam shapes. Eg spheres, bells etc Can be used for all sorts of things and saves cutting them from XPS.
- Corrugated cardboard / paper. Check the craft section. This makes great sheet metal for post apocalyptic shacks and trenches, roller doors, etc.
- Paper towel, sponges, dishcloths, baking paper. You’ll use a lot of this stuff cleaning up and protecting your work area. Buy it cheap.
Art stores
- Oil paints and odourless thinners, much better than the dollar store stuff
- Acrylic medium and flow improver. This will help your paint go further
Hobby / train stores (might be cheaper online but support cool local stores in your area)
- Static grass. Get 2 colours you really like for realism.
- Flocks. Again I like mixing 2 - 3 colours for variety, but there’s something to be said for the Oldhammer single bright green.
- Grass tufts. Can’t have enough of these, I have multiple colours and sizes. Some companies do themed packs - scrublands, swamps etc. and these are great for variety.
- Airbrush thinners
- Rock molds for casting rocks out of plaster
Amazon / AliExpress:
(It’s hard to endorse these online outlets. They’re built on exploitative labour practices for both workers and manufacturers, discourage competition, use predatory advertising, and you’re lining the pockets of billionaires. BUT we already live in a dystopian fall-of-capitalism hellscape and sometimes you just need a break from the horrors to make a scene for your little guys. I won’t judge where you get your cardboard from, just do something for your local community to balance it out).
- Cheap plaster molds for statues and details
- Cheap static grass and flocks
- Cheap railway trees
- Cheap miniature leaves
- Medium Chipboard (thick card) Great for basic shapes for buildings
- Mesh, plasticard etc. Use for scifi walkways, detailing buildings etc
- Bulk craft paint. I use burnt umber to basecoat all my terrain areas that are meant to be dirt
- Isopropyl alcohol. Spray on ground texture then spray with diluted PVA. This breaks the surface tension and pulls all the glue through the ground texture grit, creating a stronger bond and preventing shedding
Cheap department stores (Kmart in Australia):
- Kids toys - pipes for scifi terrain etc
- 2 part pouring resin. Used for water features, dries glassy and clear. Cant be tinted with acrylic paints and inks
- Hair dryer. Used to speed up oil washes drying
Found objects / “junk”:
When you really get into terrain making you’ll start seeing inspiration in all sorts of packaging and waste items. Some examples:
- Cardboard from delivery boxes
- Yoghurt pots
- Lids from containers
- Poster tubes
Get creative.
You’ll also need some pens and pencils, for marking out pieces to cut. I also recommend getting a small notebook or sketchbook for drawing out ideas and making lists. Don't worry if your sketches aren't "good", thats not the point. It's a process to help you visualise what to make, and it's ok if the sketches look a little silly.
In the next post I'll talk about inspiration, creators you can learn cool technques from and planning.
