Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Trench Terrain Boards Part 1

By my count, I've painted 40 miniatures in the past 2 months.
Incredible speed that is, inhuman even, Olympian.  
Nobody could keep up that pace.  
I certainly can't.  At least not without performance enhancing drugs.  
The kind of drugs that government agents take in the movies in order to withstand 'vigorous interrogation' by the enemy, because painting endless miniatures is a form of torture.  

That's just a hyperbolic way of saying 'I don't like painting miniatures that much and want to do something different.'

It's terrain time.  It's off to the trenches!
It's also a post that I feel like I type a lot but do very little.  


WW1 Trenches (Kinda)


My "This Quar's War' project is off and running with a bunch of newly painted miniatures, but I don't have any Quar-specific terrain.  While Quar are strange creatures, their technology isn't and it's basically at the WW1ish level.  WWI always screams trenches to me, and to me trenches always look super cool when they go into the ground rather than sit on the table.  Which means it needs to be a terrain board with foam to dig into.  I've always wanted to make a terrain board and try my hand at some serious terrain modelling.  When I goof off on youtube I don't watch vids on miniature painting (BORING) but watch vids on terrain making.  

After asking myself the fateful question of "How hard can it be to make some terrain boards?" It was time to get started.  

It doesn't have to be faithful recreation of WW1 western front; just something WW1 Trenches Kinda.

There are lots of good resources out there on the internet on how to make terrain boards so I'm just gonna copy all those people.  Very little original thinking required, which is the way that I like it, because my brain has grown soft from watching too many children's cartoons with my kids. 

On blogs, I will direct you toward the master of all things terrain board and foam to Anton's Wargaming Blog.  There's a section called 'adventures in blue board and foamcore' full of examples and he's also currently building a trench board (extremely quickly) that I'm paying close attention to. Very close attention.


Enthusiastic Amateur Hour


I don't know what I'm doing.  Don't take me for an expert or someone skilled.  I'm like a teenager going on his first date after getting a lot of advice from the internet, and I'm really excited about it.  

Taking some inspiration from some Quar illustrations...





Images lifted from "tales of the Breach" available as a free PDF from https://rhyfler.com/.

I then drew out a plan on graph paper.
The plan went through several revisions.


Main idea: the table will be 6x4 comprised of 3 2x4 terrain boards. There will be a very wide, very deep trench that runs along it; something more for travel than defense; to move troops and such, but also so wide and deep that tanks / vehicles can't drive over it (making any bridges good scenario objectives).  Not sure if something like that ever existed in real WWI trenches. Branching off from that there will be more traditional defensive trenches.  I'll also be adding some modular step hills with trenches that can be moved about.   

In my imagination: It's not a trench system that was designed for the front lines, but a long existing trench system belonging to the Coftyran faction (Royalists) as part of the intricate border defense and the Crusader faction is moving in.  The front lines have come to it.

The big trench will be 2" deep, and 6" wide.  

First this board will be used for skirmish games, but with an eye that it eventually could expand into big battle games.  


Time to go to the hardware store.

Indeed Boromir, indeed.

Got myself 3 2'x4' sheets of MDF, some 2"x1"x8' wooden boards, and 2 sheets of 8'x4' insulation foam that were 1 inch thick.  

--Originally I wanted 1 sheet of 2" think insulation foam, but the one sheet the store had was all beat to hell so I got the other stuff.

I had to ninja drop kick the foam sheets in the parking lot in order to break them down to a size that fit in the car.  Everyone was impressed with my ninja moves I SWEAR, and no one pointed out that next time I should bring a utility knife to cut the foam like a normal person.  


Construction


The first step is to create some battens / frame around the 2x4 sheets to add stability and help prevent warping.  

Cutting the 2"x1" to the proper length.  

attach the frame to the sheet.

The braces were attached with liquid nails and after that had dried for a few hours the boards were flipped over and screws were added to hold them in place.  And you only see two boards because I ran out of wood and had to go back to the store to get more.


Indeed.
Same goes with Wargaming Projects


--Fun Fact: Wood does not come in precisely the sizes it is advertised.  My original idea was to create a 2" frame and have the 2" foam nested inside. I thought this would protect the foam and ensure that the boards would line up better.  But 2"x1" boards aren't actually 2x1 but more like 1.5 by .75.   I couldn't find a board that was actually 2", go figure.  Also the sheets of MDF that were sold as 2'x4' are actually just slightly bigger.  I found that out the hard way, because I cut a brace 2' long brace and placed it down on the mdf sheet and found it didn't reach to the end..

So new plan.  The braces will be on the bottom, and the foam will be on the top

3 boards assembled and looking pretty flat.
So far so average.

Let's start adding foam.


Foam Stuff


I knew that for this project I was going to be cutting a lot of foam.  Thick foam too.  So I invested in the tool that all the terrain Youtubers and cool bloggers seem to use: a Proxxon Hotwire Cutter.

tadaa!
I admit, It don't look like much.


Trying it out.
I glued two 1" pieces of foam together to get the 2" height I want.
It is SO MUCH easier to cut with the hotwire than a sharp knife.
Though that REDHOT wire is kinda scary.


OK, I can feel you attention starting to flag.  I don't blame you, and I haven't said something funny in a while.  Let's rapid-fire-picture-style the rest of this post.  Watch the pink foam dance.


I cut 4 slabs of the 1 inch foam roughly the size of the board.
glued them together to get a 2" height.


used the Proxxon to straighten out the edges.


Cut out the profile for the large trench.
Sketched out where the regular firing trench is gonna be.
I used some Quar miniatures to get an idea of the proper size.


Cut that out as well.

Well this bit is important.  At some point I figured out it was easier to manipulate the foam through the Proxxon if it was in smaller pieces, so started cutting everything in half.  

I'm also extremely anxious that the foam won't line up to the edge of the wooden board completely, and that will result in things not lining up with the other boards with big gaps and everything will be terrible.  A tip I remembered from Mel The Terrain Tutor is that it's easier to cut things down the middle, line up the pieces at the edge, and fill the gap in the center.  



Building up the firing trench.
The Quar need to be able to see out of this trench.
So again, using Quar miniatures I tested what the actual height should be.
Quar a little shorter (and pudgier) than usual 28mm miniatures.
A 1" deep trench is just over their heads.

A 1/2" deep trench looks to be just about right height
that they can poke their snouts over.



Almost lastly, cut some ramps so miniatures can travel up to the firing trench.


And lastly for this post, 
start using scraps of foam to plug big gaps in the middle.
We'll just have to trust that spackle will fill any small gaps in a later step.


Slow Burns


This board is gonna be a slow burn, take your time, no rush project.  For a few reasons:

1) As stated, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm kinda feeling my away along.  Before any progress is made there is at least 20 mins of me just staring at things making thinking noises before I do anything.  And I do it very slowly.  

2) It's big and takes up a lot of space, so only gonna work on it on nights when I'm able to stay up late and devote enough time to make it worth yanking it all out.  And there are 3 boards to make as well as some more traditional tabletop terrain.  

Which means that in the meantimes, I guess I can continue to paint more miniatures.

More miniature painting.... yay I guess.


Thanks for reading.
Double Thanks for Writing a comment.
Till next time.  

32 comments:

  1. The trench is looking good! Although maybe you want to find a way to make the firing lanes deeper so you can use it with normal 28 mm miniatures if the time comes, and then maybe add boxes or something that the Quar can stand on so they can use it too.

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    1. Thanks SD. Currently the Quar are my only 28mm (ish) miniatures that are 20th century. So I don’t mind making the terrain boards tailored to them. Besides; if this goes well maybe I’ll start this kind of thing regularly. 😀

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  2. Looking great so far! You are capturing the sense of the Quar esthetic better than my boards (which were designed to allow Great War actions to be fought on them as well). I have endured the same frustrations with "dimensional lumber". Exactly what sort of inch they are using is unfamiliar to me. One hint; try to find a store that has a frame-saw (a huge wall-mounted saw that can be used to cut full sheets to smaller sizes) a staff member can usually be prevailed upon to get the sheets very close to the same size. I await your progress reports.

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    1. Thanks Anton. I appreciate you stopping by a writing a comment.
      I went to Home Depot and I do believe they have a big saw like that. While the MDF sheets aren’t exactly 2x4, at least they’re all still the same.
      I don’t think my boards have any esthetic yet, but hopefully soon and I’m going for Quar specifically which will make it easier. 😀

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  3. Stew!!! I am getting flash backs to many of my home & terrain projects. 😂
    The foam cutter looks great and as you have invested in it now, you will have to buy more foam for more terrain projects.

    I have been reading Anton's progress as well. I think your boards will look great. The good thing about trench lines is that they don't need to be neat and tidy, gaps and holes can be covered by a bit of rubble/dirt on them.

    Also, just in case you have missed it. I saw some YouTube videos come up on Quar from "Mish Mash!" and there seems to be a number of other Quar videos as well. There also seems to be a video game. I went to the Zombie Smith website and they also sell Quar in 15mm and 6mm, which got me thinking a little.

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    1. Thanks Ben. Oh, I have heaps of foam these days. There’s something very ol school about the cutter; solid and functional. Gonna have to try my hand at some scratch building some ruins or such with it.

      Anton’s terrain projects are well worth checking out.
      And against my nature I joined the Quar discussion Facebook group; so I’m up to date on all the Quar media. lol. 😀

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  4. That looks a fabulous project Stew. I made some trench sections years ago for my Russo-Japanese games, but didn't go to the extent of terrain tiles - wish I had. Mind you I am about to delve into another batch of tiles so you never know. I found the best part of the project was creating the trench interiors and you can go wild using different materials - I used twigs for logs, matchsticks for finished lumber, threw in the odd wooden barrel, a bit of wicker fencing...makes for lots of great textures.

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    1. Thanks Mark. I’ve never done terrain tiles so this is an ambitious (maybe overly ambitious) project for me.
      I am planning on various textures and doing some on the table trenches as well to compliment the sunken ones. 😀

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  5. Stew, a couple of comments (not funny unfortunately).
    1. Hope you are wearing a mask when cutting the foam; I understand it can give off unpleasant stuff like cyanide with a hot wire (although you're a smoker so....)
    2. Hinted at in previous comments. Height of trenches can also be raised with duck boards - matchsticks and if too high as a result add some sandbags on top for figures to hide behind..

    Impressed with the apparent mastery of DIY tools - inevitable that this is frustrated by wood sizes and ends up as a bodge....
    Your big problem is going to be storage....
    Neil

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    1. Thanks Neil. I did not wear a mask but I did open a window and had a strong fan. Seems to be enough. I did have a cig dangling from my lips anyway…😀

      I hear what you are saying about the duckboards.
      I’m hoping storage won’t be too much an issue. I have one of those above ground attics most folks call a garage.

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  6. Oh, my ! Fantastic sir. Looking great at now.

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  7. Nice work Stew, you seem to have mastered the tools and techniques required - I have steered away from foam for a number of reasons - my trenches are the traditional wargames version that stick up unrealistically from the flat table surface!

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    1. Thanks Kieth. Though I have mastered nothing yet. Not even close.
      I’ll be making some stick up from the table trenches as well. A hill with a hole through it. 😀

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  8. Stu, great start, funny narrative. Trench systems are the ones most likely to drive the builder crazy. Keep smiling and keep the window open when working with foam.

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    1. Thanks P. How do trenches drive people crazy? I thought it be on the simpler things as nothing has to look too nice.
      I did have the window open and a strong fan. Though I did have to put my face up really close to see what I was cutting…😝😀

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  9. You are gathering a workshop full of nifty power tools, Stew. It will be fun to watch you put this arsenal of tools into play to make what will likely be a fantastic trench system. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks JF. Having a good tool does make it easier. There’s something very old school about the cutter; solid and functional. 😀

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  10. Will you be adding the cost of the foam cutter to your hobby expense ledger, or can you write it off as a household tool/expense (alongside the lawn mower)?

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    1. lol. Thanks Ed. The cutter is already in the account as it was a Father’s Day gift from myself. 😀

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  11. That hotwire cutter looks like an impressive piece of equipment. Much better than hacking away at the foam. This looks like it is going to be spectacular Stew.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence. The cutter is a solid and functional piece. Very old school. And MICH easier than cutting with a blade. 😀

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  12. Fine progress there Stew and as always lots of bits made me chuckle! Looking forward to part II :).

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    1. Thanks Steve. This is a long big project so there will be MANY parts. 😀

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  13. Off to a great start Stewart, the basic layout is looking good and plenty of points of interest and fighting opportunities. Haven't used a foam cutter in many years, and that looks to be a very good one. One trick to remember is using sandpaper to shape things, does make a bit of a mess, but can make subtle changes easy.

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    1. Thanks Dave. I neglected to mention this is part of your terrain challenge though I doubt it’ll be done at the deadline.
      I do hope the board will provide many good games. 😀

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    2. No worries, as I knew what it was for.

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  14. A very exciting project, and how fortunate that Anton is working on a very similar one so you can copy it. I mean learn from it.

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    1. Thanks David. But you were right the first time; copy and steal. 😀
      And you’ll get to play on it hopefully eventually. 😀😔

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  15. You're off to a cracking start! I actually bought some of that same brand of foam in my first go in the hobby many years ago and never used almost any of it. That stuff was so hard to cut that you really benefit from having some kind of power tool.

    Also, 40 miniatures in two months definitely sounds suspect. Are you using Human Anabolic Painting Steroids? Everybody at the Golden Demon is injecting themselves with the stuff these days! :D

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    1. Thanks Jeff. I only use the best drugs. 😀
      The insulation foam is very useful for all sorts of things. But yes some sort of power tool is helpful. Even when making basic hills I used a knife to cut the shapes but a power sander to even them all out. 😀

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