About Me

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My name is Gavin McClements. I am a wargamer and family man, living in Los Gatos, which is a suburb of San Jose, CA. Building terrain is one of my favorite aspects of the wargaming hobby - in fact, lately I've become more interested in making my battlefields "pop" than in actually playing.

Monday, February 20, 2012

6mm Terrain makes a comeback

Ive been searching for the "next" game for some time now, and every time I do, I end up back where I started...


So, in preparation for a game this week, I decided to finish some pieces of terrain that I had started a while back but hadnt completed (in other words, status quo).  I am a good painter but I take a miserably long time because I am foolishly fixated on detail. Oh well. I like the results.

First up, a village:

I try to have things look as good as I can get them without sacrificing playability. That is a HARD combination to juggle...but I achieve it mainly by putting my trees on washers and placing small round magnetic sheet-cut circles where they are to go. The trees are then removable and can look good and be moved at the same time.



I like color on my battlefields as well. Too many games have unfinished models and terrain (my own included!) or cityscapes painted in blacks and greys, so I try to splash in what I can. In reality, I mix fall and summer colors, but hey, maybe on some alien world thats what it really looks like! I have Woodland Scenics flowers sprinkled about, and the trees are using WS turf. The trees' color is bigger and grainier, but I realized as I was adding it that the flower mixture would be perfect! Mixing the colors with some green flock would be awesome for 6mm ground cover. I love discovering.


Its my wife's favorite color of the houses, and Im super proud of the fence, so hey, a close up is in order.

Notice also that the yards have a greener color than the roundabout. I tried to replicate the color of lawn, so I got the "Green Grass" flocking from WS....twice. Yea...I forgot that I had thought about this before, so Friday when I ran down to get some, I opened the new jar ($10 USD) before checking my flocking selection. Oh well. I have grass for days now :)

The Church is designed to go near the village, maybe on some soon-to-be-built (LOL who am I kidding...) road system.



Its a little hard to tell from these angles, but the church is slightly elevated, and the path winds up to it from the front. The gravemarkers were obnoxious to do, and superglue isnt the best method of gluing things to MDF board.  Its ok...the glue from the sand and flocking should keep them in.


The Devlan Mud wash on all the buildings turned out great, but I am especially pleased with the church.

So thats it for now. One of these days I'll start assembling my Death Korp of Krieg list that I mostly own, and maybe work more on my city scape (combinations of 4"x4" 2mm squares of plasticard to make a city grid).  I have also to play Strike Legion, but for now, its on to Epic Armageddon!

NOTE: I had a request for the manufacturer of the buildings. I dont know...but they might be  Hovels and Principles (I have no link but got a lead a few years ago, unconfirmed).

As for scale:


Rhino and a stand of Exodus Wars infantry and autocannon:

Whirlwind and a stand of Sisters of Battle Seraphim proxies I got from a blue werewolf's brother...

And NO, the bases on the vehicles arent done, so no comments mentioning them :P

10 comments:

  1. I glued a small strip of basswood to the backside of the gutter as a hanger so it stuck out from the house and lined up with the roof and then bent the downspout to line up with it and bent the end at the bottom out for the drain.

    CA Glue

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  2. Nice. That is a piece of detail Im not quite ready to go for yet :)

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  3. Hello, the terrain looks like very good, but one little question, where did you get the sisters of battles proxies?
    I am looking for 6mm Sisters of Battles and I can't find them anywhere

    Thanks

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  4. Google "Tactical Command forum" and make an account there. Then PM me (Kealios) and I'll tell you :)

    There are foot soldiers and the Repressor available. Nothing else at the moment.

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  5. You say you keep ending up back at epic have ou tried future war commander?

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  6. I own FWC but havent been very impressed with what Ive read. That being said, I havent actually played it. I have friends who play Warmaster who plan on teaching me FWC, but we havent had that opportunity yet. When I play a 6mm ruleset that ISNT Epic, it will be Strike Legion, I hope...and soon, since it looks really good and I own it too :)

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  7. Sorry for the resurrection but I just found this post and wanted to say how great your terrain creations are! I am an Epic player form decades back but its all been in a big box for many years now.

    I'm just getting back into 6mm with an English Civil Project with a friend so am looking to make some new terrain. Your church and graveyard set is really very impressive and just the sort of thing that would be perfect for our new table setup. Do you recall where you got the church from?

    thanks!
    Paul

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    Replies
    1. Oh man! I am usually very detailed on my notes of what I got where, but this one, I THINK, was in a grab bag I got at a flea market in my early 6mm days (ie not too long ago!). Lately I've been buying from Total Battle Miniatures and Leven Miniatures with much satisfaction. I'll keep looking for this one though!

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    2. Thanks for that but I quite understand. Did you scratch build the stone fences as well as the headstones?

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    3. Yea - back when I had time and energy for such things. These days I just buy them from Leven :)

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