This article is an older article that I created a few years ago when I first setup the site. My style of terrain making has evolved and the materials I use has changed over time. This was because my earlier building and basing attempts were not very durable and didnt stand up to the rigours of wargaming very well. I would substitute some of the materials such as cardboard with plasticard and DAS with Green stuff or Procreate.

However I still hope that this article is useful to people and that they can find some ideas and inspiration from this page.

Making your own buildings

1. The main materials I use are Cardboard, Selley's No More Gaps (which is a rubbery sealer use by home decorators), Polystyrene (the white beaded stuff) and Das modelling clay.

2. To construct a building I generally carve the basic shape from a block of polystyrene and then smear a thin coat of Selley's on it. Before this dries I push the doors and windows into the Selley's. The doors and windows are made from Das although I have the set from Irregular, which are very nice and highly recommended.

3. Thatched roofs are made from Das scored with a sharp knife. I've also started making roofs from cardboard covered with Selley's and then scored to look like timber planks. It is very quick and it looks a lot like Russian buildings.

Irregular also has some tiles roofs that come in their doors and window packs. Another option which I haven't tried, is to print out a brick pattern onto paper or card and glue it on.

The roofs of these buildings are made from card which I cut into thin strips and then cut each strip to look like tile shapes. This looks very good but can be a very slow process!

4. Other details like chimneys, steps and stairs can be added to the building as well. I'd recommend the ones that Irregular sell in their set. Otherwise they can be easy to make out of materials like balsawood and cardboard. All of these help to make the buildings and bases a bit more interesting.

This picture shows a small manor house with a bridge and a small stream in the front garden. You can also see the small barn/garage off to the side of the main house.

5. I base everything on 90mm square bases or 90x180mm bases, so they fit together to make towns and cities. The bases are Cardboard covered with (you guessed it) Selley's. Others use thin wood or metal for bases which would be better because it doesn't warp like cardboard. I generally paint my buildings light colours with black window panes so they are visible on the table. It is also good to use colours slightly lighter than normal for this scale so they stand out and dont look like blobs.

These town sectors are a combination of scratch built, Irregular, Time Cast and old Military Miniatures buildings. A lot of the doors, windows and roofs come from the Irregular set. The walls are made from cardboard with and covered with Selleys to create a texture. The roads are made from sand glued on with PVA, and painted and drybrushed grey, followed with a very light brown wash.

6. Next I paint and flock the base and add trees and foliage to break it up a bit. I quite often place these to cover up any crappy part of the building or rough joins. I use mainly Woodland scenics trees with a few K&M and some homemade pine trees.(see pictures for some examples). I tend to put a lot of trees on the bases which can make moving figures around, difficult.

For more examples of of how I've mounted my buildings, check out the galleries in the Airwar section, where there are a number of different buildings in the pictures.

Detailing and finishing

If you want to get really carried away you can add statues (use 6mm Ancients and Napoleonic figures), signs, woodpiles, sheds, walls, gates, hay piles, lamp posts etc. A lot of these items are available from Irregular or Timecast and help to make the base look better.

This statue was made from a spare napoleonic Hussar figure glued to a piece of baslawood and covered in PVA and sand. It was painted bronze but it should be a greenish colour to represent the weathering effect on bronze statues.

Other types of town sectors can include Squares (which you can add fountains or markets).

Statues and parks are also good for creating space to move your figures around and also if you dont want to put too many buildings on the base. The street lamps I made from three strands of thin wire twisted together with a small blob of modelling putty put on each end to represent the light covers. and mausoleums.

This fountain was made from some cardboard and a plastic bottle top. The water was made from Selleys and then painted. The top part of the fountain was a Games Workshop shield which was glued on top.

For churches, you cant go past having a cemetery with gravestones. This is an old model from Military Miniatures in NZ which unfortunately you cant get anymore

Damaged buildings

A quicker and easier way to build town sectors or you can use them if any building suffer "battle damage". The basing is the same as other town sections but I make the walls from cardboard offcuts. Debris can be made from different sized pebbles and sand, cardboard offcuts, small pieces of balsawood, corktiles, and pieces of plasticard.

A picture of a destroyed farmyard made from mainly cardboard. This is quite similar size and shape to a resin building I have.

Another ruined building made from cardboard and with debris scattered on the base. This looks like it has been runined for a while because there is foliage starting to grow back in amongst the walls.