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Building a pile of cool ruins for your Lizardmen
terrain collection can be quite rewarding, especially
considering how easy ruins can be to build. If you
can gather a few blocks of pink or blue insulation
foam, a hobby knife, some plastic aquarium plants,
and a free afternoon, you'll have a city's worth of
ruins with ease. In this basic step-by-step article,
we show you a few techniques for building your own
Lizardmen terrain. With a bit of practice, you too
can have mazes of cool ruins for your tabletop. |
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An
Empire scouting
party encounters
cold-blooded
residents among
crumbling ruins.
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| Insulation foam can
be shaped into all sorts
of pillar-like shapes
with a bit of careful
cutting and sanding. Be
sure to use a fresh blade
to get the cleanest possible
cut. Just watch your fingers!
Try out simple rectangular
pillars, or try the more-complex
hexagons, triangles, and
cylinders. Once you have
the basic shape of your
pillar done, it's time
to etch some cryptic glyphs,
symbols, and markings
onto its surface. Scour
Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen
for ideas – there
are plenty to choose from
in that book! With a fresh
blade, cut the outline
of your shape or glyph
about 1/4" into the
foam. Once you have the
outline cut, gently scrape
out the shape with the
tip of your blade. You'll
find that the foam will
pop right out to leave
your shape behind. |
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| Once you are satisfied
with your pillar shape
and glyphs, it's time
to weather your structure
a bit. With a piece of
steel wool (or just your
finger), rub away some
of the foam in a downward
motion. Do this step carefully
and with purpose, and
you'll end up with a convincing
crumbled pillar. To augment
the ruined look, cut the
bottom of a few pillars
at an angle to make 'em
look like they've sunk
into the ground over the
years. Attach your pillar
to a piece of Masonite
hardboard or other suitable
base with Liquid Nails
and set it aside. Now,
we'll look at how to add
vegetation to your ruins.
First, you'll need to
select an aquarium plant
for the piece. You can
find these things in just
about any pet or craft
store on the cheap. |
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| Shape your foam block
just like a pillar by
cutting and scraping it
up. However, this time,
gouge a small depression
into the foam. Place and
glue your plant into the
gouged area with a bit
of Liquid Nails or other
suitable adhesive. Etch
spidery cracks into the
ruin to represent the
plant slowly pushing the
stone past its limits
over the years. To set
up a root network, build
an armature from floral
wire (or any bendy wire
you have) and twist it
to the approximate shape
you want. |
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| Cover over each of
the wire roots with
some
green stuff. Patiently,
wrap each root with
putty
and work your way out
to each root tip.
Scrape
a few lines into the
putty to add enough
texture
to simulate wood. Now
that you have a few
pillars
finished up, it's time
to begin thinking
about
your bases and how you
are going to flock
them.
For these pieces, we
used good ol' green
static
grass and red coarse
turf. You don't have
to follow
us, though – have
a look around; there
are
tons of different colours
and textures that may
suit your needs better
than this example. |
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| If you wish to have
some of your pillars
and
ruins covered in vines
and foliage, look
around
the internet for a Woodland
Scenics product called
Poly Fiber. Another decent
product out there
is made
by a company named Silflor.
Both products come
in
tons of colours and look
great when glued in
place.
All you really have to
do is yank off strips
of the stuff to create
convincing stringy
vines. |
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| Finally, a few small
bushes or leafy scrub
will add to your piece
greatly. Look around craft
stores for large sheets
or strands of plastic
plants. You can cut and
trim these items into
small bushes to affix
to your terrain base.
All you need is a drop
of super glue to attach
each one to the base.
Check out the completed
pillars and ruins below
for reference as you complete
your project. |
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| When it comes to painting
your ruins, it's really
up to you. Greys and earthy
tans are quite common
and will achieve a nice
finish. For the pieces
above (after a Chaos Black
undercoat), we built up
Dark Flesh to Terracotta
with heavy drybrushes
followed by a quick highlight
drybrush of Tanned Flesh.
Then, we carefully drybrushed
Camo Green, Catachan Green,
and Scorpion Green into
the cracks, crevices,
and certain areas to simulate
moss and lichen growth
on the structure. Remember
that this example barely
scratches the surface
of jungle ruins –
look around the internet
for pictures of Mayan,
Aztec, and Inca ruins
to inspire your Lizardmen
terrain creations and
give 'em a try. |
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-Article by Ty Finocchiaro
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