Anyone interested in me putting together a guide on how to make a wood elf forest? I have all the materials required to build the 6" diameter forest and will be able to provide step by step instructions with pictures on how to make your own. All I need is some interest in the idea and then I'll get started.

Guide to making your very own wood elf forest

Guide written by Lindsay

Introduction
So why make a wood elf forest you ask? Well for starters it beats using a laminated piece of green paper! No, the actual reason to have your very own wood elf forest is because you can use this piece of terrain in pitched battles whenever you please. What I’m talking about here is the woodland ambush special rule where you as the wood elf player can place an extra wood (no larger than 6" diameter) anywhere on your half of the table.

Update Number One
Materials needed to make a wood elf forest:
* Modelling cardboard (foam board) – the stuff I’m using has two sheets of cardboard either side of what looks to be foam.
* 3x Trees – I liked the idea of using one large tree and two smaller trees as my forest.
* Bases to stick the trees to (diameter of around 60mm, thickness 2mm) – plastic bases would probably be better than metal, I just made use of what I had.
* PVA glue
* Modelling sand
* Static grass
*Paints – I’m using scorched brown followed by kommando khaki highlights.



Update Number Two
1. Clean the trees up so that they look neat and tidy by clipping off any bristles not covered in foliage.
2. Stick the trees to the bases with glue – I used polyurethane, which stuck the plastic tree trunks to metal bases nicely. If you used plastic bases (which I assume you all are) then you should be using plastic glue or super glue.
3. Now it’s time to make the main base in which all the trees sit on. With a pencil and compass draw a circle of 6" diameter onto the foam board. Using a modelling knife cut out the base – "Be very careful when using knives, they can be dangerous" (I just had to quote Games Workshop here).
4. Using sandpaper, sand the edges of the main base so that it's on an angle to give it a nice finish.



Update Number Three
5. Position the trees onto the foam board where you see fit. With a pencil trace around the tree bases – this is where the trees will “slot” into place when finished.
6. Apply PVA glue (straight from the container, NOT watered down) to the foam board with a paintbrush leaving the circles we traced earlier blank as well as the sanded edges. Now put modelling sand over the PVA glue, lightly shaking away any excess sand.



7. Apply PVA glue (once again, NOT watered down) to the tree bases with a paintbrush leaving the edges blank. Now put modelling sand over the PVA glue, shaking away excess as done before. Leave both the foam board and tree bases to dry – it should only take a couple of hours if left in the sun.



NOTE: Only attempt step eight after fitting the trees into the “slots” of the foam board and ensuring that they actually fit! I went straight ahead and applied the watered down PVA glue and at the end realised that the trees didn’t fit properly, so I ended up having a harder time removing some of the sand with a modelling knife than if I had done it sooner!

8. Now its time to apply watered down PVA glue to the sand with a paintbrush on both the foam board and tree bases (this is to ensure that the sand doesn’t come off). You want 1-part PVA glue to 4-part water mix. In other words put one teaspoon of PVA glue into a small container followed by four teaspoons of water. Leave both the foam board and tree bases to dry as done before.



Update number four
9. Paint the sand on both the foam board (including where the trees slot into place) and tree bases (leaving the trunk alone) with scorched brown. The trick here is to use slightly watered down paint so that it gets into all the gaps of the sand and generally takes much less time. Afterwards paint kommando khaki highlights over the sand.
10. Finally apply static grass to the bases. Grab a paintbrush and put splotches of glue (straight from the container, NOT watered down) over the sand of the foam board and tree bases where you want the static grass to sit. Put static grass onto the glue splotches pressing down gently, and then shake away excess.



Conclusion
Well there you have it, a forest fit for wood elves! Now you can use your laminated piece of green paper as a Frisbee! Hope you all enjoy the guide because I enjoyed making it.

~ Lindsay ~

That's a good idea...go for it!

~S~

go for it! YES!

- Kyte

Sounds cool! I've made a forest like that before, so if you want any advice about what works and what doesn't when making a forest, PM and I'll help.

Here is a good tip for instance, don't use thin quality cardboard as the base for the forest; any pva glue you use to add sand to the base will warp the cardboard! I found this out the hard way... :dry:

Yea that would be quite cool.

Also it would be a usefull resource for new members and people that havent been playing for very long.

Ok, I've got some interest! Now all I need to know is how to go about posting the guide - should I edit my main post at the top and have a mod bump the thread OR just post a new reply to the thread?

~ Lindsay ~

I found this out the hard way too when I tried to make some scenery. Nothing as interesting as a forest, but it still went completely wrong...

Definatly put it at the top - its much nicer having things there when you enter a thread rather than having to scroll down through it. When you do it, just post a reply at the bottom so people realise it's done. Alternatively, if you end up doing it in seperate parts as you go along, you could reply with the parts here and then make a new thread when you're finished.

It should be a good read - a nice idea Lindsay!

Servant of Isha.

Cheers for that, update no.1 complete!

~ Lindsay ~

Cool, good work so far! Maybe add in your guide that those thin, largish-size round bases used in 40k can be used as good bases for the trees.

When this is finished, Geep or I shall pin it (whoever gets there first, hehe... :shifty: )

This is a very good idea! Many times i wanted to make a proper forest instead of having 5 trees that fall over all the time.

Can't wait for the next few steps! Keep it up!

SDETT

Update no.2 complete. :smile:

~ Lindsay ~

Looking good so far.

For anyone looking for it, the cardboard/foam Lindsay is using is usally called Foamboard or Foamcore- though on more than one occasion I've recieved blank stares on enquiry, despite finding it is stocked...
Good model shops, most art stores and some picture framing places will have it.

Very professional Lindsay, looking good! I like your nicely laid out pictures (if this were on TV I would be just waiting for the blue peter 'and here's one I made earlier...')

It's really good for things like this in my opinion; a must for anyone who makes terrain.

[disclaimer - I am not advertising for whoever in the world makes foamboard. It seems whoever does make it is trying to stay hidden. Geep is right in saying no one seems to know about it]

Servant of Isha.

Thanks for that Geep, I edited some of my post so that it now says foam board.

Ha ha yeah. (lol)

Update number three finished.

~ Lindsay ~

Update number four and guide complete! B)

Hope you all like it.

~ Lindsay ~

Thats great dude! I was thinking of doing one a different way but I might have to rethink that...

I got to pin it first! For the win! (lol)

Lol, I PMed Geep about it but looks like you beat him to it!

~ Lindsay ~

Hey looks great Lindsay!

I made mine from a 8mm MDF board and just glued some transparant Flyer Bases to the woods (they had a really small base and I can put maybe six of them on the plate)
Then based the Flyer bases and the MDF board. And also added some static grass.

But it seems like yours is much easier to make. Good work!

Nice guide. :) Have you (or anyone) ever tried making the trees themselves?

I personally wouldn't dare try it, but that's just me. What I done was take someone elses trees because they weren't using them for anything and I wanted to put them to good use - don't worry I asked. (lol)

~ Lindsay ~

Nice work Lindsay.

Maybe so, but you forgot to change the topic title!

Making the style of tree Lindsay is using here is quite easy- not much more needed than appropriate flock and a bottle-cleaning brush.
I've never had much success with more open, branched trees though.

Making trees is the best part. It isn't very hard and it is fun because it is slightly messy...

Here is an example of a tree that I make:



supplies:
-paint
-florest wire or any bendy wire about as thick as a pencil led
-plaster strips, available at a craft store for mask making
-clippers to cut the wire
-a base. I have found that the large GW bases work nice.
-Somthing pokey to poke a hole in the base
-Lichen, from a hobby store, used for railroad scenery, or possibly your back yard
-sealant spray

1. Gather 3 or 4 pieces of wire ~12"/30cm. Leave one 1"/3cm sticking strait down to thread through the base. Leave some short pieces of wire to make roots.
2. Twist the bottom part into a trunk shape and bend roots into shape.
3. Spread the other wires out into branch shapes. Folding them back to make branches thicker, while remembering that a branch is never going to be thicker than the trunk. Clip the pieces if you want shorter branches.
4. Cut plaster strips into roughly 1"x3"/3cmx6cm pieces.
5. Spread out newspaper, this is the messy part.
6. Dip the plaster strips in water and squeegy most of the water off with your fingers. Wrap around trunk
7. Continue wrapping until entire tree is covered.
8. Wrap again. 2 or 3 layers makes a stronger tree.
9. After it is dry (less than 1 hour) paint it. Dry brush on lighter colors to get the bark.
10. Glue on clumps of lichen with white glue. I just put it on the end of the branches.
11. Let the glue dry and then spray with sealer/matte varnish
12. Base as usual
13. Now you have a tree