Spaceship Terrain - how to create it on your own?
Miniature spaceship terrain might sound like something obvious, when it comes to tabletop wargames, but - in the majority of instances - that’s not the case. Why? Well - although it’s pretty straightforward to build some open-space battlefield such as ruined city or desert plains, it’s a bit more complicated to do the same with closed, interior rooms of a spaceship. Of course, if we have in mind two crucial factors - a finished terrain should both look good and be practical when it comes to playing using it.
Spaceship Terrain: a DIY guide to creating your own
Spaceship terrain - although not-so-easy-to-make - is quite often present when the subjects are tabletop games. For example, when playing a board game designed to take place inside some spaceship, the difficulty in the form of making it feel like it takes place inside a closed can surrounded by the endless void between the stars is handled with ease thanks to one simple solution. And that solution is a spaceship terrain board. Simply, spaceship interior terrain, including corridors, is flat - sometimes modular, sometimes as one big board.
Although we can’t take away practicality and easiness from this solution, we can probably all agree that it won’t take root in a wargaming field. The one major reason behind the truth of that statement is immersion - when playing wargames, we do our best to prepare both our armies and a battlefield to look as realistic as possible. In order to do that, we need 3D pieces of scenery. So how to do the spaceship terrain in such fashion? Let’s try to discover it together.
DIY Spaceship Terrain: materials, tools
First of all, let’s start with gathering useful materials and tools. Of course, it’s always a good idea to make use of some of the already prepared pieces of terrain which you can find at our webstore. Both Imperium and Orcs and Goblins Terrain can be useful - everything depends on what kind of spaceship you wish to make: if it’ll be something crafted by a human, or rather something builded from junk and remnants by some clumsy Orcs? No matter which one you choose, it’s good to remember that the pieces of already-prepared terrain we have in mind will be great during the step of adding the finishing touches to your spaceship scenery - then it’ll be more than appropriate to add some barrels, crates, or consols to your rising scenery.
Bone Spaceship of Sindari Voidfarers
The very first steps of building a spaceship terrain from the beginning will require such materials as plasticard and cork sheets. Luckily, all of that (and much more) you can find in our modeling and basing category. With the use of these (and such tools as a hobby knife and glue, of course), and with the addition of some home supplies such as sticks and toothpicks, you can build your corridors. A good thing is that these are usually square-based and angular, so you won’t need to cut the plasticard in some weird shapes. And - as it’s easy to handle - you should be able to construct some corridors consisting of a floor and walls without any difficulties. That’s enough to make them look good, and it’s practical at the same time, if you wish to operate with your miniatures among your spaceship’s corridors. But, if you want to add a ceiling to your construction, remember to not to glue it, so it can be easily removed when the gameplay will require it.
Crafting Spaceship Terrain: tips and tricks for a realistic look
Constructing some corridors, and merging them in a labyrinth which will make a spaceship are just a half of the process of making. The second half - no less crucial - is to make them look realistic.
Without a doubt, the thing we mean can’t be done without some painting. And although this process is highly dependent on your painting skills, and time you wish to sacrifice on that, there are some tips and tricks that can help you make your terrain look more realistic with a minimal effort. Be sure to check Dirty Down Paints available in our modeling and basing offer. With the use of these, you can easily add such effects as rust, moss, and verdigris to your pieces of terrain. The first one and the third one seem useful, when the subject is spaceship terrain. Although the second one - moss - might not fit here perfectly, it can also be useful in a case when you’re creating an abandoned spaceship that crashed on a planet full of woods and plants.
And these are - more or less - all the basics that might help you create spaceship terrain on your own. Thanks to them, you’ll be able to achieve that within a reasonable amount of time, and with the satisfying (but not masterclass) results. And if you crave for more inspiration, or wish to enhance your modeling side, please check our other articles about making various wargaming terrain, such as the one dedicated to Frostgrave, Necromunda, or Warhammer 40k in general.
