All I want for Christmas are . . . your inserts from electronic boxes!

Greetings fellow wargamers!  Okay, okay, I know it's not Christmas anymore, but if you're like me you still have quite a few boxes stacked around your house from the holidays.  And I'm here to say DON'T THROW THEM AWAY!  That's right, clutterbug, I'm talking to you.  The word of the day is TERRAIN! AHHHH!!

Let me be up front, I am not an impulse buyer.  I meticulously plan purchases for many months, sit aside $$$, and when I finally find the deal I want, I buy.  So with cyber week this year, my wife and I were able to pick up a few new electronics, a new tv, some speakers, and a wireless printer.  What was funny was after the TV was hung with care and the printer was installed, I seemed more interested in the foam inserts left over than admiring our new tv!?  I know, I know, I'm a geek.  Guilty as charged. 

Unlike the flimsy foam you get in some packaging material, electronics often come with industrial grade, top of the line hard dense foam.  This is the sort of foam with all sorts of straight lines and hard edges, and makes for great terrain!   Just look at some of the bits I've been able to build for next to nothing from previous projects! 




This sort of terrain is nice for something quick and easy to put together.  It's great for building a gaming table on a lazy Saturday when you have nothing else to do and want to save a few bucks.  It's especially great for friends that are new to the hobby and have all their money invested in models or paint at the moment, but still are in need of a modular gaming table! 

For basing material, I grabbed by handy Skilsaw that I picked up at my local DIY store.  These aren't very popular with the burly, tough, manly crowd so I got it on sale!  And for $30 bucks, you can't beat it.  This thing will cut through cardboard and foamcore like they were butter, and the lines are so smooth . . . you'll never need a utility knife again! 


To attach the foam to the cardboard basing (which I also harvested from those electronics boxes),   I grabbed some easy to use liquid nail.  They make LN in a project FOAM variant that I like for . . well, foam.  It easily holds the foam in place.  Just squeeze, clean off the excess with a paper towel, let it dry over night, and presto! 

Here's a great piece of foam from the printer box that will end up being the basis for a base of some sort. 
And here it is glued to the cardboard basing material! 
I even had some leftover tubes and caps (from medicine bottles, peanut butter, milk jugs, and the like) laying around, which I glued together (also using the liquid nail).  Ultimately, I plan to mount this in that large center gap above and treat it as a Imperator titan class weapon for games of Apocalypse (remember the Battle for the Voice battle from Apoc Reloaded).  Tune in to later articles to see how it turns out! 


Of course this all still needs a lot of work!  We need to add doors, icons, walkways and gantries, catwalks and bulkheads . . but it's a start!  And how much cheaper is it then buying a fortress of redemption or the like?  Um, how about 100% cheaper, because you already paid for it when you bought the TV? 


Just remember to the savy terrain builder, anything is potential for a good piece of terrain.  Keep your eyes open and I'm sure you'll be surprised by what you can find laying around the house. 


For those just tuning into this blog, my name is Caleb and I am a conversion artist for hire!  If you are interested in commissioning a model, contact me at calebfilm@yahoo.com.  We offer a full range of services from custom conversions, painting, terrain, consignment (for your old must get rid of models), and more! 

And until then, PUT YOUR MINIS WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS!  

Caleb, WMG