I have a quick update this week and something that is fairly unusual, an actual WIP instead of something that is finished! My order arrived from Poland and what is was it, you ask? It is none other than a scarecrow set which you need for Farmer Maggot’s scenario! I got it from Hexy (though I think HQ Resin is who actually makes it) which is a terrain company I wasn’t overly familiar with until recently but I must say their webstore is quite impressive in the variety of things they offer. The quality of the resin sculpt was not bad and certainly better than Finecast. It did take a little extra filling of gaps but nothing more than 10-15 minutes. Best of all, I have a bunch of pumpkins and an extra scarecrow now. Perhaps I will make a little pumpkin patch as part of the terrain for this scenario!
What I’ve done is start working on the main field of crops for the Farmer Maggot scenario. I must say, I’m pretty happy with how it looks so far and while I obviously need to add a third row of crops and I want to add more variety to the edges of the terrain, it doesn’t need a ton more to look good. I just put an order into Scenery Express to get some lighter flock to highlight the grass a bit more and something to finish out the crops as well. I will probably also add some tufts scattered along the edges before I seal everything up. I’m pleased that the scarecrow is removable for storage purposes but still fits into the base fairly seamlessly. I wouldn’t say it is an amazing paint job but I wanted to bang this out quickly.
The only issue I have run into with this piece of terrain is that the plasticard I am using has warped a bit as I’ve been building it. Once I got all of the basing paste down, the edges curled up a decent amount and I had to put some heavy books on them for about 24 hours. That seemed to mostly fix it and while the terrain still could use a bit more flattening if I want it to be completely flat on the table, I think it is in pretty good shape now. This was my first run-in with warping and I certainly have more to learn in terms of preventing it but hopefully I’ve navigated it successfully. I am certainly going to try and find a different basing material to use for the Hobbit Holes I’m making as I don’t to run into more issues like this in the future. This project has been pretty easy and fun to work on so I look forward to finishing it up as soon as my Scenery Express stuff gets here.
With MDF bases and pre-made Woodland Scenics trees on the way, I have most of what I need to get my next scenario on the table. I even finally and a bit embarrassingly, just got the MESBG rulebook after all this time! I hadn’t needed it until recently and while I’m waiting to read it closer to when I’m ready to play, I was very impressed by the production quality of it as expected. I just need the Armies of Lord of the Rings and I should be all set! Now I just need to get my motivation for painting Theoden back as there is less than two months until Adepticon…
Kuribo's Painting 
That looks great. Can’t wait to see the completed board I imagine it will be quite a sight if this is anything to go by.
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Many thanks, Peter! I’m excited for that as well. Any chance there will be some updates on your blog soon? I’m looking forward to seeing more of your project 🙂
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Yeah I keep meaning to update it, I actually have a lot of terrain built, as well as a major change to report as I move forward! I’ll leave you hanging there though.
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Ooh, I’m certainly left hanging. I’ll be looking forward to your next update when you’re ready 🙂
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The update is up! Didn’t keep you hanging for too long. Should be a few more updates over the coming week once I manage to get a few photos taken.
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Looking good! I love smaller terrain pieces (like the scarecrow(s)) being implemented into something larger.
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Thanks Gero and me too! I will probably be getting more terrain pieces like the scarecrow for future Scouring scenarios as I think the extra touches like that really bring the scenarios and terrain to life.
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Looking good, it is really good to see that the scarecrow is a typical scarecrow and not some possessed thing with a scythe and homicidal tendencies.
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Totally agreed, Maeno. I saw a few of those type of scarecrows for sale before I found this one and I don’t think a killer scarecrow works in Middle Earth 🙂
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Nice scarecrow, worth the wait. I don’t know if it will work on plasticard, but if you paint the back side it might help in the warping.
I know it is extra work for you, but you should post on the One-ring also, thanks.
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I’ll give that a shot! This may be the first and last time I use plasticard for this kind of terrain otherwise.
I still post on One Ring but I try not to monopolize the WIP forum with the stuff I’m working on. That is why I post about once a month on there. I may post a bit more frequently than I have been lately as I’ve noticed it has felt pretty dead lately which is a shame. I will most definitely post an update this upcoming weekend, hopefully with the finished terrain.
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Man, sorry about the warping, I hate it when that happens. But overall this is a fantastic piece of scenery and it’s really gonna look great on the table with all the miniatures fighting over it. 😀
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Much appreciated, Stew! I should have an update on the field very soon 😉
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The scenery piece looks great – too bad on the warping. 😦 It’s a dfficult issue. I’ve seen people suggest using 2 layers of box-type cardboard and gluing it so that the internal corrugations go across one another, so they try to warp against one another and end up staying flat (obviously, flatten them with a weight while the PVA is drying.) I’ve ordered some foam clay the other day from Amazon after seeing this youtube video from Luke’s APS. Might be something useful for fields as well as roads and such.
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Unfortunately, warping ended up dooming that piece (and it is in a landfill somewhere) but thankfully MDF held up really well even if it was a good bit more expensive to acquire.
Ooh, I’ll have to give that a watch. Road is something I need to build for future Shire scenarios so any good products for that definitely have my attention!
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Ouch! Did you at least manage to salvage/pry off all those tufts? (or some of them, anyway!) My foam hasn’t arrived yet, and even when it does I’m reorganising my hobby “workflow” so I don’t see it getting used too quickly..
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I had sealed the tufts so I had to throw them away unfortunately. I used cheaper tufts for that terrain so at least that was some solace. I watched the video and it would be a great material for roads. I really appreciate you sharing it and I am leaning towards using that for making MESBG roads which I need for more Scouring of the Shire scenarios.
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