Terrain – Walls

Last year I kept some corrugated cardboard packaging with the idea of using it to make walls. This month I got them out to start give that a go. I’ve got a one-shot adventure with an attack on a small fortification, and decided rather than just have a flat battle map, it would be fun to actually have 3D walls.

The base for all of these are fairly solid lengths of corrugated card, 2cm thick. The smallest are 3.5cm high, with most being 40cm long. The larger pieces are range up to double that height.

I started with three of the larger pieces, cutting some damage into two, then using PVC to glue paper along three of the ‘exposed’ sides. Once dry these got a quick spray of black then white paint. I’ve found that this gives a nice blue-gray colour. I then filled gaps with bits of paper and PVC, or moulding paste. Sand and small broken shell pieces (I have small stones but didn’t want extra weight on the top) were glued into the damaged sections and then more black and grey paint over that.

I cut two of the long pieces into 4, 5 and 6″ lengths (approx 10, 13 and 15cm). Nearly all my RPG’s use inches, so its easier measuring stuff for tabletop that way. This time I filled gaps after gluing the edges, and before spraying. Once dry I went over ALL the walls with a grey wash to darken or lighten parts as appropriate.

There’s a fair bit of work that’s gone into these, but they could certainly be more detailed. If I get really bored at some time, I could draw (or paint) bricks onto the sides. As it is, they don’t really need to be anything but basic walls, and they’ll serve their purpose on the tabletop. They are solid and sturdy enough that they won’t fall or blow over, and you could stand a figure on the top of most of them without it falling off.

I still have more of the cardboard, including a few “taller” and thinner pieces, so I can make more walls (or a small building?) in future. Combined with my rock and rubble pieces this gives me a variety of terrain to enhance my RPG’s.

My next terrain project probably should be plants. I’ve been collecting bits for trees and bushes, but I’m hoping to get some more parts so I can make a set of similar pieces, not just a dozen almost completely different plants.

Lastly, here’s a pic with some figures for scale: