Bits & Pieces from around the house ?

SgtWilson · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2010 12:48 pm

Guys,

What bits and pieces from around the house; ie: Everyday objects have you found useful in making scenery ?

Please add to a list here if you will.

Of course, there are things like rocks and twigs from the backyard.

But please, share some other imaginative and creative tips here.

Cheers,

Arthur

Pinky Beecroft · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2010 3:29 pm

G'day mate,
Some random stuff you can use is foam packaging, the stuff that holds TVs and such stable in their box; not as good as polystyrene but is relatively easy to shape for terrain.
Bristles from an old brush can make good long grass.
Old sponges can be ripped up to make shrubs.

There's plenty more I'm sure but I just finished work and my brain is dead at the moment!

Cheers,
Pinky

geezer of rhun · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2010 3:33 pm

1. I regularly use old coffee grounds, a variety of herbal tea leaves for ground cover/basing.
2. The thin pieces of wood (some are like balsa, some masonite) that are used for the boxing Clementine Oranges.
3. Old, tired brushes make nice tall grasses.
4. Styrofoam packaging for buildings/walls, etc...

I'll try to scrounge materials before I buy!

archmage45 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:59 pm **Posts:** 32

geezer of rhun wrote:

1. I regularly use old coffee grounds, a variety of herbal tea leaves for ground cover/basing.
2. The thin pieces of wood (some are like balsa, some masonite) that are used for the boxing Clementine Oranges.
3. Old, tired brushes make nice tall grasses.
4. Styrofoam packaging for buildings/walls, etc...

I'll try to scrounge materials before I buy!

I used old coffee grounds, and wood glue, and they peeled up! What's the trick?

Green scrubby pads, coffee stirrers, broken electronics.

Dorthonion · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:22 pm

I hoard cardboard, from cereal packets, multipacks of chocolate biscuits (munch munch munch) and the thicker stuff you find in some mail-order book packaging - the hard, grey stuff, 1.5 - 2.5 mm thick.

Coffee grounds? :roll:

donuthare · **Joined:** Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:48 am **Posts:** 205

cork of winebottles. everykind of wood or polystyrene. stone outside in the garden. paper. U can use everything!

DM · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2010 8:26 pm

Proebly the best thing I get is the little 'leaves" off the Silver birch trees around the place, they sell them in packets for a small fortune, and all they are is part of the seed pod!!!

Pine tree bark makes great schist looking rocks when painted.

Pot scorer (cleaner) pads make good hedges.

Ukfreddybear · **Posted:** Fri Apr 02, 2010 9:25 pm

the sides/lids of plastic containers e.g. ice cream tubs can make a nice substitute for plasticard.

The bendy wire that is often found in packaging is useful for twisting together to make a knarly tree.

sauraman · **Joined:** Fri Jul 02, 2010 6:47 pm **Posts:** 30

i found the rectangulare milk cartons to make great towers and cereal boxes to make buildings

TheEggman · **Posted:** Thu Oct 07, 2010 8:40 pm

Here's a similar thread, on Free Supplies.

http://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modl ... 629&page=1

Angularity · **Joined:** Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:56 am **Posts:** 157

The lead foil from round the neck of a wine bottle is useful for flags and banners.

Elros of Numenor · **Posted:** Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:06 am

I am a diabetic, and I have these small plastic containers that hold blood test strips. when they're empty, I can use them for columns on ruined buildings etc.

Dorthonion wrote:

Coffee grounds? :roll:

Yeah, that's what they call the leftover particles from the coffee plunger/espresso machine.

:sauron:

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:38 pm

Quote:

Coffee grounds

Some people dry out used coffee and tea and add it to or use it for flocking.

Take some of the foam packing from metal blister packs and spray paint it green. When it is dry chop it up in the blender. It makes good flocking. :idea:

You don't have to use a blender you can use a chopping knife or razor.The blender is faster and safer. I have a old one that was damaged. It leaked fluid. But I kept it just to make flocking.I don't need to worry about wash up.

Dagorlad · **Posted:** Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:03 am

I use kitchen scourer pads for the basis of hedges - double them over, staple them together and cover with flock. they are also really useful for pressing against green-stuff or polyfilla to make a rough surface (i.e. stonework or dirt) without leaving tool marks.

Barbecue skewers, toothpicks, matchsticks and other wooden utensils are all very handy for terrain making of course, as are cardboard containers and tubes.

Probably the most bizarre thing I can think of that I've used are the plastic handles of some cheap disposable razors. I used them as bulkheads for a space-ship piece I made several years ago (long since sold, sorry). A number of them placed about 5cm apart along a wall looks very "sci-fi"!

Warlord777 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 30, 2010 5:32 am

ukfreddybear wrote:

the sides/lids of plastic containers e.g. ice cream tubs can make a nice substitute for plasticard.

The bendy wire that is often found in packaging is useful for twisting together to make a knarly tree.

I do the same thing with some paper clips then i use caulk (standered Liquid Nails stuff) and rud it all over it to make a snarly/oaky kinda tree.

GreenDragonInn · **Joined:** Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:43 am **Posts:** 56

hardened sponges could make nice rocks. I saw someone use sponges on their terrain board either on this forum or the last alliance forum. Looked good.

Slythar · **Posted:** Sat Jan 01, 2011 9:03 am

Anyone try using Dryer Lint? Seems to be soft and fuzzy for grass.

Elros of Numenor · **Posted:** Sat Jan 01, 2011 9:28 am

@ Slythar
you might try separating it a bit and use it as cobwebs for Dol Guldur themed bases.

Single fibres off of clothing make good bowstrings for archer models, after a thin coat of glue.

theOneRider · **Posted:** Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:02 pm

I've got you trumped on the bowstring, though it isn't free: I've found this monofilament thread at fabric stores that looks perfect on archer models. Normal clothing threads work perfect for rope, though, so don't through them out! :no:

The weirdest thing I've salvaged is actually some plastic sprues. You know those plastic brads that are sometimes used to attach price tags to clothing? Well, they come on sprues so that they can be used more easily. I've got a bunch of those sprues on a Gate Of The Barad-dur project of mine. They make perfect spikes for dissuading people from trying to beat their way in. :wink:

theOneRider · **Posted:** Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:09 pm

Also, if you can get hold of the really thin ones, straightened staples make the best arrow shafts to put on archers who are "air drawing" their bows.

Bits & Pieces from around the house ?

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