Brilliant stuff yet again mate!...I just have one question for you. How do you find your miniatures in all that foliage?

But seriously for a moment, there's a reason the backs of all my kroot bases have a highly visible red stripe on them!

And here are a few more for your folder.


Fortunately I have been blessed with God-like powers, and have the ability to look down on them from up high. This usually solves the problem for me but not always. I did have one case where I found a unit hiding in a patch of woods while cleaning up after the game. I had cleverly placed them there in the hopes that my opponent wouldn’t notice them there, and then promptly forgot all about them myself.


That’s a good idea! It’s a good thing that you used red and not yellow, since you would have been showing your yellow streak to the enemy every time one of your units ran away. But seriously I have all my special weapons in my IG army painted with Bright copper colored details on the weapon for that same reason. Nothing is worse than discovering that your plasma gun is out of range by one inch because you accidentally placed that model in the second rank.


Gelatinous Bamboo!




This project took a lot longer to do than I originally thought it would. Not because it was hard to do (because these were very easy to make), but because life kept getting in the way. Nothing big you understand, just a long series of small distractions. Unfortunately I am easily distracted by shiny objects, and frequently get sucked into other interesting projects.



I started with some coffee stirrers (a few regular straws for the big ones), and a new paper punch that I got on sale for $3.





I cut each straw into about eight pieces (just make sure that they are about twice as long as the desired length of each segment when finished). One end is flared out using a candle to melt the plastic. The other end is then tapered in by pressing and rolling between your fingers.



If you cut a slit about half way down the straw this tapering process is much easier. Then simply stack one inside of another till you reach the desired height of plant. I used a little hot glue on each joint, and inserted a leaf stem into the joint. The straws are very flimsy on their own so I used a lot of glue to support them internally. I painted the whole thing in one solid color since the leaf, and stem were made from differently tinted plastic, and provide contrast on there own.

Oh man, these are most definitely one of your best so far! Really digging how you always come up with something new and creative. Maybe it's just because I like bamboo and oriental things, but these... These have it. They complete everything

Adding a leaf paper punch to my list of things to get immediately. This is a must try for sure!

Agree with all the above. We need to throw Wally in there.. having a hard enough time looking at your Kroot.

- Tael.

I’m glad you like them; it’s amazing how much these plants have evolved from those original fork tine based ones isn’t it! I didn’t start out to make a bamboo like plant it just worked out that way. I was actually just trying to make a plant stock that wasn’t perfectly straight and could be easily made. After a few experiments with the straw pieces, it struck me just how similar they looked to bamboo. That’s when I decided to attach the leaves individually at each joint. I intentionally made my stocks with a curve in them but you could just as easily make them straight if you wanted something closer to actual bamboo. I have also seen a punch that made bamboo leaves. I’m not sure if the scale would work or not but it might be worth looking into. The leaf that I used was selected just because it was the smallest one I have found so far, plus it had that little stem that was perfect for inserting into the seam between segments.


Don’t just look at the leaf punches! I have always disliked the wings on Vespid and some of the insect ones have some very interesting looking wings that have got me thinking. If the Vespid get some better rules in the future then I will have to give them a try. I have also noticed some edge punches that would be great for making decorative railings on Imperial buildings. These things have lots of possible uses, and if you look close you might be surprised what new ideas you come up with.


Do you mean Where’s Waldo? The children’s game where you have to find the little guy in the striped T-shirt who is hidden somewhere in the picture? That is actually a very interesting idea. I will have to think about it, and see what I can come up with. How many Kroot did you spot in that last picture anyway? Some of them are very well hidden but can be spotted if you look carefully enough.

I used a simple flower shaped paper punch to make these. I started with a small steal wire since these were very slim and needed to be stiff enough to stand on their own. I had expected the wires to be visible through the glass beads, but it actually worked out quite well. The glass beads and flower petals were alternately stacked onto the wire, and glued in place with superglue. The plastic I used for the petals is a little stiffer than I would like, so unfortunately they don’t droop properly.

Gotta love the bamboo!!! I can see how time consuming it'd be, but the results are well worth it!

I had exactly the same problem with my kroot, the day before I put the red stripe on the bases. They had a nice party in the forest, ignoring the orks an easy charge distance away. Fortunately the ork player ignored them too!

The wire works well through the stems/trunks. It gives support, but doesn't show. Nice.

Have you considered using irregular shaped bases for your plants? No need to have them perfectly circular.

It’s actually very easy to make the Bamboo. Sure it’s a lot of very small pieces to make and assemble, however, it only takes a moment to make each one once you get everything set up.


I was very surprised at how well the wire worked! I was so sure that the wire would stick out like a sore thumb that I refused to try it for the longest time. I was originally going to use the fishing line since its clear, but it’s just not stiff enough to support all the weight of the beads.


I used to make irregular shaped bases, but they were just too much work. I can make lots of round ones very quickly using a hole saw and a belt sander.







I used two sizes of flower punches and a hole punch to make these. Unfortunately I broke the larger punch when I was about half way through with this project. Not terribly surprising since they are designed to cut paper, and I am using them to cut much harder plastic sheets. After a suitable mourning period in which I complained to my wife about how unfair it was that this tool broke, I then shifted gears and started a new plant with the remaining trunks.


I used the hole punch to make several holes in a straw, then glued it down to a base. Hot glue was then squirted into each hole and a coffee stirrer was inserted in to form a branch. The heat from the glue and the stirrer deformed the straw enough to give it a more natural shape.

These are the results of my running out of leaves on the last plant. I just substituted fishing line in place of the leaves.



I thought that these were an interesting variation on the basic plant. I think that the longer fronds actually look better, however, they are harder to use in a game since they tend to get tangled up in other plants and miniatures.

Going to have to break out some weedkiller on this thread shortly! Veritable forest in here, Dr Livingstone?

Again, superb inspirational stuff with the leaf cutters.. but perhaps because I used to hunt/run amok in the velt of South Africa, the latest pieces (long grass shrubs) really strike me as a recent highlight in your efforts. Straight forward, no fuss, minimal but really look like the intended.

Off to buy a external HD at this rate Vet! (downloads photos)

Is it just me or does anybody else think that it is silly to represent a patch of woods with only three trees, then use true line of sight?


Thanks, does this mean that you finally consider this thread worthy to be included in the Model Guides and Modeling Tutorials?

You have it easy Tael, you only have to store the pictures. I have to find a place to store the pictures and the actual models. Here are a few more pictures for you to fill that new external HD up with!



I think that these newer broad leaf type gelatinous plants have officially split off from the earlier foam bubble type. I am going to start storing them separately, since I am now playing them separately anyways. My gaming room is starting to overflow with all of the different terrain sets that I have now. Life would have been so much simpler if I had gotten addicted to a game that used a smaller scale than 28mm.







Field Craft exercise, how many Kroot can you spot in this picture?

don't get me started on cover rules in 40K since 2nd edition... love to play on the above tables though.


Hurh? Pretty sure I've got Simple and Inexpensive Alien Vegetation by Vet Sgt listed up (sees this threads title..) ..ohhhh... (facepalm).

Sorted that out now, I've long thought this thread listed to be honest

Hmmm, spotting Kroot eh?

I gave it my best shot and got a different number than you did. I then got out a high angle picture to check who had the right answer and discovered to my amazement that we were both wrong. This is a lot harder than I had expected. I think that I will open another thread on this with a bigger picture so that you can have a fair chance at it.