Simple and Inexpensive Alien Vegetation



If you are tired of playing on tables that look like Earth all the time you might like this technique. I used silk flowers to make this vegetation. It is very cheap and easy to do. The best part is that it can be done in almost any color. It also takes very little time, in fact it took me almost as long to flock the bases as it did to make the vegetation. My Tau army is painted with a yellow, green, and orange camouflage. Yes, I had to put a little green in it for those times when I have to play on a green table. As you can see they blend in well on this table. No matter what your army color is you too can make vegetation to match it.






To make silk flower vegetation start by taking the flower apart and remove the petals. Usually the plastic pieces holding the flower together aren’t glued and merely need to be popped off of the stem.



Depending on the manufacturer and type of flower this will give you anywhere from one to six rings of petals from each flower.



Pull the center of this ring through a small hole and you are rewarded with a fern like plant. This small hole can either be a hole in the base itself, or a small washer that can then be glued down to the base.



Pull the petals through the hole till you get the desired height of plant you want, and glue it from the underside. After it is dried trim off the extra bit of flower petal from the underside with a sharp knife.



Generally speaking the thinner each individual petal is the better the plant will look. However even a medium sized petal will give you a plant that looks something like a giant cabbage. I have even experimented with using yarn, to make a grass like plant. I would definitely recommend mixing a few slightly different shades together when you try the yarn.





For my bases I use something called a roofing washer. They are very flat, don’t ever warp, and are very cheap. They also don’t have a hole in them so they are perfect to use for bases. They sell them by the box at the hardware store in the same section as the nails.



I did the same thing in red for my sons Tyranid army.



Edited by Shas'El Tael for Tutorial status.

very cool and interesting job there Vet sgt. When i get the money and time i will definitely try to make these

i just have one question... how did you make the trees?

Cheers

Thanks for your comments Kiran Tau, I am glad you like them.The trees are made in a very similar fashion. For the smaller trees I drilled a series of small holes in the trunk, and stuffed the center of the petal ring into the hole. For the larger trees I made an armature out of wire. Instead of pulling the petals through a small hole I wrapped the petals rings in tape and secured them to a wire.

A little off-topic, but...THOSE BUILDINGS. Could you make some tutorials for those; My LGS DESPERATELY needs some Tau terrain, and those would fit the bill perfectly.

brilliant idea, i wish i had thought of it. Our local gaming league has been trying ot find materials to make jungle terrain for a while, but aside from expensive plastic aquarium plants, the pickings around here are sparse. the local dollar stores and second hand stores have tons of those fake flowers, but we had always ignored them because they didn't have the kind of plastic plants we were looking for (green with small leaves, to make stereotypical jungle terrain). now i guess we'll need to make some runs on the dollar store and home depot.


what did you use as trunks?

seconded, those are some very good tau buildings. personally i want to know how you built the smaller, rectangular ones.

Very impressive and inventive. I think I'll have to try this myself soon - I've needed more jungle terrain for my Kroot for ages. Now, if only I can think where might sell silk flowers. I don't suppose you could post a pic or two of the flowers before being taken apart, for reference purposes?

This is some very good stuff! I think if you posted a bit more of a visual tutorial, we can include this in our sticky on how to make simple, but effective jungle terrain. Thanks for posting!

Oh and if you show us how you made those buildings, I'll be your best friend!

Really good ideas here Vet Sgt, thanks! I often see these flowers and have been wondering what I can do with them, now I know
@ Mal Caor: While it is a bit hit a miss in terms of selection, I always see silk flowers at thrift stores like salvation army and value village. As mentioned above, the dollar stores also tend to carry them.

Cheers!

Great idea, a nice alternative to aquarium plants for a more matte finish that the glossy plastic. Looking forward to the first combination terrain collection of these two scenery sources on the same table!

I have added this to the [Model Guides & Tutorials] Official ATT Modelling Resource (Which everyone should refer to before searching, the best of ATT members goes in there) but will not sticky. Having placed it in the main resource makes that one unnecessary.

The photos really brings it all together, top tutorial.

- Tael.

Thanks for all the comments, the trunks are made by a company called Armorcast



http://armorcast.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=120_37&products_id=150


I have opened a new topic on Tau structures since I have had some questions on them. Please see my other posting under Tau Structures for any questions on the buildings in the pictures.

I will just add to the compliments on the silk flower concept and execution, and also to the calls for details of how you made that terrain. It looks superb.

Sholto

This really is a fantastic tutorial and lavishly photographed I particularly like the trees and the smaller more protuberant bushes.
As an aside, would it be possible to see any 'action shots' with your Tau army facing off against something to give a better sense of scale to the buildings and the taller trees with respect to battlesuits etc?

Again thanks for this.

Here are a few pictures of the Fire Warriors up close from that game.

Haha, sometimes I hate being RedGreen colourblind! Many thanks for these, it really helps with scale! I shall have to invest in some after my huge painting log is finished.

I managed to find two more pictures with some miniatures in them for scale reference Xanadu. Since your colorblind the reds clashing with the oranges shouldn’t bother you too much. Sorry that the Hammerhead is in shadow in the second picture, but it is all I have for pictures. The silk flowers really aren’t that expensive; they are a lot less than the aquarium plants. Even better the selection of colors and types is huge.

If you are a traditionalist who likes your vegetation to be green then you should like the next few ideas.



I have done a little experimenting and found that white flowers can be died green.
I used a combination of Easter egg die, food coloring, and some diluted paint.



This method uses some of those ferns that you see everywhere, but figured that the leaves were too big to use for anything.
Start by cutting off all the little protrusions on the leaf.



Place a dab of glue in the center of the base and place a ring of leaves in it.
Once the glue has dried move your supports in closer and do the second ring.
Place a few pointing strait up in the third ring and you are done.



I have gone back and edited my original post to a bit more of a visual tutorial.

thanx big time for all these great ideas.

We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us.

btw, using the dice to hold up the leaves is such a good idea. I've always had trouble tring to get stuff like that to stay.

WOW! I have a friend who works at a craft store who can get me a bunch of the old silk flowers they toss out due to damage to the stems, now I just need washers and Roofing Tins. Fantastic stuff and I will also ask for tutorials on the Tau buildings.

As an example of differentiation, I produced these a couple of years back using Aquatic plant parts, similar in fashion to Vet Sgt's work (I used a Green Stuff plug to stick the fronds into). I aim to produce something with silk plants soon considering how great the examples Vet Sgt presents here look




I am aware I have urban Tau moving through the vegetation, mostly for scale

Any questions on these PM me, to keep the thread focussed on Vet Sgt's work, thanks!

- Tael.

I am glad you like the dice idea. It is amazing what you can think of when franticly trying to do ten things at once with only two hands, before the glue dries!


My first experiment with silk flowers was an old wreath that my mother was throwing out! Get every plant that you can from your friend, almost every plant has some part that can be used to make terrain with!


I like the aquatic plants, and have used a few of them in my own jungle terrain. I love the size of both your plants and the size of the bases! I think that it is the smaller plants that make a jungle look the most realistic. To see what I am talking about please see my posting under Creating a playable Jungle table and other terrain.