Customising commercial terrain pieces (GW trees, hedges & walls)

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In this tutorial, we look at some simple techniques you can use to customise commercial terrain accessories such as trees, hedges and walls.
Produced with the awesome support of my Patrons! If you want to help keep these vids coming as well, then just pledge $1 a month via Paypal on Patreon and help keep the tutorials flowing! - / theterraintutor
Do you build terrain? First time builder? Pro? Checkout the Terrainiacs Facebook terrain builders support group - / theterraintutorsterrai...

[@StrongholdCrafterKev]

The angle of the camera was great and the lighting was spot on. Great ideas for modifying pieces. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Stronghold Crafter Kev definitely found the sweet spot in the kitchen :-)

[@bhubbard491]

Gotta say, that was quite an impressive transformation for those hedges! Impressive work.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Brian Hubbard Simple tricks are always the best bud ;-)

[@黃龍-s3m]

The craftsmanship is very beautiful, thank you for sharing your experience.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

My pleasure

[@DrDeathmonger]

You consistently get my mind racing with terrain ideas Mel. You're a genius. Thanks for sharing. :)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

DrDeathmonger That's what I'm here for matey ;-)

[@BlackWolfCosplay]

I'm going to be putting together a model railway for my dad soon and your videos have been really helpful, so thank you!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Excellent, hope my daughter does the same for me :-D

[@johntailby74]

very nice ideas to really make your terrain much better.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

john tailby Thanks matey

[@modelbuildings-ml4ni]

If you get your self a long standing lamp with a dim light power controller. Its great for taking pictures and making videos. you get a real quality picture and for filming as well. I do this with all my pictures and have made videos as well. hope this helps.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+james gray Lighting is a whole different issue mate

[@jjab99]

Hey Mel, I never thought that I would see you smoking grass on a video LOL. Great video as always and plenty of tot tips too. Many thanks mate.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

jjab99 It got me a little light headed matey :-)

[@MrSepoy1857]

Brilliant - love the hedges especially! Nice.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Scott Dallimore Thanks matey :-)

[@Prishacraftstudio]

love your work sir, thank you for sharing high level of information🥰🥰🥰

[@marktaylor4674]

Nice job. I wouldn't have thought of doing that to tie stuff together. Great!.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

It's the simple things that are the best mate

[@nekrus1]

2:35 - You can try to use a gas grill blowtorch, it's a miracle tool for any kind of hotglue, plastic or foam. Have fun mate! :D

[@mariannthorn2111]

I love watching you work and your ideas. I do fairy and hobbit houses and terrain, trees, etc. Your tips have been invaluable to me. Thanks. PS Yours is the first comment that I felt compelled to write in all the time I have been on you tube. Bravo!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Mariann Thorn I'd love to see your work, I'll take the comment has a huge compliment then :-)

[@IDICBeer]

Great stuff mate

[@TheTerrainTutor]

***** Cheers bud :-)

[@modelbuildings-ml4ni]

These are great another great idea for making hedges. metal wire brushes. I was always told us a scarring pad. Rip it straight of top of the sponge. like the way you use the hot glue gun as well adding the stones. might have to get the gun out try this myself.

[@WarmasterPainting]

Great stuff here and great tips.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

WarmasterPainting Cheers buddy :-)

[@ezy_money1697]

First I have to tell I like your video's a lot of info in a short amount of time thanks. The second is we started a drinking game every time you say ( YA ) he have to take a shot. I look forward to your next video pleas keep up the great work.......James

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Ezy_ Money Dude, you'll end up with liver disease!

[@ezy_money1697]

Thanks we decide to change the game and instead we watch and in joy your hard work. Besides not drinking makes it easer to remember the next day what we had watched and how much money we saved. talk to you soon James

[@billd.iniowa2263]

Good Grief, why havent I seen this before?!! I love it! Thats an idea I can use in 10mm scale too. Thanx Mel! ( yup, the video quality is aces. ) :-)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Bill D. in Iowa Because I only just thought of it, looking forward to seeing what you do with it mate

[@curranegan5512]

Great vid! I've got some of those hedges at home and was about to chuck them. Not any more! Also some foamcore builds that might be given a new lease on life sometime soon.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Curran Egan That's what I like to hear mate :-)

[@raef1240]

Top vid, top tips, top bloke, cheers Mel!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Survivor No worries buddy :-)

[@Breed94]

10:15 they look so cool easy and nice

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Eldrac The simple ones always are the best mate :-)

[@PattyIce93]

It sucks they dont sell these products on their website any more. Trees and walls looks great

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Patrick L Yeah, the tree and hedges are from K&M Trees, and still available, GW just rebranded them

[@PattyIce93]

TheTerrainTutor I'll look them up, thank you!

[@neopict5872]

Hope your birthday was grand! Love your videos! The cork hill is killer! It has given me inspiration and a. new direction to direct my creativity. I am here in the US and agree with you about political parties they seem present us to choices with basically the same outcome. Monty python is killer, I miss Dave Alan and Benny Hill too.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Erik Barnett Cheers buddy, I think it's pretty much the same the world over. Benny Hill was great!

[@kaibe5241]

God damn that looks good!

[@Holyganker]

Great job!

[@jesperwallin]

I really like the idea of basing with hot glue! So simple yet brilliant! Could you have used that method on the trees instead of the round mdf bases? I like the random shapes of the bases (and I'm too lazy to bother with cutting them out of mdf). The walls and hedges look awesome! Great vid!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Jesper Wallin Certainly mate, I used hotglue for the bases of my trees on the wire armatures vid :-)

[@bobleitch492]

Hi Mel, I love the way that you make everything so easy. Could you give me a little help please. I'm a solo Rapid Fire player in 20mm, living in Cyprus, and build scenery for RF. Somewhere along the line I have acquired some Hornby Skaledale walls that come with a stepped join, something like lego bricks without the studs. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how to join them together without having the unsightly visible joints. Sorry that this is a bit long winded. I hope to hear from you soon. All the best, Bob

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Add a base and bushes, have a bush right at the edge so join lines end up behind the bushes mate ;-)

[@Halloweenville]

great vid as always!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Halloweenville Cheers bud :-)

[@Roarkethemerciless]

Thanks.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Roarkethemerciless cheers mate

[@brabopainter]

nice tips thx.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Brabo Painter Alias Alexander Zijlmans no worries matey :-)

[@billd.iniowa2263]

Just gotta add that this makes the edges of the pieces irregularly shaped, much more natural to the eye than straight lines. They'll blend into the scenery well.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Bill D. in Iowa functional and aesthetically pleasing, a win win situation :-)

[@DuradinDataDiscs]

Really looks awesome Mel! Thanks for all the tips! Do you ever do more army themed terrain? I really think there's a lot of ordinairy tutorials out there, but not as many army themed. I do realize that once you set for a specific army, you also take a specific gaming system. I just think it'd be nice with some variations. Personally I've spent a lot of time trying to find Skaven terrain (for instance, and there's really no content out there. Hardly any by google). In general terrain that's meant for an underground battlefield. Most suggestions are imageprinted cardboards, which hardly can be defined as creative.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Commander Käse Cheers mate. I'm trying to cover all the basics before I go into army themed stuff but it's on the list matey

[@DuradinDataDiscs]

Awesome! Can't wait! :)

[@mateunoguera2796]

Hola desde Mallorca, podrias decirme donde puedo encontrar video cuando haces la paret de piedra de estos setos?? Gracias por tus videos!!!!

[@bevcrabtree6519]

do you have a video on making those tall and short trees?

[@dukemartin1]

I have those walls and hedges so I will get cracking on them after your great video. One question how resilient is the glue on the hedges? Thanks for your videos as a new subscriber.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

dukemartin1 Awesome, it's pretty tough mate, it can easily handle normal / club gaming :-)

[@deanjamess1969]

Question - You mentioned MDF discs. I was going to buy some, I am a Battletech / Mechwarrior player, which is I believe 1/285th scale. What size discs do you think would be best for tree base sizes with those? Also any "sci-fi" type scenery you have done? I have watched a lot of your videos as of late, but most seem for larger scale than what I play. Any ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Dean Schwichtenberg it's more a case of what disc fits the tree mate, how big are your trees? Haven't done any small scale stuff on the channel yet soz

[@bevcrabtree6519]

how did you make those tall and short trees? that is sitting beside your stone walls?

[@keithmiller554]

HI MEL ON YOUR VIDEO ON STONE WALLS & FENCES WHERE DO YOU GET THOSE VERY SMALL PEBBLES FROM ( are they for in the bottom of a Aquarium )

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Keith Miller I found them at a plant Nursery for cactus plant pots decoration in a small bag . Lot of your terrain shit can be found at Plant Nurseries , landscape , craft art stores instead of expensive web site stuff

[@jackchisnall9316]

could you please tell me where these walls etc came from

[@NossCalavera1670]

Love the chanel, mate! I am looking for a vendor that sells trees and hedges made from steel wool. Would you happen to know of any?

[@billd.iniowa2263]

NossCalavera1670 I've never seen vendors use steel wool, maybe because its highly flammable?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Bill D. in Iowa +NossCalavera1670 I've never seen steel wool trees either mate

[@thefox5255]

the hedges are fantastic? Anyone know where you can get them?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

The Fox Search google for 'K&M Hedges' mate :-)

[@thefox5255]

Oh of course, I knew I'd seen them somewhere and K&M is fairly obvious! Great vids mate, been watching all morning whilst painting. Inspiring stuff! Cheers!

[@cgrigg1]

what do you use to clean your brushes?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Normal soap for 1inch +, masters brush soap for fine detail brushes

[@MrEbenezer13]

If you made all this effort to apply static grass, then why would you want to base coat it and re-paint the whole thing??? Doesn't that kinda negate the whole idea of having nice, realistic, static grass??? :-S

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Grass comes already applied mate

[@albansmith-adams3309]

Is this your job if you don't mind me asking

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Part time, almost two days a week, the rest I work in a warehouse mate

[@Hobbyrepubliken]

Must have missed this video when you first posted it. I really have to buy a hot glue gun...

[@TheTerrainTutor]

you'll love it!

[@Hobbyrepubliken]

TheTerrainTutor I work in a preschool mate. I'm no stranger to the glue gun ;)

[@redgreen09]

like em goood looking :::)))

[@TheTerrainTutor]

redgreen09 Cheers bud :-)

[@caleche8655]

Please, stop shaking everytings when you show it to the camera... tks.