How to do basic swamps, marshes & boggy ground wargames scenery

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In this tutorial, we cover the basics for swamps, marshes & boggy ground scenery for your wargaming table.
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[@williamford3605]

As someone in 2024, I am thankful for this video 9 years later! Thanks Mel

[@jamesevans886]

Another great how-to Mel. Arid wetlands is an interesting choice reminds me of my own backyard. If your out of 6mm you can use corrugated cardboard on 3mm to build it up. Just cut out your pools first before gluing it down. Then seal it with a good coat of filler, a bit thicker than what you have done here and then carry on with what your have shown us here. If you can't use resin then use artists structure gel. Apply it in multiple 2mm layers, any thicker and it will not dry clear. Leave it over night between layers. You can't add paint to it to colour it. Use less than you normally do as it is designed to bulk out your paint. Keep them come Mel. I have stopped getting email notification from terrainicans. Cheers mate.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

James Evans Thanks for the tips mate, no idea about the email notifications, not up to speed on facebook yet :-)

[@bryanmckenzie1089]

I Really enjoy your videos! I am from Chattanooga Tennessee USA, Thanks for the Vids!

[@patrioticmucus2329]

Was just about to start a swamp board for Malifaux, this gave me a lot to work with, thank you!

[@bobbysimpson5540]

I didn't read down in enough of the comments, Spackle. Perfect I can get that. Thanks again

[@tabletopgeneralsde310]

You are doing an incredible job on your terrain. I will take some of your techniques for our own terrain. Thank you for doing so much videos 👍

[@SootyWebster]

Great Mel, I was in the middle of making iced craters for a winter tundra, I can use this is a similar manner but with glaciers and snow.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Sooty Webster Excellent mate, glad they were of use :-)

[@GrandIronWolf]

Nice work. You are my go to video guy on tabletop scenery.

[@Sheila612Miller]

Totally addicted to your videos, your work is great and it seems like it's your passion and should open your own shop and I could almost guarantee tons of people would buy from you! TFS and hugs from America, Sheila

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Sheila Miller Awesome sauce, thanks for the hugs, made my day :-D

[@billd.iniowa2263]

Like the way you were able to keep the water from looking like it is on higher ground than the rest of the table. Noticed also that you proved the "less is more" theory by not overdoing the rocks and reeds. Nice!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Bill D. in Iowa Cheers matey, quite pleased with how they turned out myself :-)

[@SaBracaSam]

Coming from a students'/language learners perspective with an interest in diorama, I enjoy just listening to your English just as watching and learning from your techniques. Would you mind adding 5-10 most important words in the description you use in the video? That would be really great

[@TheTerrainTutor]

SaBracaSam Not sure what you mean by most important words mate?

[@SaBracaSam]

Most frequent words used in the video, connected to the topic! :)

[@TheJankmaster]

Saw it in the names of some of the other vids. What a tutor...providing answers before the question. :)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

TheJankmaster I wish I could say I'd planned it that way :-)

[@HobbitTabletopLiga]

Really cool tutorial... will give it a try myself...

[@StrongholdCrafterKev]

Nice work, Mel.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Stronghold Crafter Kev Cheers buddy :-)

[@antevans908]

spot on, really good Mel.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Ant Evans Cheers matey

[@geekfreak69]

Thank you for your tutorial on boggy Mel

[@Forge_n_Brush]

Very nice. I really like that lay-out with the hills. Excellent stuff my friend. Keep it up.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Kurtus Brown Cheers buddy, i'm looking forward to seeing them all together :-)

[@BlueLabelDrinker]

Great stuff! I plan on stealing your how-to when I start on my Italy/Tunisia/Spain build for my Hail Caesar ancients this summer.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Jason Brown Steal away matey

[@jonathanbaago5312]

Thanks man. You really do always inspire me to make my own stuff. Gonna Patreon!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Thanks bud

[@doombunnybomb]

Great timing! I was just in the middle of trying to figure this out.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Doombunny Awesome mate, hope they help

[@Archeopterix2680]

Thanks for doing a swamp. I love swamps. They're some of my favorite places. They can be quite beautiful in a spooky primordial kind of way. I've never been in Europe so I can't attest to what the swamps look like there; but I'm from North Carolina originally not far from Fort Bragg and we have no shortage of swamps and boggy land there. The swamps there look quite different. They can have large tracks of muck soil, black acid peat which can tint the water an impenetrable black, like very dark tea or coffee. My favorite feature of swamps of course are the carnivorous plants that tend to grow in them. I wonder how one would go about making say small pitcher plants or sundews, or even venus flytraps?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Chris Melvin It's all down to colours and what clump foliage you use mate, you could probably craft those plants from the leaves of normal plastic plants, I'll have to give it a go at some point.

[@Archeopterix2680]

I've seen other modelers and friends of mine use plastic aquarium plants and plastic house plants from the local five and dime to good effect. I personally would use a bit of an ink or some kind of matte finish on them to cut down the shiny, plastic or waxy appearance. They do quite well especially for alien jungle foliage if you're doing a 40K or some other sci fi terrain. Then of course you could go as far as to paint them strange colors like blue or purple-just in case your jungle planet doesn't have a standard yellow sun and the plants need to capture some other wavelength(s). (Sorry...old John Ringo fan here.) Cheers!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Chris Melvin kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXyUaWmtpbCZd8k ;-)

[@erho2967]

Another gem!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Thanks mate

[@OvantheWise]

I've ised the stone grinding bits for stuff like this befor and it helps keep things smooth, also there is a router attachment for drimmals.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Graham Johnson I'll give the stone ones a try, always just hit the metal tips. The router attachment is on the I want list like many shiny items. One day hey

[@OvantheWise]

+TheTerrainTutor vary true. I myself have a growing want list myself, with American tax refers coming soon I plant to put a large dent in that list.

[@joshjohnston7388]

I recently cut a badly fit steel waste pipe with my Dremmel. Those things can do anything!

[@johnbolt806]

hi. you can make good filler with glue and the dust you hoover up

[@IDICBeer]

Great vid Mel

[@TheTerrainTutor]

***** Cheers bud

[@peterwilhelmsson4168]

And now I want such a bit set for my rotary tool!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

They're dirt cheap mate

[@peterwilhelmsson4168]

Gonna see what I find on eBay. What search terms would work? English isn't my first language =P

[@christianoliver25]

They're are called rotary files. As an aside, typically the double cut ones (with a criss cross pattern) are meant for steel while the single cut ones are intended for aluminum or similar soft metals.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Christian Oliver Thanks for the heads up buddy :-)

[@KriegKraft]

Great stuff :) Love the reeds ;)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Krieg Kraft Thanks buddy :-)

[@Vortigernrex]

One of my best terrain-building channels - thank you! Lately I've been looking at building flexible terrain pieces with silicone. I've found using felt as a base for roads and rivers, sealed with silicone and textured, works well for long flexible strips, but for the above set pieces, I'm experimenting with cork sheets (from art stores). Have you tried working with cork at all? Easy to cut and work with (if you don't have a large workspace like me), but I still struggle a bit with warping and shrinkage.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I've worked with alsorts mate, have you looked at acrylic caulking?

[@Vortigernrex]

Yes - great for flexible and light pieces. I tend to use it on felt.

[@bullman444]

Great tutorial! :) It was quite interesting to watch :) I got inspired to make some terain on my free time now :P Thank you!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Sgt.Bulltitt Awesome sauce mate :-)

[@bobbysimpson5540]

Do you know what filler in USA would be? Thanks for all you do. Love the videos and I'm working on a marsh terrain board and so helpful.

[@bradatkin6712]

love it

[@TheTerrainTutor]

thanks

[@GeneralKetchup57]

Great video! I've been putting off building swamps and other mdf terrain that has raised foliage attached to the piece because of storage concerns. How do you store pieces like this without damaging the piece? Ton I want to build, just worried it would get destroyed when not on the table. Thanks!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Pad them up and bubble wrap them

[@unkhter]

great tutorial, thx :)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

unkhter Glad you liked it bud :-)

[@antiquariancrafts2454]

Cheers, Mel. I make dios rather than war gaming terrain, but your videos are great for advice and ideas. This vid would be great for making a LOTR dio.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Stay Dread Doesn't matter what you make, as long as you make mate ;-)

[@joshjohnston7388]

Similar here. Custom Gundam in diorama. I've grown confident enough that my next trick is going to be a trio of mecha patrolling the Stacks of Dunsamy. This guy always has at least one killer tip that changes the game. So good.

[@redgreen09]

welll looks great like em :::))

[@TheTerrainTutor]

redgreen09 Cheers buddy :-)

[@IshanDeston]

When you do the pigment in the resin, is there a point in say shading the bottom a little? When i looked at it, i was thinking that the water should have some green to it, and was wondering if i would use some real dark green for the floor of the water puddles and then use the brown pigment resin if that would work, of if i would just waste the expensive resin.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

you do that by painting the bottom different colours before pouring the resin mate

[@IshanDeston]

TheTerrainTutor Yeah, sorry i expressed that wrong. I was wondering if it could be seen through the resin, if i use the pigment in the resin. Edit: But nevermind, i saw your other video on the subject, it answered my questions.

[@TheJankmaster]

Great vid...and a dumb question. Is filler and spackle the same thing? I am starting to do some research for IDICBeer's terrain square competition.

[@CloranMarketing]

yes they r both the same thing...

[@TheTerrainTutor]

TheJankmaster Yep ;-)

[@ts3802]

hey absolutely excellent video. Your Videos are great for beginners like me and really help. Can you tell me what you used to smoothen the edges after you made the swampholes? I didn't catch it's name or I just don't know the stuff since I am not from the UK and english is not my first language.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

dremmel rotary tool or sand paper bud

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Thore Schmidt That's just filler (spackle) mate

[@ts3802]

Ah okay. I didn't know what filler was. But I know spackle (well with a quick trip to wikipedia for a translation). Thanx a lot.

[@DukensteinA1]

Hey Mel, what do you use to cut the mdf to make the beveled edges?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

DukensteinA1 Depend mate, sometimes I bevel with a sharp knife and then sand, sometimes I just use the belt sander

[@Eklipze3k]

Do you get your rocks/gravel/grit from B&Q as well mate?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Eklipze3k Yeah, i buy a bag of ballast and then dry it and sieve it into various grades :-)

[@marka3108]

Mel - newbie question: what are you using to cut and bevel the MDF?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Mark A Jigsaw and dremmel mate

[@marka3108]

Thanks!

[@robbie_g8308]

Hi mate whats the tall reed type things u made from

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Robbie G Dried wild grass mate

[@fbvrc]

hey, this is off topic, but I got some figures from airfix (1/72) I did a base coat of acrylic black, but the paint isn't sticking to the model... is this common? what can I do?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

francisco caixinha Sorry mate, no idea, did you prime them?

[@fbvrc]

TheTerrainTutor I had not used prime! tried it again with a prime and it worked fine. I thought I was because I did not wash them with warm water. Thanks for the reply and keep up the good work, cheers!

[@coolsskin]

Awesome work mate! Do you also use Safety Glasses when you use the dremel? Safety first XD

[@patmacrotch5611]

Safety is for losers.

[@coolsskin]

Pat MaCrotch Thanks Ill be A loser then!

[@billd.iniowa2263]

coolsskin Everything's fun till ya get something in yer eye, then it all comes to a screeching halt.

[@coolsskin]

Bill D. in Iowa Cant agree more! for my work I alway have to wear Safety glasses and i never ever regret it!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

coolsskin I do on plastics and metal but rarely with mdf mate, I know I should lol

[@squirrelvsacorn6743]

for the base can you use foam?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Squirrel vs Acorn I wouldn't, especially for water/swamp features

[@ghost_control3276]

I love all of your videos! Can you please do a terrain tutorial on how to make ground tht looks like "no man's" land, like ww1 between the trench's of allies and the nazis/SS/germans. Please? Or link me a video that you have already done to represent this.Thanks! EDIT:: Also oil spills would be great too!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

On the list mate😀

[@ghost_control3276]

TheTerrainTutor cool man! Looking forward to them! Thanks!

[@BartmossTV]

Mel these kinda look like huge chocolate cookies. Now I want chocolate cookies. :-D

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Have Joystick, Will Travel Terrain is for playing, not for eating!

[@BartmossTV]

+TheTerrainTutor Hmmmm.. Mudcakes? :-)

[@manlypedro75]

"Messi is a prima donna" LOL!!!

[@DerMartexus]

You should turn the newspaper upside down. It attracts too much attention. ;) I really like the swamp tiles but I think the rocks don't fit into them. Okay, I only know northwest german and dutch swamps, but there are no rocks at all. The reason is very simple: the swamps are upon the ice-age soil layer, in which the rocks are. Every heavy rock put into it, would sink into the peaty ground and never be ssen again. :)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

***** I consider the news an additional bonus footage! As I said, these are to go with a specific 'arid land' set. A more normal looking swamp is coming up this week, just finishing it off now :-)

[@DerMartexus]

Ooops. Not enough attention on you speaking, hehe. ;) Thanks for the info. :)

[@Talen900]

Yeah..?

[@Talen900]

Sorry for the crude joke, I'm sure you've heard it hundreds of time's before. In all seriousness though great tutorial.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Sir Talen Hell yeah!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Sir Talen No worries bud ;-)

[@user-ki2ih4bn2j]

@@TheTerrainTutor I wanna I say I really enjoy your videos mate! Honestly I rewatch them just to calm down sometimes. haha

[@thekameleon9785]

You also dont want mdf dust in your eyes mate

[@Spydah666]

Hey Mel, nice video. One point, when you are doing something where you're speeding up the video or muting the sound have you thought of using music? Here's a site for royalty free music it might help :) incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html

[@phalanx1234]

If he doesn't use the Yakkity Sax theme in at least one video I'd be very disappointed.

[@Spydah666]

lol yeah, that really should be his theme tune :)

[@timking8959]

True, Messi is a prima donna.

[@legendaryg367]

can you build a beach

[@TheTerrainTutor]

See my d-day board project mate

[@Suiseiseki00Rozen]

swamps are actually very rocky, its all under water though

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Suiseiseki Rozen from experience, I've found swamps come in all different shapes and sizes

[@Suiseiseki00Rozen]

ohh, maybe i learnt wrong, i was just told that swamps were very rocky, commonly with bog ion because of chemical reactions

[@DaytonaRoadster]

+Suiseiseki Rozen it depends, here in the USA, bayous and swamps are often sandy not at all rocky

[@davidcervantes520]

)

[@JLX-mv8fl]

is a cookie with hair

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Jose Luis García Once seen ....

[@johnmcclary754]

Cool Video, yea. New drinking game, take a shot every time he says Yea. Yea?

[@bearofodin]

Hey Mel I sent a message the other day (not sure if you've seen it?) it's too much to write up again lol would really appreciate it if you check it out cheers

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Bear Odinson Haven't seen a message mate, where did you send it to?

[@bearofodin]

it was on the About part of your channel, it has an option to send you a message?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Bear Odinson God knows where that's gone, email me mate - [e-mail]

[@NoName-uh3lp]

EnviroTex complicated! Really! It’s a one to one mix (1 tablespoon resin to 1 tablespoon hardener) mix well. You have about 30 minutes before it starts to set. You can tell its setting up because it becomes think like molasses. If you see air bubbles after applying it just blow through a straw on the bullies & they will pop. There is absolutely nothing complicated about EnviroTex at all!

[@shotgun2a]

That habit of saying "yeah?" at the end of every sentence is called a "crutch phrase", and people use them like punctuation because they feel uncomfortable speaking, to some degree, or they're trying to fill dead space between sentences. It's ok to have dead space between sentences, and it's not nearly as annoying to listen to.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

+Jason Vanhoy I've tried to change it mate, I can't, so I don't worry about it :-)

[@shotgun2a]

Well, shit, at least ya tried.