Useful links for Scenery

Some useful links and general information on scenery..

[keep visiting the page occasionally as I will keep adding to it]

First off, I mostly use a lot of the same terrain for both my WW2 and Napoleonics despite the difference in scales. Some things are obviously period dependent - i.e. bunkers no use for Napoleonics - and some manufacturers are either too big or too small to use for one of the periods but I will highlight where this is the case.

Look out for posts under the Scenery label in my blog as I will occasionally do a post on some specific aspect of scenery.

First of all building manufacturers:

TimeCast: do lots of different scales but I only use their 6mm
http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk/buildings_catalogue/buildings_catalogue.html

The scale of the building is more realistic for 6mm than some manufacturers so they look good against 10 or 12mm WW2 figures and vehicles. I have a lot of these because they are so versatile so check the blog for photos. A great maker of buildings and always a good bet.

You used to be able to buy them painted from TimeCast - which I tended to do and then I would base them up. Last I looked, this does not seem to be an option now, although the website still lists a price for painted on the older models so I am not sure. Cote D'Arms paints are what they use and they are a good paint to use on buildings.

Leven Miniatures: 6mm
http://www.levenminiatures.co.uk/

These are smaller and work very well with 6mm figures but are sometimes too small for my WW2. Fantastic range though and growing rapidly all the time - and a specific range for Napoleonic. Definitely recommended.

JR Miniatures: various scales but again I only use the 6mm
http://www.jrmini.com/shop/jrmini.php

They are made of some sort of plaster. This means the can often have chips when you get them but they are really easy to repair with any household filler (I use Woodflex). Can be a bit 'wonky', that is not very square, but for rural buildings that works really well and I like to use them for farm buildings (they feature heavily in my Waterloo farms which will be a subject of a post at some point). I have provided the link to the main site but they will have a local distributor (this is Magister Militum for the UK).

Total Battle Miniatures: various scales but again I only use the 6mm
http://www.totalbattleminiatures.com/index.html

Their building are designed for wargaming and so have slightly odd dimensions compared to other manufacturers and seem more about being a representation. Perfectly fine but they go less well with other buildings (and would generally need to be based on their own rather than mixed with other buildings).

Tom's Allsorts: various scales

I guy I know locally who has developed some of his own scenery and recently bought out the molds for a range of buildings. I saw the 25mm trenches he did  when he started and asked him to do 10mm - very nice, but I have a lot to do for a specific scenario which I will post a report on when I get everything ready. [will add a web site when I can]

Pendraken: 10mm scenary
http://www.pendraken.co.uk/Resin-Scenics-and-Trees-c25/

Some of their own stuff and they have recently started stocking some other manufacturers. Their own scenery seems fine - I have only bought a couple of bunkers as I stick to 6mm for both my wargame periods.

General scenery:

For trees I use K&M trees as they give a decent balance between realism, robustness and size. You can get them in most railway model shops.

I have made some of my own roads but currently looking for a decent ready made and ready painted one as my time is too valuable to spend on these more basic things.

Hedges and Bocage - I did start making some but then found an ebay seller in the UK that will occasionally list some (and did the bocage because I asked). I will point them out when a post includes them.

Rivers and streams - I have used the Battlefield in a Box ready painted terrain for this and they are pretty good and not expensive.

My game board is made from polystyrene tiles from TSS:
http://totalsystemscenic.com/

Some of these I have had for over 30 years so they are pretty durable. With decent scenery added on I find this the most flexible approach. I have also bought some plain tiles to make hills for myself - and when I get round to it I will do a post assuming it is not a disaster!