So those are my top tips folks, what are yours?

@Wildboy789789

6 жыл бұрын

TheTerrainTutor u pretty much covered my tips, definatly spread that excess glue, I do recommend a thin knife for cutting out the peices tho... 1 good tip I have for my necromunda terrain is don't glue everything, keep it modular, I kept towers and bridges disconnected and now they double as ramps... if you mess up a piece think outside the box, I had a board that was too thick so the tabs were too thick to fit into the slots, I simply peeled a small layer of the tabs with my fingernail and the glue fixed any imperfections, that glue soaks right into that wood... another tip, use the cardboard box it ships in to make a work space on a desk, rip the sides so it lies flat, I model and brush paint minis infront of my tv on a glass table and haven't made a mess yet, lay down cardboard or newspaper

@earthmanbrick

4 жыл бұрын

Best tip I have for this is to use a silicon or clay-shaper tool for spreading PVA instead of a brush, since a brush can get gunked-up & nasty with dried PVA in it. A shaper will peel off PVA with no hassle. Great video, man. I agree with Wildboy789789, a knife can be a nessescity for removing some MDF pieces & a needlefile or sandpaper is great for cleaning off any excess. Last tip, keep the MDF sprue frames, I've made entire buildings just from empty frames, they're a great resource for useful bitz & bobz

@rickyglover2795

Жыл бұрын

That magnet idea is great, ive got plenty of those lying about unused, oh and the lego corner piece is inspired, really helpful tips all around so thanks 🙏

Some good tips and here are a few from years of running a MDF terrain business. 1 - switch to a thick clear glue like Aleen's tacky glue gel. It works better than standard PVA. It dries in stages and has a low water content. It is sticky so parts stay attached but it dries slower so you can pull parts apart if needed for up to an hour after they are assembles without any problems. It also has a bit of a gap filling property. 2 - Instead of sealing with paint, use a good wood water sealant. Rub on polyurethane is great. It seals the cut edges so they don't stand out. Best of all it is cheap and can be brushed or sprayed on. A little in a single action airbrush works wonders. 3 - Bet 123 blocks instead of Lego blocks. They are metal and heavier so you can used them yo remove warps and weight down pieces as the glue dries. They also are magnetic so it is easy to use magnets to turn them into clamping surfaces if needed. 4 - Seal both sides of the material even if not painting. It will cut down on warping and swelling. 5 - Sawdust and glue make the best joint filler. It always sticks and doesn't chip or pop off later like some wood putties.

Laser MDF Stonework can be enhanced - by going over the laser-lines with a pyrography pen or soldering iron (this will amaze you) - by glueing on graybeard stones to make some stones pop out and cut others out to make it look more 3D.

I finished my first MDF kit two months ago. It was a gift. I found it a stress free build as all the pieces fit and I did not have to modify anything. You gave some great tips that I will use on my next build.

Dry fit before priming and painting. When the plain wood is hard to assemble you need to file some things down. Doing that with painted MDF is a PITA.

Mel - Awesome video!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks matey!

Fill un-slightly joints with a putty. Rendering some buildings (desert, Normandy, etc) with plaster, grout, etc will enhance the appearance greatly.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Nice tips

I don't think I have any tips to add, but this is a great video. I really, really like the magnet and lego trick. I'll be using that in the future. Saves buying specific angle magnety clamp things.

My Tip, lightly sand the edges before to paint/prime. Just like plastic kits and models you need to remember to clean up the points where the piece was connected to the sprue. A light sand will not only even out those points but will allow for the primer to stick better to the MDF. Also you can do this during the dry fit stage to help remove any leveling issues. If you're like me and wait to prime similar pieces all at once. take the time to use wood filler (sandable/paintable) to remove any gaps or holes.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Nice tip matey

I tend to stipple on paint quite thick on building walls, it creates a nice texture on otherwise super smooth MDF.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Nice tip matey

@andreweckford6319

6 жыл бұрын

Similar... have also used some pre-textured house paint (Dulux used to make something called Sandswept) for MDF road surfaces or old/collapsed ruins. For cement/concrete walls, pva plus baking soda gives a good fine-grain surface.

Companies that make MDF kits need to link this video on their sites :D

Rustoleum Filler Primer spray paint is what works best for me. Usually a light initial coat followed by a light secondary coat is all it takes.

MDF dust particles are carcinogenic. Use a dust mask when cutting or sanding. It also swells up terribly when left to absorb water, so keep it in mind when storing in a garden shed etc ;)

Really solid suggestions and tips. Mine: More than just test fitting, I'd recommend a complete test build (where possible). There are often pieces that are almost right but that are intended for some other place in the model. If you think you know what's going on but you're 1/8" off, your life will be less fun. Make sure you know exactly which piece is intended to go where before you start gluing.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Nice tip mate

Use painters blue tape to secure your right angle ruler to cutting pad/board

Tip. Keep a file on hand. I painted all my pieces before assembling and some of the slots swelled up but with a small hobby file I was able to trim them down. Also keep your pieces of MDF sprue and scrap. All those tiny MDF bits pooped out your terrain pieces make excellent bricks and rubble and MDF sprue can be cut and used as smaller cover pieces like wall segment and beams/rafters

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Good tip matey

the mdf can look very flat, so use a bit of time adding textures to the building. This can be thinned filler, fine sand or even a stippled paintjob. A nice weathering works wonders. Try the hairspray technique of the armor modellers to create worn paint on your walls and windowpanes. Quick and easy. White pigment looks like mortar. Brown pigment looks like dirt and dust. Black pigment looks like soot or dirt. Terrain is like miniatures and can be zenithally primed to good effect. This works great with washes or thin airbrush coats. Think of the building as a miniature and make sure to give it base, shade and highlight coat. A little goes a long way, so dont overdo it.

@SheepWaveMeByeBye

6 жыл бұрын

Kathy Millatt just did a tutorial on painting bricks. It is definitely worth a watch!!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers buddy

I also use clothes pegs to hold piece's together whilst the glue is drying. On brick work buildings I paint red and shade up, then run a white or off white chalk all over it. This sticks in the cracks to give the white cement look without the tricky painting. Just wipe of the excess and varnish.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Top tips matey

That magnet, lego tip is brilliant. Will have to use that.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope it helps buddy

Ordered an mdf kit yesterday...boom 3 year old mdf tips from the pro himself...gotta love youtube algorithm

A lot of common sense tips (and a few REALLY clever ones) that, for some reason, I overlooked! Terrific video and terrific examples. Thanks!

I don’t punch out my pieces. I use an xacto knife to cut them out. I find that works better, especially with thin materials.

I learn quite a bit from this video. I am new to the MDF buildings and this will save me from some mistakes. Thank you

Great helpful tips! I normally build al things from scratch, but I will try mdf buildings in the near future.

Oh Mel, Mate: you really really are a wonderful man and a scenery genius - THANK YOU!

I've had my first MDF kit staining around for literally years before finding this video. Thanks!

Mel. I love your imaginative use of LEGO. I've already made a miniature try square for some of my work and a corner block- but the addition of magnets is brilliant!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope it helps ya buddy

Snagging this for future projects. Thanks Mel!

Great tips mate, changed my approach to MDF

Hah! Minutes after I order an MDF kit... unbelievable.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Perfect timing

Excellent video Mel, very useful and informative. Well done on the production side too, looking pretty slick👍

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

I'm getting there buddy!

Wow! Thanks! Great video. I've got some 4 ground kits to build but I was hesitant to get started. Now I know why. This was the videos that I DIDN'T know I was looking for! Lol.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Awesome sauce mate

The magnets for clamping idea was brilliant. Thanks!!!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope it helps mate

That Lego tip is brilliant!

Mel, my son thinks your officially a genius! I agree.

These will be useful, my first mdf kit is coming in, a scifi building by the broken token

Great video! Thanks Mel!

Tip 8!!! Magnet use is brilliant!

Great tips Mel, as usual. Thank you very much.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Always a pleasure buddy

Tip1 : fill your tab gaps. Makes it look much nicer. Tip 2. Use filler and fine sand where the walls are meant to be concrete/mud/clay and rattle. Tip 3. Use coffee stirrers/matchsticks for some wooden beams where applicable. Tip 4. Texture the roof with card or foam (tiles for where ever is relevant.)

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Top tips buddy

Great video! Thank you heaps!

You are simply the best wargaming tutorial maker there is.

As always Mel. You're a life saver.

Great advice! Thank you!

Thank you Mel! These are amazing tips for MDF kits. One tip I would like to share is sand down the pegs on anything that is snug after you dry fit. Cheers!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Top tip matey

Fantastic, production value has really gone up ! Thanks !

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers buddy, the work paid off!

Nice! My buddy and I are getting ready to laser out our own Necromunda terrain and its the first either of us will be working with MDF.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope it helps mate

This will help a lot. Thanks for sharing :)

very useful, especially since i´m about to play around with MDF buildings for the first time.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope it helps!

You've cut down on saying "Yea" so much, thank you!!! Solid tips!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

It wasn't easy, sooo many takes lol

@annadickson5700

6 жыл бұрын

I can imagine! Your dedication is appreciated :)

Great tips, wish I'd watched this before. A really damp winter has caused unpainted MDF buildings in my garage to go mouldy so am going to have to do all the hard work now cleaning, drying and then painting and sealing them. Doh.

@TynamM

2 жыл бұрын

If storing books and/or wargames terrain in the garage, add a dehumidifier for exactly this reason. (I do the same.)

Brilliant. Just briliant.

That Lego corner clamp is a brilliant idea,

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers bud

Awesome Mel, thank you so much!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

No worries buddy

I had very good results on smoke damaging brickwork by rubbing powder from charcoal briquets onto it with my finger. Practice first to see just how damp your fingers should be to hold the powder and smear it.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Pigment power! :-D

Brilliant video pal

Great tips and the magnets and magnets and Lego is something I will be using next.

Great tips, thanks so much.

Great as always, ta.

Great tips Mel

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers bud

Thank you!

Amazing vid! Thanks for sharing!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers buddy

My top tip: If a spray adhesive says that it'dries clear' make sure it does before you spray and flock all of your trees with it. Now I have to tell people my jungle board is infested with giant psychic spiders...

@carbon1255

6 жыл бұрын

sometimes clear sprays and varnishes do that.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

You want repositionable mounting spray mate

thank you for the tips

For fiddly bits or things you need to instantly bond use mitre mate (or any superglue/ activator combo

Great Tips Mel!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers matey

Best tips i have seen

You are indeed the Terrain Tutor!

For those cheaper mdf models you can get on eBay, try stippling on thinned filler to not only seal the mdf but also add a great texture for brick/sandstone/granite type Finnish. Great vid Mel.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Top tip matey

@imp3ri3x93

6 жыл бұрын

TheTerrainTutor hah well I got it from a terrain sensei 😉🍺

@hyaground

5 жыл бұрын

Can you send me a link to one of those items please? Been looking for cheap buildings to build up a city scene and couldn’t see any on eBay...

My top tip for painting mdf is to watch your channel m8!

this was awesome thanks heaps man

Great tips! I have an MDF kit to assemble.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope it helps you mate

thanks for the magnet tip...

@grandmasterblowhole4245

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah- that's the first time I've seen that idea-genius!

“Dad, there’s some pieces missing from my Lego set. Have you seen them?” Me: “Ermmm....”.

Thank you, I​ just got an MDF kit and I had no idea what to do.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Hope the vid helps

Not just for MDF kits but, don't be afraid to buy similar sets and mix and match parts of them. This helps make a generic model look a little more personal. A good example would be the flames of war series buildings... Not to say they're bad. They just don't have anything special about them after you've seen them a few hundred times.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Top tip buddy

@dylanloomis6197

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mel love your videos!

Just in time for my very first 4Ground kit.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Nice timing!

Great clip. TY

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it mate

I clean my mdf with my airbrush, just run an empty cup and blow air to get rid of ash dust.

mine is be a bit gentle with the kit. you don't want to snap anything while you are building it.

Great video!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers buddy

Hey Mel, I'm definitly watching this again tonight. As of yesterday I jumped into the world of Test of Honour too and TT-Combat has some really nice Japanese terrain. I hope to have the game somewhere next month. BANZAI!!!!! 😂 Patrick.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

BONSAI!!!!!!

@patricklefevre1342

6 жыл бұрын

And I'm working on a small piece containing a cherry blossom tree and a Hokora (small shrine).I also had 2 small tree armatures left from Woodland, I'm making Japanse Maples in pots with these, I'll post pics on the fb page ;-)

good tips

Nice tips.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers bud

Great tips, thanks a lot. Do you have any tip for making gaardens for town houses?

ive found that if you wanna use the inside of some of the sarissa buildings for tabletop you can round off the tabs that lock the stories together. that way when your playing and a character enters a building you just need to lift and set aside the upper floors.

@TheImmortalsbleed

6 жыл бұрын

i still glue the rest of the parts together.

@TheImmortalsbleed

6 жыл бұрын

Also keep all the scrap bits that the parts popped out of. you never know when you may want to add a detail. especially the cardstock that the window frames come out of. you can cut strips of the material to fill any gaps from gluing in the window frame pieces.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Nice tip matey

This gets a like! Thank you!

Shame, had this been a week earlier I would have been golden. Putting together the Proxxon kits from shifting lands. Magnets! Magnets *SMH*

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Well at least you've got it for next time ;-)

I got some of those Samurai buildings from Sarissa they are very nice. I added some extra detailing with matchsticks and think strips of Balsa.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

That'll work well mate

Hiya Mel, Great Tips! I really like the trees with fruit, in the stills section. Any chance of a tutorial? Kind Regards Johnny

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

I got them from 4ground mate

@johnnycooper7019

6 жыл бұрын

Cheers Mel, I'll check them out!

Love the videos Mel, What kit was that you put together in the video? Looking to make a japanese style map for my malifaux ten thunders.

@HaposaiBG

6 жыл бұрын

The kit is called Dojo by Sarissa - precision. You can find more Japanese style buildings produced by TT Combat, 4 Ground and Sarissa - precision. The dojo is still not released.

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

I think it has now mate, I didn't realise the kit hadn't been released yet when they gave it to me

What kind of magnets would you recommend for clamping?

Hi Mel ... What was the product wash you used,,, as ever great respect for a great "go to" channel.

@TheTerrainTutor

5 жыл бұрын

Watered down brown paint mate

I know you can use a knife, a pen and some tinfoil to add bricks and a stone texture to foam. But is there an easy way to add 3D stone bricks and texture to MDF with minimal tools? Without adding to it by covering it in something.

So if I understand this correctly: I can use an acrylic rattle can primer on a MDF piece and the paint will not be as socked up, as if I've done it with a "normal" acrylic paint (from the tube or a bottle)?

@TheTerrainTutor

5 жыл бұрын

Yep, exactly

Hi Mel, thanks for these tips. I have a question for you: if we paint the pieces separately, will the PVA glue work fine over paint? I thought PVA adheres to wood, not to paint... so, in that case, should I sand the paint a bit where the glue is going to be applied or what? Cheers!

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

It glues fine mate

Hi there, great video as usual - I've watched a few of them now as I'm about to start building a board for the Batman minis game. One thing I've seen mentioned a few times in other places is magnetising doors but I can't seem to find any tips on doing this... any ideas? :)

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Depends what you mean by magnetising doors mate, I've never heard of doing that

@dcdek74

6 жыл бұрын

TheTerrainTutor TBh I don't know for sure - just comments I've read to the effect that magnetising the doors allows them to be open or shut - I'll see if I can find some more info :)

So you seal the parts with matt varnish first? Is it necessary?

Have you used GW rattle can primer and does it work?

MDF is very customisable. You can cut it with a big craft knife and rough up the edges for easy ruins. I heavily customised this windmill to make it unique: www.richbuilds.com/articles/fantasy-terrain-ruined-mill/

@TheTerrainTutor

6 жыл бұрын

Love it mate