Homemade Warhammer 40k Terrain: Pt. 3

As promised, here's how you make craters!

For this terrain piece, you will need:

• Aluminum soda can
• Scissors
• Scotch tape
• Cardboard
• Newspaper
• Flour
• Bowl or pan
• Acrylic paint

Craters

Step 1: Set-up
The first step is to take your aluminum can and cut the bottom out of it. Aluminum cans are relatively easy to cut with a good pair of scissors, but be careful: it's easy to cut yourself or get a nasty metal splinter doing this. Once your aluminum bottom is cut out, find an appropriately sized piece of cardboard to serve as the base.

Next, cut the base to the size you want for the base of the crater.

Once this is done, use Scotch tape to secure the can bottom to the cardboard. This doesn't need to be completely sealed off and unbreakable; again, like with your box houses, this is just a frame.

Step 2: Paper Mache
Next, prepare your paper mache material. You can find instructions for this in my previous blog. Pinching then end of each strip to the center or inside edge of the can bottom with your thumb, wrap each newspaper strip around the edge of the crater and under the bottom. While the newspaper will not stick very well to the aluminum, it will stick to other strips of newspaper as you go along, so just hold it in place for a while. Be careful how much newspaper you clump in the middle; if you layer it too many times, you will have a very shallow and unimpressive crater. For this reason, I only recommend one layer of newspaper for this terrain piece.

Once you're finished with this part, you'll notice the crater looks a little flat.

In order to add some realistic texture, add about four or five more strips of newspaper around the edge, but this time pinch them along the side in order to create some wrinkles as you secure the strip.

Now you're cooking. When setting your craters out to dry, do not leave them on your counter or newspaper covering. Because you paper mached the bottom, if the crater dries on newspaper or countertop, it will stick or leave a crusty film behind. Use a cookie sheet.

Step 3: Painting
Once dried, you are ready to paint. Like painting models, you should paint your craters with three colors. Use one medium color to paint the entire piece, one darker shade of that color to paint in the shadows and crevices, and a lighter hue of that same medium color to dry brush the whole piece to bring out the highlights in it. You can use whatever colors you think are appropriate for your table/theme, but for mine I just used shades of brown. Once done, your crater should look something like this:

If you want to add a little extra texture to your piece, you can always add GW gravel around the edge of the piece, or perhaps in the center. Another interesting accent would be to use leftover bits to show Space Marine/Tyranid/Eldar/etc. remains in the center of the crater, as if they were hit by a bombshell. If you have water effects, you can also fill the crater with water. A large enough crater like this filled with water effects could also serve as a lake.