A lot of players at the club have been impressed with the scenery layout for 'Urban Chaos', so I hope the following ideas and tips will inspire you to build some terrain for your collection. It always seems a great shame to me that we spend hours lovingly painting our miniatures only to have them fight over shabby terrain. Rather than give you highly detailed instructions on how I built the 'Urban Chaos' pieces, I thought a few pointers and tips would be more inspiring.

First off there are two golden rules.

For storage, transportation and protection:

'If it don't fit into a box, don't build it!' - A simple rule which I read in an article written by a professional scenery builder, and believe me it's well worth keeping to. Aside from a couple of big 'set' pieces, all the terrain on the table packs into a standard size document storage box. This means you can transport the whole thing to where you are playing without suffering the usual breakages, and after the battle it can be neatly stored away.

You can never have too much "junk"

At home I have a huge junk box, (some people call it a shed), which is indispensable when it comes to building scenery. You will be surprised what you can find when you start looking around.

Scrapyard Scenery

All the baseboards are 6mm MDF, which is cheap and any good wood yard will cut to size for you. I've made plain tiles, decorated tiles, (surface features from the junk box), and river/canal sections. Everything is painted in the same way, ( sprayed matt black, spray 'dusted' with matt grey, and 'dirtied' down with an airbrush),it's quick, very easy, and ,I think, has a great 'industrial' feel to it.

All the buildings and features are either built from foam board, (available from good art shops), or put together from the junk box.

When it comes to looking for bits for your junk box, leave no stone unturned. Here are some ideas for sources and the treasures I have found there:

Around the house

Great place to start and cheap, in fact free most of the time! Anything goes here, just use the old imagination. I've used old bottle tops, discarded fire alarms, (no don't go stealing the working ones in your house, not a good idea!). Random pieces left over from DIY projects. Sturdy old cardboard boxes and snack tubes make great building and storage towers once decorated and painted. People will be surprised at what you begin to save (and a little worried!).

Charity shops, boot sales, pound shops and jumble sales

Great places, never pass a charity shop without looking in the window. All these places are great sources for old toys, games, half-built models, old Corgi and Matchbox cars and lorries, the list is endless. You will have to fight off the old ladies at the jumble sales, but it's worth it, instant scenery, really cheap. Remember most big toys and games come apart, so if the whole thing doesn't look useful the bits and components may be.

Some great finds I've had from these places, most of which I've used in the 'Urban Chaos' terrain, are a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Sewer set, a Matchbox oil rig/launcher platform, Battle of the Planets toys, various Star Wars snap together kits as well as bags of old model railway gear, battered old Corgi and Matchbox cars trucks etc. old Airfix games etc . The list is endless, and unfortunately it become very addictive once you start.

DIY shops

Worth a look in if you are shopping for your DIY jobs. Wire mesh sheets are great for railing and ladders as well as gratings and machinery covers. Plumbing and electrical piping is really cheap, and is perfect for supports, pipe work etc.

Finishing off

The final details make a piece of 'junk' look a lot more impressive. Old model kits, rub down lettering etc can provide interesting details on flat surfaces. Another quick and easy trick is get the PC working for you. With all of today's programs, software and scanners you can turn out sheets of signs, hazard markers and even graffiti with little trouble. I've found it best to stick any transfers/ signs etc on before you 'dirty' down the piece as it gives the whole thing a 'lived' in look.

A final word on painting. I decided that everything should be basically the same colour. Everything was sprayed matt black and 'dusted' with a grey spray. You can vary the dirtying down process by using different shades in the airbrush which will give each building a bit of individuality. Odd features can be hand painted to make the piece really stand out on the table top.

I hope this has inspired you and fired up the old imagination. Scenery building is very rewarding once you get into it, and it's a great way to show off all those miniatures you've painted. The trouble is, I've just realised, I'm now going to have to fight you lot off at the charity shops, jumble sales etc. as well as the old ladies!