Etched Brass

'Why', i hear you all ask 'have you made yourself so much extra work by taking on this idea? ... don't you have enough to do already?'


yes, i do but it's a long story, sit nice and comfortable and get yourself a beer!


I first saw etched brass at Fantizan last year. Simon Harris has brought up some of his terrain pieces to show us his work. this was when we first saw the resin masters for the Grymn terrain.

I love metal anyway, I love the colours, textures and the ability of a craftsman to turn it into something special. My particular love is Copper fused with glass in a kiln or silver worked by hand to make unique pieces. Anyhow I digress!...sorry!!





Simon showed us some pieces he had made for Forgeworld, one of them was a Hovel that he has painted and then decorated with flowers and plants. They were gorgeous, so fine and delicate. I asked him about them and he explained that it was etched brass and it came in various sized sheets in different scales. He said it was lovely to work with and the effects could be amazing.
There are links in this page to two dioramas plus a very cute one at the bottom that i couldnt resist putting in! The links have lots of close up photos.

I have put lots of pretty pics in to show what can be acheived with a little imagination and also so that you can see the extra dimension a little bit of metal can add to a diorama. And also i think Simon is pretty amazingly talented and i wanted to show his work off!...........lol!!

The only downside he could see was that it was quite expensive (although you usually got a lot of repetitions of patterns for that money) also that it could initally be fiddly but it didnt take long to figure out how to work with it. If you can put together teeny multi-part figures then there should be minimum problems. Simon also said that he had had sheets of it for years as you only used a little bit at a time. By this time my mind was thinking ahead to what I could use it for.





Over the next 6 months Simon mentioned it again a few times but i was so busy or ill that i pushed it to the back of my mind. I did once apply for trade terms with one company but that was as far as it went. I also placed the topic on the Forum of Doom and got a mixed reaction.

Just before Xmas 2005 I found myself looking at an online catalogue (by chance as i was actually searching for acrylic domes!) and i remembered what Simon had said about the cost. The images online werent very clear and left a lot to chance. So i took a couple of evenings to browse through and investigate scales. I decided to invest some money that i had for Xmas to buy some sheets and see if it was possible to 'split' them. I figured that if it didn't sell or splitting wasnt an option that i was sure to find some use for it!





The best company online that i found with the widest selection is Scalelink . Their ordering was simple and very fast and their comms are excellent.
When it arrived i was completely blown away, Simon was right it is absolutely gorgeous stuff. I couldnt get over how fine and detailed some of the plants and foliage were. I didnt want to sell it now but i knew i had to really as i couldnt justify just hoarding it (even though i wanted to)

The Wonga

The next problem was how to make it viable for the business whilst giving you good choice at reasonable prices. I had a good look at the sheets when they arrived and found that (as Simon had said months before) that some split quite nicely into quarter sheets. Excellent.
Some of them however werent sectioned so i had to figure a way of splitting them as well into quarters. With some sheets this meant cutting off each item individually and some still cut into quarters but as funny shapes! I figured that it probably wouldnt matter if some of the sheets were odd shapes so long as they were packed safely.

The choices

So far i have broken it into 4 categories and have tried to find a cross-section of types within those categories. If it sells then i shall investigate more. Also if you see something or try something that you feel may fit in with the range then please let me know.





I tried to get a selection of ground cover, climbing, multi-use leaves and structural plants within three categories....TROPICAL, WATER and GENERAL and a variety of scales that could encompass the variations needed to create variety within a diorama or terrain piece.

I also looked at structures that could be used either as a large amount in a piece or just as one or two leaves/sprigs to provide a focal point.





Most available etched brass has been produced to provide model train enthusiasts with realistic looking scenery. Hence most of the 'other' categories that i looked through were completely wrong for scaling for 28mm scale fantasy or sci-fi figures. I did however find some things of interest......

Barbed wire that looked perfect for surrounding gun emplacements or to build into WW1 Halfling scenics, even to go onto industrial roofs to stop invasion. Cool!

I also found some brass strips of varying widths that could be used in dioramas, conversions and all sorts of stuff. I had to wrestle them from Kev so that i could catalogue them!

Drain covers, hydrant markers etc. These looked slightly too small for my intended use which was for the 'Adventurers' and when they arrived my fears were confirmed. However they are amazingly detailed and will fit in with industrial settings very well as vent / drain covers etc.

I hope to add to this section as i am sure there is lots more cool stuff out there, i just havent found it yet!




Want some instructions?? .....then just click the lizard picture below and he will take you there!

Instructions can also be accessed from the 'Etched Brass' section of the catalogue.