John Gittins: New Stuff

Any toy soldier collector, or wargamer for that matter, keen on displaying their figures against realistic looking terrain will probably be familiar with the work of John Gittins. If not, then I strongly advise you visit his website and take a look at some of his towering trees and architectural masterpieces. They are a sight to behold. Not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for

Anyway, I'm here tonight to tell you about some recent additions to his range of terrain mats and other scenic accessories. The terrain mats come in a range of finishes, sizes and prices but have in common the fact that they are made of a thin, flexible rubber-like material which means they are easy to cut to size and can be rolled up for no-nonsense storage if your troops fancy a change of scenery!

The new mats are pictured below

First up is this town crossroad mat, 13" X 30" in size and £37.50 directly from JG

Pasture mat with river, same size as above but a little more expensive at £47.20

Both of the above mats are also 13" X 30" and priced at £45.00 each

Both of the last two mats show a figure placed on them and 'blended in' to the surrounding terrain with the addition of two more new products, namely plastic soil and plastic sand, so called because they are made from tiny pieces of crushed, hand coloured plastic which won't damage the painted surface of your beloved figures. Marvellous!

Last, but by no means least, a bottle of weeds! The ones pictured above, 'growing' out of the soil. I actually have some of these and like them a lot. Actually, it's somewhat of a misnomer to use the word 'them'. The product is hard to describe, but it comes in a plastic bottle and is a bit rubbery to the touch, with a quality not unlike an elastic band, covered in the kind of material you find sticking to model trees!

Don't get me wrong. This isn't me being critical. I love it, and it's incredibly versatile. You can have big clumps of it, and it looks like a small bush, or you can break bits off, and tease it apart to have it strung along a base edge to give depth to a display and/or hide unsightly seams between base and backdrop, or have it in smaller clumps as in the picture above

If you look closely at the following images you can see some of it strung out along the back of the base boards and, in my opinion, it helps to create the illusion that the figures and terrain boards in question really are part of the overall scene pictured in the background poster. See what you think

Thanks John for some wonderful additions to your expanding range of sensational scenic items. Your work is very much appreciated