I actually picked this up a couple of months ago now, but as I haven’t posted for a little while, I didn’t get a chance to photograph it until last night.
I first saw this at the local pet warehouse in the Aquarium section a couple of months ago, but didn’t have the spare funds at the time. I went back a couple of weeks later and they luckily still had a couple of them left. Now, at AU$50, it wasn’t cheap – but when compared to scenery kit prices, both from local places, GW, GF9 and many others, it’s actually pretty reasonable for something that’s finished and ready to plunk down on the tabletop and go. It’s the sort of thing that will work perfectly on a jungle-themed table, in a deathworld kill-zone, and across a whole lot of themes and time periods – from Borneo to Endor to Catachan.
I think it looks pretty bloody good, actually. The bridge and cave also offer additional “playability” for many wargames, which is always welcome. Having a piece that can be interacted with by your troops is almost always preferable to something that simply acts as a LOS-blocker, after all! Though let’s face it – a great looking LOS-blocker is always welcome as well! Our Space Marine, Primaris Marine, Wookiee and Imperial Officer provide scale. I’ll need to get some WWII infantry painted up for these things. Maybe I can do some over Christmas..?
Sure, I could spend a lot of time going to town on it and improving it further, but I’d much rather call this thing done without doing anything to it at all and using that time and energy on other stuff that’s yet unpainted or unfinished. I’ll need to keep an eye on the aquarium scenery in the future for more decently-priced pieces that can just be dropped straight onto the table with little to no work.
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Seems like a fantastic option for tabletop. Thanks for sharing.
I’ll keep my eye out next time I pass any pet shop.
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No problem. It’s a nice looking and good sized “non-ruins” piece for a more natural environment table.
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I’m always tempted to get stuff like this as scenery, I look at a lot of fish tank pieces… But then they are often so expensive I feel like I may as well be buying the stuff from GW!
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Look at it the other way – you’re paying a similar price to GW, but all the assembly and paint is done so it’s ready to go. Like something from Gale Force 9 or those castle pieces that IRO just bought from gamemat.eu
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That’s a nice sized piece of scenery and it really looks the part! Always worth looking out for aquarium items for jungle settings. Good call!
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Yeah, there’s some interesting pieces out there that are perfect for wargaming. I think I’ll had back int he near future to see what they have.
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Excellent stuff! I’m a big fan of aquarium/terrarium scenery.
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Yeah. I’ll have to see if I can get up there again this week. It’s been a couple of months, so who knows what they might have by now?
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Nice mate – always worth a look in the pet stores 😉
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And that’s just to ogle the widdle animals!
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Not an area I have thought to explore but I will now. Got to be worth a look.
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Cheat your way to a finished Diorama in just minutes! 😉
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More excellent stuff. If you want to see some very cool cheap terrain, check out Chris Palmer’s blog. I met him through Buck Surdu and I call him the Master of Dollar Store Alchemy https://onemoregamingproject.blogspot.com/search?q=Dollar+store
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He’s got some awesome stuff there. I’ve had to start clearing out random bits and pieces like some of that and only keep the “best” bits as it’s far easier to accumulate that sort of stuff then it is to find time to make terrain out of them.
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do like these aquarium pieces
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They’re pretty good. An easy way to start your and Milou’s first wargames table. 😉
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Hahaha, we will have to see
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Yes! Definitely post photos so we can see! 😉
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That is cracking. Am I correct or have I misread, that you didn’t make any changes to it and this is just how you bought it? Must confess most of the aquarium scenery I’ve come across has looked distinctly fake but this is much more convincing.
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That is literally straight off the pet store shelf to my tabletop.
I’ve got another piece that was really cheap (under $10) that is simple but also looks pretty good as well as a little bridge that looks okay, and was also under $10. I’ll get them up soonish (in the next week or so if I can). I also ordered 4 more cheapo pieces from eBay after writing this post on the weekend, so hopefully they’ll be here within a week so I’ll be able to post them up as well.
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Wow this is great. I remember Mikko finding and painting some cool aquarium terrain for his pirate project. I’ve been meaning to go have a look for ages.
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You should definately stop in and check them out when you’re going past. They also sell foliage in a plastic grid that’s a cheap way of getting really nice plants.
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/856f79c9-80c7-4c94-9238-62eb1953a7b3_1.fb7b6b3cfc12cdd7a795356a4997b602.jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF
Matt from Simple As war has shown hopw to use them to great effect:
I did a similar thing in the 2005-era mounting them on foam core, which you can kinda-sorta see in the background of these shots:
…after seeing Matt’s, I should get some more myself. Might be a lot cheaper on eBay, though…
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Excellent
Thanks for the links. The foliage works really well
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That is a great bit of terrain. I can see plenty of scenarios being based around that… a bridge on the Ho Chi Min trail that needs to be blow for one.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Yep, or any number of Pacific Theatre scenarios in WWII. It’s a nicely evocative piece.
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Alex had some aquarium plants in with his Eru-kin posts. That reminded me that pet stores are an interesting place for terrain. Fish tank pumps and whatnot can also make interesting machinery when painted up. It’s on my todo list, if we make it as far as 3D Necromunda rules.
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Oops, and yea, those are an excellent find. Can’t say I’ve seen anything nicer than that.
I’ve been thinking of keeping an eye out for some bargain aquarium equipment at garage sales, as the new stuff ain’t cheap.
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Yep – and especially so for “alien” worlds with trippy, brightly coloured foliage. Fishtank pumps might be a bit expensive, though – unless you know of someone getting rid of a broken one!
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I’ve never had the cash handy when the opportunity arose, but there have been a number of times I’ve seen aquarium pieces that would look good on the tabletop. Not sure I’ve ever run across one as good as this, tho. Great find!
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Thanks Alexis. I’m glad it was still there when I went back when I had money! 🙂
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Clever thinking They look really good ,will have to keep my eyes open when next in the pet shop !
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Yeah, it was definitely worth stopping to get Leonard the Cat some more litter.
Well, in more ways than one!
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Great looking piece of scenery, I find that aquarium and vivarium decor can be great if a little expensive on occasions
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Yep. I wasn’t sure at first given the price of this piece, but then comparing it to the price that GW asks (and it being perfect LOS-blocking centrepiece for a Deathworld Kill-Team table) managed to convince me to go back in the end.
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