Modelling tutorial: How to create dunes/desert terrain

I've been publishing a lot of roleplaying/gamemastery/miniatures articles recently, and now it's time to get back to modelling. This time I'll show your how to create realistic -looking dunes and desert terrain yourself.

Background and motivation

I've built a lot of fantasy terrain, but not before starting to play Star Wars miniatures game has it come to my mind to create desert terrain. As I started to do it, I realized that it's pretty simple so I could as well create a tutorial while doing it.

Why don't publishers do user-friendly errata?

Another post inspired by a forum discussion: A Savage World Deluxe buyer complains his hand cramping after writing down all the errata in the book while another one asked why didn't he print out the errata & tape/glue it in place. This isn't so simple; many errata is written in format 'Replace clause X by clause Y' - it might not fit to page at all.

New D&D miniatures: optimized for roleplayers, how will the game turn out?

One of the more interesting GenCon news was the new D&D miniatures line. This product seems to be designed specifically for roleplayers (long-awaited themed sets +larger tiles), but includes a game of it's own. The game is diceless but uses cards; No-one knows yet how will the game be, but description has similarities with the awarded Memoir '44. The game may also give hints of what will be in 5E

Miniatures for Sword & Sorcery: Arcane Legions, a tempting alternative

I told you briefly about Arcane Legions miniatures in my first post about miniatures for Sword & Sorcery. Now I'll give you a bit more insight of these minis if you consider using them in a Sword & Sorcery game - or any ancient era/fantasy roleplaying game.

Miniatures for Sword & Sorcery: Part 2 - DDM Picks & about buying singles

This is the second post in series showing miniatures suitable for a Sword & Sorcery roleplaying game. This time, you'll see some great picks from D&D miniatures for a Sword & Sorcery game.

Note that fixed minis may have different name somewhere - they often have one name for miniature and a different one for the miniature game (Roving swordmage might be called Male human swordmage)

Miniatures for Sword & Sorcery: Intro

I've collected minis from various product lines for Sword & Sorcery roleplaying campaign for some time now. Recent discussion at Savage Worlds forums about what minis should be used for Beasts & Barbarians game gave me an idea perhaps I should document my collections and help others to find miniatures for their Sword & Sorcery games.

When shall we have printable miniatures? The technique is already there!

Professors Keane and Scanlan from Southampton University have printed out an airplane that flies; This is far more advanced than printing out miniatures. So, when shall we have 3D-files having miniatures we can print out? That requires affordable 3d printers.

Tatooine -like rpg/miniatures gaming terrain

"If there's a center to the universe, then you're on the planet that it's farthest from!"

-Luke skywalker, speaking of his homeworld Tatooine

Addition: I added a few WIP pictures of the buildings to the bottom of the post.

Black hand - a model used in Ptolus and as D&D spell token

Black hand model in a dungeon
Black hand is a recurring theme in Ptolus, which is why I decided to create a model of such. In addition, it can be used to present various spells in D&D 4E as well as 3.x rules, and possibly in other rpg's too. And when trying to find more use for it, a subterranean hand that grabs people from the surface sounds quite mean...