rSometimes the most exciting part of a project isn’t what you’re building—it’s deciding how you’re going to build it.

Lately I’ve been having an absolute blast putting together terrain for my Wild West games. Trees are growing, buildings are appearing, and little by little the world of Complaint is beginning to take shape. But as satisfying as 3D printing and laser-cut kits can be, I found myself wanting something different.

I wanted to build with my hands again.

More Than Just Making Terrain

Watching battle reports from channels like Two Fat Lardies reminded me why handcrafted tables have always appealed to me.

There’s something about timber that’s difficult to reproduce with MDF or resin. Even after adding texture with a wire brush, laser-cut kits still have a certain flatness to them. They can look fantastic, but scratch-built scenery has an irregularity that’s difficult to fake.

Every plank is slightly different.

Every corner has a story.

Every little mistake becomes part of the finished piece.

That character is something I’ve really been craving.

Rediscovering Old Materials

The funny thing was, I didn’t think I even had any craft sticks left.

After a bit of rummaging through what used to be our spare bedroom—and is now more of a storage room while I wait to build a proper workshop—I stumbled across an old box of popsicle sticks.

Perfect.

Those humble little sticks have been part of my hobby for years. In fact, back in 2008 they helped build the original version of Complaint, alongside my good friends Scott Reed from Tide World Studios and Adam Rogers from Green Leaf Terrain.

Finding that box felt a little like catching up with an old friend.

A Better Way to Add Texture

My first experiment was to texture the timber using the same wire brush technique I’d previously used on MDF.

It worked brilliantly.

The only problem was my fingers.

Holding each stick against a spinning wire wheel quickly became uncomfortable, and every now and then one of the wire bristles would remind me it was there.

So, like most hobby projects, it became an exercise in problem solving.

Instead of holding the brush by hand, I mounted it in a cordless drill.

Then I clamped the drill to the workbench.

Finally, I locked the trigger in place.

Suddenly I wasn’t fighting the tool anymore—I was simply feeding timber through it. It was faster, safer and far more enjoyable.

Sometimes the best hobby discoveries aren’t techniques at all.

They’re simply better ways of working.

Building a Lumber Yard

Once the sticks were textured, it was time to cut them into usable planks.

My old Dremel Moto-Saw hadn’t seen much action in years, but after digging it out and temporarily fixing it to the bench, it quickly reminded me why I’d kept it.

Instead of carefully cutting every plank by hand with a hobby knife, I could produce a growing pile of timber in all sorts of widths.

The improvised fence wasn’t particularly accurate, but that actually became an advantage.

Some planks ended up wide.

Others were incredibly narrow.

Exactly the sort of variation you’d expect from rough-cut frontier timber.

By the end of the evening I wasn’t building a single model anymore.

I was building a stockpile of materials for dozens of future projects.

Enjoying the Process

With a growing pile of timber beside me, I glued together a simple cardboard shell for what would become the next piece of scenery: a humble little outhouse for the Wells & Fargo depot outside Complaint.

I could have downloaded and printed one.

In fact, I’d already found one online.

But halfway through searching I caught myself.

Why was I looking for a shortcut?

Scratch building is one of the parts of this hobby I enjoy most.

I don’t mind if it takes longer.

In many ways, I’ve always been more interested in building miniature worlds than simply playing games inside them.

The game is often just the excuse to make another building.

One Board at a Time

This project wasn’t really about making an outhouse.

It was about slowing down.

Experimenting with materials.

Rediscovering old tools.

Remembering that not every problem needs to be solved with a 3D printer or a laser cutter.

Sometimes all you need is a pile of timber, a few simple tools and an evening at the workbench.

And if all goes to plan, that little pile of popsicle sticks is going to become an entire Wild West town, one plank at a time.