Six Years In — Building MTG Terrain & Scenery Around Full-Time Work

Six Years In — Building MTG Terrain & Scenery Around Full-Time Work

Six years, countless superglued fingers, eighteen 3D printers, and more XPS foam than I could ever count later, MTG Terrain & Scenery is still creating — quietly, steadily, and in its own way.

When I first started making tabletop terrain and wargaming scenery, there was no big business plan behind it. It began where most hobby projects begin: at home, with an idea, a need to build scenery for Rangers of Shadow Deep, and the simple enjoyment of making something by hand. I loved seeing how a hill, ruin, scenic base, or scatter terrain piece could change the feel of a game. It made the tabletop feel alive.

MTG Terrain & Scenery grew out of that same love for wargaming. For me, wargaming has always been about the experience and the narrative — and terrain helps tell that story. During lockdown in 2020, making scenery became a creative outlet and a way to keep busy. What started as evenings spent building and experimenting slowly became something other wargamers wanted for their own tables. Before long, I was creating handcrafted wargaming terrain, which later led to 3D printed miniatures, scenic bases, hills, hobby supplies, and custom terrain commissions.

Growing One Evening at a Time

The biggest challenge has always been time. I work full time, so the business has had to grow in the spaces around everyday life: evenings, weekends, and the odd hour here and there. Some nights are spent cleaning prints, packing orders, replying to messages, or updating product listings. Other nights are for designing, testing, painting, or trying to get an idea out of my head and onto the workbench before it disappears.

Running a home-based hobby business is not just the making. There are photos to take, descriptions to write, materials to order, parcels to pack, and plans to make for the next printed-to-order product or terrain piece. It can be tiring, but it is also rewarding because every part of it is connected to the hobby that started it.

Keeping the Hobby Personal

One lesson I have learned is that when a hobby becomes a business, you have to protect the part that made you love it in the first place. For me, that is the creative side: building terrain, working with 3D printed miniatures, painting, testing ideas, and imagining how a piece will sit on someone’s battlefield. I do not just want to sell products. I want to make table-ready scenery that helps people enjoy their games more.

That personal touch matters. Whether I am refining a resin printed miniature, making a scenic base, preparing a handcrafted terrain order, or planning a commission build, I try to picture the hobbyist who will use it. I think about the army it might sit beside, the campaign it might become part of, and the moment it helps make a table feel more complete. Those thoughts keep the work grounded.

Learning to Grow Slowly

Building MTG Terrain & Scenery around a full-time job means progress often comes in small steps: one product page improved, one batch of prints prepared, one order packed carefully, one idea tested after work. It does not always feel dramatic, especially when the to-do list keeps growing, but those small steps are what have carried the business forward.

I have also had to learn not to compare my pace with bigger companies or full-time crafters. MTG Terrain & Scenery is a UK-based, hobbyist-run business built from home, with limited hours and a lot of care. I would rather grow steadily and send out work I am proud of than rush and lose the quality and personal feel that matter most.

Being Honest with Customers

Because many items are handmade, customised, or printed to order, communication is important. I have learned that it is better to be honest about lead times than to overpromise. Most hobbyists understand that a small independent wargaming business works differently from the big brands. They know there is a person behind the order, not just a stock room.

That is part of what makes it special. When someone orders from MTG Terrain & Scenery, they are supporting a real hobby business and a real maker. Every crafted terrain piece has passed through my hands, and I never want to lose sight of that — with one important exception: Mrs MTG, the master crafter of XPS bricks.

A fantasy watchtower and sci-fi ruins — two works in progress, each taking shape piece by piece.

Making Space at Home

A home terrain business has a way of spreading out. Tools, boxes, resin, foam, flock, packaging, unfinished projects, and finished orders all need space. I have had to become more organised because time is limited, and I want the hours I do have to go into making, packing, and improving rather than clearing a path to the workbench.

It is not always glamorous, but it is part of the story. The business is still built around everyday life, and that means finding practical ways to keep going without letting it take over everything.

Why I Keep Going

There are long days and late nights, and there are moments when the list feels longer than the time available. But then an order is finished, packed, and sent out, and I know it will become part of someone else’s gaming table. That feeling makes the effort worthwhile.

MTG Terrain & Scenery is still growing, still learning, and still being built one evening and one order at a time. It began with a love of tabletop terrain, miniature wargaming, and making things by hand, and that is still what keeps it moving. If you are building something of your own around a full-time job, start where you are, use the time you have, and protect the part of the hobby that made you want to begin.