Author Topic: W.I.P- Another Gold Mine (Read 8166 times)

cmsciulli · « **on:** July 08, 2009, 04:45:18 AM »

As you may have seen in a previous post, I have been working on some prospector figures and their pack mules. Well, where else do you go to prospect but a mine, and hopefully a gold or silver mine!

Inspired by Admiral Benbow's absolutely fantastic mine project- http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=7443.0 and based on the need to have a mine for an upcoming convention game, my father and I have taken it upon ourselves to make a mine. . . one week away from said convention!

Get out the straight jackets and strap yourselves in for the ride!

This is how it all started:

That's our original idea for how we wanted to build the height and where we wanted to place the mine entrances. The next step was to start cutting the styrofoam into a more mine/mountain-like shape:

Here we have done that and glued our pieces into place. We have also begun to build the mountain out using newspaper. These styrofoam pieces came from a box that contained my HP printer/scanner/copier, so there are plenty of odd angles and curves that we need to build out or that we can use to our advantage to create caves:

We want the back to have an Anasazi cliff dwelling feel because in our scenarios this mine is damned as it is part of a sacred Indian burial site.

Now that the basic shape and structure of the mine is there, it's time to apply a layer of plaster tape and plaster of paris in order to cover over all the newspaper and also to create a surface that is more textured and more durable so that we can apply paint, flocking etc:

Looking more like a mountain mine, but we need some boulders and rocks! We purchased silicon molds and a casting material from a local hobby store:

The rock molds were $9.00 US each and the casting material was $5.00 US for 2lbs. Yes, the molds are a bit pricey, however they are extremely easy to use, should last forever, and the results are great:

What fabulous rocks! I would really recommend these types of molds to any terrain builders out there, well worth the investment.

Now that we had rocks, it was time to add the rocks to our mountain. We used hot glue for this task, and it worked fairly well. We then primed the whole piece in brown:

It's looking more and more mine like every hour!

The next steps will be to paint this bad boy.

If any veteran terrain builders have any suggestions on materials, techniques etc. for any step in this process, please feel free to share!

bandit86 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:14:56 AM »

Very nice start, looking forward to watching the progress.

Malamute · « **Reply #2 on:** July 08, 2009, 08:22:11 AM »

Looking good so far.

Gluteus Maximus · « **Reply #3 on:** July 08, 2009, 08:43:54 AM »

Those moulds are quite expensive when looking at the initial outlay, but I imagine you will need a lot of rocky terrain, so they will become very economic once you get more done.

I'm tempted to get some myself, as they have uses for so many different game settings.

Looking good so far and I'm sure it will get even better

argsilverson · « **Reply #4 on:** July 08, 2009, 09:58:47 AM »

Very promising!

keep the good work!

cmsciulli · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2009, 03:52:05 PM »

Quote from: Gluteus Maximus on July 08, 2009, 08:43:54 AM

Those moulds are quite expensive when looking at the initial outlay, but I imagine you will need a lot of rocky terrain, so they will become very economic once you get more done.

I'm tempted to get some myself, as they have uses for so many different game settings.

Looking good so far and I'm sure it will get even better

I would highly recommend them. They are super easy to use when used in conjunction with a good casting product, you get great results, and they should last forever or close to it.

Like you said, if you plan on making a lot of terrain you will get your money's worth out of them, and they are fun to use!

I forgot to mention that the rocks took only 30mins-45mins to set up and then voila! I had rocks :-)

Hitman · « **Reply #6 on:** July 08, 2009, 03:56:14 PM »

Holy Toledo!! That is absolutely fantastic!! I always heard people describe how to do this, but to actually see it as a work in progress...simply put WOW!! I can hardly wait until the final product is done. Thanks a lot for sharing. You are truly a master terrain builder!! Keep up the amazing work!!

Regards,
Hitman

Aaron · « **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2009, 04:04:20 PM »

It is always amazing to me to see a pile of garbage turned into an beautiful terrain piece.

BunkerMonkey · « **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2009, 04:21:56 PM »

If I may quote Steve McQueen from "The Magnificent Seven",

"So far, so good."

Looking forward to see the entire board set up at the convention. If it's anything like your last couple of games, it should be an epic.

Glitzer · « **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2009, 04:57:54 PM »

whow, big, cool, speachless...

Tips? Not much, just use common sense. All the rocks from in the mine had to be brought somewhere, so there'll be propably some rock debris in front of the entrance.

Usually ther will be some kind of storage shed for the tools. That could be either in aouside of the mine or in a side tunnel.

You might want to keep it transportable, so use light materials. Shredded cork looks well for gravel, and broken cork looks good for rocks. Sure, it's a one use item compared to the moulds, but weight isn't a minor matter in projects as large as this one.

Lt. Hazel · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2009, 05:20:51 PM »

How cool is that??? The moulded rocks rock...äh...yes.

Calimero · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2009, 06:39:23 PM »

Looking good

Hope to see the update soon

Skunkape · « **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2009, 03:10:59 PM »

Looking good so far! I can say from personal experience, those molds will last a long time, if properly cared for. I've had molds from the same company for going on 25 years and mine are still in good shape. Granted, I'm not constantly using them, but they store well and mine are still as good today as the day I bought them!

cmsciulli · « **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2009, 04:07:59 PM »

Quote from: Skunkape on July 09, 2009, 03:10:59 PM

Looking good so far! I can say from personal experience, those molds will last a long time, if properly cared for. I've had molds from the same company for going on 25 years and mine are still in good shape. Granted, I'm not constantly using them, but they store well and mine are still as good today as the day I bought them!

Are they supposed to be stored or treated in any special way?

cmsciulli · « **Reply #14 on:** July 10, 2009, 04:58:03 AM »

Painted and flocked. . . please excuse the drying glue, it will show as white:

Will need to touch up the big, gray boulders with brown and red-brown paint so that they blend in more. Other than that, I think this project is close to complete.

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Author Topic: W.I.P- Another Gold Mine (Read 8166 times)

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