Terrain workshop @ Casa del Hammers Oct 9-10-11

[Skrapwelder]

Out of curiosity, how do you make felt?

Originally out of piss and wool, I believe, but this is hardly the thread for that, is it?

Just substitute luke soap water for the piss, and you'll be fine (Sorry, HAD to reply  )

Which is in greater supply in a kindergarten class?

[Mad Doc Morris]

I'm fearing for the bunch of wonderfully painted four-legged friends next to the mud work. That cries for some unhappy accidents...

[Hammers]

Worry not. They trotted off safely.

Update:

The dry pigment Celluclay came off better looking when dry than the wood stain variant. I was a better nuance and slight variations in colour made it look more natural looking. I will use woodstain anyway for economical reasons.

I have to say, again, that the Celluclay/white glue combo makes for a very, very durable surface. Will probably be able to pass this gameboard on on to fiver, son of hammershield.

[Col.Stone]

Hammer, what DIY has the burnt umbra pigments?

[Hammers]

Fredells in Sickla. I am sure you'll find it in good art stores and ironmongeries like Wirströms to.

[Hammers]

Today I trimmed the extruded styrofoam and glued them to 60 by 60cm MDF boards, ten the amount of them. Well, two of them are without MDF backing cause you only get eight out of a full board.



As you can see the only styrene I could get hold on was this ridged stuff. I seriously encourage my Swedish fellows to renew their efforts to find plain stuff without ridges. Trimming the ridges and glueing the trimmed bit back on the opposing side really feels like tedious and unnecessary work when you have limited time at your hands.



I had planned to use the Swedish equivalent to Liquid Nails, Casco SuperSet, becaus of its superior bond and quicker setting time (white glue dries slowly trapped between non-breathing materials). Twas a bad idea. It has no flow, is hard work to apply and needs a good deal of pressure or it will cause a gap between the foam and the board. So i resorted to good ol' white glue and I'm hoping for the best.



In the above image you can see where I need to glue the trimmed off bit from the other side. Annoying, that.

I cut out a river gorge in two of the boards (as per plans in previous post). Six were left plain and two are saved for later projects. The are now all ready to be sculpted, sprinkled and painted.

[Captain Blood]

  I can see the packet of headache tablets in the bottom left of the picture!
This terrain building lark certainly exacts a toll!

Seriously though, it's a great project.

The pink / blue high density polystyrene (un-ridged) is fairly readily available on eBay here in the UK...
I'm sure sellers would ship to Sweden, and the shipping can't be that much, since the stuff weighs virtually nothing!

[Hammers]

  I can see the packet of headache tablets in the bottom left of the picture!
This terrain building lark certainly exacts a toll!

It's not headache tablets, it's 'Ryssfemmor'. It's a... well, never mind. Let's just say they make me able to complete the project quicker.

I just remember that I forgot to mention something, I somewhat regret that I listened to the advice to use MDF. I bought 6mm sheet which is rigid and sturdy, alright, but much too heavy. I should have gone for the much cheaper and lighter masonite instead. Since 50 mill extruded styrofoam doesn't flex, when sandwiched to the foam the masonite wont flex either. When you cut down to the masonite you get just as smooth a surface as with MDF to use for rivers etc.

[Hammers]

Here's a bit of detail for my NWF modular board: a rope bridge.

I soldered the piece together from sheet brass and wall hanging brass wire and a length of 8mm dowel.



I've got plenty of coffee stirrers for the planking and will do some more detailing with ordinary shrunk cotton string.

[Overlord]

Here's a bit of detail for my NWF modular board: a rope bridge.

I soldered the piece together from sheet brass and wall hanging brass wire and a length of 8mm dowel.



I've got plenty of coffee stirrers for the planking and will do some more detailing with ordinary shrunk cotton string.

Isambard Kingdom Hammershield. 
I've been over real world bridges that were a lot less substantial than yours.
Looks great, can't wait to see the finished item. 

[Hammers]

Well, I am sure it should be longer and ricketier but you have to make compromises to game board conditions. 

[twrchtrwyth]

That's brilliant Hammers.

[dodge]

Thats one great looking bridge you've got there

 

dodge

[Hammers]

Ooooh, my weekend of bliss went right down the toilet... Mrs h. took ill and did not go on her modern woman business trip with fiver, son og hemmarshield, which, in turn, meant that Arcticman and I could not pursue our (my?) higher goal and do the the NWF terrain as I planned.

BUT, the wife and the imp wnet away today on short notice, so I took the day doing my , well you know, stuff.

First, I took on advise (of my dear friend Arcticman and the warnings of my likewise dear freind Rhoderic) and went to a nearby pets hop and got 4 litres of sand. The reason is the I realize the I jus di not want spend x hrs washing a shovelful of free playground gravel from likewise free cat shit.

It was sort of a new experience, getting that sand. Huge place, that shop, and despite my hesitation against cage animals, lovely to see them. Also lovely to see the amount of terrain possibilities available, and they are not even aware of the market! I got 4 out of at least 10 different kind of granularities of washed talus from him @ 6 euro.

[Monty]

Hi Hammer,

I know this project (and topic...) is nearly two years old but how is it going?

Since I'm building a new gaming board myself I would appriciate some newer pictures a lot.

Cheers
Monty