How to make 3D dungeon tiles

[TheBrokenCage]

Hi everyone,

I run a hobby blog over at http://www.jimmiwazere.wordpress.com and I’ve recently finished off a four part series on how to make the 3D dungeon tiles in the image below. They’re dead easy to make, cheap, effective and are perfect for games like Dungeon Saga, Dungeons & Dragons, my own “Dungeons of Orkney” and many others!

If you want to give it a go, please follow the links below. If you do give it a go, please do me a solid by visiting my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/jimmiwazere and dropping me an image of your tiles – I’d be really stoked to see how you got on!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Thanks for reading, I look forward to any questions!

Jimmi

P.s Some teasers below

[Connectamabob]

Looks neat!

There are some things I'd do differently. For an inexperienced sculptor, I'd recommend using polymer clay or a more rigid (i.e. carvable/sandable) putty to make the master, as that will give you better control and more options (like the option to sand off that lip on the edges of stones from your tool dragging clay upward on the return stroke) Also I'd say use epoxy glue instead of putty to make the castings, as it'll be cheaper by volume if you buy the large bottles, will adhere to your substrate tiles more securely, and it'll fill the mold and grab detail better.

There's a tendency in the gaming hobby to use GS for EVERYTHING, whether it's the best material or not. I guess because the folks in question only know modeling via gaming, do all their shopping at a game shop (or a GW shop), and don't know there's better stuff at hardware stores or other types of hobby shops. It's an expensive bad habit IMO.

[Hupp n at em]

There's a tendency in the gaming hobby to use GS for EVERYTHING, whether it's the best material or not. I guess because the folks in question only know modeling via gaming, do all their shopping at a game shop (or a GW shop), and don't know there's better stuff at hardware stores or other types of hobby shops. It's an expensive bad habit IMO.

Yeah I've noticed this as well, I try to conserve my GS and use cheaper alternatives like DAS for things like bases.

[tyrionhalfman]

Nice idea. Thanks for sharing

[TheBrokenCage]

Looks neat!

There are some things I'd do differently. For an inexperienced sculptor, I'd recommend using polymer clay or a more rigid (i.e. carvable/sandable) putty to make the master, as that will give you better control and more options (like the option to sand off that lip on the edges of stones from your tool dragging clay upward on the return stroke) Also I'd say use epoxy glue instead of putty to make the castings, as it'll be cheaper by volume if you buy the large bottles, will adhere to your substrate tiles more securely, and it'll fill the mold and grab detail better.

There's a tendency in the gaming hobby to use GS for EVERYTHING, whether it's the best material or not. I guess because the folks in question only know modeling via gaming, do all their shopping at a game shop (or a GW shop), and don't know there's better stuff at hardware stores or other types of hobby shops. It's an expensive bad habit IMO.

I've never used Polymer Clay. Any recommended brands?

[SotF]

One other thing that might be easier is to pretty much go a different method than clays or greenstuff.

I'm currently planning on building a dungeon tile set using something closer to the 2.5d setup, with the 1.25" spaces and 2.5" tiles for it.

The Woodcrafter sells precut plywood squares of a good quality, and I can glue foamcore to it and sculpt into the foamcore while using the square wooden dowels (or whatever they're called) for the walls. If you want to cast them up, the materials work well in being cast, and if you really want the smaller tiles, well, there are also 1" squares of hardwood that could do the trick if you want it.

[Connectamabob]

I've never used Polymer Clay. Any recommended brands?

"Super Sculpy" or "Super Sculpy Firm". "Super Sculpy" has the best sculpting behavior of the clays I've used, but its translucent fleshy color is not the best (sub-surface scattering plays tricks on your eyes, causing you to see shapes and details inaccurately). Super Sculpy Firm is opaque grey, which is better for seeing what you're doing accurately, but also becomes very rubbery when applied thickly (not in the same way GS is), so IMO is not well suited to freestanding work like figures/statues. Should be A-OK for terrain tiles though.

Beware of the bulk white/terra-cotta colored regular "Sculpy", as it is rubbery, overly soft, and crumbly. With skill it's certainly possible to use, but it's very fussy and not very durable. It is the cheapest, but you get what you pay for. If you ever buy this, get the terra-cotta color rather than white, as it will be MUCH easier to see what you are doing.

Sculpy II and Sculpy III are okay-ish, but not as good as Super Sculpy. Also more expensive by volume (only seems cheaper 'cause it's sold in much smaller bricks)

Fimo's working properties vary wildly from one color to the next. It comes in "soft" and "classic" varieties, the former is better for big stuff, the latter for small stuff. Some gaming mini sculptors like the "champagne" color of the "classic" line, but I am not a fan myself. Also more expensive for the same reasons as Sculpy II and III.

Avoid Kato Clay. In my experience it is very loose and very sticky.

My own fav is to mix one full brick of Super Sculpy with one mini-brick each of Fimo Classic white and Fimo Classic Black. This gives me a nice grey clay that is a bit firmer than Super Sculpy, but without the rubberiness issues of Super Sculpy Firm. This is more expensive and time consuming than an off-the-shelf clay though, so prolly not what you want to start with, especially if you're new to either polymer clay or sculpting.