Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Other Adventures => Topic started by: grubman on January 15, 2010, 02:25:16 PM
-
For my upcoming Twilight campaign (http://www.worldoftwilight.com/index.html ). I haven’t received my miniatures from oversees yet, so I’ve started on terrain. By the time the minis arrive, I should have my table ready to go.
The home of Nisk (Fubarnii Engineer)
Nisk’s modest residence hosts a ripe trup garden. Trups are a sensitive fungus that require a carefully tended 5 season incubation period before becoming edible. Needless to say, this rare delicacy makes Nisk the envy of his neighbors (and the bane of young Fubarnii who try to sneak into the garden when the Engineer is at work!). Of course, the trup garden explains the Ubii pen. The Ubii will eat half of the harvests yield, but since properly grown trups require the droppings of Ubii as fertilizer, it’s a fair trade off. Of course, fat little Ubii all penned up make a nice target for any Devanu, and Nisk does live on the far border of the Imperial city. Fortunately the Engineers skills are well regarded by the other Fubarnii, and the militia is more than willing to protect the eccentric…and his trup garden.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010873.jpg)
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010874.jpg)
Creation Notes: Did you ever have one of those projects where you get this awesome image of how the finished piece is going to turn out…and then everything seems to go wrong! Well, this was one of those projects and I seriously felt like scrapping it half way through.
The gift boxes I used for this had a tin foil coating, and despite priming them right away, they still were very slick and nothing wanted to glue properly (If one more thing fell off during creation and handling I was going to throw it in the trash!).
In any case, it came out fairly well. Not the dramatic scene I had in mind…but functional. It has a sort of “strange” alien type look to it that I like, but looks just a little too much like a kids science diorama. Needless to say, the hardcore terrain makers are going to hit me with questions like: How do the Ubii get in and out of the pen with no gate? But I’ll just shrug off such things. :)
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010871.jpg)
For the curious, I picked up the gift boxes and plastic dinosaurs at the dollar store (all good terrain projects start with a trip to the dollar store!). Basswood sticks and washers came from the local hardware store. The trups and “exploding” tree are bits and pieces of fake flowers my wife asked me to throw away for her. The whole thing is mounted on a cut piece of hardboard. The flock, paint, foliage, balsa scraps, paper plate, straw, ect are just things I had laying around already.
Total cost for this project was around $6 (USD).
-
By the time the minis arrive, I should have my table ready to go.
A table covered in scenery of that calibre will look great, no question. I look forward to seeing the whole thing set up :)
It has a sort of “strange” alien type look to it that I like, but looks just a little too much like a kids science diorama.
It looks fine. You will probably find your groove as you make more pieces of terrain in the same style and irt will simultaneously start to look more like you originally intended it to and yet find its own character. Thats what I tend to find at least.
The whole "Twilight" world gives me a kind of Brian Froud does Fraggle Rock feel. Thats a good thing I think. I prefer that to *yet another* another darker looking setting in the vein of The Dark Crystal (which was also designed by Brian Froud and the Henson crowd I am pretty sure...).
Anyway, I think that you got that look very well (and I dont mean to offend or trivialise by mentioning Fraggle Rock. I think that that type of look is appropriate for the setting).
-
I love the plants!!!
-
The whole "Twilight" world gives me a kind of Brian Froud does Fraggle Rock feel. Thats a good thing I think. (and I dont mean to offend or trivialise by mentioning Fraggle Rock.
I agree...and no offense taken. I was looking for something decidely un-dark when I went out searching for a new game to play.
I love the plants!!!
I'm trying to make it look "different" without stepping on the designers (of the game world) toes (since the world is still int he development phase). I'm going for a sort of familiar/alien look with lots of greens and browns, but with a splash of really bright colors here and there. I'm assuming hte owrld is semi-tropical, or at least hot...even though there are apparentl;y snow covered mountains.
-
Great work as always Dave :)
I'll be following your progress with interest.
-
Devanu Tower Ruins
When the Fubarnii won their freedom from the fierce Devanu, they destroyed each of their former master’s towers. These rubble strewn ruins are not considered cursed ground, but rather revered as places of joy and thanksgiving, as they represent the beginning of the Empire and the freedom of the Fubarnii. Still, one must never forget the suffering of ones ancestors who paid for the price of freedom with their blood. The most renowned Fubarnii poets write the ballads of each towers falling, and these poems are displayed at the site of each ruin.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010876.jpg)
Design Notes: I wanted to represent some spots of “difficult” terrain on the battlefield, and came up with this quick and easy idea. The rocks are just stuff I went outside and found, and the poem boards are scraps of balsa wood left over from cutting out a bunch of Hexes (had no idea what to do with all those triangles ;)). More or less, the whole thing was free and only took about an hour this morning to produce (using the hairdryer to speed up the glue/paint drying…did I mention hat I’m impatient?).
-
Top notch, as always, Grubman!
-
Fantastic. Thoroughly impressed.
-
Nice and different. You have taken your new project and run with it in a great direction.
-
Nice and different. You have taken your new project and run with it in a great direction.
It's neat to find a game that is developed enought to play, and a world that is framed up...but still early enough in the development that you can "do your own thing" with it.
-
Not real happy with my weird trees/forests, I went back and reworked them. I’m pretty sure everyone will agree that the new one on the right is better than the old one on the left? Now to redo them all, and the tree next to Nisk’s house.
The Jupa-trea (special thanks to Beastlord (FoD))
The jupa-trea is a regular sight in the wooded lands surrounding most Fubarnii settlements. This plants tightly wrapped globular foliage holds a pressurized gases and several seedpods. When the season becomes warm enough, the gas expands and causes the globes to “explode” scattering seeds as far as 20 spans. Fortunately, the Jupa-trea is only dangerous to the Buzdar, the reptilian bird that feeds on the insects in the branches…and is sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time!
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010880.jpg)
-
I love it! It really give the feel of an alien planet. Real cool!
-
You certainly are a prolific terrain maker, it's good to see several pieces done already!
-
Never heard of this whole Twilight thing, but it admittedly sounds like fun. Although I don't see myself giving in to another project (yet ::) ), I love its approach and have already a lot of ideas how to use the miniatures in my sci-fi games. So, thanks for the heads up!
You're doing a very good job with your terrain pieces; as far as I can see they perfectly catch the games' atmosphere. Superb! :-*
-
prolific
Impatient, you mean :) Once I get going on a project I can't stop. It's like new love calling to me and it's hard to think about anything else...until a new love comes along ;)
-
Replaced the “tree” I wasn’t satisfied with. I’m much happier with the new look (although I see I need to touch up a little paint). Much less like the “diorama” I mentioned before IMHO.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010883.jpg)
-
More Ruins…or the big CHEAT!
OK, I know terrain building purists will probably call me a cheese-master, but I saw this aquarium piece at the local dept. store for $8 and saw the potential.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010882.jpg)
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010885.jpg)
-
they work for me
-
Feral Camp
I was on the Forum of Doom this morning and read this little blurb by Mike Thorp, the mastermind behind Twilight:
“The Ferals believe in spirits that keep an eye on them - symbols carved in stones and filled with phosphorescent paint follow their routes.”
This inspired me to make another terrain piece for my game. I figured since I wouldn’t be doing many more, I’d go ahead and make a sort of step-by-step so interested people can see the kind of crap I do.
At first, I was just going to make a rock with some carvings in. Then I got all motivated (stupid) and decided to make a little Feral camp with a lean-to (I assume they are sort of nomads).
So I went about looking for junk to build this with.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010887.jpg)
First thing was to cut a base out of hardboard and sand it down. Then I found a scrap chunk of Styrofoam (thank goodness we just purchased a new vacuum cleaner and I had some packing material) for the big rock, Next, a few stones out of the driveway. For the lean-to I had some bass wood sticks in my pile. No animals were hurt (other than their feelings) but, for the leather top I stole a chunk off of my dog’s tattered blanket and for a fur bedroll I stole one of my cats many toys. In the garage I found a few nails and picture frame wire. An electric cap and a screw just might be turned into something (?).
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010889.jpg)
First thing first was to carve the main rock out of the chunk of Styrofoam using a hot knife. Next, I arranged these with some stones to form the back wall with the runes and the fire pit. Glued it all with old reliable Elmer’s glue.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010894.jpg)
A quick paint job with some drybrushing and the base is ready to go.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010897.jpg)
Now to the hard part. Most of the things I did on the lean-to were experimental, so I fully expected it to turn out like shit. Fortunately that didn’t happen…well, in my opinion anyway ;).
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010892.jpg)
I assembled my bits, cut the cloth and cat toy fur to the right size, and forced the screw into the top of the electric cap (filling the Philips head). I also cut some basswood sticks for the lean-to’s frame. I cut the wire to about the right size, and rolled one up for a rope.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010893.jpg)
I saturated the fur in inkwash (not sure how that would turn out). I knew I was going to want to paint and drybrush the “leather” so I saturated the cloth in Elmer’s glue and let that dry with the frame glued to it as well.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010899.jpg)
When the lean-to top was dry (with a little help from the hair dryer) I went ahead and painted it, and assembled the lean-to (not an easy task, let me tell you! The darn thing kept falling over and had to be tweaked a bunch of times before I got it together right.
Then I painted up the remaining lean-to parts (the rope, spikes, ect.) and flocked up the base with my special mix (OK it’s only static grass and earth blend flock…but the static grass is special all the way from Germany).
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010903.jpg)
I finished up the fur by drybrushing it a bit and actually got a pretty good look. I stained a few scraps of balsa wood I carved up for firewood, and made a spear out of a carved basswood stick and the tip of a spear from a Mageknight Gnoll figure.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010901.jpg)
I painted up the water jug with some paint with a little bit of sand in it and the drybrushed it. It was then that I realized how HUGE it was, probably towering over a Furarniii. I was going to just scrap it, then I got this image of a Baruk carrying these huge jugs across the Argoran Wastes. I decided it was a cool idea, so kept it.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/baruk.jpg)
Then it was simply a matter of adding some plants and bushes and arranging the bits, and tadaah…
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010906.jpg)
-
Cool! Great work! :-*
-
Well, my 4 day weekend is over…here’s what I have to show for it. Not to shabby if I say so myself. I doubt if I’ll use all this terrain in an individual scenario, but this shows how it looks together.
Looks like I’ll still need some water, perhaps a creek and a pond or swamp…we’ll see how long it takes for my miniatures to get here, and how bored I get in the interim.
(http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s182/grubman/P1010907.jpg)
-
Well, my 4 day weekend is over…here’s what I have to show for it. Not to shabby if I say so myself.
That table looks great, very consistent. Thats the big advantage of making a whole lot of stuff in a short period, rather than building it up gradually over years I suppose.
It also looks very practical to play on and easy to store (in so far as terrain is ever easy to store...)
Nice work. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the Twilight forces :)
-
I've no idea what's going on with the background to your game, but the terrain is superb and looks genuinely "alien".
I'll have to do some googling for "Twilight" and see what it's all about :D
-
Well, it's obviously not about teen vampires, so I'll have to dig a bit deeper lol
(edit) Oh, I see, it's that cool new range of bizarre aliens from Hasslefree.
Great stuff!