Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Willypold on January 16, 2011, 04:21:16 PM
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Hi, everyone! This is my first post here. I sort of found this forum by way of Anpu, keeping an eye on what he's doing with his Fallout layout.
I've wanted to build a 3d Space Hulk layout ever since the release of the 1st edition, and have tried different mediums for this - paper, cardboard, plasticard... Some years ago I discovered Hirst Arts after a short affair with Dwarven Forge. Originally I started buying the regular science fiction molds from HA for use with Star Wars Miniatures using 1 inch floortiles, and then branched into the Gothic and Egyptian lines using 1.5 inch floortiles for HorrorClix. That got me thinking about Space Hulk, as the 1 inch tiles are too small for the SH figures, but the 1.5 inch would be perfect, although no such were available for the Sci-fi range of molds. A number of gamers at the HA board were discussing various possibilities when Bruce Hirst answered our request for science fiction 1.5 inch floortiles. Half a year later, in the fall of 2009, Bruce introduced the Industrial Edge mold specifically for Space Hulk.
Last January I began my ultimate Space Hulk endeavour using the 1.5 inch tiles, the new Industrial Edge and Machinery molds.
The start of the high wall version, with some sections with just the Industrial Edge mold (in brown) as originally envisioned by Bruce:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4450916433_625f1e3efb_o.jpg)
Working towards a complete set for Suicide Mission:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/4558657490_babc5919af_o.jpg)
Close-up of a corridor:
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4674198300_4f2285abb3_b.jpg)
Basic construction
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2790/4450856203_4e9a8eebf3_o.jpg)
Assembled:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/4450856447_0c9c348e82_o.jpg)
Combining an Egyptian desert and Space Hulk corridors:
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4778356340_64b0f5d590_b.jpg)
A lot of the details on the walls are from the Machinery molds, which originally were meant for building machines and stuff:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2680/4394557859_8c5338fbe5_o.jpg)
My original 1.5 inch HeroClix/HorrorClix board, which was an adaptation of the Hirst Arts Gothic Arena project intended for MageKnight:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/4502345674_847153d44c_o.jpg)
And finally a full view of the Egyptian temple area at present:
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4350355563_62daaa8f47_o.jpg)
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Welcome aboard and Wow! fantastic job.
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Glad you found your way here! Your spacehulk build and VitruvianZekes of the hirstarts forums fallout build is what inspired me to start building my vault.
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Extremely well done! I'd love to play on a board like that.
Duncan
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That's a fabulous layout; well done, sir - and welcome aboard :)
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Thats some neat stuff!
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Welcome and great job!
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Nice work. I may have to invest in some of those moulds.
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Welcome.
Very nice work.
Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the words of welcome! A few words about the construction:
Everything is based on 5 mm black foamboard. The goal for the Space Hulk set is to have a full set of 63 board sections, which means that I will be able to set up any of the base set scenarios from all three editions of the game. So far 32 of the sections are finished and another three are laid out ready for assembly in sub-sections. The floor and walls are kept separate until fully painted.
All of the pieces are spraypainted using Army Painter Army Green. Details are painted with a mix of Games Workshop and P3 colours, which is followed by a wash of Devlan Mud. All of the green surfaces are then drybrushed with GW Knarloc Green. I really like the contrast created by the Army Green / Devlan Mud / Knarloc Green sequence, something the observant observer may have noticed... :-)
The list of molds include the two Machinery molds, the Industrial Edge mold, almost all of the 1.5 inch floor panel molds, and most of the other science fiction molds. Each wall is 0.5 inch thick, consisting of two 0.25 inch layers. The outer layer is a regular pattern of drains and grates, which are really supposed to be floor panels. The inner layer is a mix of different wall panels, 1 inch floor panels, decorated with Machinery mold pieces, GW bitz, tank parts, and just about anything suitable. The Industrial mold edge pieces are squeezed in between the floor panels and the walls, and are occasionally supplanted by pipe sections from the narrow Pipe mold and various Machinery pieces.
If I were to start over again I may have chosen a different pattern for the wall tops, as each board section requires four each of these, and you only get one of each on the mold. Anpu has solved this problem by also using Industrial Edge pieces on top. This pattern is perfect for the storage boxes I use, though, with just 1 mm to spare. I began this project in January last year, and had hoped to have the full set by the end of the year. Ok, this year, then!
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Holy crap, that's good!
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Very nicely done.
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All of the pieces are spraypainted using Army Painter Army Green. Details are painted with a mix of Games Workshop and P3 colours, which is followed by a wash of Devlan Mud. All of the green surfaces are then drybrushed with GW Knarloc Green. I really like the contrast created by the Army Green / Devlan Mud / Knarloc Green sequence, something the observant observer may have noticed... :-)
You obviously have a good eye for colour and how to apply it effectively. The models aside, the visual affect is great.
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Very impressive. All the mouldings look very clean and the overall effect is really something. Top marks. 8)
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This looks amazing and very tempting!
But I have a bunch of the fantasy moulds and found out you really need a LOT of castings to build even a simple piece and, more importantly, that I hate casting them.
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Remarkable work - ambitious in scope and excellent in execution.
I'm not sure I could bring myself to use the Hirst Arts moulds in place of more traditional scratchbuilding techniques, but these boards show off their usefulness and versatility exquisitely.
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This looks amazing and very tempting!
But I have a bunch of the fantasy moulds and found out you really need a LOT of castings to build even a simple piece and, more importantly, that I hate casting them.
Yes, that is the catch with HirstArts...
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For those parts that are repetitive, like the wall tops, have you considered making a master assembled piece(s) and making your own mold from RTV silicone? Since you still seem to have a ways to go, it might still be worth it.
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I've considered it, but it isn't that much of a problem yet. I've started to look into the task of making my own molds, and eventually I'll get around to actually buying the things I need. It hasn't become a top priority yet, mostly because I always include the Machinery mold whenever I do any casting, be it for the SH board or any of the other three parallel Gothic Arena style projects - the Egyptian temple, a large indoor sci-fi board, and a Gothic environment. All of these use 3x3 board sections with separate wall pieces. If you look at the sci-fi board particularly you'll see how it is constructed. (The walls have been repainted green since the picture was taken.) There is a project page at the Hirst Arts site showing the geometry of the wall, corner and cross pieces.
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Brilliant setup and colour choice, just love it!
:-*
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Beautiful terrain. I really want to invest in Hirst art molds, but the idea of casting so much is just too daunting. Lovely work though.
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Daunting? Perhaps. I find the casting process to be quite meditative. I spend about 15-20 minutes cleaning the molds from the previous session, mixing plaster and pouring the selected molds. I set the timer for the appropriate scraping time, scrape excess plaster when the time is up, and then set the timer for 30 minutes. Demold, and clean the molds again. When I cast I usually put in between two and four sessions per casting occasion, resulting in anywhere between 75 to 200 different blocks, somewhat depending on the molds, of course. Actual casting time - excluding the curing time - to get this amount of material is 1 to 2 hours of work. My typical SH corridors use anywhere between 30 and 80 different pieces. Is it worth it? As long as the casting part of the process is fun, or at least not boring, it's definitely worth it!
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These look absolutely stunning! ;D
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Beatiful work! I can imagine this will stay fun if you enjoy the casting process as well, I never got into the HirstArts stuff and I think the casting will put me off as well, so keep at it! 8)
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I finally got in touch with a friend who took some pictures of the set when it was actually played with at Stockholms spelkonvent 2010 (the Stockholm game convention) in September. I had brought my own camera to the event, but had forgotten to replace the memory card. Anyway, here are a few action shots by way of Fredrik:
Final round just before the Marine victory in Suicide Mission:
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i460/willypold/ssk_1.jpg)
The set-up from another angle. One 5-square board section was still not completed, which is why I used some of the Egyptian tiles for the entrance/Marine starting point:
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i460/willypold/ssk_2.jpg)
Close-up of the Terminators advancing through the space hulk:
(http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i460/willypold/ssk_3.jpg)
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Top notch!! I have made my own molds and for the hassle and price you are better off going with hirst.
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Wow very nice!
I'm just starting to use Hirst blocks myself, might be a bit until I can do something this good!