Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => "Build Something" Archiv => Topic started by: Wirelizard on April 07, 2021, 12:08:33 AM
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Need to rummage my brain and The Stash of Doom to see what I'm going to build, but I'm in.
Possibilities... some sort of rough going for Gaslands... a swamp bit to go along with my generic forest-y terrain... a splat of rough brushland/scrubby bit, also to match the generic forest-y terrain.
We shall see.
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Right, last night I came up with a Cunning Plan.
Going to do a large-ish base of rough ground, moorland/fen with a couple slabs of rock and a dark pool alongside the rocks. I've got a piece of 1mm plastic sheet about 10x11 that will serve as the base.
Might need to order some more coloured flower tufts for gorse/heather/etc, and I want to do do more Google Image rummaging for inspiration.
Looking for something that can serve on my 28mm ECW tables or the gunpowder fantasy/folk horror not-ECW parallel project, so I might add a modular bit that can hold extra bushes, a normal fairly historical standing stone, or a wildly over the top fantasy standing stone, depending on setting and desired mood...
Lots of great inspiration photos and articles on the web.
I like the look of the rock formations on the gloriously named Cheesewring Tor on Bodmin Moor:
(https://cdn.britannica.com/95/155295-050-968EE85B/Cheesewring-tor-Bodmin-Moor-Cornwall-England.jpg)
I also found the short Wikipedia article on Ward's Stone (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward%27s_Stone), which has some great photos, hidden stagnant pools, and apparently a cave system. Pure pulp history inspiration there!
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Ward%27s_Stone.jpg)
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Nice. Good material.
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Sat down with scrap insulation foam and the offcut of plastic card I'm using as a base to work out some rough massings, with some figures on 25mm bases to help with sizes and access here and there.
Dog soldiers vs some sort of winged demonic thing. Yes, the scribble in the triangular shape reads "Dark Pool of Dark Darkness"...
(https://i.imgur.com/OrpF1B5.jpg)
Side view, with bonus appearance by my talented and furry assistant.
(https://i.imgur.com/mNLZ8Zh.jpg)
The plan is to cut and sand down the styrofoam to angle it upward from the edges toward the gap in the centre there, with larger rocks on the one side. I'm going to have to close the cat out of my office/work cave to do the sanding of the foam, otherwise she'll track it all over the house...
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I love this idea. I know it's not what you describe, but the images definitely bring to mind the scene in Conan the Barbarian where he finds the Atlantean sword!
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Nice ideas Wirelizard :)
Similar to my own build,may have to rethink.
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Rather nice inspirations. Though I have to say the 'Forest of Bowland' does not look very "forest" like in that picture. lol
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Nice ideas Wirelizard :)
Similar to my own build,may have to rethink.
I think there's enough room in the BSC and in the general idea of "forbidding rock formations on a bleak tufty moor" for both, and Murphy's Law says that if we both do something on that theme, we'll wind up in the same initial round of voting on the BSC!
Basic landforms done, I think. Subsequent layers will hide many sins (and strengthen the whole thing) so the patchwork scrap foam fill doesn't bother me.
(https://i.imgur.com/7VxmzXj.jpg)
The line of circles pencilled into the gap are 25mm, to remind me to keep a usable area for figures along that stretch; the circle up on the lefthand styrofoam is 40mm and will probably be the modular bit I mentioned previously - normal rock formation, fairly ordinary standing stone, outlandish fantasy standing stone, etc. Somewhere around I have a few bits and pieces already mounted on 40mm circles, and I'm pretty certain the idea originally came from someone else here on LAF - Captain Blood or An Evil Giraffe or someone with a hilltop with a modular socket on the top, I think it was.
Rocks next; I think I'll dig out my rock molds and splat some premixed filler into them. The sides of the gap will be rocky, as will the still open corners of the gap at each end. The larger stones across the top of the piece I'll form from styrofoam and then cover in a layer of thinned plaster so the texture matches the actual plaster rocks.
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So you're building Shetland scenery Brian?? lol
Like Blackwolf's idea, I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
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Such a good start Brian- this looks to be a perfect piece for the edge of your 17thC English village.
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Definitely has the potential to be very atmospheric...just need to have some dry ice for a fog across the board :)
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Decided to do the rock formations in styrofoam; thought about using plaster but as messy as sanding styrofoam can be, plaster is worse!
Lots more to do but it's a start. I also put a layer of plaster down over the lower slopes that won't be getting rocks on them.
(https://i.imgur.com/NEB8Vgm.jpg)
The shores of the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness will be Milliput for it's combination of easy shaping and strength. I'll also put a bit of Milliput down a few places where the slope of the hills comes right up to the edge of the base, to avoid chipping and damage in use.
Many more rocks to shape and glue down!
A view from roughly eye height of a 28mm miniature:
(https://i.imgur.com/t75MBMu.jpg)
The stacked rocks have a toothpick down the centre of them, and looking at that photo I need to do some touchups with sandpaper on some of those surfaces, they're far too flat still!
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This is looking excellent :)
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Looking good 8)
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Cracking! That looks spot in for your first reference picture! 8)
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Cracking! That looks spot in for your first reference picture! 8)
I'm quite pleased with how the rocks are shaping up. Individually shaping each rock with sandpaper and such is fiddly but does look good.
Turns out that Cheesewring Tor, the location of my first inspiraition shot upthread, is actually even stranger than I first thought! Here's a different angle on one of the rock formations there:
(https://runic.com/gallery/albums/wild-places/cheesewring-tor-2.jpg)
Link: https://runic.com/gallery/wild-places/cheesewring-tor-2.jpg.php
Natural balancing rocks. Excellent!
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I think major construction has finished. Maybe?
(https://i.imgur.com/PcMtpo1.jpg)
Going to stare at it for a few days and see what I think. It might need a couple more rocks on the sloped (eventually grassy) parts to tie it all together.
There's going to be at least one more round of Milliput to fill some gaps, strengthen some of the edges where the slope comes close to the edge of the plastic base, and such.
The ring on the left there is for the modular rock feature, because why not? I already have a bunch of random scenery stuff mounted on 40mm bases: trees, standing stones from Fenris Games, etc which could slot in there, but I'm also doing a few new ones designed around this specific project.
Left to right, fairly basic rock, weird rock based on the awesome formation in the photo I shared just above, and wildly over the top huge. fantasy standing stone that's going to get humans skulls in carved alcoves and weird runs carved into it and all that gloriously weird stuff. The dog warriors are North Star gnolls with 17th C weapons from Warlord, on 25mm bases.
(https://i.imgur.com/7gRVtwd.jpg)
The modular rock formations can of course also be used on their own, and one of these days I'm going to do more scenery bases with 40mm "sockets" on them...
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I really like the shapes that you have achieved for your rocks. They certainly give the impression of eons of erosion.
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What's the white material you cut your bases from? Styrene sheet?
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What's the white material you cut your bases from? Styrene sheet?
Yup. I buy big sheets of .040/1mm plastic styrene sheet from my local plastics/signmaking place. Super cheap 4ft x 2ft sheets of exactly the same stuff the hobby stores want a fortune for for a page-size sheet.
I really like the shapes that you have achieved for your rocks. They certainly give the impression of eons of erosion.
Thanks! I'm pleased with these rocks; normally I don't do individually built up rocks like this but it seemed like the easiest way to build these formations. I shaped the pieces with medium grit sandpaper (120, I think) and then most of the cracks are put in with that readily available sculpting tool, the thumbnail.
I've done another round of Milliput to fill some of the gaps, strengthen the edges where the slopes come down to the plastic base, and smooth a few areas out. I think that's it, but as I said about the rock formations, I'm going to stare at the thing for a day or two and see how it looks. Assuming I am done adding rocks, next step is a thinned mix of plaster/glue/water over all the foam to add a bit of texture to the rocks and strengthen the whole thing. Wargaming scenery needs to be gamer-proof, after all.
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Yup. I buy big sheets of .040/1mm plastic styrene sheet from my local plastics/signmaking place. Super cheap 4ft x 2ft sheets of exactly the same stuff the hobby stores want a fortune for for a page-size sheet.
Thanks for the info Brian. I'll have to take a look at the plastics supplier I get my tubing from for flight stands.
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Really loving the stones; great work with the thumbnail. :D You are really flying along on this project.
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That looks amazing! :-*
What about having a plain base too with nothing on it. It means you can leave that gap if you want to. If you had put one on the opposite side, you could have retrofitted a bridge across it too.
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Ambitious and gorgeous. You have a real knack for this.
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Those rock formations look superb!
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Great work on those rock formations...just like the photos
8)
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The rocks look amazing; this is shaping up really well.
But what we're all waiting for, obviously, is the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness of course... :D
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The rocks look amazing; this is shaping up really well.
But what we're all waiting for, obviously, is the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness of course... :D
That might be tricky, because we're supposed to stop showing off WIP photos after the project is primed and the bulk of the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness is going to be paint/resin/gloss varnish/whatever effects... so you might have to wait for the first round of voting.
Another round of Milliput done last night; that's the entire edge of the slope done except the one piece on the left where I ran out of mixed Milliput. I'll get that tonight, and a second coat on a a few areas that still need smoothing or reshaping, mostly around the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness.
The overhead view gives a good feel for the size; that's a 8 inch by 11 inch cutting mat under it and of course a 25mm based figure top centre.
(https://i.imgur.com/83HFoPs.jpg)
Next round of Milliput, then first coat of thinned plaster all over especially on the rocks, and then primed (barring any cleanup I think it requires) and at that point I won't be able to share anymore WIP photos but I'll still try to remember to take some to share afterward.
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Oh that's looking AMAZING! :o
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Bit of a pause while I mucked around with other things, but back on the BSC train, I did a coat of thinned plaster & glue across the entire piece to add texture and toughen it up.
I also added a bit of paper towel to the left hand side there, to cover a gap between two pieces of styrofoam that had flexed open.
(https://i.imgur.com/gGpxRP7.jpg)
Roughly miniatures' eye view of the end of the middle gap away from the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness, with my converted gun gnolls.
(https://i.imgur.com/xAPRSWC.jpg)
I realized I forgot to texture the three modular rock pieces while I was doing the main piece, so I'll get to that this weekend; I think I need to do some carving on the giant fantasy standing stone first.
Then it'll be on to paint, so probably only one more round of WIP photos that I'll be allowed to show off here!
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Brilliant! :-*
Are you going to add river sections either side of the bog when using it?....or is this just a stand-a-lone piece?
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Brilliant! :-*
Are you going to add river sections either side of the bog when using it?....or is this just a stand-a-lone piece?
It's just a stand-alone, the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness doesn't have an inlet or outlet, it exists in splendid (dark) isolation.
Put some gravel and sand down here and there on the piece:
(https://i.imgur.com/tonbZ4o.jpg)
And this will be the last time you see the main piece until voting time, because it now has primer down on it!
(https://i.imgur.com/hpFSSiF.jpg)
The Dark Pool of Dark Darkness is actually dark! (mostly...)
(https://i.imgur.com/Px2Ma6y.jpg)
The camera is really, really good at pointing out all the little spots you missed with the basecoats, so I'll be fixing those and moving on with lots, and lots, and lots of drybrushing, especially of the rocks.
The three insert pieces have only just gotten their plaster/glue texture coat last night, so you'll see them one or two more times before they too disappear behind their basecoats.
Super pleased with how this is progressing so far. Onward!
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Great stuff 8)
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Very nice indeed. Too bad we'll be in the dark darkness until it's finished now...
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All three modular stone bits have been primed, so this will be the last you see of them for a while, too.
(https://i.imgur.com/JPmaqn6.jpg)
I'm forcing myself to be patient, I've done the first two drybrush passes on the main piece and it looks excellent, but the next rounds of drybrushing will be with custom paint blends so I need to get the three module stones caught up so I can do all four pieces together so they all look coherent...
I also did the first colour blend across the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness and really really need to be patient there, because if you rush gloss varnish over paint that isn't perfectly dry it all cracks and looks awful.
I've ordered some new grass and flower tufts to add to my existing collection to make this piece really pop, and those I guess I can show off here to keep some momentum going while the rest of the project is under embargo...
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Killer entry!
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A cracking entry 8)
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Your stone work is outstanding. Can't wait to see it done.
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Your stone work is outstanding. Can't wait to see it done.
Thanks, I'm very pleased with how this project is shaping so far.
Now I just have to force myself to patience!
I've started on the painting and gloss varnish of the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness, which means I cannot start on the flock and ground cover, because wet gloss varnish and flock do NOT mix gracefully, and I also cannot rush more than one step of the water feature every day, because layering paint and varnish over previous layers that aren't perfectly dry is just a recipe for heartbreak, crazed varnish, and having to start all over again.
Random painting tip for the sort of greyish stone featured in my inspiration photos: a very light pale blue drybrush alongside the various greys and whites as you work up from your black basecoat. It really makes stone like this "pop" and I wish I'd thought of trying it years ago.
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With less than a week to go, the final elements of this project finally showed up, more dark tufts both flowering and not from Rain City Miniatures.
Absolutely not Rain City's fault, I made an order nearly six weeks ago now and it promptly got lost by Canada Post (which is unusual for Canada Post too, really) so the replacement order just showed up.
Lots and lots of tuft gluing the next couple of evenings, then!
(https://i.imgur.com/AJtjoin.jpg)
The rest of the main project is looking, if I may say so, rather splendid with paint and basic turf down on it.
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Really liking the dark atmospheric feel of this :-* :-* :-*
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...and photos taken, edited, and sent off to the contest email at approximately the last minute, which is pretty typical!
Shot more photos than I could fit in the initial 1000x1000px collage, so I'll be able to send new photos in on subsequent rounds showcasing different features of the build.
I am super pleased with how this turned out, the Dark Pool of Dark Darkness is the perfect blue-black glossy still pool and the flock/foam/tuft ground cover came out great.
Onward to the contest voting!
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It looks awesome. It also looks like it will be nice and playable too.
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That's an awesome piece of terrain - usable for so many games or periods! Love it...
Mike Demana
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/