Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: sundayhero on May 22, 2012, 06:20:26 PM
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Hi,
In this topic I'll present my last scenery project, work in progress.
I'm creating a 3d dungeon mostly for DéD Wrath of Ashardalon board game (reusing the same tile design), but wich will be probably compatible with any generic dungeon crawling rules.
In this project, I created everything, from the masters to the molds and castings.
First, I made a master in foam (foam between 2 coats of paper, name "carton plume" in france). I removed one side (made of paper). I use the classic 1" tile :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/DSCF5622.jpg)
Then, with a xacto and a simple pen, I engraved some details on them :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/DSCF5623.jpg)
With my finger, I "push" the foam and give a nice used and old effect. It's something usefull for caverns, and very old buildings. If you're creating some marble floor, or rich castle floor, it would not be a great idea to do that.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/DSCF5624.jpg)
Then, I cutted the tiles to make single masters. I polished each of them with sandpaper, xacto, etc...carefully to keep the exact size.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/DSCF5626.jpg)
Then, I glued the tiles on a piece of acrylic glass. I thought it would be a good idea to make individual tiles, so I can place them like a puzzle and create every design I wanted to :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/DSCF5632.jpg)
But finally, it was not a good idea. It was a way too long to cast the necessary pieces to make all the rooms of WOA gamebox. I just casted a few pieces and saw that it would take ages to make the complete tileset. So I just casted a few pieces, to re-use later for more convenient new molds. I also created a sample tile in acrylic resin, to see how it will look at the end :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/essai.jpg)
The tools I use for molding :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/DSCF5637.jpg)
Yes, I'll use the old school technic of latex molding. Essentially because it's cheap. It stinks, it takes ages to dry, but finally it works and the molds are pretty robust, and... it's really cheap. With a little imagination, you can even create complex (multipart) structures.
I use modelling plaster for the casting. Again, cheap, cheap, cheap. That's the key point.
So I decided to create new molds. Using the sample pieces I casted, I just designed 4 squares, wich represent itself the theorical size of each tile of the game. Each game tile is designed from a simple 4x4 squares tiles. So it was a lot faster to simply cast complete tiles, and then cut off the excess squares :
First I assembled 4 tiles :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7508.jpg)
I filled the defects and gaps with plasticine :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7525.jpg)
And finally, I poured some latex on the masters. I do several coats (about 5-7) on them. First, a thin coat to take all the sculpting details :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7530.jpg)
After drying, I did several other coats, and then I applied some medical clothe on it, to make the molds more stronger :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7534.jpg)
Once it's dry, you can see the cloth :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7535.jpg)
I finally added a thick coat of latex :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7536.jpg)
A week later, the molds were ready :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7547.jpg)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7548.jpg)
It's a waaaay faster like this to cast the pieces !
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7558.jpg)
And then I started to cut the pieces to shape the original D&D game tileset :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7559.jpg)
I finally glued the cast parts on cardboard :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7561.jpg)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/DSCF7562-1.jpg)
As you can see, some parts of the tiles are blank. I'll make sort of lava lakes, stones, and caverns walls in them. I will use classic technic (modelling styrofoam, texturized paint, etc...) for that.
to be continued ! Next step is to "paint" the plaster parts with Future Floor to "seal" (a bit like plastic aspect) them and make them stronger.
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Well, what can I say? Great work! Nice to see your technique, looks really easy (if a bit messy ::) ) and fast, and if one needs other shapes it's just a matter of cutting it the right way or doing a few more molds.
Hirst Arts sell molds for the Descent boardgame, they have a tutorial on their site showing how to paint the dungeon tiles, maybe you can find some inspiration there if you didn't already know about it ;)
Looking forward to seeing how your project develops.
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Really good looking thanks for the tutorial too!
Duncan
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Thanks for the comments.
Actually, it's not that fast. With plaster, I can cast 1 piece each half hour/45min. So it make 8 pieces by hours/1h30.
Making the mold take ages to dry too. The key point is the price. Silicone and resin are great products, but a way more expensive.
Hirst arts molds, as you say, are nice alternatives (great sculpt). But it's the same process I tried first, casting small pieces one by one (almost). I would not be patient enough for that.
Concerning paint, you can see the floor paint scheme somwhere in the topic, on a preview pic. The wall will be natural cavern walls.
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Did I read that right? You have to wait a week for the mould to dry?
Great work. Will follow with interest.
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The mold creation is done in several stages and latex coats.
addendum : latex STINKS. It's full of amoniac. So don't use it in a closed room.
1) First coat, a thin coat of latex is carefully applied, to cover all the master details. Then, you can dry it with a hairdryer.
2) Once it's dry, you do another thin coat. You dry it (about 10min of hairdryer).
Repeat stage 2 about 3 times. Last time, don't dry the latex.
3) apply a coat of chirurgical cloth on the fresh latex. Then, apply some latex on the cloth. Dry it. It will make the mold very robust, and will minimize the shrinkage.
4) apply 1 or 2 coats of latex more. dry it.
5) apply 1 coat of thick latex (you can use special additionnal to make it thicker) more.
6) let everything dry on a dry and hot place somewhere during a couple of days (summer) a few days (spring), or a complete week.
7) remove the molds from the masters carefully. Apply some talc (casting powder) inside and outside the mold. Let is dry a few hours more, and replace it on the master to dry a day more (to avoid shrinkage. Personnaly I don't care, so I let the mold drying alone).
8) you can use, re-use, and use again your mold, for plaster, resin, acrylic resin, etc... It's pretty solid and odour free.
So, as you can see...Cheap, but not fast. You cannot have everyting :D
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Hi,
Here's the result, finally lol
I first remove the cardboard borders, since I will finally use the tiles for Warrior Heroes: Legends, so no need for compatibility with WOTC boardgames.
Then I spraypainted the tiles with grey primer (no pics, I changed of camera in the mean time). Once it was dry, I applied a black black wash, and then, a brown acrylic stain. The acrylic stain give a nice effect, and also "plastify" the plaster tiles to make them quite sturdy. That huge set was painted and varnished in a couple of hours max (not counting the drying time).
Not the best of the best result, but really fast and convenient. I also choosed this technic to be able to add any new element or scenery in the future, since the method is almost "factory made".
No problem of finding a typical color, remember the drybrush coating, etc... :
Just a car paint grey primer spraycan, a black wash (acrylic black painted diluted), a coat of acrylic stain (same result as "dipping stuff", but dry faster and smells a LOT less), and a mate varnish finish.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P3140107_zpsae9d7924.jpg)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P3140109_zpsc7dc8b11.jpg)
Once dried, I applied a coat of mate varnish on them, and glued them on adhesive black felt. This way, the tiles will be more durable, and more convenient to manipulate. (by the way, this photo is the most accurate concerning real colors and rendering of the tiles...The other pics has been taken in hurry).
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/feltontiles_zps291e0006.jpg)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/feltdetals_zps412dae97.jpg)
Here's the current final result :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/dungeontiles_zps74601e85.jpg)
This set is pretty big. Around 1/2 square meter. Since you never stick the tiles togeter, I can easily cover a 1meter square (around 3'x3') table.
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P3150118_zpsa8356a3a.jpg)
Now, the next stage is to build compatible walls (probably plaster as usual), doors, and most dungeon accessories (acrylic resin). For complex items or folks, I'll order them.
to be continued...
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Great stuff! I'm planning something similiar myself, so your walkthrough is very much appreciated. Have you tried making a mold without the added cloth? After all, the Hirst molds are pretty sturdy (and I'm lazy), so I'm wondering whether that step is strictly necessary...
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thanks !
Latex is not as sturdy as silicon (like silicon hirst arts molds, known being really sturdy). It also shrinks a bit (my squares were 1" or 2.5cm, the final casted square are around 2.3cm). So cloth helps to keep the mold sturdy and less shrinkable. Cloth stage in the molding process is really simple, and cheap (just buy medical cloth in super market for a few euros).
BUT for my next stages (walls and accessories) I'll use another poorman ( lol) molding method. I'll use a mix of bathroom silicon and corn starch. I found a tutorial on youtube :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OB8zLKdp_Y
It's what I used for my special ice hexes (see my heroscape topic in workbench forum). It works pretty well, does not shrink, and seems very sturdy.
It's dirt cheap (1.50euros for 1 silicon cartridge, less than 2euros for 1 kilogram of starch), even if it's really not as good as real RTV silicon (you cannot pour it so you loose details, and it seems to peel a bit after a few casts...at least, with my cristal resin. But I added a lot of starch in my mix, maybe too much).
It's also faster to make, since your starch-silicon mix dry in about 4-5hours, and is useable in 1day. It stinks a bit once it's dry (vinegar smell), and stinks A LOT when you're mixing it (have to be carefull), but comparing to latex...It's seems an improvement to my own eyes.
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Yes, I've been eyeing silicone too. I may give that a try. Thanks for the explanation.
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Great tutorial. And really a great idea of creating dungeon tiles. I can think of so many uses. Man, why the hell am I so lazy....?
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I'm lazy too...Watch the dates of duration of this work in progress lol
The thing is not the amount of work to do...It's just not fun. Casting, pouring, painting, like a robot. Not really creative and fun, but as long as you keep in mind the great games you will play on it, it worths it. :-*
Same thing for my heroscape topic. Long and boring job to pimp all the mastersets. But the result is here, IMHO. Painted figures, painted scenery, a cold beer and you're there. No videogame can do better than that :D
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I've heard you can add Acetone to the silcone/starch mix to get a more fluid mix which can the poured. The acetone exporates off, leavig the silcone/starch behind. It takes longer to set mind and stinks, but if you've got time and space it might be worth giving a shot.
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I didn't knew that tip ! I'll try it.
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The thing is not the amount of work to do...It's just not fun. Casting, pouring, painting, like a robot.
Heh, I find this quite relaxing, actually. I put on an audiobook, pour some whiskey, and start the production line... :)
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It looks like a lot of work - but the end result is fantastic.
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the video u posted. It sounds like u have tried the method, do you think this would be capable of making two sided molds?
the breakage of the molds sucks but for the price cant beat it
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Searching for "silicon starch mold" on google, it seems it can be done. Probably difficult, but...
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Silicon poorman molding is working. I used it to make ice tiles. The only issues are the smell (it keeps a vinegar smell for weeks), and the fact it quickly started to become damaged (but I suspect I put too much starch in it). But I liked the fact there is no noticeable shrinking
The other difficult is to correctly mold all details, since the "silicon putty" you make is not as fluid as pouring liquid silicon.
But it works. Since you can buy a cartdrige of silicone for around 1.50euros, and a kilogram of starch for 2, it still a good poorman solution. I'll use it for my dungeon walls and doors, and my battletech 1/300 scenery, really soon.
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Hi,
I started to work again on my set, thinking about all extra parts I still need to do :
doors (wooden and cages)
pilars
walls (I'm still wondering if I'll go for complete walls of small ones for easier play...)
treasure piles
chests
traps
and maybe an extra liquid set too...it would be nice to find a way to make one unique set for both lava, clear water, muddy water/sewers.
Since I was pulling the dungeon floor set out, I made a few more photos, a bit better than the last ones, with some sample creatures to show the scale (big-medium-28mm human sized) :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P6190313_zpsbacb847b.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/slotdem/media/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P6190313_zpsbacb847b.jpg.html)
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P6190313_zpsbacb847b.jpg) (http://s92.photobucket.com/user/slotdem/media/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P6190313_zpsbacb847b.jpg.html)
Should be enough rooms to handle any solitaire dungeon crawling.
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Here's the last progress I made.
After using cork with succes for my urban scenery, I thought I could use it also for my 3d dungeon.
So today I cut a lot of cork to make walls for my dungeon. Yesterday, I modified some tiles too, to make a big room (for lair bad guy), 2 medium rooms (12" long, 4" width 3 figures can be fighting side by side), 2 small rooms (about 10" long, 4" width), and one lair/dungeon entrance (from 5" to 8" long, 4" width).
I also made a passeways set (2" large).
The walls are around 3.5cm high. The size allows a good wall feeling, but keep the figures enough visible on the gaming table. It's also about saving some cork lenght lol
Now I'm thinking about how I'll add details on these walls. The goal is always to find the good balance between time spent and final result.
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First row is glued with PVA glue. :D
Still a lot of gluing to do. I prefer to use PVA glue because once it's dry, it's really strong. And the fact it take some time allows me to correctly connect the parts.
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All the pieces are glued together, the last ones are currently drying.
I'm still wondering how I will finish the wall...Carving details, textured paint, cardboard details...I still don't know. The goal is to make it fast, and as nice as possible. Any advices or ideas welcome ;)
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Well, a bit late now...but my only advice would have been to apply the finish prior to gluing them to the base-pieces. lol No idea though, haven't worked much with cork (even though I have a big pack of it upstairs...).
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I first thought the same, but finally decided to glue the walls first, to not have to make paint fixes because of glue spots and all. And the gluing should be sturdier too (bare material sticks better I think).
Tonight I installed a mock setup, to see how it looks, and how fast it is to setup a dungeon. It's surprisingly fast, faster than installing a decent usual miniatures gaming table. I also discovered that I forgot one piece for one of the rooms, so I'm currently building it lol
Concerning finishing, I believe I'll keep it very simple. Just a textured paint (like the one I used on my super heroes cork city buildings, but light tan color), with a stain, and a few drawn fake stone details.
I'd like to keep the dungeon bi-colored, to be able to use it for several environnements (pyramids, columbian, or classic fantasy medieval).
The overall result should be correct. I changed my miniatures gaming state of mind : now I prefer an OK dungeon finished, than a magnificent "work-in-progress-for-life" dungeon lol
So I'll be able to play really soon, and still be able to add some new details and interior scenery (treasures, traps, rooms furniture, etc...) later
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I'm definitely anxious to see the final result.
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I made some shopping this morning, and bought what I needed to finish the dungeon.
I bought some terracota effect spray paint (I already used it for my cork city buildings, it works well with cork, giving a nice ultra matte finish, like real brick), and some shoe polish, to test a technic I saw on Hirst Arts website, to give an antic/egyptian effect.
I also made the missing piece this morning, it's currently drying. Here's also a pic of all the pieces (except the missing piece drying).
I think today I'll add some little rubbles where the floor and walls meet, to make the wall assembly sturdier, and give a more polished finish.
I'm also thinking about adding a small cardboard band to give some relief...We'll see.
I also ordered 4 thin marker pencils (from 0.1mm to 0.7). I'm a bit disapointed since except the 2 first ones (0.1 and 0.3) , the other ones are too thick for any minis or scenery use. Too bad since the pens are a bit expensive (I bougth a sealed set).
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That really does look SPLENDID...the cork walls add tremendously to the claustrophobic dungeon effect. GREAT WORK!
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Thanks !
the cork walls add tremendously to the claustrophobic dungeon effect
I agree. I first thought that "simple" 3d dungeon floors with a few accessories would be suficient, but the walls add something, really. I kept them low (perfect for my true 28mm ral partha heroes) to keep a good playability.
I forgot to say that I will also add some plastic rails for removable doors I'll make too.
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Hi,
I believe I found a nice idea for my dungeon, this afternoon I cut balsa wood stripes, to make some wood supports on dungeon pieces sides.
It looks like a mine, or even a tavern. With the antics/egyptian treatment I want to do on the walls, it should give me a multiple purpose dungeon, wich I could use in a lot of diferent game settings (pulp, horror, fantasy).
Here's a sample pic. THe wood bits will be trimmed tommorow, once the glue will be dry. The wall themselves will be trimmed a bit.
Finally it will be a bit more complex than I expected (cutting and gluing all these bits of balsa wood take a lot of time), but the result will be better. After all, we don't build 3d dungeons every week.
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Enough work for today. I didn't finished all the tiles :? But I made a balsa wood stick glueing overdose lol
Here's the current progress, and how many tiles I still need to do (a lot I'm afraid). o_o
I'm motivating myself thinking about how cool playing in this will be...
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Lookin' good!
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Looking great!
I look forward to see some paint on those walls.
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Nice work. Looks really good.
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Finally, it's done. I glued and trimmed every piece of wood, and the walls too to make them less "square". I was thinking that chain painting 100 zombies was boring ? It's was a JOY comparing to this lol
Here's some pics (first is showing all the trimming process I did). It's still not totally completed, I still need to add some rubble and gravels there or there, to hide some gaps between walls and floor tiles. It will be the boring work for tonight. Hopefully, I'll find an hour to paint my 10mm undeads too lol
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IT may have been dead boring compared to zombies ;) but it's paid off. They look awesome!
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LOOKIN' GOOD! Having distress an endless number of balsa strips for scaffolding, walkways, et al, I can identify with the mind numbing nature of the task. Funny thing is that the more tedious the task the more compliments it draws...cameras aren't the only contrary Beasts in the craft. Once it's all painted, the OOHS & AAHS will resound down the dungeon corridors.
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thanks for the comments.
I just finished adding the rubbles and gravels. Now the tiles are almost ready to paint : tommorow I'll mask the floor to protect the paint...Or maybe not. I'm not sure anymore of the bicolor idea ???
I've got a violent headache tonight, not sure I'll paint anything or do anything more.
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Today is sunny day, I think I'll paint them all tan/antics. I'm too lazy for the dual color thing. lol Especially since I'll have to paint the wood sticks separatly (argl.).
New pics this evening ;)
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This is such a cool project! I'm totally in agreement that tediousness will sneak in on those many repetitive building pieces but damn it looks good in the end! (I'm working on stone foundations now whose bricks were carved just a bit too big for my smallest landscape brush so I'm using my biggest small brush and I'm seeing stones in my sleep.) Yes, imagine the little lead men crawling down the corridors about to meet some beasties and it will all be worth it.
I salute your willingness to have it done, rather than have it worked on endlessly to be perfect. I have to say though, it looks fantastic so far! I'm itching to see the rubble bits. I also appreciated your blurbs describing your plans and adjustments during the process. Very helpful when one is blocked on a project.
Have fun today and I hope you get to take some pictures!
Jevenkah
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thanks !
I'm afraid you will be disapointed by the rubles, it's just a few cat liter gravel I glued where the walls and floor are not well glued lol Really nothing fancy lol
The dungeon is primer painted. But 1 spray can wasn't enough, I will have to add some paint...Hopefully, I've got almost the same color in a liquitex arts tube somewhere ;D
When I see all the work I made...Even for these simple dungeons (no carved walls, molded floors), I think again about this kickstarter project we saw a few months ago, with resin dungeons...That was not that expensive, finally lol
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Here's some pics of the tiles. I also found some similar paint (just need to add a bit of white) for last fixes.
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I'm afraid you will be disapointed by the rubles, it's just a few cat liter gravel I glued where the walls and floor are not well glued lol Really nothing fancy lol
Cat litter, eh? This may seem like a silly question, but what kind of litter? Here in the US they make flushable, scented, clumping, multi-cat household, etc. I thought I had some old railroad talus around here for my project but I can't turn it up, and that little bit of grunge can add a lot to a model.
When I see all the work I made...Even for these simple dungeons (no carved walls, molded floors), I think again about this kickstarter project we saw a few months ago, with resin dungeons...That was not that expensive, finally lol
Yes, but would it have been as much fun? lol
Jevenkah
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the low end, cheap price cat litter. No parfume, nothing. Just dusty gravel lol
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Ahhh, I didn't know you were re-painting/surfacing the floors...so I was wondering why you'd attached the walls before painting them. Shame, I actually liked the finish you had on the floors. Keep it comin'!
Oh, and building Old West stuff I understand the "saw mill" result on the table. I am soooo tired of coffee stirrers and bass wood.
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Ahhh, I didn't know you were re-painting/surfacing the floors...so I was wondering why you'd attached the walls before painting them. Shame, I actually liked the finish you had on the floors. Keep it comin'!
Oh, and building Old West stuff I understand the "saw mill" result on the table. I am soooo tired of coffee stirrers and bass wood.
Actually, I was first thinking keeping the floors, just masking them and paint the walls only. But finally, I decided to make everything the same color. We'll see if I choosed wisely or not lol
Oh, and building Old West stuff I understand the "saw mill" result on the table. I am soooo tired of coffee stirrers and bass wood.
Hopefully, I don't play old west....for now lol
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Well, I can announce a BIG FAIL concerning painting lol
The paint and cork are too porous to use the shoe polish technic...
So now I have two solutions:
repaint all brown, and make grey dry brush, to give a nice warm earth effect.
seal the current painting with dull varnish, then try again the shoe polish, without being sure of the result (I didn't find the same shoe polish).
I don't know...Anyway, it still a bit amount of work. I'd say that the brown solution would be a bit faster, since painting all brown, I will not have to paint each wood stick one by one.
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Here's new progress of the fiasco lol
So this time, I tried to be a little more clever, and I made some tests before painting everyting.
I tried wood stain on one tile, and dry brushing on the other one (brown, grey, light grey).
I like the grey walls, but not the floor. I like the stained floor, but not the walls. Guess what I will do finally lol
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LOOKIN' GOOD! The stained floor & painted walls are definitely the best looking of the choices...probably the most time consuming also.
Since I started following your imaginative thread, the lure of the dungeon setting has been drawing me towards an expansion of The Project if not an entirely new one...only inertia is saving moi.
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Very nice!
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Thanks !
I finished the base coats tonight. Even more boring than trimming the wood sticks lol. The dungeon will be completed tommorow. I just want to finish, now ;D
So the floor will be stained (probably highligted too), then matte varnished, and the walls will be drybrushed in 2 shades of grey. The wood pilars will be brushed in light brown. And if I'm courageous enough, I'll add a few weathering effects.
Then next week, I'll work on the basic door set. Probably resin molding. It will be a new adventure of itself lol
Here's some shiny night pics of the current stage :
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That picture makes me want to go buy a reese's peanut butter cup... lol
I hereby dub this project "The Delicious Dungeon".
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lol
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It took me a good part of the day, but I did everything I wanted.
Tommorow, I'll varnish the shiny woodstain, and add a few weathering effects if needed. On the pics, it's drying. The floor will be less dark.
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That is a VERY IMPRESSIVE day's work...VERY WELL DONE!
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Wow, these look great! I would love to play in that dungeon. Pit traps and trapdoors next...
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A bit od cork and some toothpicks would make some great sliding walls too.
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Thanks !
Concerning traps, doors, etc... It will be the next stage of this quite cyclopean project. Bigger than I expected :o
I'm still wondering at this stage if traps and doors will be handcrafted (as I first thought) or ordered in a store... ???
edit : by the way, if I counted correctly (I'm a bit tired lol), I made 42 tiles in this set. :o
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I'd say you could incorporate some stuff nicely from the store into your own home-made pieces. I'm anxious to see good photos of it complete in game!
Planning any large rooms?
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With this system, the largest room is 6" width, 6" to 14" lenght.
The small rooms are from 4" by 4" to 4" by 12" or more (I can add 3" lenght tiles)
the medium rooms are from 4" by 6" to 4" by 12" or more (I can add 3" lenght tiles)
In the future (far future lol) I plan to add some special rooms too.
For anything really large, I'll consider it as a cavern or caves, and use my dtailed heroscape tiles :
(http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l8/slotdem/miniature%20heroes%20and%20villains/P4070066_zps0d3b431d.jpg)
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The colors work great together! :-* Well worth the repaint, from the looks of the pictures!
Jevenkah
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thanks !
The colors work great together!
They have this kind of old school rpg look and feel, I think. Wich is perfectly fine, since I will use ral partha classic minis (at least for heroes, a complete bestiary would have been too expensive for now).
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Here's some preview pics. Forget about the white traces on the floor, it's the matte varnish (sadly a bit more satined than matte, at least for now) drying.
In my opinion, the first pic showing all the gaming atmosphere potential worth all efforts I made :-*
Once dry I wil probably add a slight green wash on the lower walls, to give a moisty feeling.
And if the varnish still not matte enough, I will spray a premium arts matte varnish I usually use for minis.
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The addition of the Bold Adventurers really brings the place to life. The brushwork is OUTSTANDING; and, if the finish dries with a sheen to it, it will give the dungeon an appropriately damp appearance. All in all VERY WELL DONE!
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:-* That is one fine set you've made! It looks great with the minis inside. I love how you couldn't wait til it was dry to start "playing" with it.
Way cool!
Jevenkah
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thanks for your comments !
if the finish dries with a sheen to it
I didn't think about it. Maybe I'll let it as is, then. ???
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I found some shoe boxes for storage, until I'll make final pics when I'll do the doors and all. I'll post work in progress here.
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Very cool. Well done!
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Awesome...I just want to see more. lol I hope this project continues...hehehe.
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Thanks !
You 'll see new features hopefully this week. I need to build at least a few doors, traps, coin piles and treasures masters, and create some poorman molds of them.
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Here's current work. Since I didn't found any doors good enough for my cheapskate taste lol, I'll make my own. Not the best from any point of view, but mine, and absolutly cost free (all my sculpting, casting and molding material is directly available in my workshop) and 100% fit my non-standard dungeon.
I sculpted the main door frame with plastiroc putty. It took me around 1 hour. Tommorow I'll make a mold of it, so I can cast this main door twice (one for each side of the door) to make the 2 main wood door masters. Then, I'll add the doors details on the 2 sides, and make new molds of them to obtain my final wood door molds.
Then, I will also probably modify one cast (or the master) to make a blank door (without wood door inside), and do the same (2 sides masters, addind details on them, then make final molds). Then I'll be able to make different doors (metal door, demonic door, magic door, trap door, prison door) from it.
Details will be made of green stuff and/or milliput super fine.
So tommorow, it will be cheap molding workshop lol I'll use silicon bath and corn starch. Another fast solution would be making a press mold using FIMO ??? I'm still not sure. The advantage of silicone is that I will be able to cast some clear resin doors too.
The pieces will be casted in jesmonite (acrylic resin) and crystal resin (if I make magic doors).
On the pic, the mini for scale is a Ral Partha adventurer (25mm from feet to eyes, wich I would call myself "true 28mm" or "heroic 25mm" lol).
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Magic doors!! What a great idea!!
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Hooooray doors! lol
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The door master is almost dry, it shrinked a bit (1mm, from 45mm to 44, something I 'll have to think about in the future when I 'll use this putty), but anyway.
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I finished drying it with an hairdryer. Then, I glued it on a laminated wood pic, and made a cheap plastic bricks wall around it (glued also).
I glued it to be sure it will not move during the press molding process. This afternoon, I'll make the premaster mold with silicone and cornstarch mix (poorman version of silicon rtv mold).
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Mold is done...I hope lol
It's a complete mess, first time I used this poorman technic, I had quite good results, but this time...Not enough starch, the silicon glued all over everything, too much starch, the silicon went into some kind of snow flakes lol
I finally added some kind of paint thinner (don't know the name in english), and bake some kind of soft paste, that I poured on the door.
Now it smells a lot, I probably breathed too much toxic vapors (even if I did this outside), and I'm not sure that it will work and don't ruin my premaster in the same time ;D
It's probably time to study rtv silicon prices... ??? lol
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TOTAL FAIL lol
The premaster door has been destroyed by the molding process, sadly both mold and master are mixed together, and useless.
So I need to make a new door, and change the molding process.
I think I'll make it in FIMO paste, then I'll make a latex mold. I'll make the master a bit larger, because of latex shrinkage.
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Yikes! Hope it all shakes out in the end. Excellent project so far though, get some fresh air!
Thanks
n.
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I didn't lose my day, I painted 12 more monsters for my fantasy bestiary (skeletons, giant spires, gargoyles, rat swarms) ;)
THe ugly tecnic I used is quite the same that this one :
http://makezine.com/2010/11/04/reader-research-diy-casting-silicon/
Was not that a complete fail. The master I made was not compatible with this technic, that's all. The next master (probably done tonight) will be made in FIMO putty, wich is more like plastic and should be more sturdy with this kind of treatment.
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I didn't made any progress on the doors, but I completed 15 new monsters :D
Here's some pics...Yeah, I know, there is only one pic lol My camera battery went low, so I'm currently charging it.
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Where's that from. Nice gargoyle. Nice paint job.
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Thanks !
It's a plastic D&D mini, from Castle ravenloft boardgame. All my fantasy monsters came from D&D minis. They are cheap, take paint well (saving time on monsters to pay more attention on heroes).
Here's the other ones I painted. On wraiths/ghosts, I just painted eyes and base. I tried to use some washes, but the result was not good.
I'm also happy with the result. I took me less than 1 half hour on each group of minis. I used 10mm painting technic, and surprisingly, it worked lol
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Nice. How about instead of black eyes, glowing yellow?
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Oh man, those minis would be awesome with a special LED base... lol Just a single small LED to shine up through the bodies. That would beeeee awesome. :D
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COOL STUFF! The Gargoyles are especially nice pieces. GREAT WORK!
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THanks !
Nice. How about instead of black eyes, glowing yellow?
Actually, the eyes are "evil red" lol But difficult to see on the pics. It's a really fast painting, these days I'm trying to paint a lot, to be able to play a bit lol
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I can see that now. Good choice. :D
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Lovely project. Great work indeed
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New monsters done yesterday night ! Nothing too fancy, speed painting process (less than 2hours to complete the 9 minis).
Again, D&D plastic minis from the D&D adventure games. Great source for cheap minis !
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You really make these d&d minis look good!
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Thanks !
These are nice sculpted gaming minis, actually. And the price is quite interesting, even if you buy the D&D adventures games only for these.
perfect to complete a RPG with minis bestiary.