Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: AKULA on January 30, 2015, 09:26:10 PM
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A new terrain project for the new year....a fictional island somewhere in the Pacific.
450mm x 450mm boards made from 18mm exterior plywood.
With my new games room I plan on building 40 boards giving me a 6' x 15' Island, so plenty of room for ruined temples, long abandoned bunkers etc etc.
I made the first board from scratch this week as a test-piece, hope you like it.
Vehicles and figures are all from my new project (click on my signature for details) - figures painted by Paul Sanderson.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/5abbf068-f05e-4b77-9a93-0156da3fdadf_zpsudnkafwh.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg4_zpsr0wtkzex.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg2_zpsqhqc1n7w.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg3_zpsoxqvlw2s.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg1_zpszcvpskzg.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg2_zpsxtzw7ixr.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg4_zpsrb1d22om.jpg)
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:-*
Absolutely beautiful! 6'x15'? There are real islands smaller than that.
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The sea is inviting 8)
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Cracking. You need a crashed jumbo on that.
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Very Nice!!
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Awesome Matt! :-*
And I always appreciate that your projects are beyond 4x6 ;)
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Stunning :-*
Diorama quality
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:-*
Loving what you did with the water and foliage.
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Stunning; and it's only the beginning...
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Holy Crimbo! That's fantastic! Wonderful colours and excellent realism. We need tutorials and WIPs on this stuff, man!
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Stunning stuff :-* :-* :-*
How have you done the sand, natural colour or paint?
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Looks fantastic!
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Holy Crimbo! That's fantastic! Wonderful colours and excellent realism. We need tutorials and WIPs on this stuff, man!
Agree! That looks amazing, I would love to know how you did it!
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Top water effect there.
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Also I just realized that the ferns have individual leaves :o o_o :o
I thought they were aquarium plants. Did you find some that come like that? If so, what's the source? If not what did you do to get that effect... don't tell me you cut them all by hand?!
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Thanks everyone for the comments - as there is some interest I'll post a step by step for the next board which should answer your questions.
:)
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Also I just realized that the ferns have individual leaves :o o_o :o
I thought they were aquarium plants. Did you find some that come like that? If so, what's the source? If not what did you do to get that effect... don't tell me you cut them all by hand?!
The brown leaves look great. Some of the fern clumps look like the tops of palm trees. Great piece of terrain.
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Excellent. Look forward to the tutorial on how you did it.
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WOW! Thats just all kinds of awesome! :-* :-* :-* :-* :-*
If I ever make a pirate island, this will be the first thread I come back to for inspiration! If I could make mine half as good as yours, I'd be proud!!
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Superb Akula :-*
If I ever make a pirate island, this will be the first thread I come back to for inspiration!
Me too :)
Andy, sounds like pirate islands may indeed lie in our future... Yarrrr! :D
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Brilliant!
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Alright, that's a bit good Matt. 8)
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Wow! Terrific job. Water, sand, vegetation all works together perfectly.
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Bloody hell. :o
Brilliant, just brilliant. :D
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Very cool build. I think you have nailed the undergrowth. You just need some crabs.
(http://i.imgur.com/wG3eHIr.jpg)
Snitchy sends.
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Now why does my foliage never look that good? cannot wait for the tutorial.
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Looks great, reminds me of the "Hunger game catching fire" arena
(http://i60.tinypic.com/e6ruop.jpg)
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Absolutely superb! :o
That's a Far Cry from anything I could produce. This project leaves me a bit Lost. I think I need to go and sit on The Beach for a bit.
lol
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Wow, that's simply stunning...one of the best boards I've ever seen. I really, really, really want to see a tutorial on how it was built (especially the trees and water).
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Extremely impressive. :-*
Can`t wait to see finished board, and tutorials for water and vegetation. :)
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ok, a quick how-to-do:
1. sketch outline - edge of water, different zones (beach, vegetation, road, dense jungle), doesn't need to be precise, although where links up with new boards is worth paying attention to).
2. Attach 5mm battens to land edges (except for the beach zone which is lower level). Gives some depth and makes matching the edges up easier later on.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg2_zpsabs3jt0d.jpg)
3. build out from one landlocked corner, adding large pieces of vegetation, poly fillered road etc. Glue for the vegetation sections is wood glue.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg3_zpsefjjbmcy.jpg)
4. , Add a fine layer of polyfiller to the sea zone. Let dry, then sand
(help to seal before add resin water effects later).
5. Add Glue for the beach (more wood glue).
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg4_zpsvmbyrb8w.jpg)
Add larger grade stone first (edges of beach, vegetation), then fine sand for the beach. Sprinkle some onto the still wet polyfiller road to add texture.
And let dry.....(can be working on another board at this stage)
6. tip off excess sand
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg6_zpsoi7gv7w1.jpg)
7. Paint sea with base colour
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg1_zpsoahcemvb.jpg)
8. Paint beach with base colour, and blend into sea to give impression of the beach extending slightly beyond the sand into the water. Wait until dry. If want any rocks coming out of the sea, now is a good time to add them. Paint the road base colour. Sprinkle some fine sand into the still wet paint to add depth/colour variety.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg2_zpsyyn2lqus.jpg)
9. Add Perspex strip (2-3mm deep) to water zone borders. Not entirely necessary, but help to stop the resin water from decorating your floor/table when you add it later.
10. pour resin water into sea zone. And let dry. Always worth checking your board with a spirit level before you do this! Floating debris can be added during stage 9/10 depending upon what effect you are trying to create.
11. Once resin water is dry, can add wave effects using another type of resin water (typically used for the likes of waterfalls) - both are sold in most railway/hobby shops. Apply like a line of toothpaste and then use either a cocktail stick or thin brush to tease into shape.
12. Once waves are dry, dry brush the wave crests with white paint.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg3_zps6vjownj4.jpg)
13. Add additional vegetation, fallen palm leaves, debris etc.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Isle%20-%20Terrain%20Boards/image.jpg1_zpsflbyuyvp.jpg)
Painting - embarrassingly simple. I wanted something I could replicate again and again. There were only 4 colours used on the entire board: Crown tester pots - "Tropical Ocean", "Pale Gold" for the beach, "Picnic Basket" for the road, and white for the waves. The colour variation comes from sprinkling fine sand while the beach/road is still wet.
Vegetation - again very simple, the key is variety. I've hoarded over the years 6/7 different types of plastic aquarium plants (shows and the web) plus bought a sackful of plastic Palm trees which can be cut down to size as needed. I've also used a couple of different types of commercially available ground clutter (railway model shops) plus some laser cut paper leaves from Fenris Games.
Water - yup, you guessed it..simple also. Regular resin water (Woodland scenes C1211) with "Running water" resin (Woodland Scenies C1212) for the wave crests, then dry brush the wave crests white.
Details - tide line debris, the odd flower or two (but don't overdo). This board also contains a mysterious half buried cable from the sea (near the rocks) into the jungle....
Plan of the tiles - ive got a rough idea of what the island will contain, but haven't drawn a tile by tile plan yet, daft as that may sound. I've got 40 tiles to make and the individual features are likely to be amended as I go. The following link will give you a good idea of what I have in mind (I'm building a set table rather than a completely interchangeable set of tiles - the latter option would be limiting in my view).
http://apocisle4.blogspot.co.uk
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You make it look so easy. Nice easy to follow tutorial, thanks.
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Thanks for the write up, it looks great for as simple as you make it sound. :-*
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fabulous build Akky...love the modular approach and the simplicity
- very much my own style but so much better...
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Looks simple enough, even for me!
Great job!
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Fab tutorial!
So those plants with individual leaves came trimmed like that already?
You wouldn't happen to know where you got them from would you?
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So those plants with individual leaves came trimmed like that already?
The plastic ones come as seen. I've had them for years...originally were going to be part of my abortive Nam board....think they came from a garden centre that sold tropical fish.
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Su-poib :-*
Great instructions too.
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Great step by step. :-* Superb looking boards :-*
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Excellent! Thanks for posting how you did it :)
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Fekking hell...this is so cool! I want to play Crysis 1 on these boards 8) 8) 8)
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Thanks Matt! I'll put this tutorial to good use later mate!!
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:o
Wow that is really awesome!
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The plastic ones come as seen. I've had them for years...originally were going to be part of my abortive Nam board....think they came from a garden centre that sold tropical fish.
That explains the plants. Where did you get the fallen psalm fronds? Great ground work all around.
Snitchy sends.
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Where did you get the fallen psalm fronds?
Card. Laser cut by Ian from Fenris Games ;)
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Card. Laser cut by Ian from Fenris Games ;)
Cool beans off to look.
Snitchy sends.
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I just called out to my wife to come and have a look at this. When she first saw the pictures she thought 'why are you showing me someone's back yard?' - that's how real it looks. Fantastic work!
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How did I miss this thread. Awesome work and very inspirational.
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that's really great work! some more inspirational stuff for me. i'm curious though, if you're goal is a 'set board' why make 40 tiles when you could just make either the whole board or larger tiles (quarter size)?
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that's really great work! some more inspirational stuff for me. i'm curious though, if you're goal is a 'set board' why make 40 tiles when you could just make either the whole board or larger tiles (quarter size)?
Storage and transport make smaller tiles a necessity....if I ever want to take the game to a show it has to fit in my car :D
Although it is designed with a primary "set" board, the layout should give me the option to swop-in/out certain tiles depending upon if I want to use the table for other settings, such as WW2 Pacific.
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Beautiful!
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Quick Update:
Boards 3 and 4 complete.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Island/image.jpg6_zpsdcsvup7i.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Island/image.jpg1_zpseucgkvlf.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Island/image.jpg2_zpsgrl7kvcu.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/Apocalypse%20Island/image.jpg3_zps6pmfjddu.jpg)
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how did you make the rusty pylon, was it from a kit??
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Beautiful boards!
:-* :-*
Dunno how I missed this earlier.... ::)
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Top work! :-* :-* :-*
Nice to see you back at it! What's the idea behind the walkway going through the pylon? Is it a reference to some tv programme or film?
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Lovely rust 8)
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Thanks everyone - work has prevented me from making too much progress, but have had a bit of a splurge in the last week or so.
how did you make the rusty pylon, was it from a kit??
The basic frame is a plastic railway model electricity pylon, with the side stanchions left off., the walkway is a mixture of different grades of wire, with some plasticard and matchsticks added. The "mast" is a paintbrush.
Top work! :-* :-* :-*
Nice to see you back at it! What's the idea behind the walkway going through the pylon? Is it a reference to some tv programme or film?
The radio transmitter is a bit of a nod to various films, games etc - it can be an objective, but the walkway makes it more practical as a vantage point across the island.
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Very, very good, the vegetation looks spot on. ;D
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Very nice and radio tower is definitely a good tribute to certain game. :)
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That looks great!
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Brilliant 8)
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Bloody brilliant! Really looking forward to the whole experience :)