BSC2021 - Daeothar's collapsed overpass

[Daeothar]

Placeholder until I manage to get hit with the Mace of Inspiration (+2)... 

At the moment, I have only a desert table, which might already be ripe for an update, even though it's just half a year old right now (too many lessons learned in the process ).

We've gamed Infinity on this table (for which it is not very suited) and Gaslands (for which it is only a little bit more suited). Plus; I've built a small collection of Star Wars buildings to match it too.

So right now, my mind wanders towards either some rocky patches for use with Gaslands (that's pretty difficult terrain when you're driving along at breakneck speed), or maybe a Sarlacc pit to go with my SW terrain?

I've still not been struck with a brilliant idea. In that regard, even though last year's build was obviously a lot more involved and (dare I say?) difficult, it was also easier in the respect that it became a very tangible idea pretty early on, and I was really able to go to town on that one. A patch of difficult terrain is certainly more usable during gaming, but so far, I see much less modeling opportunities.

But regardless, I'm sure this will be a lot of fun again...

[Daeothar]

I just remembered that I still have an unfinished Star Trek shuttle project lying about.

During construction I found out that the whole thing was too small to be used with my Modiphius ST miniatures even though according to the templates, it was 1/50 scale. Disappointed, I abandoned the project, because there simply was too little time to start anew on a slightly larger scale. Also; my campaign was just about wrapping up, and I had made do with other means.



So I could turn that WIP shuttle into a wrecked one. I'll probably tear off the entire roof, so miniatures can move through/over it, and that would certainly make for difficult terrain, especially with lots of debris around it.

Now, I know that this would mean I'll be doing a second crashed space craft, but it's all I can come up with right now, aside from very boring stuff such as a pool of quicksand, or a patch of rocks, which do not provide much of a modeling challenge or any visual interest...

But would the repurposing of an abandoned project (the process of which was duly recorded here on the LAF) actually be allowed? 

[OSHIROmodels]

I think that's a good choice 

Just make sure there's a bit of 'red shirt' poking out of the detritus 

[Daeothar]

Just make sure there's a bit of 'red shirt' poking out of the detritus 

I'll make it so... 

[ichwillauch]

A very interesting idea, looking forward to it

[Blackwolf]

Looks good  8 You know you could use it with last year’s entry...

[Andym]

I always look forward to your projects mate! I always remember your observatory from that Trash Bash comp a while ago! I had forgotten about that shuttle. I love the curves you've achieved!

[Daeothar]

Well, ever since deciding on that crashed shuttle, I've had the nagging feeling this would be more of the same, after last year's crashed escape pod. And even though I know I can really go to town on the piece, a few things besides the obvious repeat of the crash theme did not sit well with me.

For one; I really struggle with how to make a crashed shuttle be actual difficult terrain. Also; Star Trek (for me) is an RPG project, so difficult terrain, while obviously possible, is usually dealt with by simply walking around it.

I thought about making the shuttle's Warp core leaking radiation, or some other technobabblish reason, creating a dangerous situation or the like, but no. For some reason (or probably all of the above), I decided to not go ahead with this angle.

So what then?

Previously, I had mentioned Gaslands, since we've been playing that a bit inbetween lockdowns. And then I remembered that some time ago, I had this idea of a collapsed overpass, that could work as difficult terrain too!

Over time, I have collected quite a few reference pictures too, and finally, inspiration struck, and I'm now finally in full swing



What you see here are the two bases I will be using for the eventual terrain piece. However I think that, even though I will be building them simultaneously, I will only be entering the actual collapsed ramp piece, because the other one will just be a stretch of road leading up to it. But they are meant to work together!

They're also meant to be table-edge pieces, so they will be black and featureless on the outside faces.



On top of the shaped MDF bases, you can see a (very) preliminary mock-up of the curved ramp, that has suffered some catastrophic failure in the past. It'll be an off-ramp, belonging to a highway/freeway fly-over, most of which lies just outside of the table.

I have this ambitious idea now, of casting the road surface from rebarred grey plaster, that I will then destroy in place. Hopefully that will then look ultra realistic, but we'll see if this is feasible or not.

The most important thing is though, that we're finally off the starting line!

[Andym]

What about using hardboard or MDF for the road surface? If you look up Sangenaru, he has this great tutorial for concrete. A bit of that, a bit of polystyrene foam, might work? I’d love to se if your plaster idea works though.

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=26860.0

[Sinewgrab]

Ooo - I like where this is going!

[Daeothar]

Cheers; that could be a good substitute when this won't work.

Another technique may be the way I did the road pieces for my car pursuit game, using sanding paper. But both of these are for making the road surface, while I'll also be making concrete supports, beams and pillars.

For now though, I'll go and faff around with making plaster moulds for the concrete, along these lines:

[AKULA]

Interesting idea ... lots of potential for twisted metal, overhead signage etc

 

[Wirelizard]

We've been playing a lot of Gaslands through the pandemic, as it's easy to play over webcam thanks to templated movement and easy bookkeeping (plus, it's an awesome game in it's own right) and I've been considering doing some collapsed overpasses as jump ramps so I'll be following this with interest!

[carlos marighela]

A collapsed overpass you say? Quite my favourite João Bosco tune and Elis Regina vocal and very topical atm.



Now if you fancy a more exotic setting, the one the song refers to, you get the added bonus of a very Tintinesque name as the street it collapsed over is the deliciously named Rua Haddock Lobo. As my sister in-law tells me, Rio is kinda post apocalyptic at the moment.

[The Voivod]

Looking good. That concrete is amazing.
Awesome to have some asphalt on the table. That's gonna be great to race on.

I foresee some good crashes on the the still standing pylon.
It's a fantastic piece to add some post-apocalyptic detail.