Scratchbuilt Gladiator Arena

[Furt]

I made a late decision to go to a local convention and then thought that it would be a great opportunity to get some play testing in for Blood on the Sands. To make matters worse I thought it was time I did that arena build I've been planning for months, with only a week and a half to go. I opted for an open half-arena, for playability and this was the process.

Blood on the Sands is played on a hex-grid so I started there, by simply scribing out a printed arena onto some foam. A heavy coat of PVA within the grids and then applied some light grit, avoiding any pieces that were too large and would displace models.



A good solid base for the arena walls and bleachers out of proper blue XPS foam. The green stuff is the horrid crap that our local hardware chain, Bunnings, is passing off as XPS. The Editor's box is made of foamcore and will house the doors.



The bleachers (cavea) were made out of white packing foam as they will not be played on and will likely be covered in as many spectators as I can manage. Stairs (vomitoria) were cut into the bleachers to make the stands look the part. The arena wall itself was covered in thick card not only to help hide all the sins but to give a nice smooth finish.





The walls of the arena are edged with wooden railings, kindly laser cut by a friend. The "cut-off" ends were finished as if to show the interior structure. For the editor's box I used modelling clay with a texture roller to make a stone patterned floor. This worked surprisingly well.





I affixed all the railings and posts in place and after a lick of paint to the arena proper, started planning the portico of the editor's box.







The pantile roofing was made from shelf liner - which is already detailed https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=102162.msg1282924#msg1282924







As the final touch a friend has printed me off a load of spectators that once painted will hopefully complete the arena.

[OSHIROmodels]

Nicely done mate, doing half is a great idea 

[Seuchenhexer]

Looks really beautiful.

[Daeothar]

Nicely done mate, doing half is a great idea 

I wouldn't call this doing things half; that's a proper building project alright!  

That is a superb piece of work; I especially love the way you did the hexes in the sand of the arena and the stairs towards/from the bleachers.

With some banners and the crowd, this will look awesome. I'm certain it will be a spectator magnet at the convention!

Will you have enough time to paint all the spectators though? The terrain itself must have taken a substantial part of the available 10 days after all...

[MaleGriffin]

Great idea well executed!

[Rabbitz]

That looks absolutely epic

[Dr Mathias]

That is quite impressive

I love that 3D printing has made spectators a viable thing to include in an arena now!

[Golgotha]

Gosh you made that look easy - very well done.

[Cubs]

Damn ... just damn. That's lovely. If they can build a 25% arena for the film Gladiator, I'm damn sure you can get away with a 50% arena (albeit a tad smaller).

[Ray Rivers]

Awesome! 

[majorsmith]

That’s a fantastic arena, pretty damn amazing really!

[OSHIROmodels]

I wouldn't call this doing things half; that's a proper building project alright!  

 

[Furt]

I wouldn't call this doing things half; that's a proper building project alright!  

That is a superb piece of work; I especially love the way you did the hexes in the sand of the arena and the stairs towards/from the bleachers.

With some banners and the crowd, this will look awesome. I'm certain it will be a spectator magnet at the convention!

Will you have enough time to paint all the spectators though? The terrain itself must have taken a substantial part of the available 10 days after all...

Thanks all.

No Daeothar, I didn't not have time to paint the spectators, mainly because they arrived after the convention! But in all honesty it was going to be a mammoth task anyway. I will do them at a slower pace now and have realised I must pin them all too to ensure they remain in place.

I think it will be worth it though to see the stands semi filled.

[Ray Rivers]

I think it will be worth it though to see the stands semi filled.

Most certainly. An arena without fans is like a chocolate bar without nuts! 

[FifteensAway]

Very nice work. 

And now you should have time to get the other half done - well, maybe just an outer wall without the galleries for spectators (and easily removable for play).  That would avoid the comments about "running away"; also keep those beasts you no doubt plan to add at some point from just sprinting off into the hinterlands.  I think that will give you a "complete" arena for a province where a full arena just wasn't cost effective.

Again, really well done.