Space Station Zero - my terrain and figs - added Aerial Drones 1/22/23

[mikedemana]

My newest project - Space Station Zero - exploring a cavernous, derelict space station somewhere lost in the depths of the universe

It'd been awhile since I started a new thread here on LAF. One of the games I decided to get into at the end of 2022 was Space Station Zero. It is from Snarling Badger Studios, who also wrote Reign in Hell which our group enjoys. The biggest problem to me getting into it is that I own pretty much zero Sci-Fi terrain and very few applicable miniatures.


There were some figures I'd be able to use from my Post-Apocalyptic project, including the Night Stalkers gang and these Bots

Now, Space Station Zero is miniatures agnostic, which meant I could draft some of Post-Apocalyptic forces into serving as crews. However, I didn't even have a battle mat, which curiously, was where I decided to begin. Anytime I am looking for ideas on how to scratch-build things for a project, I wander the aisles of Michaels and Hobby Lobby craft stores. During my wanderings, I saw a textured paper that looked to me like something I could use for the metallic floor of the station. At only about a dollar for 1 foot square sheet, that would be way cheaper than a commercial neoprene or cloth mat.


A close up of the textured paper that I used to create my gaming boards to depict the space station interior

The size of the board is 22"x30", which they claim is a relatively standard size. This divides rather evenly, though, into six rectangles of 11"x10". I wanted a strong backing for the textured paper, so bought a large acrylic sheet in a dark, smoky color. I scored and snapped it into the appropriate size rectangles, then cut the paper to match. I affixed it using Gorilla Glue spray glue because I was worried what the high water content of white glue might do to the paper. The jury is out on this, though, as even though I coated both the acrylic and back of the paper, it is showing a tendency of pulling up a bit.


Remember those projects you had to do in school? And the foamboard trifolds?

I drew a grid on the paper with black Sharpie to represent a floor of rectangular, metallic panels. I put a dot at the corner of each rectangle to give the impression of recessed rivets. The grid turned out okay, I wish it was a tad darker, though. I may go over it again with a fresh Sharpie, one day. That said, it was a remarkably quick and easy way to make a board to play on for a brand new project! I pronounced the gaming surface a success.


The "exploded view" showing how I envisioned the four sections of walls to link together

The more I thought about it, though, the more I felt that games would look a lot better if there were walls around the gaming boards. Even though Space Station Zero is supposed to be a cavernous, derelict station, it has to have walls. I looked around for something commercially available, but didn't find anything in a reasonable price range. So, like with my boards, I figured that I could once again create my own. Wandering the aisles of the craft store, I came upon a black, foamboard trifold that I have often seen my students use for project displays. That made me think, "Hmmm..." The trifold would already have the fold in it for each of the four 90 degree angles needed. That would work!


The four wall sections and the six gaming boards assembled and ready

I stuck a tape measure next to some miniatures and chose to do my walls 4" tall. Since the playing area is 30"x22", I figured four corner sections placed together would work. One arm could be 15" for the long side and the other arm extending out from the corner could be 11" for the shorter side. Placing them all together in a rectangle would create the 30"x22" frame. It was an easy matter to cut the foamboard with a sharp X-acto knife.


I "clamped" the four sections together by placing a door/portal over where each of the four sections joined, using magnets and steel bases

Now, I could have left them like that, but felt that gluing on images of space station corridors could really make the walls pop. I went online and Googled various images of space station corridors, downloading a number of images. I resized these in Photoshop to 4" tall. I then duplicated the image and flipped it vertically so that it could wrap around the top edge of the foamboard and extend down to the bottom, enclosing the foamcore in an upside down "U-shape." I took these images to the local office supply store and printed them out on their color laser printer.


My scratch-built walls, using paper, foam board, and images from the internet!

The trick was accurately pasting them onto the foamboard. I used Gorilla Glue spray adhesive, spraying both the back of the image and the foamboard. This kept the foamboard from warping, like it may have if I slathered the whole thing in white glue. I was fairly happy with how this process (which took several hours) went. I did screw up, though. One of the four pieces had its image glued on upside down. Much to my surprise, it did matter for everything to line up and have the "raw" foamboard edge facing down onto the tabletop.


Next post I will go into the terrain I am constructing for this project, because remember I was basically starting from zero on Sci-Fi terrain...

While trying to get to sleep the night before, I thought about how to clamp the four sections together so that it didn't get knocked over during play. I hit upon the idea of using the image of a door or portal glued on a piece of cardstock and placed over where each section joined the neighboring one (at the center of each long and short side). But how to clamp them? I decided to glue steel bases near the bottom corners of each side of the cardstock door. I placed magnets on the steel bases, peeled off their backing, and then pressed the door into position. Squeezing the door attached the adhesive backing to the wall section in the exact correct position. I was delighted to see the doors peel off and reattach easily with the steel and magnet connection. Success! I love it when a concept like this actually works out...ha, ha!

So, for my first post, here are some pictures of my space station walls with the boards in between. I was very happy with how these all turned out. I think the walls make it look much better than simply using the boards would have looked.

[pauld]

Looks great - good start.

[Braz]

Nice. I like the Among Us suited figures

[Kourtchatovium104]

Well done. As I have bought Space Station Zero too, I'm going to follow your thread! 

[mikedemana]

Thanks, everyone! Although I like to support manufacturers who create products for our hobby, I tend to balance that with being able to create something myself for significantly less money outlay. I unsuccessfully scoured the local stores for suitable game mats and walls/corridors before deciding to create my own.

That must means more hobby money to spend on other things...! 

Mike Demana

[Burgundavia]

Looks wonderful, love the use of textured paper.

22x30 is the standard size for Warcry and I think Killteam, hence why I think they chose it.

[Sgt_T]

It looks great! I especially like the trick with the doors.

T.

[mikedemana]

These two terrain bases have parts from the Mantic Games Industrial Accessories box, an HO Scale train station power transformer, and wooden pieces from the craft store

And now for some of my terrain...! I decided that the first piece I would work on would be a piece of 3-D printed Sci-Fi terrain that I had picked up from Rusty Parker of Jarl's Workshop. He'd brought a table's worth of the terrain he'd printed to Drums at the Rapids 2022 at Fort Meigs, OH. I even seen a lot of friends print up things on their 3-D printer, but Rusty's terrain was the highest quality I'd ever seen. One of the pieces was a large (about the correct dimensions) power plant looking piece.


A three quarters view of the back of the power plant -- printed by Jarls Workshop

I spray painted it black, and then once dry, went over the whole thing with a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and water. As cool looking as the piece is, it was an absolute BEAR to paint! I spent more time painting this piece of terrain than nearly every piece of terrain I have ever done. There are just so many recessed grooves, cool lines, and supports, etc., that I think I spent four of five nights on it, several hours each evening! The recessed part of the grooves, for example, were done in a Dark Metallic Gray, but then I highlighted the upper parts in Pewter. I think I ruined a couple brushes doing this piece! I like how it came out, though. I used metallic craft paints for most of it. I am happy with how the light blue metallic contrasts with the dark gray metallic (and especially the copper accents that make it pop).


A side view showing some of the recessed grooves I had to paint.

The rules call for two sizes of terrain -- larger pieces (5"x5") and smaller pieces (2"x2"). Luckily, the power plant was the correct size, and needed no base. I would be able to just plop it down on the space station floor. But that was it - I was now out of terrain! Strangely, I decided to make the bases for the non-existent terrain first. I had a number of scrap pieces of styrene plastic left over from my furious summer of 2022 when I was building lots of terrain for running Saga tournaments. The scraps were only 4" across, though, so I went with 6"x4" instead of the 5"x5". I figured it is essentially the same area being covered. I cut a handful of pieces and then sat back and figured what to put on those bases.


A close up of the piece with the bursting pipes -- after it was clear coated, I forced cotton ball material into the holes in the pipes to simulate steam or gas rising out of the rents in the pipes

I purchased the Mantic Games Industrial Accessories kit. It had lots of pipes or conduits, along with random pieces of machinery. Perfect! Well, almost - I didn't really feel like putting together the conveyor belt. I also stopped by the local craft store and bought a number of various sizes and shapes of wood to be painted as other random machinery. I even picked up some gemstones of various colors to simulate glowing panels and such.


A close up of the terrain base that includes the HO Scale Power Transformer from a Model Train Shop, along with pieces of wood with gemstones atop to show some power still pulsing in the machinery

Then, I sat down with the 6"x4" bases and created my space station machinery. I also dug into my various bits boxes for some other things I'd saved. Once I had epoxied everything into place, and filled the empty areas with machinery or wooden pieces that would become machinery, I primed it all with Krylon arcylic matte black. Once again, I went over the primer with a 50/50 black paint and water mix.


My post-apocalyptic gang, The Nightstalkers, stand in for brace explorers investigating the depths of Space Station Zero

My main theme for the machinery, pipes, and conduits would be a dark, metallic look. After all, Space Station Zero has been abandoned by the builders for centuries and is in a dilapidated state. I typically would paint the pieces Dark Metallic Gray, then add two layers of highlights - Pewter, then silver. I also added various accents of a copper-like, bright metallic gold or various other metallic greens, blues, reds, and browns. Once everything was painted, I would give it a heavy black wash so it looked dirty and semi-abandoned.

More bases of machinery are being added. My next post will display some of the smaller 2" square pieces that I completed. In the meantime, I have completed another large base and have one more to go before I will consider myself done for now (and able to play a game)...

[syrinx0]

Love the combination of odds & ends with dedicated terrain pieces.   They work well together.

[Sunjester]

They look really effective, I must start putting my Space Station Zero terrain together.

[verd]

Highly effective ! Love it!!

[mikedemana]

Thanks, guys! I appreciate the kind words. I am looking forward to playing my first game hopefully this weekend. My girlfriend and I are going to do a two-player cooperative run-through.

Mike Demana

[DivisMal]

Shiny! That looks really nice.

[eilif]

Very nice. A project I'll be following.

[Cat]

Sweet beans!