Thanks for the positive comments.
A brief tutorial on making styrofoam ruins and detail (or at least, this is how I do them …)
Because we are running the “Burning Light” campaign for Rangers of Shadowdeep at the moment, a lot of my inspiration comes from the scenario details, otherwise I have a fairly clear idea of what I want the ruins, etc to look like.
I usually start by etching the stonework pattern on to the styrofoam sections with a biro, having drawn a light pencil grid onto the sections earlier. I find the etching process quite therapeutic, and doesn’t seem to take too long to cover large areas such as dungeon floor tiles. The largest sheets I’ve worked on is 450 x 450 mm/ 18” x 18”. Any designs, such as circles or diagonal tiles can be lightly added with pencil before etching with a biro.I use cheap biros, which can be bought in quantity packs from places like Poundland/ Dollarama (?). The finished sections are “distressed” with a small stone wrapped in several layers of tinfoil which adds texture to the surface of the stone. By carefully pressing the covered stone into the surfaces and changing stone and styrofoam orientation, a believable finish can be achieved.
With the individual parts etched and distressed, they are then glued together using white PVA glue, the joints being pinned whilst the glue sets. To add strength to the glued joints I usually score the styrofoam surfaces with a diamond pattern to increase the bonding area. Once set, the pins can be removed and the whole painted with a brush applied acrylic black undercoat.
Once the undercoat is fully dried (this might take a couple of days on rubble piles), I apply a dry brush coat of DecoArt “English Ivy”,followed by a slightly lighter dry brush with “Westport Grey” and a highlight dry brush of “Morning Mist Grey”. Occasionally, I may touch the highest point’s of rubble piles with a 50/50 mix of “Morning Mist Grey” and “Light Antique White”.
For the cobblestone areas and details, they are dry brushed with “Cinnamon Brown” with a highlight of “Cashmere”. All paints are named are from the DecoArt range.
Timber elements are built from balsa sheets, overlaid with coffee stirrers and painted in a variety of browns and khaki, usually finishing with a light dry brush of 50/50 “Cashmere” and “Light Antique White”. Large doors are made from strip timber and are fitted on wire loop hinges to allow them to be opened. Other doors are scribed balsa inserts, stained with Vallejo Game Colour Wash “Sepia Shade” and are friction fits to the openings.
For finishing touches I normally paint the exposed (undecorated) outer faces of the standing ruins a medium grey, which matches the recessed boards used for each scenario.
RMZ
18 October 2012, 11:37:02 PM
