The start of Black Moor Keep

[Driscoles]

How about a crevasse with a rope bridge with water at the bottom?
A tomb entrance in a moutain face?
a crag with ruins on top?
a waterfall with hidden cave behind it?

ALL OF THEM PLEASE  !!!!

you know I love scenery. The pictures you posted here look great. Especially this cliff sort of thing. I wanna do this also in the near future and would appreciate if you can tell me your techniques, material, colors etc... Iam sure other are curious as well.  
Thank you
Björn[/i]

[Prof. Dietrich Hes]

Bjorn, I'll see what I can knock out for you.
I started some sketches of how to make a board with some of the listed elements in it.  I'll do a start to finish so you can see all the steps.

on a side note, I couldnt sleep last night so I refined the layout for the keep.  Here are some 3D images of it from my drafting package








you can see from the last image, when I make stairs I make them playable.  the "step" is 1 inch with a half inch rise.  that way for measuring or even fighting up and down the stairs are usable.

[DarkWingDuck]

Rich,
Dark wing.  
  the base looks real good on that piece.  The major thing I notice between the top and bottom is the size of the detail.  the top is very broad where the bottom is finer.  if you go back and make the top section finer in detail it would look much better.

my only otehr comment in regards to the piece is the top edge where the vertical meets the flat area.  it is too square.  if you notice in my piece, I "rolled" alot of section but then left some squared off.  It makes a major difference.

FYI, Those are 4 seperate pieces. :-) I was testing different techniques. I've a whole hex based system I made awhile back, but the cliff pieces I used a hotwire cutter and never liked the effect. I recut some down and tried the hirstarts method (in several slightly different ways). Those are my 4 test pieces. Unfortunately, since I had to cut out the original cliff face, the pieces are too wobbly to actually use on a tabletop. Until I can find a solution to that problem (remake all the cliff pieces from scratch isn't appealing), I'm taking a hiatus from working on the hex terrain.

The idea about rolling the top edge since it's too square is a good one. I'll keep it in mind should I ever remake these things. Although if I redid this project, I'd probably ditch the hexes and just make modular hills.

[Driscoles]

Thanks for the 3 d images and your time.

They give me an idea of how it works and I think that can help me with my U-Boot Bunker at the North Pole.

Playable stairs are really useful and they prevent your minis from falling   during a game !
Björn

[Prof. Dietrich Hes]

Bjorn,
 if you need any help laying anything out, please feel free to ask.  I can easily take the blocks from one image and make another.  I like working with the drafting package.  I also enjoy the challenges some pieces are.  I woldnt mind helping do a U-Boat bunker.  that can be fun.

Stairs are my bigeet hangup sometimes.  I like every inch to be playable, especialyl in a skirmish game.  for the rules 'gloire" and the tavern I am buiilding, I used the same concept.  That way you can fight up and down the stairs.

[Driscoles]

I will Prof,
thanks for offering !
Björn

[Prof. Dietrich Hes]

Bjorn,
 no problem.  Like I said, the "blocks" are already setup and it wont be too much effort.  so when you need help let me know

I'm still designing a spiral staircase, that is proving to be a difficult design.  Its easy on a penny round base, but on 1 inch bases it gets very bulky.

Cross your fingers, I hope my shipment is coming in today, which means  I will be able to start building soon.