Colonial Space Base

[Ray Rivers]

Maybe one day I'll actually be able to make my own "Nostromo" interiors.

Exactly!

I'm planning on doing at least 3 modules.  I will call it what I want.. the "not-Nostromo", a derelict space craft or the "not-colony" of Aliens 2.

[Ray Rivers]

So the journey continues...

The next step was to create and print on card the corridor walls; create, print on card and paste to foamcore the 3 entry doors into the complex; and glue the three small rooms together to form a straight baseline for the rest of the interior when I glue it in the box.

Did all that plus filled in some cracks where the 3 rooms came together and tried to square off one corner of one of the larger rooms.

Here is where I stand:



Sorry about the photo, my "point and shoot" camera loses all the detail on the card, but it does give the overall picture which is what I want everyone to see.

Note the entry doors at the end of the corridors and a couple corridor wall interior card pieces laying against the rooms.

Next stop... gluing on the interior walls, gluing the whole thing into the box and then gluing the entry doors into place.

[Luckyjoe]

That's coming along nicely, Ray. This project of yours is going pretty fast. Did you see this thread on TMP? http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=147112

They used file boxes.

Keep up the good work. 

Luckyjoe

[Ray Rivers]

 

Why didn't I think of that?

Those file boxes would have saved me so much heartache.  It's the same idea, though.  Make the terrain inside the box.  When you store it, you just put on the cover.  When you want to use it, you just take off the cover and set up the boxes in any way you want.

Excellent link, thanks.

I've finished the first part of the interior now.  I'll post a picture tomorrow.

[Argonor]

Very nice work!

I like the concept of using commercial sets for creating your own buildings/structures.

So far I've only build the paper-sets as is, but I may have a go at something like this.

The interior of space stations, planet-side bases, secret labs... steam-punk airships/vehicles.... the possibilities are legio!

I forgot checking out the 998-stuff the last two days, but I MUST get it tried out 

[Ray Rivers]

Stardate 9-34-6782586...

 

I have now finished the rooms.  In this phase I glued the exterior to the walls, did some small construction to finish the entry ways into the complex, and then glued everything into the box.  By the time I was finished I was a very happy person with all the fumes and all... 

Here's a photo of the completed rooms and corridors glued into the box:



Here is a close-up:
Bug hunting...


As I said before, all of this comes from just a few bits of the .pdf that I bought.  I modified the files for each part of the interior and then printed them off on card.

Here is a picture of ALL the .bmp files I created to get where I am so far:



Next up... I will construct an air duct system around the perimeter of the box, construct a "vent" .bmp, so that you know where folks/monsters can enter and exit and paint all of the top portion of the interior black.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the progress so far.  I have made a lot of mistakes and the construction is a bit "ish" but for a first time thing... I'm pleased.

[Operator5]

There is nothing "ish" about it. That looks great and you should be happy with the results. I could see putting about 4 of these together and using it for a Fantastic Worlds game no problem.

[Luckyjoe]

I think you're doing a great job and I really appreciate your sharing your progress with us. Operator 5 is right, there's nothing "ish" about this at all. Your results are very nice.

I have learned a lot from this thread. I have made a lot of builds in a variety of materials but have not ever done any modifications of pdfs. This morning after reading how you took sections from your existing pdf and cut out pieces you wanted, I did the same. Now I have a page of dumpsters, sidewalks, and bricks. And I learned you can change the color of the pic in Word, so now I can have a whole lot of differently colored bricks.  Thanks very much.

I do have a couple of suggestions for future builds. Unless you plan to remove rooms from a finished box in order to change the layout in a particular section, perhaps only use one piece of foamcore as a wall between adjoining rooms. I think it helps maintain continuity to have all of the wall thicknesses uniform. Also it saves foamcore. Also, you might want to cut out the door openings in the walls, so the doors can be removed or even hinged and opened. I prefer to have an opening so you can position a mini in a doorway for partial cover. Its not too hard to add the doors and adds a lot to gameplay imo.

This is a link from the Hirst Arts site for some very nice print-out bits you could add in for a variety of doors, panels, sign, etc. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. Maybe you can find something you like. http://www.hirstarts.com/plans/plans.html

Anyway, thanks for teaching me about altering pdfs and sharing your build. I'm looking forward to more.

Luckyjoe

[Ray Rivers]

Very kewl. 

Yep, you can do a lot of stuff with the .pdfs.  I use them as a starting point and then modify them to suit my needs.

The modules I'm building will not have removable rooms.  By the time everything is finished, it will all be interconnected.

For the smaller rooms, I was going to have a single wall, but I ended up with a spacing problem and by "double walling" the three small rooms it balanced the sides out... almost.  Still came up short 3mm which you will see when I have the air ducks in place.

The doors... ah the doors.  In my first start I cut them out with the plan being to drop the door in between the two pieces of card in the foamcore.  That way the door could slide open and closed.  To do that, I need to clean out the foamcore in the middle of the wall... and I just couldn't figure out a way of doing that without destroying the wall.  Thus, I just printed them on.  If you have any tips... I'm all ears.

I was working on the air shafts today and decided to search out some piece of art in the .pdf  to glue there instead of just painting it black.  I found something suitable, so the air shafts will also have artwork.  Hopefully another "pic" tomorrow.

I'd also like to thank you Joe for your support and tips.  Has helped a lot. 

[Luckyjoe]

Hi, Ray. Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad I've been able to help.  I do have a a tip for the doors. There is a very cool how-to by Audrey who frequents these boards, here:
http://13threalm.com/blog/how-to-drive-yourself-insane-with-paper-terrain-and-foamcore
that tells how to scoop out the foamcore for doors.

Also she has a very nice how-to about building Shellendrak Manor wherein she demonstrates hinging doors for the build, among other things. http://13threalm.com/blog/building-shellendrak-manor

I hope you enjoy looking at those limks as much as I have. And Audrey, if you see this thread, thanks very much for the excellent articles. You rock  .

Luckyjoe

[Geudens]

Starting to look superb  , but... what a tricky place to walk around in!

Rudi

[Argonor]

Come to think of it, it actually resembles the way I've been thinking of building a 60cm x 60 cm pyramid (I haven't started the project, yet, I need to replenish my stock of foamcore, which I hope to do during my next 3 weeks of vacation  ) - but I plan to have modular rooms/corridors that can be rearranged from game to game, allowing for different layouts, and thus for different pyramids  .

I also expect to use foamcore for the interiors. What I need to do is calculate the distance from the edge of the base to the inner outer-wall, to allow for the slope of the pyramid and the insertion of the modules without prefenting the placement of the next level... but I'm ranting on, and this is a thread about spaceships...

[Ray Rivers]

but I'm ranting on, and this is a thread about spaceships

Not at all... I encourage your ranting.

In my view, while folks are pretty capable of putting together single structures of terrain, putting together a "complex", especially one which allows you to change the inside, is quite a different story.  It requires a loooot of planning.

From my view the most important starting point is getting a balanced "perimeter", preferably square.  Square makes planning much more easy than rectangle.  And that perimeter needs to be exact.  It needs to be an exact square.

Most of my "trials and tribulations" were directly related to not having an exact perimeter.

[Ray Rivers]

what a tricky place to walk around in!

That is intentional.  It is being built to have the potential for ambushes and lots of close combat.

[Ray Rivers]

Pic of the day...



This shows the "air shaft" cut out and placed (not glued) all around the edge of the box.  There is a couple "ouches" there.  If you look to the left of the trooper at the top you will note a notch in the flooring as I was 3mm off lining up the structure below.  In the top left corner you will see a slight gap in the floor, so I'll have to fill this in.  Next up is finalizing the air shaft .bmp files, printing them out, gluing them on and then gluing the whole thing in place.

Just as a note... for these pieces I tried rabbeting the corners.   

Well, it's not so difficult once you practice a couple times.  To do this you have to make two cuts.  The first cut is through one side of the card, through the foam but without cutting the other side of the card.  Thought I would blow it, but I found by making your first cut half way through, with the second cut, by just letting the knife "find" the surface of the second card by touch (kinda zen I know), it comes out fine.  The tougher part is learning how to make the other cut.  Here you have to  pass the knife between the foam and the card, as close to the card as possible without cutting it.  That took practice.  If you do it correctly the piece just pops out and all you need to do is scrape off a bit of excess foam left on the card.

I like the technique though, it not only gives you a stronger joint but also lines things up much better.

Anyway, when I finish the ducts, I'll post a picture.