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Many of you may be familiar with my prior terrain work "Sump City", which I began a year and a half ago, documenting my terrain projects for Inquisimunda/Necromunda, etc. I've built a LOT of terrain and it's been a fun project. The reaction the original project received was great, and I've found it Pinterested a LOT.

I've been thinking a lot about a 2.0 version of that initial idea, and feel that I hadn't fully realized the concept in the way I really wanted. I'm also driven by the desire to build terrain that balances my modeling interests in creating Diorama style playing pieces with ease of gameplay. I got to the point where I had SO MUCH scatter terrain that the setup and teardown was longer than desired, and there were many loose pieces, easily misplaced, lost, etc.

Enter SUMPTOWN CHRONICLES.

I purchased some game tiles, frames that are 300mm squares, almost 12", laser cut and precision made. They also have built in rare earth magnets, so each tile can SNAP into the other and stay connected. Knocking the table accidently is no longer catastrophic! lol.

I've decided to build an incredible skirmish table with diorama qualities in each sector. Built with gaming in mind, so it has to accommodate figures, bases, etc... Plus, setup and teardown will be much quicker. I'll keep a few pieces of scatter terrain for occasional needs, as well as build some open area tiles that can accommodate my pre-existing larger buildings.

Thematically, this will be the ultimate Necromunda/Inquisimunda SUMPTOWN, a former industrial area that routinely floods, originally ruined and abandoned, to be rediscovered and inhabited by low lifes, scum, villains, and monstrosities.

I've already started, and my goal is to complete 1 or 2 tiles per month. A 16 tile, 4x4 board finished within 12 months. Likely sooner.



SUMPTOWN CHRONICLES Tile #1 WIP Update (Water Processing Station/Fishmonger)

Here is the first tile I've begun working on. Overall very happy with the visual balance of the tile. Obviously, very early and LOTS of additional work to do.




I had painted this shanty earlier, so when I prime and paint the tile, I'll mask it off. I've experimented with layouts for a number of tiles, and come up with a few guiding rules for myself. One of them is that tiles should always have at least one element that is askew. So in the case of the shipping container, it's helpful to keep it non-parallel. When lined up with other tiles, it creates the possibility of a narrow alleyway. The container will likely have a lot of graffiti, as well as litter in the alley section.



"Front View" of the tile. The Water processor needs a lot more detailing. More pipes, random groups of wiring, perhaps a 2nd "Spigot". The cardboard will receive Liquitex Resin Sand texture gel, to give it the appearance of concrete. The entire structure also needs a hundred nuts/bolts holding it together. Overall, just want to make it very busy.

You may notice there are 2 metal ring loops, one on the Processor, and one on the 2nd floor of the Fishmonger. There will be a clothesline between the two structures, suspended over the central alleyway.



Thinking of including a small table outside the fishmonger's with rotten fish on it. The lower floor of the Processing tube will have a control station. I'm waiting on some control panels from Copplestone Casting's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang line for that piece. I plan on including some wiring out of the control panel up the side of the tube, perhaps splitting off to the Necromunda bulkhead to "power" a light, which I'll paint with Object Source lighting effects onto the ground below. I also plan on adding a rounded half-circle section of concrete around the base of the tube. That will contrast nicely with dark earth for the rest of the tile. I may also include some little puddles of waste here and there.




OVERHEAD VIEW:



The circular platform will be painted with distressed yellow/black hazard striping. I'm ordering some Forge World Brass Etch eagles and will likely place one on this platform. It will feel similar to my Sump City Tower #7 piece from my prior thread. I've considered including some boxes on the roof, but think it may be best to keep it open and simply use scatter terrain when needed. It will store easier, and I'm not inclined to always provide cover up top, effectively fortifying it for all future games.


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TILE 1 UPDATE

I did a little work last night; here's an update:



Added a few more items for texture on the shipping container. Also textured the ground area with Liquitex Resin Sand.



Added the concrete area where the control console will sit, added a table at the fishmonger's, added a few skulls and a sewer grate in the ground area.




Added the wire for the clothes line. not secured, as I need to access it still for the objects that will hang, as well as for priming reasons. Added more pipes and mechanical bits to the processor. I think the processor feels about right to me. Once I texture the tower, there will be plenty of room to add streaking, sludge effects, etc.






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PAINTING UPDATE

I painted the tile, about 95% done. A few touches missing, such as fish for the table, a computer console (still waiting on my Copplestone castings order), as well as adding some subtle toxic leaking streaks on the barrels and some water effects in puddles on the tile. I may go back and darken up some of the rust effects at the pipes. Not completely thrilled with how orange they are.













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I've built the 2nd tile Adding a few small details to the first tile as well.

Hung out with the Ammo Bunker's Grimpulp the other day and we took a few fun pics with his gangers on the new tile.






more pics to come soon for Tile #2


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TILE UPDATE

TILE #2: Power Substation

Sorry, no WIP pics of the build. This one was pretty fast and furious. I do have these pics of the tile after I primed it black. This tile is a heavy industrial tile, some sort of local power substation, powering the quadrant. Has a keeper's shanty at the base, several generators, and the ruins of a former imperial pipe section. Should be fun to paint and play on.









CLOSEUP OF THE FLOOR DETAIL

[hr]TILE UPDATE



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CROSSOVER EPISODE

Recently went on a road trip and had an opportunity to hang out with Migsula of the incredible IRONSLEET website. Prolific hobbyist and painted from the Blanchitsu scene. Very fun, nice to chat about painting, converting, and his UK Pilgrym project.

We took a few glamor shots on my new terrain piece, and thought we'd share the CROSSOVER pics.

*mindblown* but you already knew that!

Absolutely beautiful. Really great work, so much character captured in the terrain, it really bings the 40k universe to life in my mind.

EDC

Gorgeous stuff!

I really like the bunting/prayer flags/laundry line, it really makes it look lived in.

Fantastic models too.

Well I'll be following this with lots of interest! Already spotted your terrain on Ironsleet before than, me thinks, love everything so far! :-) lots of inspiration here.

Wonderfully inspiring, any chance of you filming your builds?

Thanks for the comments. This has been an ongoing, fun and creative project. I want to build an incredibly immersive gaming experience for anyone playing on this table!

@ Joyboozer: I probably won't be filming the builds. They occur at odd times, are slightly flights of fancy in my approach. I enjoy the process too much and I'm not particularly interested in making a production of it, having to plan it, film it, edit it, etc.




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I want to add some yellow/black hazard stripes, paint the computer consoles, need to paint the shack on the rear side of the piece, assorted garbage (posters, signs, skulls) etc... I also need to paint some oil washes on the concrete tube structures





Here is a shot of Tiles 1 & 2 next to each other, looking down a "main street":



I also took a picture of a few members of my Inquisitorial Warband exploring the industrial wastes...





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I got a few pics of the tiles next to one another.



Another config:




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I finished painting the 2nd tile. Here are a few shots:

Pretty much says it all.

I also spent some time and built my 3rd tile, a slightly fortified homestead. Keeping the nautical aspects and added a sail.













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I'm nearly done painting Tile #3, as well as a new tile #4. Unfortunately, I had to lose the sail on tile 3. Multiple games quickly revealed that I could choose to remove the sail, or eventually lose it accidently. Love the concept and will re-use it again on a tile if I can make it non-obtrusive.

I've also been building a BRAND NEW Noble Warband for the upcoming event. More to come on that as I photograph and paint. Here are some new tile photos:





I still need to paint some of the shanties and other details. But the overall shape and colors are coming together how I wanted them. Trying to find some great tutorials for painting worn Grey Wood. If you know of any, shoot me a link!

GIANT INDUSTRIAL SPIRE

I've got a few tall buildings in my collection, but felt the need for one massive piece. Something that makes a statement. So i decided to build an industrial spire for the table, as a centerpiece. This is still incredibly early, but these few pics show the overall frame, shape, size of the piece. Right now I;m in the process of detailing this beast, which takes awhile. To finish this I've been selecting small areas within the greater whole, then working on them. Eventually the entire thing will be detailed and ready. I hope to have this completed and painted for the INQ event.



This will have my signature grime, rust and muck vibe once done. Note the Plaguebearer figure on the middle level for scale.






Some detailing. Eventually the entire spire will be "greebled" with surface detail, faces, wires, pipes, etc

Brilliant stuff

Outstanding! Subbed.

Good god man! Not only is what your producing amazing but your really prolific!

EDC

It's all so beautiful.

I've been busy building my warband for our LA Pilgrym game. (See IRONSLEET for more info about Inquisimunda & the Pilgrym Project)

They've been primed black, then zenithal white. Here's most of my warband, the Loyal Retainers of the Mad Duke of House Leviticus

The Mad Duke of House Leviticus







Silas Scrimshaw, advisor to the Duke



Lady Clarissa & her hound Grendyll



Note- a little more conversions for the Lady, mainly on the rifle, still to be done. Also a cable or tube from the Griffin hound to the jar on his back

[hr]KV-19, Medical Servitor





Phineas Crumpkin, Herald of the Duke



[hr]Wilhelm, Man At Arms





Krieger, Man At Arms

[hr]Saul, Light retainer

Wow! great looking terrain!

Where are you getting most of your bits from? mostly curious about the mechy/techy ones

The bits are from a very wide variety of sources. I think you might be referring to the pumps, which are mechanical pieces from Quantum Gothic




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Busy building & painting here. I need to take a moment for photography to catch up soon! I'm now have 7 tiles fully built & painted, in addition to the massive double tile Spire. Still working on detailing that piece- it's huge!

Last weekend I played some Inquisimunda and took a few atmosphere pics of the game, as well as an overview of the table from above. Still more work to do! But overall, it's starting to shape up.








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Deeper into the Sump.....

I've been busy building & painting these as fast as time permits.

Here is the 4th Tile, a shanty cluster hab area built next to an industrial/chem overpass ruin. In keeping with the nautical theme, the little shack bar has been named "The Lazy Oarsman"










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I've also finished a double set of tiles: THE RAILYARD. This is the first of the two rail depot tiles, fully painted. I was inspired to build these after visiting a friend in downtown Los Angeles. While there I found these side alleys with sections of abandoned rail track left behind from another era. I didn't want to include an entire rail system in my board, but it was fun to include just a little bit, leftover.

Here is the first RAILYARD TILE

These tiles are awesome.

Brilliant tiles. Also loving your conversions, the Griffin Hound looks swell.

EDC

Thanks for the comments! Glad you like them.

Built another quick & easy tile: Industrial Machinery waste.

I'm trying to build a few tiles that are relatively open and have a lower height profile, for contrast with the rest of the board. Provides some options as to how dense the playing board is based on setup. Pretty straightforward tile: Some plastic card for concrete areas, some mechanical bits and pipe from the bits box, and an old Hot Wheels piece from the attic for the industrial machine.

Rust it up and, voila, done!

WOW! Awesome stuff, thanks for sharing.

Good lord. This makes me want to get the Necromunda game started up again.

It also makes me not want to play Necromunda again, because it will be so sad in comparison, lol.

Fantastic terrain! And the converted minis are super as well. Very atmospheric, and they capture the gothic weirdness of 40k perfectly.

Here is an early preview of what the entire board will eventually feel like. This is a water test tile (no waves done yet, just gloss) next to the first tiles.

Some more tiles done!

Here is the Second Railyard Tile









I put together a set of older Forgeworld Ruins, mainly to create a "spacer" tile, to allow some more room and create pathways that aren't as dense.









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Here is the first of a set of Water Themed tiles. I finished airbrushing the water patterns. I'm going to add a clear coat, then wave effects on all of these.

TILE#9 PUMP STATION

The little hut on the end of the pier became a joke at a prior game, that is was likely an "upscale" bathroom in the underhive. So when I painted it, I went with that. "Little Boy Blu, Luxury Loo"







TILE #10: RUST ISLE

I was at my local game store and saw a Reaper Bones mini of a Sharkman. Just a few dollars. I cut off his arms & legs, greenstuffed the body, cut out a gaping wound and added a ribcage from the old Mordheim "thing in The Woods"




TILES #11 & 12: OPEN WATER (w/ barrels)

Incredible as always. Will you use pegs to connect the tiles? I can see the holes in the base.

Very awesome. I'd say I would steal these ideas, but I won't even come close

Awesome. Love the shark carcass!

Nice builds and top notch paint jobs as always. the shark is really great!

 Bottle wrote:
Incredible as always. Will you use pegs to connect the tiles? I can see the holes in the base.

The tiles are all magnetized & snap together