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2021/03/11 18:00:52
Subject: Re:League of Extraordinary Riveters [LoER] Round 34: "Dangerous Terrain"
endtransmission, those railroad hexes look cool... looks like a stack of a dozen or more in the picture? I'm wondering how big the collection is. I like the idea of a fully modular table done that way. Mine is two-foot tiles and theres only so many ways those go together...
There are 14 tracks, plus the crater in this pile. Everything else currently covers about 4x5 ft if I were to use everything in one go. this is it last time I laid it all out about a year ago. There's probably another 25-30 hexes worth of bits made since then
DJ, how will you manage the actual pit for the tabletop... elevate the surrounding terrain, or some sort of optical illusion? Maybe a bit of both? Let me know if you need any XPS foam cut to spec.
I was thinking of building it above the surrounding terrain, like one of those scrapyard, car crushing, grinder machines. Put fences or machinery walls around it and have a ramp leading up to the level of the pit. But, right now I'm getting more excited about a jungle diorama scene. I'm going to try my hand at sculpting some plants and trees with sprue, putty, and gs. We'll see how it goes, I might be back in industrial car crushing mode soon.
I fired up the foam cutter tonight and did a quick proof-of-concept by pinching a stack in my hand after I'd made a few experimental scroll cuts. I think the basic idea holds up. I'll actually stagger the layers so the trail can rise and fall over the length of the piece, and I may try to add an arch or two. I'll cut more deeply into the individual rock bands with the hot cutter and a blade and shape and texture them pre-assembly. Once they're together I'll paint the bands subtly different colors as if they were different rock strata, and there should be lots of little nooks and crannies to stick rubble, grass tufts, and maybe some flowers I've seen others using.
I finished the interior of the first storey of the cannibal house:
And one more with some Dungeon Saga furniture for scale.
I'm not sure why the photos are upside-down.
I think I nailed the aged wood look. Not having done any real planning before I started cutting and assembling, everything is a little rough and ill-proportioned. It works to reiniforce the age and lack of maintenance on the building, but if/when I try another project like this, I'll do some more work on paper before starting.
Josh, that's awesome work! You're right on with the weathered wood, and the slight warping is just the right effect. Great stairs, too! Can't wait to see those tied in with the upper levels.
I got busy with the new foam cutter and cut and assembled the first three layers of "rock" for my dangerous cliff trail / display diorama. From here on up I'm going to try to stagger the layers and add some arches and tunnels if I can. More pics in my P&M blog.
So is the path down the middle of a ravine? So the rocks are vertical? I was thinking these rocks would jut out from the side of a cliff and the path would it’s way between them. This just blew my mind.
Yep, that's actually the ledge viewed from underneath. The whole thing hangs on the wall with a trail running along it. If I move quickly I may paint and base a unit especially to accompany it, but otherwise it will serve as a nice shelf for WIP models. I'm going to challenge myself to try to paint some illusionary depth into the recesses, up my vegetation game, and explore the diorama dimension of this contest.
Okay, the thread slipped to page 2... unacceptable, Riveters!
I'm almost done building, just need to cut and glue a few more layers and I'll start adding some rubble and detail. May even get there this weekend. How's everyone else doing?
EDIT: Done with the basic build, so I'm swapping out the photo. I'm going to add some cork and grit for texture and maybe use Mothsniper's trick with the hot dental tool to etch some deeper cracks. Hopefully paint this weekend? Go team go!
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/04/07 03:16:47
Well, I finally got started, but I changed my mind about the idea, again.
I may still build the pit of drills and blades. I've got all those bits in a bag.
I also have some Catachan fighters, so I may build a diorama base for them still, too.
But, for the competition, I'm building a mom-and-pop style hardware store for Zona Alpha, or other post-apoc games. Slightly deteriorated, slightly damaged, definitely full of zombies or other threats.
Could be some good scavenged material, some weapons or tools, but likely some serious threats as well.
Cutting and building shelves out of chipboard.
Making progress!
Automatically Appended Next Post: And, a crafting sesh and a couple episodes of Trapped Under Plastic later, I have much more of a building.
The process was inspired by a video from Eric's Hobby Workshop.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/04/13 18:56:02
Nice to see everyones progress, but we've just hit the 2/3rd mark (ie one month to go!) - so get crack'n! (Apologies for being out of the loop for a bit...)
That's a cool idea, DJ! Have you played Zona Alpha yet? I bought the book on a whim, and have read the book the game was based on, and am kind of stoked to give it a try, but of course in person gaming is still off the table for a while...
DJ, your pivot to the hardware store is an awesome call... can't wait to see what you dress the place up with. I love Last Night on Earth, which should go on everyone's zombie board game list if it isn't there already. This could totally be a location for that game as well.
How's everyone else doing? I got mine assembled and painted black, then stalled. But there was a big sale at Guiry's and I went big on cheap acrylics, so I should have a good variety of warm earth tones for the rock bands, plus some grays and greens for lichen and moss. I also ordered up some tufts from Army Painter. The only catch is that I didn't build the main shelf deep enough... once I textured it, it wouldn't quite hold a 32mm base. I hadn't planned on how much depth the rubble and gravel would eat. D'oh!
JoshInJapan wrote:That's a cool idea, DJ! Have you played Zona Alpha yet? I bought the book on a whim, and have read the book the game was based on, and am kind of stoked to give it a try, but of course in person gaming is still off the table for a while...
I have played one solo game of Zona Alpha after also purchasing the book on a whim. It was really fun. I'm sure it would be more fun with a friend. I wrote up a battle rep on my blog.
Also, "off the table",
MacPhail wrote:DJ, your pivot to the hardware store is an awesome call... can't wait to see what you dress the place up with. I love Last Night on Earth, which should go on everyone's zombie board game list if it isn't there already. This could totally be a location for that game as well.
How's everyone else doing? I got mine assembled and painted black, then stalled. But there was a big sale at Guiry's and I went big on cheap acrylics, so I should have a good variety of warm earth tones for the rock bands, plus some grays and greens for lichen and moss. I also ordered up some tufts from Army Painter. The only catch is that I didn't build the main shelf deep enough... once I textured it, it wouldn't quite hold a 32mm base. I hadn't planned on how much depth the rubble and gravel would eat. D'oh!
I can't wait to see it either. Can you add an extra lip to the shelf? Is there a way to shift layers without destroying the whole cliff face? Those layers were so precisely manufactured, it doesn't seem likely. I hope you find a solution.
MacPhail wrote: DJ, your pivot to the hardware store is an awesome call... can't wait to see what you dress the place up with. I love Last Night on Earth, which should go on everyone's zombie board game list if it isn't there already. This could totally be a location for that game as well.
How's everyone else doing? I got mine assembled and painted black, then stalled. But there was a big sale at Guiry's and I went big on cheap acrylics, so I should have a good variety of warm earth tones for the rock bands, plus some grays and greens for lichen and moss. I also ordered up some tufts from Army Painter. The only catch is that I didn't build the main shelf deep enough... once I textured it, it wouldn't quite hold a 32mm base. I hadn't planned on how much depth the rubble and gravel would eat. D'oh!
Is your piece meant to me playable terrain or a diorama? If the latter, do the models need to be on bases?
I'm slowly making progress on the cannibal house:
I thought that the siding on the back wall was a little too regular, so I cut the boards on the remaining walls more randomly. I also realized that I forgot to put any windows on the ground floor-- oops!
The upper storey is removable, and slots into the lower level pretty well, although there are gaps (I'm making this up as I go along, with no written plans, which in retrospect was a mistake). The inner walls are done, and the foamcore base for the floor is in place. I have the slats for the floor stained and ready to be glued in, but before I do that I have to fill in some of the gaps and maybe add baseboards. After that, I'll start applying the siding, and then think about the roof.
Josh and JazzyJeff, you are both builders extraordinaire! The wood frames and siding look great, and I'm really excited to see that staircase once the levels are stacked. The chipboard details are likewise excellent... beyond what I thought the material could deliver. Well done, both!
As for my piece, I can't really add more foam at this point, but I may be able to pop off a few of the textures that are crowding me and level out others. I could also build the models right in and go full diorama, but at my current pace, I won't be building and painting figures for it on or off the base. I think I can find some Space Marine Scouts or Imperial Guard to demonstrate the scale. I got it basecoated the other night with a mix of black acrylic, ModPodge, water, and Flow-Aid. I'm going in tonight to see how far I get on laying down a variety of colors... I'll start with pretty bold, high-contrast colors and try to unify them with uniform shades of drybrushing and washing. Not sure how it will work, but at least I'm steaming toward the finish line. It looks like my game group may pick back up in person in June, so I need to pivot back to building and painting models!
I got my piece painted, drybrushed, and washed. I'll probably go back and add some blotchy green and gray lichen with a sponge and some running water stains, then wait for my tufts to arrive from Army Painter. For once, I may not be working on it the night before the deadline!
I've built a dumpster. Took the wheels off a matchbox truck. Not sure if I like them or want to take them back off. Also, plastered everything with mod podge so I can start painting next. I still have a few things to make, like windows. I want to make a air conditioner unit on the roof. I bought some stl files, but my lead on a 3D printer fell through. Might just have to craft one from chipboard.
Probably going to be some of the last pictures I post in this thread. It's starting to really take shape. I put a coat of paint on the shop. It's a base layer and needs plenty of work. Another coat or two, weathering, detritus, windows, tools and materials to scavenge, the dumpster, sidewalk around it, etc. Plenty to do before the 12th. The roof is removable so the interior is playable. Tried to leave room for at least a small base down all the aisles.
Obviously, those were not my last photos.
The exposed gap between the ceiling and the roof felt too empty to me, and it also seemed like too good of an opportunity for . . . RIVETS!!!
I built the first with matchsticks and then, because I only thought of it once I decided I wanted to bend and warp it, I made the second out of sprue.
Nice to see everything progressing so well people. Yes, the deadline is Midnight GMT on Wednesday, May 12th, so what's that, a week or just under to go? Although the tradition appears to be for the deadline to be a bit malleable to get everyone over the line, so don't get too hung up on it. You have all done better than I - probably best that I hosted this round rather than fail to submit another entry...
Hmmm... the scoring doesn’t really take finishing on time into consideration (perhaps in future it should.) How about this - I’ll use submission order for any tie breakers.
Arakasi wrote: Hmmm... the scoring doesn’t really take finishing on time into consideration (perhaps in future it should.) How about this - I’ll use submission order for any tie breakers.
Actually, I may just take advantage of the extension to add a bit more to the cannibal house. Some foliage that I ordered is taking longer to arrive than I had originally thought.