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It is amazing how non-playable the unprimed/unpainted pieces look- like Jackson Pollock kinetic art in the act of flying apart and then how perfectly textured everything looks with just an overcoating of primer. The transition is amazing and one that I want to try on my next building-type terrain piece (and I've got the bits floating aorund that are just itching to get built!).

Rock on!

Thanks, Cat. I look at my before pictures and cringe. Then I prime them and I go, "Oh yeah, there it is."

I went back to the giant piece that started all of this and started plating the back of it, before realizing there was an overhang at the top that I hadn't accounted for.


Luckiky, I had gone to my storage unit earlier that day and unearthed a very sharp blade. I made short (ish) work of that.


Whatever, it didn't need to be perfect for what I had planned. These were not meant to be autumnal. Those were just the colors at the top of the stack. I bought these colorful index card things because they are all precut, a reasonable size, and colorful enough to be pleasing to my eyes prior to priming.


Also, after all the work to cap these vents, I decided to cut them open in anticipation for the terrain piece I'll make to fit over them.


Work is never done. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

Really inspiring and impressive. I now have a mad terrain idea and I'm totally blaming you

 Meer_Cat wrote:

It is amazing how non-playable the unprimed/unpainted pieces look- like Jackson Pollock kinetic art in the act of flying apart and then how perfectly textured everything looks with just an overcoating of primer. The transition is amazing and one that I want to try on my next building-type terrain piece (and I've got the bits floating aorund that are just itching to get built!).

Rock on!

Just as a follow up on this, I wanted to reveal that after I glue on the first layer of details, I coat the entire surface with a thin layer of roughly smoothed white glue (I use Elmer's). And then just let it dry. It creates a rough, uneven coat that lends itself to looking like aged metal and adds a texture for drybrushing to pick up on.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Really inspiring and impressive. I now have a mad terrain idea and I'm totally blaming you

Thank you very much for this high praise, graven! Absolutely blame me. Go forth, make! I can't wait to see what you create.

Sketches on work days. This first jumble is me trying to work out how to make a 4 way arch.


And then working through consoles and walkways.


I'll have more project shots up soon. My weekends are in the middle of the week.

I love seeing your brain at work! I'm going to convert a Weapon X bunker from mcu into an endor bunker.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I love seeing your brain at work! I'm going to convert a Weapon X bunker from mcu into an endor bunker.

Thank you! And cool!

More Archway sketches.


And trying to hint at warping effects on architecture.


And then ideas for how to create easier rounded forms with foamcore and paper.


Maybe I'll get some work done this evening if I don't pass out in my soup. Also, I think I've been struggling with my next big project piece. I have to make a staircase. A functional staircase. And I've been fretting about it for weeks. So I think I'm just going to build one for no reason, just to work past my fears of not making it "perfect". Like, I literally intend to make a staircase just to fail at making a staircase so I can move on with my brain process to see where and what I have to fix to get it right.

Thats a lot of work done for scenery! So far looking great, I like the bulkheads, step by step you will end up with some amazing terrain

Ideation is the first step towards realization- rock on!

I now remember what some of your punched out bulkhead/walkway terrain embellishments reminded me of: exhaust systems gaskets! From the ones that fit at the muffler/pipe joint all the way up to the header pipe and manifold gaskets- if you could find those as scrap or surplus, they might make an interesting addition to your 'found item' pallet.

More of this, please!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Ideation is the first step towards realization- rock on!

I now remember what some of your punched out bulkhead/walkway terrain embellishments reminded me of: exhaust systems gaskets! From the ones that fit at the muffler/pipe joint all the way up to the header pipe and manifold gaskets- if you could find those as scrap or surplus, they might make an interesting addition to your 'found item' pallet.

More of this, please!

I'll see what I can find. Thanks, Cat!

The_Retromancer wrote:
Thats a lot of work done for scenery! So far looking great, I like the bulkheads, step by step you will end up with some amazing terrain

Thank you!


Here's another doodle. This one was ages ago, but it started me on this path of more dynamkc terrain layouts. Probably what catapulted me into doing more sketching in the downtime at work. I showed it to a coworker and they were so excited by it. It's just the broadside of a spaceship - gun turrets and a pair of bay doors sandwiched between gun batteries, but the fact that they could parse what I had drawn is really what motivated me to keep doing it. I went to an art school, but I haven't really used the sketching skills from it in a really long time. I was convinced people couldn't understand what I was doing; what I was drawing. I thought I had lost the skill. But Will told me otherwise and it motivated me to keep doing it. Thanks, Will.



I did some work on the back plating of my first big piece. The shininess the camera picked up is a coating of white glue drying. Once that cures I'll hit it with another layer of craft paint primer.


More work yet to be done. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

Just passing by to say keep it on!

Thanks, Retromancer!

I finished the detailing on this deck.


And started detailing this smaller piece.


More shots up as I get stuff done.

I started making some small details. First up is a chonky tesla coil made from wooden rings and discs.

And this wooden dome on top.


And then this "proof of concept" for a sort of fence to hang off the walkway's edge.


I'm still struggling with my stairs. Sad face, but I'll figure it out yet.

More doodles.

And me pretending I know what to do about my stairs.


More progress posts up soon.

What's the plan with the top left middle pic? Intriguing.

I might wind up doing a spiral staircase, which is ironically simpler to achieve. Oh, and I want to imply more stairs than I actually need to build.

Didn't realise that you were a fellow sketch enthusiast!

Nice work on the terrain btw!

Stairs are something I struggle with as well. Either they look like I just put a bunch of posterboard atop each other, or they are scale weird looking.

Stairs, #1 enemy of scenery builders ;-)

#2 of course is accidentally using the wrong glue.

Thanks everyone! Grrrr, stairs.

I changed gears. Sorry I didn't take any in progress shots of this thing. The main body is about 5 layers of "I don't know what I'm doing, help" and 1 layer of "ah well, hopefully the primer will cover all my mistakes, this is fine".


Also, disregard the messy bedroom in the background, this is the only place in my apartment with adequate sunlight for photos. Because here is what crap lighting photos look like.

Great work Warboss - regarding stairs, have you checked out Wyloch's videos on YouTube? He did a great video on this type of thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N99J7c5ifc

Thanks, Skinflint! I'll take a look when I have a free moment.

I didn't get any work done on my weekend as I was sick both days, but here's a patch of recent detail doodles.


I'll have more progress shots when I'm feeling a little better. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day.

Here we go, details in layers.


And then blamo!


More updates soon.

As you say "detail in layers"! It takes a certain type of mental perspective to be abel to deconstruct how you want the final look to be, and then build it up one bit at a time. It's almost like those art pieces you see that are nothing when viewed straight on, but then resolve into a sculpture or face or something when viewed at the proper angle.

Rock on!

Looking great - I use layers in some of my work, but your attention to detail between layers is wonderful.

Thanks, Cat and blockade23!

I did more work on the right side of this thing, first cutting a vent.

And then test fitting the ring.

Before placing it over this leather ribbon I found for cheap it has evenly spaced brass studs already in it, so I feel like the 2.37m (9 yards for those Imperial folk) for $3 USD was a good purchase.

Then more details went on and on and on.


More details to be added, but I am making good progress. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

I detailed the left side of this piece.


And the top decking.


Soon I'll do the front and this thing will be nearly complete. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

Started work on the back.


And the front top.


Built this little doodad to add to a recessed panel.


Then laid out the foundation, the details, and then, after priming, the doodad.


And then finally added the second coil to the other side of the box beneath the heat sink.


At this point I am pretending I'm almost done, but I'm probably going to spend a bit more time adding layers of grime and weathering.

Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!

I'm loving the greebling. Detail work adds so much texture.

Thanks, graven!

I started sketching like mad again today. There's a lot left to do.


Still struggling with stairs ideas. I'll get there eventually.

I started work on the second "boiler". I don't know what these things are, but really it doesn't matter. None of this is real.

I started by carving out where the dowels ("pipes") will sit. I learned a lot from the previous boiler build and intended to correct my method's errors.

I also glued a slightly shorter piece behind this one and then cut an angled bit to lay across the top of it, which I then pinned. Pinning it, however crudely, held it in place so I didn't have to. I was working at a furious pace and the glue would barely have time to set before I was ready to glue something else on.

After about 60 seconds passed, I cut the channels out of this angled bit.

And then sliced up the next layer to hem the rods I was using as pipes in. I test fit to make sure these areas were the correct size and snugness I was looking to achieve.

You might notice I also angled the pins as I went to make sure all the glued surfaces made contact with each other.

The next layer didn't need a lot of modification, so I scored the next piece at the correct channel locations and then brutalized the foamcore with a rough, rounded rasp.

As you can see, I barely adjusted the depth, but it was enough to let the next layer sit correctly.


The next layers were easy with no modifications and the angled strips across their tops. Here is an unpainted Black Templar I bought off of Ebay that I have been calling "Gustavo" for scale.

Then I rolled the shape over a piece of paper and marked where each angle of the base block ended and made a mark. After snipping the paper to size, I cut notches at each angle end and scored the interior where it would fold with a ball point pen.

The holes for the pipes were achieved by test fitting the paper and pushing my colored pencil through the base block's holes from below. Then, at the approximates my pencil made, I traced the base of the pipe and cut an X. Then test fit again and pushed the pipes through the Xs, hence these dimples.

Then I glued the sheet on and folded/glued the endcaps down.

And then one last test fit to confirm the pipe joins looked ugly as hell...sigh. I guess next time I'll have to work on improving that aspect.


Now on to the details. Thanks for looking and have an awesome day!