Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

That looks really interesting Thumpingmonkey, keen to see the finished product.

I've made some more progress on the house, but it's been going pretty slowly as I've got a lot of uni work right now.

Couple of questions about the current design:
- should I fill in the gaps between where the planks meet? It's not super noticeable, and my players certainly wouldn't care, but not sure about it.
- Should I have flat shingles on the roof or should they sag in the middle? I could leave the roof how it is and just glue on some cardboard strips, or I could put another sheet of card over the top.

Anyway, here's some piccies:



Automatically Appended Next Post:
The images seem to want to rotate when I post them, but I'm sure you get the idea

Thanks for the explanation Max Moray, the arches look great assembled !

@ThumpingBear : Beautiful artwork, looking forward to seeing how it translates, and absolutely fits this round's criteria yes !

Neat progress ferrous ! I'll let other contestants/dakkanauts answer on the design choices, since well, i'll have to judge later, but great carpentry !

Ferrous695 wrote:

Couple of questions about the current design:
- should I fill in the gaps between where the planks meet? It's not super noticeable, and my players certainly wouldn't care, but not sure about it.
- Should I have flat shingles on the roof or should they sag in the middle? I could leave the roof how it is and just glue on some cardboard strips, or I could put another sheet of card over the top.

Looks good! I'd fill the gaps even if it doesn't matter for gaming. For the shingles personally I like the old wood shingle look on such buildings, e.g. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ac/dc/8f/acdc8fc66f49a587bbd37f96b7efdf2e.jpg

Playing war games, on a globe, it’s a bit crazy, all the models will have to have magnets on their bases to stop them falling off, but’s that’s ok. It’s sticking on all the metal and iron ore that will be the time consuming part, and the painting. I’ve begun this all a bit in media res. I think the photos will explain better.

A few cans of expanding foam later and I can take some good good night shots.

Had to cut these triangles using cheap scissors while they were all super-glued together, so they kept coming apart every time i tried to cut through the whole "sheet" of glued sticks. Any way i have no idea what i'm doing, i have almost thrown this away, but i decided if i try hard enough i can make it look like some thing reasonable. Any way not sure about where i'm going to put the bell and might have to leave that out and just make a tower with no bell.

Any way still might throw this away if i cant make it look decent so ill just show what it looks like at the moment. So i might have to make a "bell tower" next time and just do a tower.

So i dont know what im doing still, only trying to do a similar style roof as that picture and similar walls, but its going to look completely different (partly because im such a fething noob at this, and because i have a idea in how it will look completely different, but i dont really know what, just a very rough idea ).

I dunno Storm- with as many tricky angles to cut as you've set yourself, that roof came out looking pretty darn good! Looking forward to seeing how you continue with this.

Great work, everyone! You've all got a good lead on me, but I think I've got an idea and enough time to execute it. I'm planning to build some more 6"x12" base sections that will align with each other and the ones I built last time. I've got some plastic meat trays from the butcher counter, some twist-off tops from my kids' squeezy pouches, and some wire mesh, so I'm going to build some covered vent fans from an underground facility of some kind. I'm tempted to try LEDs in the recessed chamber under the mesh, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

I'm almost done painting my Sororitas army... tanks are done, infantry is done, mainly just Celestine and a few bases to go. I should wrap that this weekend and I'll post some pics of the materials before I get started. Great progress, y'all!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
I dunno Storm- with as many tricky angles to cut as you've set yourself, that roof came out looking pretty darn good! Looking forward to seeing how you continue with this.

Thanks Meer Cat. Now im stuck lol, the last bit of the roof is un-even so im having trouble fitting the last part of the roof on, so we will see how this goes lol.

Thanks heaps.

So, I signed up for this competition, then couldn't think of anything that fit the theme. Then, when inspiration did hit, I neglected to take WIP photos until yesterday. Oops. Anyway:



The caves are, well, caves meant to go in reptile habitats. I picked up the black one well over a decade ago, and the brown one probably three years ago. I've tried plonking them down on the table a couple of times, but they don't really blend in with the terrain I have. Since I lack any non-urban elevating terrain, I decided to integrate the caves into a couple of hills. After cutting and shaping the insulation foam, I cut out a place to insert the caves. I then covered the whole thing with drywall putty, and since taking this photo have sanded down the rough spots and filled in a few more gaps. These probably won't be mind-blowing centerpieces, but they will fill a need on my table, so that's good enough for me.

That round is shaping up quite nice I'd say, glad to see that !

Welcome Aboard GathersNo, that spheric terrain project promises to be quite crazy, In a good way. Really looking forward to seeing where you take this !

@Stomatious, great progress , these planks should look great once painted ! I'm sure you'll figure out a way to fit the last bits properly.

Glad to see you joining in too @MacPhail, that material list sounds promising !

Great pick these caves @JoshInJapan, should end up nicely integrated to the hills and definitely usable !

 KernelTerror wrote:
That round is shaping up quite nice I'd say, glad to see that !

Welcome Aboard GathersNo, that spheric terrain project promises to be quite crazy, In a good way. Really looking forward to seeing where you take this !

@Stomatious, great progress , these planks should look great once painted ! I'm sure you'll figure out a way to fit the last bits properly.

Glad to see you joining in too @MacPhail, that material list sounds promising !

Great pick these caves @JoshInJapan, should end up nicely integrated to the hills and definitely usable !

Thanks KernalTerror, you are hopefully correct .

Gave it a rough paintjob before adding more stuff.



When I helped a friend with gardening I found these strange things attached to some plants (are apparently called roots). Also got some foliage from the model train supply. Both will be used for more decoration.

Finally getting a materials pic... I have some scrounging left to do, and there will be lots of pink foam and card (and maybe some LEDs?). But these are the core materials.



Edit: I got a rough prototype tacked together. I'll have enough parts to do five of these, although I may look at something other than propellers for some. I'll mount them singly or doubly to foam bases and use the same modular approach as last time (not sure about the magnets, though). Now that I've seen it, I think the LEDs will be critical... the recessed interior will be too dark otherwise, no matter what I find to stick in there. To have any real visual depth, I'll have to light it from within.

So, I'm working at wrapping a couple of other things, but will jump this project into the queue to try to participate in this next contest. Here's my materials pic (partial) for a Forward Space Base (think: hasty airfield in the World War II era) Multi-purpose Platform:



The platform will support a variety of different 'mini-dioramas' so that it can be used as either:

a) A Low Orbit Defensive Anti-Ship Cannon
b) Close-In Spaceport Defense
c) Tower/Command & Control
d) Fueling Center
e) Spaceport Electrical Power Generation
f) Possibly other things

Most of these lend themselves to the category of 'Engagement & Targeting, Multi-purpose Environment' (E.A.T.M.E.) facility.

I want that LOER sig file at the bottom of my page.

MacPhail: Looks very promising already.

Meer_Cat: This could earn you the batch. Great idea.


Started decorating the lid of my bucket. I intend to use the shrine/sanctuary/tomb with the lid as a base for the board and with the lid on top (as a platform) for the display to place special characters.

Update, i have been away so couldn't update.

I will be painting it very soon.


The door - Made out of a plastic container, i had to cut each individual line on the doors, first with a ruler and blade, then free handed it going over each line with out a ruler ( was easy because the blade fell in to the previous slot i created using a ruler.

Twisted Metal - Wire's that i twisted together then super glued

Walls - Foam

Wall texture - modeling putty stuff that i smeared every where.

Bricks - Foam

Roof = Wood sticks

Wow, that last week has been full of great posts, congrats gentlemen, keep it up !

Some updates:

The Column portion of the build was mounted on an MDF base and textured with a dremel, before adding all of the foam brickwork and rubble.

The House was also bricked, and walled with balsa and foamcore.

The Bridge was built from a balsa base with toothpicks as struts, planked with coffee stirrers. With the railings added, the Bridge is pretty much finished, save for some extra embellishments I may add.


I was having a bit of trouble deciding how to tackle the second floor of the House, finding a balance between playability and making it look good. I decided to bite the bullet and really get into the spirit of the competition by making the second floor completely removable (the roof will also be removable whenever I get to it). Still lots of work to go.


Lots of great ideas and work in this thread so far, keep it up everyone!

This is for the current League of Extraordinary Riveters competition. It's the beginning of an Engagement and Targeting Multiple Environment (E.A.T.M.E.) platform for hasty spaceport defense during orbital and airborne insertions.

The main platform itself will be fabricated from some leftover ceiling fan parts and bits of CD/DVD boxes:



Conveniently, the central spindle simply unthreads from the base:



I need to fasten two of these together to form the fighting platform, once complete all of the weapons and other systems will be mounted on old CDs (mostly came in the mail as advertisements, I use them for painting palettes) and can be swapped in and out based on what you want/need- thus fulfilling the Double Entendre requirement for the contest- a piece of terrain that can be converted over by design to fill more than one function:



The posts are for the two halves to line up and make it easier on the glue and/or greenstuff to hold things.

More follows soonest.

Thumpingbear: those bricks look phantastic!



WIP of the Statue of Sister Leonore on her stone coffin. Once finished, this will be the centerpiece of the interior of my little sanctuary. It can also be used seperate from the rest as an objective marker.

Here's tonight's work:

The plastic 'pegs' made from styrene channel and fixed in place with superglue broke off, so I cut strips from an AARP advertisement card and fixed them in place with JB Weld:



I've since added the top plate to it, also fixed in place with JB Weld, but it's drying and has a ton of books on it to keep the seam closed tight, so a picture of that tomorrow, I think.

I used machine screws to fasten the ceiling light sem to its base:



And countersunk the screw heads so that if I ever get to go someplace to game, they won't scratch up someone's nice table. I have some felt lying around, I'l probably cover the bottom of the base with that, just to be fussy:



Here's the central column that holds the fighting platform up, fitted into place but not glued/epoxied/welded/etc yet:



And, this is the League of Extraordinary Riveters, so here's some riveting; black 1mm sequins on flat black metal- please just shoot me now. Actually, I think they came out kind of okay, and there are many more to emplace. I found that I couldn't pick them up and put them down so that the faceted side showed, I had to flip them and put them down so that the flat side was up- it was the only way I could grab them with tweezers:





And through the magic of close-up photography, I see at least one rivet that needs to be re-stuck down!

More follows soonest.

Excellent work, everyone! I feel the pain on those rivets, believe me.

I think my scheme for the "double entendre" will work out... the two main layouts I had imagined will be possible with the pieces I've designed. One will represent big broad avenues suited for vehicle traffic (and easily cluttered with scatter terrain, which I'll hopefully have time to make), and the other will feature tight little corridors suitable only for infantry for some brutal CQC.





I'm a little torn on how to layout the "guts" of each chamber... I had originally imagined symmetry, but now I'm considering just random piles of space junk. More interestingly, I just ordered $50 worth of LEDs, batteries, and wiring from Amazon, despite having no idea what to do with them. Let the tutorials begin!

Magnificient updates folks, even with one more month to go, I am starting to realize how hard the final judging will be.
Keep it up !

Now entering the last month of the competition, how are we doing folks ?

 KernelTerror wrote:
Now entering the last month of the competition, how are we doing folks ?

Almost done, just some minor painting, decorations and then taking some pictures. Will upload and send you a link at the end of the month.

Max Moray: Thanks, was a real pain to put em all on, but the end effect is worth it!

Some more updates:

The House has been detailed with wood trim, along with the shingled roof.


As previously stated, the second floor and roof are removable. I may magnetize the second floor, as it's not quite as snug as the roof.


The Column's double platforms were installed - I was going for a very rickety, badly designed look, and I'm quite happy with it. The small building on it (which I've affectionately dubbed The Outhouse) was also glued on.


Here's a group shot with an unfinished Dwarf for scale, I think I'm getting pretty close to my original concept. The Bridge was also magnetized, so it's very stable when placed.


Still a bit more construction to go, but I'm hoping to start painting by next weekend.

Wow, I'm feeling pretty outclassed here. I sanded down the filler, applied texture, and started painting the hills (only one photo of this stage, sorry):


I forgot to turn off the flash on my phone, so it looks white rather than the earthtones it is in real life. I then added some patches of flock:


Once the glue is dry (which is to say, tomorrow), I'll scrape off some of the flock and add some foliage.

@Thumpingbear: That's insanely good! Love it.

@JoshInJapan: Great texture and paint on the rocky outcrops and the gravel around them. Looks very realistic.

Josh, I love the way your cave is turning out. The rock and flock looks great.