Sci-Fi Terrain!

Sci-fi terrain (Star Wars, Warhammer 40K) is TOUGH!
It hurst my brain...like algebra or 9th grade math. My modeling style naturally falls into forests and caverns and crystals and trees and mountains and all kinds of organic creepy crawly shapes and forms.....
But not angles, lines, boxes, widgets, buttons, and "greebles" as I've heard them called before (small accents that look like they have a function but in reality, do not).

So in creating Sci-Fi terrain for Warhammer 40K and Star Wars RPG use (although I do not currently play SW RPG, but would someday love to...), I found it tough to make the mental switch from one genre to the next.
I needed help. a computer. Or maybe just a broken jacuzzi motherboard.

This turned out to be just the inspiration I needed. I had no problem coming up with "shells" that looked like they had "futuristic potential," but it is the small fine details that made the difference. And this old leftover piece from replacing a jacuzzi spa heating system was perfect.
Wires were used throughout as well, cut and shaped, and even the ends made for interesting lines and edges to give each part character.


Ion-Relay Pipe:
This was made from a  heavy base of actual brass pipe, with various small parts scavenged from sprinkler repair.
I added the white plastic ring at back (the inner workings of a fake (I hope) TAG Huer wristwatch (purchased for $3 USD on some Bangkok street corner), a small wrap of wiring on the front, and a nozzle from a foam fishing bobber cone, inverted and screwed into the plastic gray pipe.

Bits were added to the top from cut wire ends, small beads, and even a few plastic bracelet pieces from my daughters nightmarish craft horde. Small white side pieces and base bits were ripped from the circuit board, all of which I am far to dumb to identify...but they look great when primed.
Edges, small holes, squared lines, and architectural structure that implies meaning or purpose beyond the need to understand.

           

Fusion Relay Station
This one turned out as the biggest surprise thus far.
I threw this together with extra parts thinking I'd just see how it turned out, and it's ended up being one of my favorite.
I started with two round foam fishing bobbers, and inserted simple coffee straws as antenna into the top, giving each a different height for some visual depth and detail.
I then fixed a small brown ring handle from an old cardboard shipping box in between the two, cutting a slit into each foam side, and creating a form of "window" or control screen.

Once I added the small circuit pieces and battery parts to the top, sides, and front panel of the base, it started to take on a very 'functional' look, as if each piece has a purpose, we just are not entirely sure what it is. Thats the essence of a good greeble I think.
When primed, the foam takes on a  slightly pitted look, giving it the finish of old plaster, sandstone, or stucco.
Perfect for a desert or deteriorating structure on some far away world.

  

Part 2: 
Trooper Outpost, Planetary Beacon, Carbon turbines, and Ruined Tower and Scrap Heap.

More Trees than Tears in Flannessia...

I do a lot of solo RPG gaming.
Almost entirely.
Mostly because I haven't found a group consistent and committed enough in my immediate area for any form of regular play. And so I build a lot of terrain for that specifically, that can be used modularly to help generate a better idea of the imaginative world in which I am playing the game. Of all the terrain I make, trees are by far my favorite. I never feel as if I can have too many.

Sometimes a small encounter is perfect though, and for that, a bit of extra foliage and even just a small scene-scape can be ideal. Not only can it add to a greater forest diversity when used in with larger terrain, but on it's own it stands as a unique scene. For this use I created a small scene with only two small aspen trees, a small base, and a few natural stone accents with surrounding foliage.

I started with two strands of small wires, and banded these together with simple electrical tape. From the tops of that I added actual wood strands in smalls tick like branches, gluing each individual stick onto another to get just the right natural look.

Once I had the sticks 'bound' together and the basic tree form assembled, I added more masking tape, winding it up and around the trunks before adding a cream-white colored paint (rather thick) to the masking tape itself, allowing the lines of the masking tape to show through just a bit to give the look of bark and natural wood grain. 

This was followed with a  charcoal colored paint dabbed in varying sizes to give the aspen-like illusion of knots and divers in the natural wood-the 'spots' look. A very light dry-brushing of a softer tan over putter edges of the branches mirrored well the changing look of the flocking added to the tree tops too.

Instead of going with completely green as I have done in the past, I added in flecks of lighter almost, burnt, coloring to give the look of changing leaves, or maybe a bit of natural tree fungus, disease, parasite, etc.


The base was made with my go-to material: thick foam-core in black with paper-backed edging (called Gator board in the Design/Advertising world), and carved first with a simple hobby knife for texture and stone, then flocked with a mixture of green foliage made from a combination of pencil shavings, standard pva glue, green paint, and light bits of green food coloring.
Applied over a thin layer of painted-on pva glue and allowed to dry before drilling the tree holes allows the flocking to run right up to the base of each tree trunk.




Finally, I added a few small natural stone accents (to give the base weight0 and surrounded the tree trunks with standard hobby-shop floral lichen.

Finally, once completed, the stone edging of the foam board was painted in three layers of alternating gray:
1: A darker, deep gray in vertical strokes only.
2: A lighter stone gray in sideways lightly applied strokes, allowing both the black of the foam core and the gray of the previous layer to show through ever-so-slightly.
3: a dry brushed layer of light, almost white-gray over the top giving highlights of natural granite.

The result is a small little grove, single forested encounter piece, or modular tree stand for use alone or in conjunction with additional tree pieces.

As Cavalier Elrik once said, "There are more trees in Flannessia than tears. Pray it will always be so."

Stonework Steeps!

I know I know....."modular modular modular."
I preach that all the time.

But the versatility, storability, mobility, and playability of modular pieces is just SO much fun, and they are a constant challenge to create.
Plus, when your imagination varies from a love of all things D&D to the carnage of Warhammer 40K, having pieces that can work for both saves a bit in the "Gaming Terrain Finance" department too.

So this weeks project was creating a sense of muddler stone columns, but made to look like natural rock. I wanted these to be able to be used in various forms of terrain. anything from mountain to forest to underground cavern settings (although the end result, while nice, does slightly limit  the potential use (in my own opinion) to underground cavern settings).

I started with my standard building material, hardened, paper-backed foam core or gator board (see the previous Creative Dungeoneering post on the Battle board made from this here:
http://creativedungeoneering.blogspot.com/2018/01/battle-board.html)

I shaped these with a thick and rough pair of scissors and then smoothed the edges with a soft sanding block, before gluing them together in equal-sized stacks with standard pva glue.

Once done, I added layers of paint over the black foam core and paper backing in the following order:

• Primer gray-standard gray primer spray
• light gunmetal gray: any med-to dark shade of stone gray would work (or red, brown, etc).
• soft gray: I used a softer, almost white gray here, dry brushed over the top to create edge highlights and give the stone a worn texture. The same would apply here though for other shades of red, browns and whites.  

Once the stone work was completed I added a thin layer of pva glue to the top, and created a flocked top layer using standard flocking materials. Green hobby store grass material (think train building sets or model diorama terrain) works well, but I also use a mature of old pencil shavings, pva glue, and a light dab of green food coloring and paint and mix until dry. This gives some texture and depth too (more on this in the next post on Aspen trees and natural terrain).

   

Simple. Pretty fast, and these were made almost entirely in an evening-about 2 hours +/-. 

Effective for use in wargaming or table-top roleplaying as added terrain features, archways, gateways, columns, pillars, or even over-water type features.

There are a ton fo add-ons that could be done to these too:

• Stalagmites/stalactites from some fo the small overhanging rock edges, then done in purple (Underdark or crystal-type) hues or even painted with snow flocking to represent ice or winter terrain. 
• Extra foliage or moss on the edges
• Water-spray, or bases of hot glue and water-type features giving them the look of being suspended in or above water. 

Just great simple little pieces with a lot of creative potential. 

As for cave terrain, I intended originally to make these modular to where they could be used for an Underdark campaign as well. But I am a huge fan of the more purple-gray hues that are found in the Wizards of the Coast and Gale-Force 9 Caverns of the Underdark sets that I currently use and match terrain too (see some of the previous Creative Dungeoneering posts on these in our archives...) so it was tough to justify the purple hues needed with the green flocking. 

As much as I love modular terrain, I love making it match even more. Thus, these are primarily for "above-ground" use. 

Multi-game modular Battle Board!!!

As I've written about many times before here on Creative Dungeoneering, I'm a big fan of modular Dungeon Terrain and wargaming boards.

I like the versatility, and for my small and not-often-used-enough gaming space, the storability of it.
But with my love of a bit of Warhammer 40K, and a growing Black Templar army, I am finding need to have a more adequately sized battle board for weekend skirmishes with the despicable Tau and Ork kind kind friends and family are somewhat partial to.


Herein however, lies the catch with wargaming boards:-Too large and you spend all your time in the movement phase.
-Too small and there is no tactics, movement, or strategy (or less of it) inherently required as your into close combat before the first move. Now running Black Templars, this is perfectly fine, as this is where my little zealots excel.



But for the enjoyment of not only the other players, but also the usability of the terrain for more than just Warhammer (primarily larger-scale Dungeons & Dragons modular dungeons or outdoor wilderness miniature terrain), I needed a board with enough space that additional modular features could be added later; buildings, ruins, mountains, forests, rivers, etc.

So this means that essentially, featureless terrain needed to be included, or terrain that would likely be eventually covered by something else. I needed flat sections.
So the trick then was creating a board that could offer some creative usability but also the interest to potentially serve as a basis for future adventures, both Sci-fi and Fantasy based.

Materials:

I work in a creative department and acquire a lot of extra materials made of what, in the industry we refer to as gator board. Essentially thick foam core with heavy-weight paper backing on both sides. Most of these are done for advertising examples, wall art, photos, etc. In this case the piece I am using is roughly 48" x 48" and about 1/2" thick, with a heavy-weight photo paper on one side (a juice advertisement) and a slightly-lighter weight black paper backing, sandwiching the foam core in between.

The smaller example pictured here shows the two varying sides, but any foam core board could work. The key is the thick paper on the bottom side 'supporting' or creating a 'base' for the foam core. This could easily be replicated with even better material, such as cardboard or even wood.














 

Creating the terrain:

To start creating the terrain features on my larger piece, I used a set of odd tools including an old serrated butter knife (crucial that it be serrated), a Play-Doh putty sculpting tool, and even more odd and tricky to find, a vintage walnut cracking pick. This stainless steel tool is my go-to tool for everything from pushing glue to creating bubbles, and is featured in just about every terrain tutorial I do here on Creative Dungeoneering.

I started with simple pencil markings of a rough area where I wanted 'terrain features' like the  trench, craters, and cracks. The hardest part was resisting too much creativity. Less is more here. Remember, that open space and 'blank surface' area is going to work perfect later for adding additional modular features and using this for multiple types of terrain.

I started by scraping away the paper backing and into the foam using my trusty walnut pick, and then slowly peeling away each piece with the putty tool and knife.

 One one corner, where the crater was at its deepest, it actually compromised the structural integrity of the photo paper beneath.
This required reinforcing the foam and strengthening up this edge corner. One fo the best things I have ever found to do this is standard Shoe Goo putty, for shoe repair.  

Once sealed up, the corner was adequately strong and the essential detail of the board was finished. But resisting adding more was a constant struggle! 

Next was measuring with actual models to ensure that the trenches and craters were adequately sized and would work for game play. 

The trenches were only about base-deep, so they didn't provide "cover" in war-game terms, but enough of a drop that they do create a terrain 'feature' which gang augmented with additional modular items such as rocks, foliage, trees, etc.

Surfacing:

For surfacing, especially for larger flat, or open areas, little works better, and faster, than standard textured spray paint. I somehow feel like I'm cheating when I do this, and it's not cheap, about $10 a can. And this board took an entire can. But it works fast, it works well, and it really looks pretty good when all is finished. 

It is also somewhat durable, textured, and easily accepts accent colors and paint finishes to add additional colors and textures, giving the surface more depth and character. 

The standard stone gray available at most craft and hobby stores is so great, in that it can, like in this application here, be used for both Sci-Fi and Fantasy based terrain and cover creating anything from a cracked alien planet to a forest floor, dungeon cavern base, or even a city scape surface. 

I used the Citadel Skulls pack to add some small individual terrain features that again, could work for just about any terrain or location other than snow or desert.

The small skulls gave the board character and a bit of mystery for war-game play but could just as easily be game hooks or dungeon dressings for fantasy and RPG use too.



I also added hues of purple to the cracks, surfacing, and edges of the holes and trench.

This served the purpose of adding a bit of character to the board and most importantly, matching with all other modular terrain I use in this same style. Again, it's all about versatility and storability.

Because I intend too sue this with fantasy table-top gaming as well, I wanted my current modular terrain to match as seamlessly as possible with the battle board, making this piece even more versatile for sue in both Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons. I am a huge fan of the Gale Force 9 Caverns of the Underdark set, and they are done primarily in a gray-blue-purple hue.

Adding complementary colors to the Battle Board here will make this a fantastic piece when coupled with those as well, either as additions to Warhammer alien terrain, or for a D&D mega-dungeon-total-party-kill-Drow-battle-royale...
 

Lost in the 40K Universe...Again...

FINALLY!!!
After a LOOOONG delay and some intricate and nefariously complicated IT web-browsing proportions more akin to the chaotic evil of Lolth's demonic pits, I am finally able to once-more delve into the depths of the Dungeoneering blog and resurrect the Creative Dungeoneering blog!
(Thank you Googole Chrome!)

NOW....in the 41st millennium there is still only war, even since the late 80's...and it's glorious!!!
After a long break from the Warhammer hobby, I have returned to Games Workshop and the wonderful world of Warhammer 40K.

Now typically I am a hard-core D&D'er, and have always been more akin to playing classic, vintage, old-school fantasy role-playing than techy-sci-fi RPG's or wargames, although I did dabble with a small Space marines and Chaos space Marines unit back in the late 80's/early 90's (Khorne of course...BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!)

And despite a deep and reverent love for all things Star Wars more closely associated with religion than fandom, my tastes have always been more of the fantasy variety than sci-fi, especially in the terrain and crafting realm. So I was surprised when I first walked into my local Warhammer store, and felt immediately drawn again to not Age of Sigmar, the more "fantasy" styled version of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, but to Warhammer 40,000, the Sci-Fi based wargame....but here's why:

The Black Templars:
Ever since first learning of the Black Templars some years back, I felt a close kinship to their kind, not only for their crusading lore, but for the ties to their medieval nomenclature, the style of their almost knightly armor and weapons, and use of bladed power swords and symbology, but to their idealogy as well.

Now at the risk of dabbling into the political realm, which I vehemently forbid in the Creative Dungeoneering world, I wont get into my own personal feelings on Crusader history other than to say I am a long time reader and passionate medieval historian of crusader and medieval religious orders. I have read every historical non-fiction work I can find on the Religious Orders and on the Crusades spanning from the first crusade of 1096 until the fall of Acre in roughly 1291. Of all the religious orders, the Templars of course have always been the nearest and dearest to my heart. Both for their mystery and esoteric history but also for the contributions to history and their religious ideologies that I personally find applicable in my own life to this day.

 An opportunity for me to craft, assemble, paint, and bring-to-life an entire army built around this favorite of my Military orders albeit with a sci-fi twist was far too good to pass up, especially with a Warhammer store now in my very own backyard.

A quick note on the Warhammer the District store as well, located in South Jordan Utah:

Check them out on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/WarhammerTheDistrict/

                           

Scott, the Manager of the Warhammer store at the District is, in my over 33 years of gaming, is EASILY one of the, if not THE best game store manager I have ever met.
He welcomed me into the store from my very first step as a friend and with the wave of his hand has made me feel at home every day since.

Since this is the first post we've had here in a while, there is a LOT to catch up on!

• We have new Sci-Fi terrain in the works for some new Warhammer terrain, 
• New painting techniques
• New gaming stories to tell
• New projects to share. 
• A whole new fantasy series in the works; Through Cenowulf's Throat - all based around Cenowulfs mile, the great bridge spanning the Riversweep canyon leading the the Furond city of Sohlnorus. Which, for anyone who's followed the Creative Dungeoneering blog for a while knows, is the seat of power for the Kingdom of Furond and the location of the High senate. This of course means we will be seeing a bit more of Pellinia Te'Surk and her vile dabbling with Alzur and Abraxus. And we learn a bit more from the perspective of a character that only received a bit of mention in the first Flannessian book, Elerin of Kelrik.  

Stay with us! We may have dissapered into the depths of the interwebs demon pits for a while, but were back from the underearth and have survived the udnerdark to fight another day!