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Cheap and easy scatter: Pillars (with a bunch of other stuff I started doing with the pillars).


WWHSD

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I saw these pillars at Hobby Lobby in their baking section. They come in a few different sizes, the 5 inch seemed about right for Malifaux. The 4 pack was $5.

The pillars are plastic and hollow. You could almost use them right out of the box but they light enough I’d be worried about them getting knocked all over the place.

This is still kind of a work in progress but I’m sawing them in half at an angle and then packing them full of joint compound. This makes them solid and gives them a bit of weight.

Standing up they look like they’re probably Ht3 or they can be laid on their side for a wider Ht1ish barrier.

I’m planning on painting them but I don’t think they look bad unpainted if you use a white filler.

If I do them all like that, I’ll get 8 pieces of durable nice looking scatter for just over $5 and what will probably come out to about an hour’s worth of work.

 

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So I bumped into a little issue when everything dried. The joint compound shrunk a bit and was cracking. I don't think it was meant to be 3 inches thick with very little surface area for drying.

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I compacted the joint compound inside the column and then slathered on some more to fill in the gap and smooth things out. 

To keep the bottom smooth and protect it from wear I cut a bit of plastic and glued to the bottom. I put a bit of PVA glue on the top and dipped it into a tub of irregularly sized sand to help make the top bit look crumbly and to protect the dried joint compound.
 

 

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I've hit them with some primer. I still need to figure out how I want to paint them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I hacked up one pillar into a bunch of parts and am going to stick them all on to a base to make some severe terrain. I need to clean up some edges, use some filler, and I'll probably bust up the long pieces a bit more but this is kind of the general idea of what I'm going for.

Imagine everything painted with some texture and flocking on the base. Does it seem like it would be usable severe terrain or is it going to be too lumpy to actually use as severe terrain in practice?

Maybe Ht1, Severe, Dense, Hard Cover? 

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Good idea, may have to try it myself. Could try filling in the hole with hot glue before adding the filler. I think I would want more of a jagged break on the top of the broken pillars. It looks like round rocks collected up there which doesn't really play with them breaking in two. I would call that severe terrain, the game can always use more severe terrain.

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8 minutes ago, Stonewall78 said:

Good idea, may have to try it myself. Could try filling in the hole with hot glue before adding the filler. I think I would want more of a jagged break on the top of the broken pillars. It looks like round rocks collected up there which doesn't really play with them breaking in two. I would call that severe terrain, the game can always use more severe terrain.

I actually filled the tan-ish column with hot glue. I sealed the bottom with plasticard, filled it with hot glue, and then capped it off with just a bit of joint compound before adding the grit. It came out lighter weight than the one I filled with joint compound. It took longer to do but was ready to work with sooner. If you were making one or two of them, using hot glue would probably be the way to go. If you were going to make a bunch of them for a tournament or for the terrain collection at a store or club the joint compound would probably be the way to do.I prefer the heft of the joint compound pillar.

I guess if I was making a bunch of them, making a mold from one and then casting a bunch of pillars would probably make more sense. It might also look better to break up one a pillar made from a casting if you were wanting rubble and ruins.

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I’m not sure if any of how I’m doing this would be considered the “right way” but I mixed some grit, brown paint, and water into my filler and smeared it all over the the piece. One it dries I’ll hit the whole thing with a coat of spray paint. I figure it should give me a textured base to start making look all swampy.

 

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I went to go throw a coat of MinWax on it to shade and protect. I couldn't decide if I wanted to use Antique Walnut or Espresso. It turned out that my choice was made last week when I failed to make sure that the can of Antique Walnut was properly sealed.  Now I just have a can of solid polyurethane. It is a nice shade of Antique Walnut though. 

 

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I put on a coat of MinWax and went heavy on the sandy bit in the middle to hopefully make it a durable surface. I'll probably let it dry for a day and then come back to highlight it.

I'm thinking about gluing on some lichen in a few places after highlighting to add to the marshy feel but I'm worried about how well it will hold up over time. I'm also worried that adding foliage will make it harder to place models inside the piece.  

 

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Varnish dried and I added some green to the bog and drybrushed the pillars with green and then light gray.

I’m not 100% happy with the dryer ground around the edge. It seems like it’s missing something. Maybe I should hit it with some PVA glue and flock it with a mixture of coffee grounds and the contents of an herbal tea bag? I’m not sure how well that will hold up.

I’m also not sure if I should try to add in some lichen. I’m afraid it will get in the way of models moving on the terrain and will look crappy quickly.

 

XSZlvS6.jpg

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1 hour ago, Paddywhack said:

I liketo use a brigth green paint to put small lines or spots of moss. Helps pop with a little more color.

Yeah, I think the darker green I used on the pillars doesn't stand out that much, especially in the photo. I think I'll go back and touch up the areas where I tried to add moss with my brightest green.

 I really don't know what to do with the ground around the edges.

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My wife bought me an airbrush and I wanted to try it out on something so I used it to darken up the banks and the surrounding ground, hit it with a lighter green and a bright green and then spritzed some moss on to the pillars. 

I don't think I'm ready to do anything with the aribrush on models other than prime them but I think it improved the spots I thought were really iffy.

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Still kind of going on some of the ideas I had when I started this thread, I decided to make markers for Symbols of Authority. I grabbed some of the 3 inch pillars, some 50mm bases, and some old minis that I picked up for a couple of dollars.

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The goal is to have a statue that looks kind of like the one I mocked up with blue-tac (imagine it painted all statuey). The marker will comes in at a little bit over 5 inches, That seems like the perfect size for representing the Ht of the strategy marker. Half painted Specialist for scale.

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I think this slightly larger scale dude on a horse looks better but I'm trying to stick to mini's I can pick up cheap/free.

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I'm not sure if I should put the minis directly on top of the pillar or if I should raise them up a bit with something like this bottle cap.

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I packed the pillar with joint compound like I did with the pillars I made into scatter.  I used sandpaper to rough up the bottom of the pillar and the top of the plastic base so that the super glue would be able to create a stronger bond and then glued the pillar to the base. Then I used some joint compound to build up the base around the pillar. 

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Now to wait for the first set of 3 pillars to dry. 

 

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Here’s the finished piece:

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Overall, I’m really happy with the way it turned out. The water effects are a little uneven and a bit leaked over the ridge but I don’t think it’s too distracting. This is probably the best looking and most interesting terrain piece I’ve made so far.

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I glued plastic card to the top of the pillar and then glued the mini to that. I then hit it with a coat of gray primer. I need to decide whether the make the statue the same color as the pillar or if I should maybe do it in a bronze or gold metallic. 

I think the model is a little smaller than I really wanted. It would have been cool to have some angel, demon, or gargoyle models to use. A big-ass open Arcanist tome would have been a cool topper as well.

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