Arcanist Arthropod Assembly Facility

[prof_bycid]

I am beginning a new Malifaux board that will be Ramos' assembly facility where his army of many-legged minions originates.  The plan is to have the facility take up ~1/3 or so of the board and have streets outside where a few buildings and a town square can be modified during different games.  The base of the outer wall will be fixed in place, just a low row of stones, so that the wall itself can be added but not transported in place.  All other terrain will not be fixed in place.  The cobblestone street material is not in its final location.

I began with 1" x 2" pvc 'lumber' and a sheet of hardboard.  I cut rabbet grooves in the sides to hold the hardboard surface.  I cut 1/4" slices of the pvc and glued them to the lower surface (right image) to stop any bowing down of the middle of the playing surface.  The staples in the corners were just added to hold the 45' cuts in place while the glue dried.  The results seems like a good compromise between strength and weight.

[Butch]

That's a nice and unusual idea for a board.

[Thottbot]

this sounds interesting, im following this for those sweet updates 🤩

[prof_bycid]

Well, in that case Thottbot, here you go!  This is how far I got yesterday.  The white areas are raised with foamboard.  The lower dark areas are cut from a sheet of cobblestone plastic.  There will be a 2" (50 mm) sidewalk of flagstone on the outer edges of the raised area.  I am thinking of doing this in the flagstone cut from cardboard I have seen others do to great effect.  It is time intensive, but only a few thin areas so I think reasonable.  The large area on the lower left will be the inside of the factory, and the outside of the wall parallel to the sidewalk will have a low foundation of large rectangular stone blocks.  The wall above that will be wooden.  I have not decided upon the inner floor material yet.  I have lots of ideas of terrain for inside the factory, so it is going to be full of cover.  I still need to come up with several pieces of blocking terrain for the streets, but picked up the Wyrd street scatter terrain in resin recently.  Maybe a larger cart or two as well will be needed.  

Edited June 12, 2018 by prof_bycid
Added photo

[cbtb11235813]

I love this idea, can't wait to see it develop

[Dhampir]

I like the idea of the PVC lumber to reduce warping and weight. Idea stolen

[prof_bycid]

I have the walls of the factory roughed out.  The double doors at the main entrance will let any 50 mm base model though, but the side door will restrict passage to 30 mm.  The bookcase on the upper level indicates where Ramos' office will be. Will be installing some stairs. I have the basswood stained and drying---hope to install the clapboard siding on the outside tomorrow. Inside surface will be stucco with some brick areas showing through. The doors swing open and will be covered with some rustic wood.

In the foreground is the WIP main power source for the assembly line. The piston is 3d printed, and the rest is PVC pipe, hardwood dowel, construction adhesive, and green stuff.  It will be smaller once it is done---stay tuned to see how that is possible.

[prof_bycid]

I made a bit of progress on the spider factory board.  I need to cut and stain more siding boards but the exterior walls are mostly roughed in.  I went with stone blocks around the base of the building.  This serves a double purpose of keeping the walls in place and immobile and serving as cover when the building is not used.  This way the wall can be used or not, but will be locked in place when it is used.  I made these by cutting strips of pink rigid insulation, sanding, and then texturing them with some rocks.

I created a wanted poster for one side to break it up a bit, and a factory sign for above the door.  After I finish up the exterior wall, I plan to do the flagstone sidewalks next. 

[lusciousmccabe]

That panelling looks great. How did you say you were making it?

[prof_bycid]

Thanks, Lucious!  I am using thin basswood panels from the hardware store.  They were about 6 inches by 36 inches.  I use a hobby knife to slice them into strips that are roughly the same width, but I freehand it to make them a bit wavy.  I use the same hobby knife to score vertical 'ends' in the boards at random distances from the end.  The finish is actual wood stain, golden oak from Minwax.  It is a lot of surface area, so I use a 1" wide brush, not a hobby brush.  Cutting before staining prevents light-colored edges.  The boards are then just fixed to the wall with Gorilla construction adhesive.  This stuff is great as it is viscous enough to slap them right onto vertical surface.  The end view of the wall shows that put the bottom panel completely against the wall and then just overlap the bottom of each subsequent board as I go up.  Hope this helps!

[lusciousmccabe]

Cheers, great idea!

[prof_bycid]

I found these 'office supplies' for Ramos' office upstairs in the spider factory.  I will likely set these up in the corner up there.  The plan with the many plastic bottles and flasks is to drill out the bottom and then paint the inside so that they show coloured liquid while retaining the outer 'glass.'  May need to make some large bookshelves to hold some of the stuff.  Not sure how much progress I will make on this board right now with the monthly painting challenge, but the holidays are coming and that comes with a lot of Malifaux progress.