Ice Pillars...For Reals!

[HPLustcraft]

Hello all!

Total newbie here, was eventually swayed by the D6G to give this game a try (my first un-pre-painted mini game EVER) and boy, did I get bitten hard...

My first crew is The Cult of December, and I was wondering:

Has anyone out there made actual models of Rasputina's Ice Pillars to use in the game?

Any suggestions as to how?

L-

[Angus Khan]

I carved some out of polystyrene foam (insulation foam) and then painted them in icy colors. (A friend of mine did the same thing, only he used several small pieces of foam instead of one solid piece)

[kbdrand]

I did the same thing. I took the light blue polystyrene form, cut it into ice pillar shape, coated it with a glossy sealer then based it with baking soda. I will try to post some pics tomorrow.

[HPLustcraft]

Wow! So it's that easy??

Do I need to prime the foam or something? I want it to be able to stick to a 50mm base...

Where do I get the light blue foam?

L-

PS - Also was thinking of doing models for the December's Curse (?) blast tokens...Think that's taking it too far?

[Angus Khan]

Yep, just that easy. You can buy blue foam (may actually be pink or green, but its mostly the same stuff just different colors) at Home Depot or Lowes in the States... not sure about other countries, though. They usually come in large sheets (for insulating a house) and cost somewhere around $12 for a 6' by 4' sheet.

Working with it is pretty straightforward... you can cut it with an xacto, sand it smooth and paint it. Also, a hot wire cutter is a great investment if you need to cut a lot of foam for various projects, etc... You can paint polystyrene foam ("blue foam") with standard acrylic craft paints, no priming necessary. (Although a good solid black or white base coat never hurt) *NEVER USE SPRAY PRIMER/PAINT ON FOAM, IT WILL DISSOLVE AND MELT!*

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[Ciaran]

You can paint polystyrene foam ("blue foam") with standard acrylic craft paints, no priming necessary. (Although a good solid black or white base coat never hurt) *NEVER USE SPRAY PRIMER/PAINT ON FOAM, IT WILL DISSOLVE AND MELT!*

Hope this helps, and good luck!

A good trick is to seal any foam with watered down wood (or white) glue. You can spray primer onto that once it's dried.

[HPLustcraft]

Yep, just that easy. You can buy blue foam (may actually be pink or green, but its mostly the same stuff just different colors) at Home Depot or Lowes in the States... not sure about other countries, though. They usually come in large sheets (for insulating a house) and cost somewhere around $12 for a 6' by 4' sheet.

Working with it is pretty straightforward... you can cut it with an xacto, sand it smooth and paint it. Also, a hot wire cutter is a great investment if you need to cut a lot of foam for various projects, etc... You can paint polystyrene foam ("blue foam") with standard acrylic craft paints, no priming necessary. (Although a good solid black or white base coat never hurt) *NEVER USE SPRAY PRIMER/PAINT ON FOAM, IT WILL DISSOLVE AND MELT!*

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Thanks for the advice and info!

Once I make a few that don't look like crap, I'll post pics of them here...

L-

[jmp_mydog]

You can see the ones I made here.

[Trash]

Those are some awesome looking pillars!

[Joona]

I bought some cheapo large quartz crystals and attached them to the 50mm bases with epoxy. I just have to paint the bases and add some snow to make them perfect. I might even finish them tomorrow. I still have to make a couple more when I get more 50mm bases.

They're also heavy and sharp enough to throw at your opponent or at his models if the game's not going your way

[kbdrand]

Here's the ones I threw together.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kbdrand/4506249892/

[Ratchet]

First, good stuff in these forums. Got me motivated to start my own blog!

I created two versions of ice pillars with Sculpey. One is more like icicles, the other more like a wall.

The image is quite large, so here's the external link...

http://www.timelessadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Ice-Pillars-Painted.jpg

I have some other things Malifaux related on the site as well, like a mysterious effigy and the Undertaker's office.

http://www.timelessadventures.com/terrain-and-miniatures/wargame-terrain-the-undertaker/

Enjoy!

-Carl

[HPLustcraft]

You can see the ones I made here.

Wow! Incredible job! :-)

I know I won't be able to make them half that good, but any chance you could post how you made and painted 'em?

L-

[HPLustcraft]

First, good stuff in these forums. Got me motivated to start my own blog!

I created two versions of ice pillars with Sculpey. One is more like icicles, the other more like a wall.

The image is quite large, so here's the external link...

http://www.timelessadventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Ice-Pillars-Painted.jpg

I have some other things Malifaux related on the site as well, like a mysterious effigy and the Undertaker's office.

http://www.timelessadventures.com/terrain-and-miniatures/wargame-terrain-the-undertaker/

Enjoy!

-Carl

Again, I'm totally out-cooled there! *GRIN*

How'd you make/paint the ones out of Sculpey?

L-

[Buhallin]

I love the look of these:

http://senjistudios.com/?p=875=1

Senji has mentioned doing a tutorial for those, which are made out of resin. But that was about a year ago

[Ratchet]

Thanks for the kind comments!

The icicle pillars were simply three pillars connected with a small amount of Sculpey. There isn't much texture to them.

After drawing out my base size, I rolled a column of Sculpey about 3" long and as wide as I wanted it. Then rolled more heavily at one end to bring it to more of a point. I trimmed off the excess and blunted the remaining point. Repeat this for smaller columns. I then stood it up and pinched it at various intervals, uniformly around the pillar.

I think I'll give it another attempt to improve the textures and take photos of it along the way so I can make a better tutorial. Besides, we need more variety of pillars. =)

I'm happier with the wall version. I rolled out a slab of Sculpey about the general thickness I wanted, then used a clay tool to cut it into a block. I angled the top cut. After standing it up, I squeezed the top in to make all the sides narrower at the top. The picture doesn't show it, so I'll take some more photos tonight and post.

The texture was created with a plastic clay knife tool and a slate drink coaster. First I cut the deep grooves in the pillar, then used the edges of the stone coaster to create the rest of the texture. I alternated the sides/edges I used so I didn't create a pattern in the model.

Painting was done in three stages. First, base coat with GW Shadow Gray, then dry-brushed with GW Space Wolf Gray, then highlight the top and points with GW Skull White.

Give it a shot!

-Carl

[Joona]

Took me a bit longer than "tomorrow" to finish them. Not that the actual painting part was hard. My light seems to leaning a bit to the greener side, in daylight the pillars are pretty much colourless.

A short description of how I did them can be found in the gallery. Quite simple though my picture could be better.

[Dire Hoarcat Snuggler]

The ice pillars I make keep melting ... I think I am doing it wrong. :hmmmm:

I'll finish sculpting them and I'll let them set aside for a while, but then I come back to paint them and *BAM* puddles, every time!

I'll keep watching this thread for good suggestions!

~J~

[Teddy Sassafras]

I saw one guy that made his ice pillars from big salt crystals that he found in his water softener at his house. They looked amazing! I had no idea that they used these crazy non dissolving salt crystals. There were a bunch of small pieces too that were great for rocks and boulders.

[enderwiggin]

Well, I saw the Arcanists (the Ice Pillars) thread and wanted to try helping.

My suggestion, if you can find (more) of them are the AT-43 Icicle terrains. They also come pre-painted for those of us who might want less painting time and more gaming time.

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/inc/sdetail/424241

This is the small base, but looking around local shops/players/ebay you might find the larger ones as well. I personally like the larger ones.

Edit- Forgot to say but I'm a brand new guy in this, so I'm happy to join the family.

Another edit- Apparently, Rackham sells the pair of crystals as a set. The miniatures market just broke them into two sales. You can get both of them here though.

http://store.rackham-e.com/en/at-43/additions-and-accessories/43-expansion-set-elysian-cristals

Edit Edit- WARNING! The Ice pillars are not to scale. They seem to make good terrain, but they are far larger than many pictures would have you believe.

Edited July 17, 2010 by enderwiggin
New information

[ChrisM]

I'm going to be making Ice Pillars out of epoxy resin and ink. I'll post up a tutorial when I get the molds made and the first ones done to a standard I will game with.

[shekbo]

Actually, I had a few ice pillars from another game, heroscape, that I used to play. They made an "icy mountain/glacier" type pack and I guess I'd picked it up/won it somehow. there were three that were pretty much the perfect size, and then a triple one I had to cut up and use. I have 6 now, which is never enough, but if I can find more of those heroscape pillers on the cheap I'll certainly bid on them.

[enderwiggin]

Actually, I had a few ice pillars from another game, heroscape, that I used to play. They made an "icy mountain/glacier" type pack and I guess I'd picked it up/won it somehow. there were three that were pretty much the perfect size, and then a triple one I had to cut up and use. I have 6 now, which is never enough, but if I can find more of those heroscape pillers on the cheap I'll certainly bid on them.

Good find, if a bit pricey. The Heroscape terrain might not be bad at all if people can find it cheap near them. :fing02:

[thaehl]

I would like to try finding a plastic tube and filling it with water effects and using those as ice pillars.

[ChrisM]

Today I'm heading to the hobby store for the supplies for this project. I'll post up when I get the first two done.