Modular Malifaux Terrain Tiles

[Ratty]

Finished 2 Ramps yesterday and have been working on the GIMP designing stair cases. Also been running some test. GW Satin Varnish seems to give it a fair bit of water protection on a test. the drops seem to sit on top of it. So I will spray up the Bridge tonight to test it on a larger scale and then I will coat the remaining pieces and the A1 sheet before I cut it out. It's going to be much easier that way.

[Ratty]

For those that are interested this is an small version of one of the A4 sheets I've designed, this one makes a 6"x3" platform with a staircase attached to it. As you can see it's fairly tightly packed. [Note: The piece in the Top Right is for a second set of stairs with railings. Which is why it doesn't fit with the rest]

[Sholto]

Great work! I would go through a lot less label paper if I organised things as well as you do.

Your completed pieces are looking - well, very familiar Been posing your models on them, yet?

[Ratty]

Great work! I would go through a lot less label paper if I organised things as well as you do.

Your completed pieces are looking - well, very familiar Been posing your models on them, yet?

Hell yeah.. well the 3 unpainted ones which I've brought with me

[Ratty]

It's the 4th sheet that is going to be the difference between our projects. The 3rd sheet is going to be lots of stairs and high arches and the 4th sheet is going to be ground level ruins that connect to the higher levels. So one might be a room with collapsed walls that might have enough of the roof together that it forms a 1.5" bridge between adjacent squares.

This is free at the moment for interior flooring

http://www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=48&products_id=217

[cyberakuma]

Proof that it's genetic. This is my parents papercraft Christmas village.

BTW it wasn't me that added the giant rodents.

awesome it's crying out for a seasonal game to be played on it whether it's the right scale or not

[Ratty]

Alchohol. I know it's christmas and your meant to be drinking the stuff but I think I've found another use for it.

BTW spraying the A1 sheet with Satin Varnish was a great idea. I've hardly had any mishaps at all while constructing the model as the PVA glue does stain the paper at all.

[dgraz]

Proof that it's genetic. This is my parents papercraft Christmas village.

BTW it wasn't me that added the giant rodents.

Haha! I knew it was genetic!

[greenbull]

Hey guys, I don't know what to do anymore :sad2: The Still water effect completly destroyed my canal tiles! Edges came up and they are not repairable... I tried self adhesive plastic on a non-treated tile as an alternative, but that's rubbish. Tried gloss varnish: streaks...

I'm about to give up on the gloss effect. The last thing I'm prepared to try, is printing on gloss foto paper. Has anyone tried this??

I'm really down now with the knowledge I have to completely redo the water tiles.

[Headcase2]

Glossy photo paper is expensive and scratches easily. I wouldn't advise it. Shame it's not working out, I would've loved to play on it.

[greenbull]

Thanks headcase, good to know about the photo paper. Don't worry about playing on the board. It's not that I have given up on the project altogether! Just a set-back. I hate doing the same thing twice. That was the main reason for my rant.

I'll redo the water tiles, but this time without the gloss effect. You'll still get a change in the near future, at least when you let me win this time :1:

[tajnisvet]

Trial and error, mate! If anything, you've showed us how to do things right, if I ever meet you, I'm buying drinks!

Thanks for all the hard work you're showing us, and thanks Ratty and especially Sholto for everything!

[Ratty]

OK a bit late but heres an update.

This is where I was at the end of Christmas Eve. I seem to be getting the hang of constructing fast and accurately. The trick seems to be use lots of pins, though it can be hard to locate a place where your not piercing the textured surface. On a corner I will normally cut a 5mm recess on one of the walls and then slot the two pieces together. This means that if I go in from the bottom at the corner and pin along the line of the wall the pin will go through both parts and hold them well. Sometimes you can also go in from under the floor along the floor and into the wall. The more pins the merrier. It's also quite useful to place one of the walls face down on the surface and then get your slave/parent/long suffering partner to hold the second piece perpendicular while you put pins in.

Today was Christmas, and between chaos and food I managed to finish all the templates for the next section. It consists of a 2 tile L shaped road with a staircase attached. 2 3" x 6" parts with staircases. 2 bridges that slot over railings. A 3" x 6" with railings on 3 sides (felt I needed it so I could put in a bridge where ever I wanted it without having to have a railing already in the setup.), and what will hopefully be a cool staircase coming down between two cascading waterfalls with a bridge at the bottom over a pool. I really like how the bridge bits have come out. I used the harbour tile to make up the floor of the bridge. Which meant I could make the ribbing to stop sliding on the ramps on either end but raising up ever 3rd wooden plank, it looks really natural.

[greenbull]

Wow, you're fast! Looking crisp. Did you fix the "butted railings" permanently to the elevated pieces?

Does anyone know how you can get the cursor in Gimp with lines that go all the way to the edge of your working field, instead of just a small cross?

Edited December 26, 2010 by greenbull

[Ratty]

Wow, you're fast! Looking crisp. Did you fix the "butted railings" permanently to the elevated pieces?

Does anyone know how you can get the cursor in Gimp with lines that go all the way to the edge of your working field, instead of just a small cross?

Yeah they are permanent but I might make some extra that can magnet on when I get some magnets. possibly not.

I don't know how to do that on the gimp. the thing I've found really cool though is the fact you can alter a selection after you have placed it. So you can drag it to the right size. You can even do this with + and - selects. It's amazingly useful to not have to start from scratch when you mess up.

[Sholto]

@Ratty - I like what you've done with your bridges, and using the boardwalk sections is a good idea. I just want to grab that A0 sheet and start cutting The steps with the cascades sounds great - can't wait to see it. Did I post a photo of the cascades I did? Can't remember, but I used Vallejo Water Effects to scuplt the water on, and it looks pretty good.

@greenbull - sorry to hear about your problems. In the interests of trying to solve the water issue (not that it really needs solving, but I want shiny water, dammit!), here are the photos from tonight's experiments with Envirotex Lite:-

I mixed up 5ml to start with (2.5ml each of hardener and resin). The bottles contain 236ml.

I spread a little on my test piece. It starts off full of bubbles from the mixing. This is fine - they can be gotten rid of incredibly easily.

You can see the bubbles in this next photo. That is less than half of the 5ml spread across the test piece. It is very thick, has no issues with beading up or failing to adhere, and does not run off the edges if not literally poured on in a flood.

After 5 mins, gently blow on the surface to pop all the bubbles. I don't know why it works, but it does

As the resin sets up, draw ripples across the surface with a spatula or stick.

I will update this tomorrow and see how it has worked. Will it warp the foamcore? Lift up the paper? Soak into the adjacent paper?

Edited December 26, 2010 by Sholto

[greenbull]

The thing I heard about Envirotex is you have to take care with foam. The liquid melts it...My water tiles are all lined with 5 mm high sidewalks where the foam is exposed.

Since you have walls withoout exposed foam, I think it should work!

[Ratty]

You can give foam a coat of PVA glue before applying, that should protect it. It what what we used to do with foam tiles if we wanted to spray them.

[Ratty]

OK Day 5 update. Managed to get all the pieces together. Other than thinking I need to add some tread to the front of the steps it all looks nice.

A closer look at the Staircase with water feature

I used the harbour tile for the top of the bridges. here's a close up.

[greenbull]

Ho boy, that water feature is awesome!! I will shamelessly steal your idea. The wooden walkways are nice also.

Good thing this thread is very much alive and kicking with new ideas and nice pictures! I'll try to post some pictures of my progress soon.

[Sholto]

Ratty, me old son, that water feature is soooooo stolen

And the bridges look great, I will need to make one with the wooden texture and the ramps instead of steps.

EDIT: the Envirotex Lite has hardened overnight and is still as glossy as a shiny thing's shiny bits. No creep onto the adjacent paper, and no lifting or curling (yet). A tiny bit got onto the foam, but did not melt it. I wouldn't regard that as conclusive, however.

Edited December 27, 2010 by Sholto

[Ratty]

Do you want the files for it, will save you working it all out.

[greenbull]

Ok, finally found some time to take pictures of my progress so far and give a little update:

In the last picture you can see the magnets I put into the sides of my tiles. On the left corner is a 3*1 mm magnet glued to a nail and inserted in the foam; on the right just a nail. In total 4 magnets per tile and 4 nails without magnets. This system works great this way.

I made slow progress on the ramp because of the recessed road which had to come 3 mm's lower than the walls in order to connect to the horizontal plain road.

[The Green Git]

Wow... some great inspiration here Sholto, Ratty and Greenbull! I got the WW tile sets over the weekend and have been playing with Gimp a bit to be able to manipulate the tiles.

Have been painting minis this weekend but plan on working on some terrain in the coming week thanks to you lot.

[Sholto]

Do you want the files for it, will save you working it all out.

Yes, please

Ok, finally found some time to take pictures of my progress so far and give a little update...

I love how the canal looks, and the raised pavements - I need to go back and do that. Are those buildings Thoumonts?

The Envirotex Lite has hardened with no ill effects on the test piece. Time to try it on the canal pieces.

Edited December 28, 2010 by Sholto