Swamp Bayou Scenery Project

[praetorian13]

Greetings Malifauxians. New to the forum. I have not played (YET) but I am a mercenary figure painter and got an order from a fellow to do a faction, then from his cousin as well. As I was doing the minis he saw my website and the scenery and said "Could you do a swamp board for us for a couple hundred bucks?" I love building scenery so I agreed to the challenge!

I thought I'd share the process in case it gives anyone else some ideas.

First off I discouraged the idea of building a static 3x3 board. After a few games you know all the "sweet spots" and strategies.

My instructions were to have him paint a 3x3 board using streaks of an olive green and brown, then top coat it with several layers of clear gloss lacquer.

After that I'd build a number of "Islands" from foam about 1.5 inchaes tall. These islands could be moved around to make different formations

To connect them I envisioned causeways. Large buildings would have dedicated "Islands. Smaller islands could have any number of things like a campsite or an idol or dangerous terrain (Man eating plants, alligators) a grave yard island, hanging tree, junk piles, even a Soulstone deposit.

Some of the items could serve double duty in a ghost town or settlement so would not be affixed to the islands.

[praetorian13]

I started by searching for swamp structures on Google. I downloaded many pictures to get the colors of weathered wood down and to act as inspiration.

The causeways. I wanted them to look rickety but be very sturdy. AVOID BALSA WOOD for this kind of stuff. It is light but very fragile and does not support a lot of weight or careless handling!!

I used Bass wood for the supports. The cross beams were small "craft sticks". These are nice because they are cheap and the quality is low so they are different colors, shades, and have knots and rough spots. I made a few more with an Xacto knife. Not a single board is "straight"

Besides different lengths I made one (and will make more) "triangle" which can be used to create a right or left turn or make a "Y" Cutting posts the exact right height is a pain even WITH a mini cut off saw so I used 1" tall Hirst Arts plaster blocks as supports.

I made a stain out of brown and grey paint with water and "flow improver" added. This soaked into the wood adn gave it a worn weathered look (Be careful witht eh PVA glue. It creates a "resist" and the stain will not work there. I stained a few with a reddish brown and dry brushed a light grey over the whole bridge to bring the elements together

Wide enough so that even 50MM bases can fit easily About 1/4" below the height of the island edges. They do not wobble and will not tip side to side even with multiple figures of different weights on them!!

[praetorian13]

Next I imagined a dock. There is going to be a steam punky distillery/mad science facility somewhere in here.

The dock would look more refined as if someone who gave a darn built it! Also I envisioned the next scenery would be a frontier town, so this dock could double as a loading platform for wagons or the train!

Barrels and boxes are cast from the Hirst Arts mold then glued on. The idea was to create something with a bit of elevation AND cover.

and with a ramp for dry land usage

If they want me to do a frontier town for them later I imagine putting some train track next to this and maybe building a small rail road station and a water tower!

[praetorian13]

Made these on a lark to represent the soul stone counters for missions.

Body is a Hirst Arts grain bag. The stones are cut from the translucent green plastic sprue that the new GW templates come on. Careful this stuff is hard and brittle and the bits fly for yards. I ended up putting a towel atop my hands as I cut with wire cutters to keep the bits where I could find them.

These come up to a human sized character's knee.

[praetorian13]

OK, my spooky building is envisioned as a voodoo witch's house. I see an island with a rickety house on stilts. A cauldron simmers over an open fire. An outhouse perches precariously on the edge of the island. Maybe a chicken coop?

I built the house by creating framework like one would to make a real building. Four wall frames made from bass wood with frames for windows and doors. The inside of the building is accessible and would need to look good too.

The "siding" is made from Stir Sticks from Star Bucks. Really thin and long with very intense rough grain but sturdy too! I asked the manager really nice and she gave me a handful, and I gave her a 3 dollar tip on my hot chocolate! I distressed the edges with a knife and clippers so no board had really straight edges for too long. I wanted cracks! Made the floor from a single sheet of basswood that I scribed planks into. The pylons are cut from aspen wood from my backyard (I keep a small box of sticks, roots and bits from yard clean up that comes in real handy in scenery!) The door opens outward on wire hinges. Baron Samedi, a Voudon deity is painted on the eaves. The door is painted chicken blood red with a voodoo protection symbol on it.

The roof comes off. Made that from basswood sheeting. Shingles are thin cardboard (About cereal box thickness) sprayed flat brown and cut with a paper cutter, long strips then about 1/2" long. Cut some at angles and then use scissors and knife to distress and nip them so they are not too regular. Since I have had the pain and suffering of doing real roofing (On a house with the original shake shingles from 1`860 still under 4 other layers of roof!!!) I knew to start at the bottom and try to overlap so that no spaces between the shingles were linear- ie stagger them! I'll try to get an angle shot later. Had to repaint the cut edges dark brown then dry brushed an olive green and then a light grey tinged with green. In wet areas shake shingles grow moss and slime!

Here is pretty Perdita preparing to shoot someone who gets too close!

I'll try to take some interior shots and some roof pics. Steps are built but were not dry enough to shoot.

[dragonwolf]

Excellent work. Love those soulstones bags and the voodoo witch's house is a very cool idea.

[Velsharoon]

Nice work, I wish I could find a quicker way to "weather" coffee stirrers its a pain!

[Andros]

Consider me inspired, and interested. Really nice work you've got going here.

[Nemissary]

Fantastic work!

[Sholto]

Really nice work. I need to get that Hirst Arts mould (Dungeon Accessories, I think) as there are so many projects where it would come in useful.

Watered down inks will stain bare wood just fine.

[Shadeau Gorgon]

Going to steal the soul stone bag idea for something else I'm working on! I love the Zoraida-esque Bayou shack...

[praetorian13]

Thanks guys

I have used inks as well, and had just as much success with paint diluted and a touch of flow improver (A type of non bubbling soap stuff sold in art stores) It breaks the surface tension and the paint soaks right in!

[Koyote]

Made these on a lark to represent the soul stone counters for missions.

Body is a Hirst Arts grain bag. The stones are cut from the translucent green plastic sprue that the new GW templates come on. Careful this stuff is hard and brittle and the bits fly for yards. I ended up putting a towel atop my hands as I cut with wire cutters to keep the bits where I could find them.

These come up to a human sized character's knee.

Brilliant!

[The Green Git]

Great work. I like the island idea and will be stealing this for sure!

[praetorian13]

Here is the first completed island. It represents the "Campsite" terrain, though the tent is removable and a piece of hazardous terrain or some other bit could be put on it. The islands are made from styrofoam. I am coating them with a thin layer of celuclay paper mache' mixed with a small amount of plaster. The tree has a base affixed to the island and the tree itself (From Woodland Scenics) pops off for easy storage and transport

It is hard to see from this angle but the blob in front of the tent is a fire pit with burned logs

[praetorian13]

Here is a little chicken coop looking gremlin shack. The roof pops off to put minis inside. Scaled for small figures with little windows and doors

[praetorian13]

And here is the first Mysterious Effigy. The base is a Hirst Arts pillar component (About 28mm across) and the statue is from the Bag o' Cthulhu set (Repainted to look spookier)

[Velsharoon]

Suitably gribbly:)

[Peterdita]

I like it all! Great ideas and execution. Keep it coming!

[praetorian13]

First off is another Icon from the Hirst arts bits line.

Next is a Killer plant for dangerous terrain. If it were my call I'd give this critter some sort of pheromonic lure that any living creature within 8" has to make some sort of morale test or move towards the plant which then attacks.

The plant itself is a D&D 4th edition miniature repainted and based.

[praetorian13]

Started with a chunk of Styrofoam like a 3 sided pyramid. I covered it with Celluclay mixed with plaster of Paris and black tempera paint. I had a whole collection of "junk" from the bits box and stuck it into and on the celluclay. Most of it bonded. After it was dry I gave it a good shake and re-glued anything that fell off with Cyanocrylic glue. Another coat of black spray paint and some touch up in the cracks and then I dry brushed 4 different "rust" shades over the black on the metal bits, tan on the wood bits and a few spots of color to represent painted items, A low E string froma guitar coiled around a stick gave me the copper coils. Drybrushed 3 different metal shades onto the rusted area, mostly doing highlights. A few things got some bronze with a verdigris colored wash. Finally finished with some yellow orange streaking and a few plants.

The challenge was finding the right "junk" I have fantasy stuff and science fiction stuff, but not a lot of "old west/Steam punk Junque" The big "flywheel" in the center is the shaker top off a plastic bottle of dried onions

[praetorian13]

This was the first piece I had planned The gravestones are all made from Hirst arts bits save the crosses which came from some resin cross Xmas ornaments I got for 12 for 2 dollars!

Since I am doing this project for some gamers I put their names on the grave stones, just used a steel engraver on the plaster.

[Mach_5]

Awesome stuff!

[Peterdita]

feed me seymour!!!

[bbb]

I was thinking about building a swamp board the same way. Can't wait to see it all together.