Chemical Agent's Terrain

I figured I would combine my introduction with a bit of my work. I am ChemicalAgent (You may know me if you have visited the Podhammer forums) a freelance sculptor from Cincinnati and war gamer for some 8 years or so. My friends and I have decided to brave the streets of Mordheim and I being the terrain builder/hobby-nut in my group the construction of the damned city is my pleasure.

My starting point will be some stone foundations to make up the playing surface, but lacking large enough sheets of foam I began with some scraps and made this:







The first of many stairs so models can move from foundation to foundation, all carved out of solid pieces of foam. Hope to paint it soon!

For more of my work please feel free to visit my space on the Podhammer forum HERE. And you can find my new series of tutorials HERE.

Thanks for looking and I hope to contribute more work and some tutorials to the hobby section of this BORING forum in the near future!

-CA

WELCOME ABOARD, ChemicalAgent!
That's a FINE way to introduce yourself. The Monk is a VERY COOL piece. I LOVE the stairs...some of the most evocative bits of terrain seem to come out of the scraps left from large projects. I for one look forward to seeing more of your EXCELLENT WORK! Enjoy your stay!

Welcome to the forum neighbor! Sweet work.

I was just considering starting work on foam steps. My board has quite a few 2" and 4" heights that need more accessibility. This is great inspiration. Thanks for posting!

As I look at it though...how did you get the varied look on the cobblestones? At first I assumed you stuck together individual bricks like an actual mason, but I can see now that you've only carved. Why do some cobblestones jut out higher than their neighbors?

welcome,good start look forward to this progressing

I worked my way merrily through your Podhammer thread...some VERY IMPRESSIVE STUFF! If your Mordheim project follows suit, this will be a GREAT thread to follow.

Thanks everyone!

Sorry this thread kind of died after the first post, but I was hit by the sledgehammer of !!REAL LIFE!! and have not had the time to work on anything wargaming. I hope to have some time in the near future to finish up some projects.

My dear DRD1812 just for you I will make a shot how-to on the making of shoddy fantasy masonry. I did indeed only carve the cobbles. I have tried using the individual 'brick' technique in the past, but it drove me bat-shit crazy. It was awful! I became delusional and formed the idea that the pigeons outside my apartment window were government spies. I began donning many disguises in my own home, each with their own back story and papers. It was a dark time... I'm ok now...

Really what I am trying to say is carving the cobbles is faster and easier.

...you have to watch out for those damned Pigeons; they're conspiring with the Squirrels.

DeafNala wrote:

...you have to watch out for those damned Pigeons; they're conspiring with the Squirrels.

NOT THE SQUIRRELS!!!!!!

love that staircase, i've tried making stuff out of separate blocks... all I can say is I hate chimneys(and bay windows, and roofs )

BAM! Tutorial!

So This is the method I use for modeling masonry, sorry for some of the crappy photos.



So you will need just four items... well five... maybe.

1. A X-acto knife with a new *SHARP* blade. And if you are doing large areas you will need extra blades. Change the blade when you start feeling resistance when you cut.

2. A ballpoint pen.

3. Foam.

4. A straight edge.

5. Patience.



Ok, start by drawing some guide lines with the straight edge and pen. You don't need to lay out every course of bricks, just a reference point to keep everything mostly straight. Put down as many or as few guides as you feel comfortable with. Really how you lay out your guides will depend on the pattern you wish to model.



Now take your X-acto and score each brick into the surface of the foam.



Next take the ballpoint pen and run it through each score to widen and define each stone.

*Photo Missing*

Oops... forgot to save that one... Ok, well now it's time to add some character to your masonry. To make the stones look like they might have shifted, or were not set properly in the first place, you will begin carving into the surface of the foam.

The most simple, let's call it "surface modification", you can make is having the stone shift or drop on one side. To do this simply cut into the surface of your stone at the desired angle with your knife.



Once the material is removed you will have something like this.



Next take your knife and re-cut around the stone...



...and re-score with the ballpoint pen.



You should have something like the above photo.

Now to make a stone look like it has dropped down evenly, or was not set correctly you just need to add a few steps.



Start like you did for the "one-side-drop stone" above...



...then cut off the other high side of the stone, forming a high point in the center.



Push down the high point with the other end of your knife.



You will have something like this.


Ok, that is about it really... well kind of...



Go around the your surface and pick out stones you want to be low points. Setting your lowest-lows now will help guide the height of the rest of your stones, insuring you don't get carried away and carve everything into a level surface.



Work outward from the lows, picking out stones to be your high and mid points... until you're finished...
That's all there is to it... Just get some scrap pieces of foam to practice on before you go attacking your project.

Here are some additional shots to give you some idea of how uneven you can make your masonry.





Hope that made sense... Sorry the whole thing was slapdash, but I hope it helps.

Nice job on the tutorial. Hope you have some time for Mordheim scenery soon.

It is most kind of you to share your oh-so-cool technique with us...EXCELLENT tutorial & a FINE bit of fabrication.

Very nice tutorial.

i just thought about how many hours you need to make a whole playing table with this technique for ways and masonry.

Do have some pictures of a finished table of yours?

SerialMoM

@SeriaMoM: I would show you pictures of a finished Mordheim table if I had one. I just began Mordheim so I have been making a few 'sketches' at the moment. You can see some of my finished work for WFB in the Podhammer link at the end of my first post.

The area that I did for the tutorial was a little over by 2x3.5" and took me around 15 min. The process starts slow, but you get into the swing of it and it goes faster. It would take a few hours to finish a full table, and I'm not saying that this technique is for everyone, but I think the result is worth the time. If you want to cut down the time it would take you could always increase the size of the cobbles/flagstone, or you could leave more stones unaltered... or both.

SerialMoM wrote:

i just thought about how many hours you need to make a whole playing table with this technique for ways and masonry.

Funny... I thought about the same... But then... the time... Maybe some day.

That's brilliant, ChemicalAgent. I've got a project or two in the way before I start on my stairways, but I'll be making use of this technique. Thanks for teaching.

Amazing work... I will be using this technique in the future.

Welcome to the board.
Thats a really great technique, if you haven't already, maybe a stick could be made in the tutorial board?

Looks awesome

Man, I've played with foam for some time now, but your ideas are

FANTASTIC!

I second the idea this thread SHOULD be in TUTORIALS.

This is one of the best explanations to making a dilapidated stone wall I have ever seen, and I'll try this in the near future.

Thanks for sharing.

same here ; thanks a lot for the tutorial ; clearly explained and even clearer pictures
almost can't believe you did this in 15'
tried to view your tutorials, but am apparently too stupid to answer the random question
"Are you a robot if no...then answer me this: What is this show about"
:-(

i'd love to read your other tut's though

keep the pics coming !
i just bought my first sheet of foam, so i'm desperatly in need of inspiration

Thanks for the kind words! Sorry I have been away, but I have been tied up with real life, bullocks to that...

...And well my friends lost interest in Mordheim... Sad news indeed.

But I am still building terrain for Warhammer, and I'm sure that you could uses the terrain for Border Town Burning.

So here is what I've been up to:

Rock formations!






And here are how they look next to the monolith I built awhile ago:



And here is what I will be working on next:


Sorry for the crap photos. I will post better shots tomorrow, including details.

@pascal the rascal: If you don't know what Podhammer is about, you better start listening!

Love the rocks and the monolith is awesome!

Look really cool together!

Those stones are looking great, how did you do them?

The rock outcroppings are VERY NICELY DONE; they'd enhance any table they're placed on. The Gork or possible Mork Idol looks promising.
Too bad about your group lacking taste...erm, losing interest. You have my condolences.

Those are pretty nice 'crapy' photos, but feel free to do better.

Beautiful terrain, if you ever want to drive up to South-side Indianapolis for a game feel free to bring some along.