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Another Terrain project..

Started by seaglen, September 04, 2014, 02:38:02 PM

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seaglen

Hi there,

After seeing the work Allyster Wick had put in to his terrain, I got a little inspired to try my own terrain.

starting simply with a plasma reactor objective (because who doesn't like a "destroy/overload/save/sabotage the reactor mission?)

inspiration was drawn heavily from the Dawn of War plasma generators:





And so I dug out some bits to use.
The cities of death parts, mixed with drop pod turbines gave me a good start!







I am also planning to make the generator plasma core light up with blue/green LEDs to really give some atmosphere...

Heroka Vendile

to my mind it looks like it should have a necron monolith crystal sitting inside it  :P that or any old piece of coloured translucent plastic tubing.
It's all fun and games until someone shoots their own guy with a Graviton gun instead of the MASSIVE SPIDER.
The Order of Krubal
Rewards Of The Enemy

seaglen

read my mind Vendile,


I will be getting some opaque/cloudy white tube from somewhere (suggestions?), and put a blue and a green LED light in it so it will look all plasma-y...

Alyster Wick

Looking good my friend! Seeing this makes me want to raid the bitz box for some special terrain pieces...

I was going to suggest an LED light and some foggy tube, but since you've made the leap already I'll just say that my local Blick (or Utrecht, depending on where you live) store has many assorted sizes of tubes that would fit the bill. I don't know what country you're located in, but you may find something reasonable: http://www.dickblick.com/

Failing that, a well stocked art supply store should have something for relatively cheap.

seaglen

Ah I am afraid we are Oceans apart with our store names, but yes an equivalent UK shop would suffice!

Van Helser

I have zero experience with LEDs, but that would look excellent with a real light within if you can pull it off!

Ruaridh

MarcoSkoll

LEDs tend to only become a messy problem if you're mixing them.

On my Rhino, despite all the LEDs being the same model type, the red (hold light) and yellow (headlights) LEDs work on lower voltages and kept short-circuiting the blue and green (interior screens) ones until I split the two groups off onto their own current limiting resistors, 20 Ohms for the R&Y and 10 Ohms for the B&G.

If you're just trying to wire up several completely identical LEDs though, it's not usually a faff.

Quote from: seaglen on September 04, 2014, 02:38:02 PMbecause who doesn't like a "destroy/overload/save/sabotage the reactor mission?
Any sufficiently advanced power source is indistinguishable from a bomb.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

seaglen

Thanks for the advise marco.
I'll e using some pretty cheap LEDs that run off of watch batteries.
They won't be super bright but should give a nice effect...

MarcoSkoll

Well, I was largely offering advice to Ruaridh, but I suppose the points could be more generally useful - LEDs for all!!
Really, the only mistake people are likely to make in ignorance is to not put in a current limiting resistor*.

*For those not in the know, it's a necessity because most semi-conductors have a negative temperature coefficient and their resistance falls as they get hotter - hence you get into a positive feedback loop where the current just keeps rising until the thing destroys itself.
So you need something with a positive temperature coefficient in the circuit to produce a counter-acting negative feedback. The internal resistance of batteries will sometimes do in a pinch, but if you're choosing to glue things permanently into a model... let's just say it's best to play it safe.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

seaglen

Well I had a play yesterday with getting a nice effect for the plasma core, and after a while deliberating over plastic tubing etc, I found that PAPER (that's right, standard plain cheap paper) covered in a layer of PVA glue give a nice opaque look:



And here are the simple LEDs I will be using. They come from cheap finger lights designed for raves (not that I've been near a nightclub in a good few years!) and seem to work well enough when coupled with a watch battery:



And once added to the tube, gives an effect of:





This should certainly give some atmosphere to a table when playing a game!




Not bad for just under £5! - I will be wiring a switch into the circuit and hiding all the parts to look like part of the power generator.

Quick question: do I try to add a blue LED to the top part so the tow colours merge, or leave it as plain green, and save the hassle?

Radu Lykan

if you have a blue led already then give it a try, it wont cost you anything, if you dont then i would just go with what you have, looks great already

Inquisitor Dionzi

Could you post a list of the bitz you use from what kits? I'd love to make one of these myself!
SKYFALL MINIATURES

seaglen

No problem Dionzi.

The main parts for the centre parts are from the Drop Pod: http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/drop-pod-main-engine-assembly-p-2951.html

I cannot remember exactly where the housing for the "plasma core" was from, but it was from something like this: http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/stormtalon-vtol-jets-x4-p-8830.html

The gothic external bits are from the Cities of Death range: http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/cities-of-death-basilica-buttress-p-900.html

Thanks!




seaglen

Slight update in the way of basing it onto some of the modular movement tray bits - this stuff looks to be great for bases for buildings, as it even includes a "tile effect" :)



I also had a play with some effects to get an Idea of what it may look like when finished:


More to come on this over the next few days, including some more terrain projects!


seaglen

Time to revisit the terrain I am constructing...

I am looking to now put together some modular buildings with interior and exterior details, so models can move into specific rooms, as well as use rooftops/gantries etc.

I have just started to work on a few bits and bobs, and have just ordered a few sheets of plasticard and some textured sheets to get it started.

This is my first attempt at working with Plasticard, so any tips and advice would be appreciated!
* any idea for ideal thicknesses? - I am looking to use it as the walls to the buildings, rooofs too - so went with the thickest on offer at 2mm.
* best methods to glue them? - poly cement is ok?

I also bought a load of these on eBay for cheap:



rather than use these to construct full buildings, I am planning on using them for corner pieces/detail tiles only, to make them go further and to give me more scope for customization...



I am also looking to wire up most buildings with LED lights, either externally or internally, to give some atmosphere when playing games - here's a quick test with a red LED popped into a killa kan's foot for a housing:



thoughts and comments most welcome!