Just a little something

Well, this is the last day and I have a few little bits to cover off on before it’s all over.

Just the odd touch-up here and there and I am pretty much happy with what I’ve done.

For this project, I deliberately tried to stay away from too much 3D printing and used XPS foam for the bulk of the work.  Sure, there are some 3D printed elements in both resin and PLA, and there is also the use of laser-cut wood components for framing each box.  Thankfully I managed to design them myself and found a local company that could cut them to my design.

I tried my best not to add too much in the way of creatures or adventures to this project.  I have done some but have left the bulk of them out of here as this was intended to be more about the actual building of the structure rather than populating it.

My initial plan was to just go full-on Victorian Science Fiction caves and mines with Martian spiders but that soon derailed a little into incorporating more typical dungeon stonework.  However, I think I have managed to claw that back to something still with a strong VSF or Pulp feel by changing the colours from a more traditional dark grey followed by a drybrush of light grey to something more earthy and then adding Egyptian/Biblical era themed elements.  I am confident that with only minor cosmetic changes to removable parts, I can turn the feel of the layout into something dark age should I need to.

So where to from here?

I have several ideas in mind of where to go with this.  Now I have all the measurements and methods sorted out, or at least in my mind the plan going forward is to make some larger feature rooms.   Following the same plan but twice the length so they still fit in with the pattern.

I also have plans to do more ‘mine’ type sections with wooden supports and the like.  this will allow me to then maybe introduce the layout into Western-themed games and will of course be useful in Victoriana.

In addition to that, Fallout is on the cards for this year, and I already have a fair bit planned for that so maybe some Vault pieces to link into the cavern’s pieces.

I guess now that I have the basics done, I can take this in all kinds of directions.

Green Stuff Spider Serum, well what Can I say…

I figured if there are going to be spiders in this thing then there would also be cobwebs.  My initial idea was to go down the route of tumble-dryer sheets but then I stumbled on spider serum and thought, why the heck not.

Now a word of warning.  If you are going to use this stuff, go outside to do it.  Preferably in someone else’s garden and ideally someone you don’t like too much.  To say this stuff goes everywhere is an understatement.   In just a few short minutes I ended up looking like Frodo after meeting Shelob.  Time to turn down the pressure on the airbrush.

So, once I got the millions of strings of cobwebs off my face and out of my hair, I set about the whole thing again, this time with a more sensible amount of air pressure and these are the results.

I have to make some egg batches and add those in.  I also have some fungi to do and a few more props.

I think once I am done with this, I should have enough bits to do VSF, Pulp and Fantasy settings, plus I am already thinking of ways to expand this further.

Well, I showed my kids the Hero Forge Site and they instantly wanted to create characters for adventuring.

They decided to do characters for the whole family and pick character classes and what not.

Just a quick picture of what they came up with, I will get them to start a different project as these characters have back stories and the lot.

The Elephant Ranger/Scout cracks me.

Today I spent a little time painting up odds and ends for this project.  Mostly just to add variety to different rooms with various little props.

My kids have also designed some adventures and I am not sure if I should add them to this or a separate project.  If it’s a separate project, do I have to create their accounts or do it under my account?   Answers on a postcard or message, please.

Part of today’s little bits were some wall-mounted torches.  Of course, these are magnetised so they can be moved around or removed.

Today I finished off the basing on some of my ‘Adventurers’.  I had to be mindful to match them to the bases of the rest of my VSF collection as best I could whilst also trying to make sure they are not too glaring against my dungeon layout.

Just the base rims to touch up but I’m getting there.

Just a little update today.

I can’t remember if I mentioned or not that when I was initially constructing the XPS walls I inserted thin metal strips between the brick layers so that I could magnetise different elements later.

Just In case I didn’t, what I did was insert metal wire between layers of bricks every second row before modpodging and painting the walls.  The idea is that down the line I can add different wall fittings including lightning.

I have some ‘Bulkhead’ looking lights, which I have magnetised, although temporarily misplaced, which I can use to make the Dungeon have the feel that it’s not newly discovered and maybe archaeologists have set up lighting to help as they uncover and excavate the treasures.   Similarly, I have some simple torches in holders to give a more ‘Dark Age or Ancient’ feel.

The metal in the walls also means I can add creatures to the walls, just like these (unpainted) spiders.

Finally found the time to paint the outsides of the boxes to neaten them up a bit.  I just used cheap black acrylic paint from the local hardware store and a small roller to get them done pretty quickly.

Next up was a new model to represent Sgt Tibbet, one of the Heroes of our VSF campaign.  Sgt Tibbet will lead a group of ragtag survivors through the Martian Caves and hopefully discover something important as he does so.

I will need to paint up some civilian-looking models to accompany him and I am thinking of maybe a party of 6 or 7 models should be enough.

Of course, I couldn’t resist painting up a few more survivors from the attack on Valentine’s artillery Battery as the original figures from the game seem to have disappeared into the aether.

Started to add some colour to some room fittings.  Nothing too fancy here, but lots of gold elements to try to give the impression of riches and a purpose to the Dungeon.

I have started to gather together a collection of bits to use to dress the rooms a little.  The stuff still needs painting and I have a lot more to come up with, but I thought I would share an image of where this is currently going.

Any suggestions on things to fill rooms with would be very much appreciated.

This morning, I sanded down the outsides of each box ready for painting and also touched up the black paint on the tops.  I also gave the tentacle beast thing a coat of gloss varnish to make it look wetter.

This is the state of the build so far.

A little pit trap made with the left-over bits from the flags I made for my Circus Maximus project.  The spikes are the rest of the cocktail sticks that I used for the flags for that build.

I then took some of the skulls that were left over from my Port Blacksand project and added them in amongst the bit and then in a few other places in this build.

Finally, I added lots of snakes, just because I could.

Next up I started work on what will possibly turn into a nest or lair of some sort.   Not sure which way I will take this section but at the moment I am leaning towards adding cobwebs.

My apologies for not getting much done for a while, work and having to adult have been getting in the way.

I did add the next layer of resin, this time with less tinting with the intention that it would help create an illusion of depth to the water.

I also quickly knocked up some critters, a tentacle creature that I 3D printed and some giant scorpions that I think were from Hasslefree a long time ago.

I have plans for some more ‘Trap’ features and some internal decorations.

The tentacle beast was just simply undercoated black, given a white zenith highlight and ink washed with the first 3 pots I picked up.  Once dry I dry brushed bits of it with orgyn camo and painted the eye with ogryn camo mixed with templar black contrast paint.

For the scorpions, a simple black undercoat drybrushed with a tan/black mix quick and nothing too fancy.

I have started to add some water effects to some of the boxes using two-part resin with a little bit of Citadel Ink wash to tint the clear resin to something a bit darker.

The weird lines that you can see across the water effects are actually a reflection of the fairy lights across the ceiling of our outdoor area and not marks on the actual water surface.

I finally got around to sorting out the ‘caves’ section of the build, just so I can incorporate this into my ‘Spiders of Mars’ scenario for our Victorian Science Fiction Campaign.  Plus, they can also be used for regular dungeon crawls with the kids.

I also painted all the tops in black, tying all the sections together a little better.

I’m really glad that I went down the route of black tops because it helps the paintwork inside each section stand out just a bit more.

Whilst I had the stuff out, I took the time to take a few closer pictures so you can get an idea of how it will look on the table at about eye height.

Next up is to do some internal fittings and decorations plus some critters to occupy it and of course some adventurers.

I have added some cave-style bits to my layout, just so my Spiders of Mars can creep their way into this somehow.

Added a few more colours to my little project.  Still need to do the floors and weathering.   I also have 9 more boxes to do, but they will be a little different to this core set.

I laid them out in a simple random layout to see what I could come up with.

I then thought it would be fun to see where all the paths lead and highlight them on the same layout.  There are a few hidden doorways built into some of the walls, so some of the ways through may not be instantly noticeable.

One of the boxes also consists of a bridge so although all 4 entrances are accessible, only 2 are at any one time depending on which way you enter the room.

I have also included some sunken areas, some of which will have water features,

The Lammasu Room (Just for you @avernos) has a couple of sliding doors.

I had to go for these statues because the Sphinx have a much lower profile and I needed the height to help cover the doorways.  So, a little poetic licence has been used.  At the end of the day, it still gives an impression of an ancient civilization that could fit in with our Victorian Science Fiction Campaign quite well as we hint at Aliens visiting Earth in ancient times so the thought that multiple gateways between Mars and Earth exist is not beyond the scope of our campaign.   For pulp games, well it’s just ancient statues really, and my kids will not know that these belong in a different part of the world.

A simple moving wall in one of the non-descript boxes.

The up and under room.  Useful for creating figure 8 style complexes.

Because I want to make this as multi-purpose as possible, I will use more earthy colours and not the standard grey and light grey drybrush method.

To undercoat I turned to my trusty spray cans.   Leather Brown followed by Zandri Dust followed by random patches of Skeleton Bone, Wraith Bone and some yellowy green colour I found in the garage.

The plan from here is to use a mixture of dry brushing, stippling and washes to build up colours.

Slowly getting through the first 16 boxes.  2 more to go and I will have the minimum I was aiming for done.   Well, what I mean by done is I will have the groundwork done before I can start painting and detailing.

I have a couple of ideas for the next two rooms and then I can go onto the more cavern-looking sections.