For Whom the Bell Tolls (and some wood!)

This is a prototype I built last year for Terrain Fest. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I never got around to build the actual thing.

Then I was busy painting two armies for the Old World (Vampire Count and Orcs & Goblins).

The prototype just sat in the closet for a year and now it’s time to do some actual crafting! 

I don’t normally build prototype when crafting terrain, but since this piece was bigger with strange angles and different materials, I thought it would be useful. 

I did change the architecture a few times, cut a few walls and so on when assembling the prototype.

It’s not a precise plan, it’s more like a rough sketch that will help with sizes and proportions.

The base is made up of 12 x 12 inches MDF board from the Dollar Store.

They sell those in packs of 4 planks.

It’s cheap, thick enough (it won’t bend or warp with paint) and it’s easy to cut.

The only downside is the limited size: they don’t sell larger MDF sheets at the Dollar Store, but it is plenty of space for most buildings/ruins.

Bevel the edges and smooth out the corners with an Xacto knife, then I used sandpaper to file. 

Sanding with sandpaper (any sandpaper you have laying around) is super fast (like less than two minutes), but the base looks more professional. 

The basement floor is a textured shelf & drawer liner that I found (also) at the Dollar Store for two bucks.

First time using it: it has a nice texture to it and it is super easy to cut.

(I imagine it could also be used to make an exterior plaza or courtyard with a fountain or even for dungeon tiles.)

The bricks are made out of XPS foam (insulation foam).

I cut them to a size of about 5mm x 5mm x 10mm, but I didn’t use a ruler.

I eyeballed the size when batch cutting/crafting them.

I ended up with bricks of varying sizes which is perfect to give a ramshackle appearance to the brick building. 

I think smaller bricks look better/more realistic than bigger bricks, but they do take more time to glue.

I used the tried-and-true method of placing the XPS foam bricks in a container with a bunch of jagged rocks, then shaking the can for a few minutes.

It helps to roughen the bricks, give them a bit of texture and it gets rid of the perfect square corner. 

I cover the bricks with a mix of black paint + mod podge.

The main building is elevated with two layers of XPS foam.

For the rock faces, I used bark from my backyard. 

I “baked“ the bark in the oven at 225 Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes to get rid of any organic organism. To be honest, I was a bit worried about the process, but it went fine and I didn’t burn down the kitchen.

The bark was glued with hot glue initially, then a copious amount of watered-down PVA glue was applied.

I used a mixture of wall spackling plus PVA glue to fill in the gap between the bark pieces. 

The pavement tiles are made up of simple clay from the Dollar store (again).

Once flattened out, I use actual rocks to add to some texture. 

Like the bricks, the stairs are made up of XPS foam. 

I don’t have a Proxxon Hotwire Cutter, so this part was a bit finicky, but I think it came out looking good. 

There is no reason for the different colours of XPS foam (grey, blue, rose). I just used any leftovers XPS from other hobby projects or construction projects.

The doors are made up of coffee stir sticks heavily textured.

The only annoying part was gluing some small wires and working a mechanism with the door frame so you can swing the doors open and close.

The shingles are made out of cheap cardstock.

I covered it with a mixture of mod podge and baking soda for added texture and thickness before cutting it in smaller pieces.

Like the bricks, smaller shingles look better / more realistic, but they take a lot more time to glue.

Most of the larger beams are balsa wood. 

I bought some at a craft store, but I was also lucky enough to find some at the Dollar store! 

I did bought all the balsa available at the Dollar store, so I am sorry if you are the unlucky person would came afterwards 🙁

The planks on the walls and the floor are coffee stir sticks.

When bought in bulk, they cost about a penny per stick.

They look better than popsicle sticks. 

Some people use a metal wirebrush to texture wood, but I had limited success with that technique.

I use a somehow blunt eyebrow tweezer to indent the wood. (Maybe it came from the Dollar store or my girlfriend’s stash, I honestly can’t remember).

I also found the tip of a somehow blunt scissors was good for indent the wood.

What whatever reason, the dry wall compound I had was pink, but it turns white when it’s dry 🤷‍♂️