Pages

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Dungeon Floor Sample

I've been basing most of my miniatures lately with a gray stone floor motif, with the intention of doing some games in a dungeon environment. With that in mind I've started considering options for surfaces. For the moment I've ditched the idea of anything commercially made. Professionally made products are stunning in their appearance, but cost more than I'm currently inclined to spend.

I've experimented a bit with paper tiles, and paper may be the way I eventually go. I also spotted an idea on the terragenesis site for using foam core to make paved floors. The specific method I tested was devised by a contributor there named Ariss, and the process basically goes like this:

1. Peel the paper off one side of the foam core.
2. Draw lines with a stylus-like instrument of some sort to make gaps between the individual paving slabs.
3. Paint (I used a simple base coat of black, followed by a coat of medium gray -- intentionally not getting it into every single nook and cranny -- followed by a dry brushing of light gray).

I tested it on a small 6" x 6" area just to see how it would work out.


I prefer the foam core floor to a paper terrain floor, since I'm also planning to make other pieces (walls, pillars, stairs leading to elevated surfaces, etc.) out of styrofoam packing materials as well. With a foam core floor, all my pieces will be made of the same material and painted the same way, thereby looking like they're all part of the same stone structure. They also have the advantage of actually being 3D, rather than 3D illusions printed onto a 2D surface.


I haven't decided yet whether to do a single large floor area (something like a full sheet of foam core in size), or various 12" x 12" modular pieces. Each has its advantages, I think. Of course, these are quick enough to crank out I could just do both and see how it goes.

6 comments:

  1. Looks great. You know, the guy in the fantasy world who makes all the stone floors for the dungeons must have a hell of a business. Dwayne on our group makes them out of wood and did a bunch of sizes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know, the guy in the fantasy world who makes all the stone floors for the dungeons must have a hell of a business

      You know, I never thought of that -- he'd make a heck of a NPC!

      "Percy's Paving -- We make your dungeon feel like home!"

      Delete
  2. That looks great! I sometimes wish I used minis so that I could justify spending all my time experimenting like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Matt. I tend to shy away for the minis for RPGs, precisely because of the time involved, and the unpredictability of where an RPG will go. I keep them to tactical skirmish gaming where it's not such a big deal if the layout and minis involved are limited by my meager collection.

      Delete
  3. That is a great idea and it came out looking very nice! You could easily do smaller sections like that to make a modular dungeon or just one big one. Does the foam core warp very much after painting and drying?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dan! Actually I'm not sure about that. The piece I used for the appearance test was an old scrap end that was already slightly warped prior to painting. So I'm not sure of the effect of the paint. I suppose I should at least test and see if I can bend the warp out of the piece above, just so I can know if I'll be able to get warps out of the foam core should they develop down the line.

      Delete