[Infinity] Panoceana city/urban board (update 24/03/2012), Necra-Chi commission Options

[Hangmans Noose]

Well, it's been a while since I've done a diary and I think it'll keep me motivated to show off the design I have in mind for this project.

Necra-Chi has commissioned me to create some Infinity specific terrain centered around the faction of Panoceana. I've flicked through the books and found some inspiration, as well as watching Ghost in the Shell (both movies and SAC series). Since Necra has specifically asked for urban/city design and layout, I've taken it upon myself to also make them at least 3 stories tall. The catch is that Necra has promised these to an Infinity tournament happening in May, so I need to get cracking.

My first attempt was somewhat a failure in my mind, but I still learned a lot from it. I tried to make 12" x 12" boards that could be laid in any direction or configuration. I actually built 3 tiles of buildings 5 stories high before I realised that I only left 2" of space between the buildings - epic fail. As I said, I learned some things from this, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Okay, so attempt # 1 didn't work, so it was back to the drawing board - literally. I came up with something a little more doable: 12" x 24" tiles with a couple of 12" tiles thrown in for good measure. This makes building each tile mean something on the table and I'm able to control the size of the buildings to create walkways/passageways between them. I'm still making them high, but only 3 stories plus the roof. The ground floor will be filled with commercial (shops, bars, etc) while above them will be residential areas. I have an idea of how the residential areas will turn out as it's fairly easy to get plans from Google, but struggling a bit with shops.

Anyway, enough babbling, on with the first pictures from tonight's work.

First couple are pretty easy. The first are the ground tiles cut from 900 x 600 x 3mm MDF into the size of 12 x 24". There's 8 in total here and I've got a couple of pre-cut 12 x 12" tiles as well. The second shot will be the bases of the first and subsequent floors and the base of the roofs. Again, this was cut from the 900 x 600 x 3mm MDF into 8" x 20" pieces. I'm unsure about how many there are but there's enough for all tiles to have at least three stories.



Here's the walls cut from foamcore. I just cut them into 2" strips at the moment. I'm using a scale of 1:50 and measuring from my floors to my roof converts to about 2", doorways will be about 1 x 1.5".


I needed to paint the bases of the interior of the buildings before gluing any of the foamcore down. This helps later on obviously. I've got my airbrush going over the plain MDF with a couple of coats of sample paints from the hardware store. Before anyone comments, I'll be sealing the floors later with watered down PVA to protect the paint from scratching before use.


Lastly, here's a mockup of the first commercial building - a plain and simple eatery of some description. Here are the structural walls all cut and ready to be glued together. I'll be creating textured walls by scraping wall filler across the foamcore and painting appropriately.


It's not much to begin with, but I'm expecting to do lots more tomorrow. In fact, I'm guessing that this tile will be completed, ready to game on. Q&Cs are welcome, but I'm not expecting much this early in the project.

Cheers,
HN

This post has been edited by Hangmans Noose: Mar 24 2012, 10:49 PM

[Magos_Kasen]

Following with interest

[Din]

Will keep an eye on this one. Looking forward to seeing how they turn out

[dedhed]

looking forward to see how you do this, so I can steal your ideas.

[Jester of Death]

looks good.

got any pics of the ones that didnt work?



JoD

[Wombats]

Keen as beans.

[Hangmans Noose]

@Jester: Just for you -


Thanks guys for the interest. I'm seeing it come together in my head and it seems like it will work in reality, but it will take a little longer than expected. The walls and doors are the easy part, it's the plasticard scenery elements which is taking a lot of time. However, they look the goods and I'll be continuing it on through all tiles. There's only one change which I'm making aesthetic-wise which is I'm not going to use putty on the outside of the buildings. It took about a day to dry completely which is too long for me. Instead, I'll be using card on the edges of the buildings and walls to cover any exposed foam and paint them a different colour to add an accent to the building.

Fresh pictures of the completed tile are below.

Top down view. As you can see, two buildings spaced 4" apart to allow at least some fire lanes. But the real beauty is the layout of the buildings. There's lots of cover to hide behind which is what makes the perfect urban environment.


Looking into the eatery through the window. Achilles is there for comparison sizes. The windows are made from OHT sheets cut to size with a 1/10" plasticard border on both sides for strength. The tables and display case is made from plasticard cut to size and glued down. Again, the window on the display case is made from OHT sheet cut to size. I didn't get a shot of the kitchen but you can see the layout from the top down view.




Main entrance to the shops. Again, made from plasticard, but two different types - the white and the dark create a nice contrast on the table. The elevators are made from OHT sheet rolled and glued. I'm keeping them a uniform size by using an old tube from a paper roll.


The other shop. Now you can see the back door which every floor building will have. I made a template from plasticard of where to drill holes so I can cut them out without having to measure every time. Also, you can see some low cover which Achilles is showing off.


I've already started work on the second tile and painted another couple of bases so they're ready to go. Now that I have all the techniques down, it should be a little quicker and easier to get an assembly line going. Next up will be another shop with displays and then a bar, I think, for something different.



This post has been edited by Hangmans Noose: Mar 24 2012, 10:53 PM

[Kinsmanalike]

Will they get painted once building is complete or necro-chi to paint?

Looking good so far

[maestro]

Nice detailing! One thing i've been struggling with in regards to my own infinity buildings efforts - are these the first floor of infinitely tall buildings, so you don't have to worry about a roof, or are you having a roof as well? And if it's the latter, how do you deal with having models both on the roof and in the building at the same time?

[Hangmans Noose]

@ Kinsmanalike: They're actually painted, but in muted colours. The building walls are painted in China Beige, the MDF board in Sea Green and the scenic elements in Daylight. These are all painted in Taubmans test colours from Bunnings as it's a lot cheaper than using any model paint available. Also, because of the muted colours, it doesn't detract from the models on the board and easily allows you to see what models are where.

@maestro: Nope, these are the ground floor or 3 story buildings. As for models on the other levels, each story and roof section is removable and, well, it takes a steady hand. But I'm using a strip of non-slip matting around the bottom edge of each tile so bumping the table or buildings won't cause too much havoc.

[noakes]

@ Kinsmanalike: They're actually painted, but in muted colours. The building walls are painted in China Beige, the MDF board in Sea Green and the scenic elements in Daylight. These are all painted in Taubmans test colours from Bunnings as it's a lot cheaper than using any model paint available. Also, because of the muted colours, it doesn't detract from the models on the board and easily allows you to see what models are where.

<squinty eyes>... cant tell if trolling.. or really good painter


either way the terrain looks amazing mate


edited because i wanted to make particular note of the sneeze guard in the cafe, thats epic mate

This post has been edited by noakes: Mar 25 2012, 10:50 PM

[Hangmans Noose]

<squinty eyes>... cant tell if trolling.. or really good painter

Srsly?

Ok, if serious, the best way to make a comparison is to look at the pics in the original post and the most recent. The MDF board is definitely done, you can see the paint didn't go to the edges in the OP, the walls are done as the OP is a brilliant white compared to a muted cream and I'm pretty sure that plasticard doesn't come in that shade of blue. You can compare that by the white on the doors.

I'm happy to throw up some side by side comparisons if need be.

Otherwise, I just threw myself after the bait.

[noakes]

lol i was just kidding mate =P its looking great, im sure nechra will bring em down to our club sometime so we'll get to see them in person too, pretty excited by the prospect!

[Cannonball]

Looking great thus far but you've got yourself a_big_project on your hands there! I still remember making a table for arc one brick at a time using hirst art blocks. What was I thinking!

That said I think you'll do it.

Keep it simple, get your layout done first and then work on the detail. Imho of course.

[Kinsmanalike]

And the furniture stays white? I get the figures standing out ... Hmmm ok, I'll follow and see where you go with it..

[Hangmans Noose]

@noakes: I thought so. Hence the qualifier of "Otherwise, I just threw myself after the bait." I'm pretty sure that Necra could have his arm twisted.

@Cannonball: Yeah, it's a really big project, but I will get it done. The diary is a good way to motivate myself to get it done.

@Kinsmanalike:

...the scenic elements in Daylight...

The plasticard definitely isn't white, it's a dusky shade of blue. With the next update, I'll show you the white of the plasticard and you'll see the difference. Actually, you can see the white of the plasticard on the doors. Compare that white to the furniture on the inside.