Just some quick and dirty terrain elements made from Hydrocal.
Here are some sculpey spirits to keep my paper spirits company.
Here's a column made from Hydrocal. I could see making a dozen or more of these and using them for all sorts of things. I've also made some "broken" columns for terrain purposes.
That column looks so huge next to the mini! I wonder if you can find molds in other styles like that one. Can you imagine a Mines of Moria-looking room full of columns to stage a battle in? Epic stuff.
That column looks so huge next to the mini! I wonder if you can find molds in other styles like that one. Can you imagine a Mines of Moria-looking room full of columns to stage a battle in? Epic stuff.
Yeah, I am using these as deliberate "huge" columns. Although if you look at the columns in the Parthenon or other ancient Greek structures, these are actually pretty consistent with those sizes in comparison to a human being.
I have my wooden columns for more "reasonable sized" columns so I can do both small and large columns. The whole point of these columns is to make tactically interesting battlefields, and I think they will work great for that.
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That column looks so huge next to the mini! I wonder if you can find molds in other styles like that one. Can you imagine a Mines of Moria-looking room full of columns to stage a battle in? Epic stuff.
Look no further than your local pet store.. many of the fish tank toys are Atlantis-esc in that they are sunken columns and the like. I've even used some as terrain in my games (my dad used to own one, so anything that came in broken...)
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I picked up a bunch of plastic columns for wedding cake decor that look just like that....the base on them is 1" square, perfect for battlemat use. I do alot of terrain using Merlin's Magic and sculpey. I also use Hirst molds/ castlemolds for my Merlin's Magic plaster.
Very nice stuff and very useful.
Good job.
I picked up a bunch of plastic columns for wedding cake decor that look just like that....the base on them is 1" square, perfect for battlemat use. I do alot of terrain using Merlin's Magic and sculpey. I also use Hirst molds/ castlemolds for my Merlin's Magic plaster.
Very nice stuff and very useful.
Good job.
Where do you get your Merlin's Magic? I've tried to find it in the Denver area with no success. I'm using "lightweight Hydrocal" from Woodland Scenics, but I've heard that's not really the best stuff to use. It's not as sturdy as I would like.
Still it's cheaper than the casting material I've been using...
I am considering trying to sculpt some Hirst-style blocks to make my own stuff.... I've got sculpey, I've got silicon mold material... how hard can it be?
I don't like the idea of using individual tiles for the floor though, that just seems like a ton of effort for very little gain. Walls, stairs, columns, etc. make sense, but it just seems like an insane investment of money and time to make individual tiles for literally every square inch of the battle grid.
Look no further than your local pet store.. many of the fish tank toys are Atlantis-esc in that they are sunken columns and the like. I've even used some as terrain in my games (my dad used to own one, so anything that came in broken...)
I have seen some aquarium terrain that would work well for the game, especially some of the plastic plants. The cast items generally seem too expensive to me though. One of the main reasons for using the Hydrocal is to save as much money as I can on this stuff, and Hydrocal itself is about three to four times as expensive as generic gypsum plaster which is essentially the same stuff, but you have to buy it in 25 or 50 pound bags. I got the 1/2 gallon container of Hydrocal just to see how it worked. Since it's working OK, I will probably move on to a cheaper bulk alternative. I hear good things about Merlin's Magic...
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Look no further than your local pet store.. many of the fish tank toys are Atlantis-esc in that they are sunken columns and the like. I've even used some as terrain in my games (my dad used to own one, so anything that came in broken...)I have seen some aquarium terrain that would work well for the game, especially some of the plastic plants. The cast items generally seem too expensive to me though. One of the main reasons for using the Hydrocal is to save as much money as I can on this stuff, and Hydrocal itself is about three to four times as expensive as generic gypsum plaster which is essentially the same stuff, but you have to buy it in 25 or 50 pound bags. I got the 1/2 gallon container of Hydrocal just to see how it worked. Since it's working OK, I will probably move on to a cheaper bulk alternative. I hear good things about Merlin's Magic...
I have some things similar to This which are really good. usually with things like this I thing of using them to make the mold - if it's less than $5, I'll attempt it... was thinking of getting This or This But I think I can find cheaper alternatives
merlins magic is nice, but expensive
i buy it by the 50lb box....
Do you buy it locally, or have it shipped?
Do you buy it locally, or have it shipped?merlins magic is nice, but expensive
i buy it by the 50lb box....
That's how I do it to, easy to cast with....
http://www.hirstarts.com/casting/dental.html#merlinthat is the link I use to find where to get it.
Thanks, I was trying to avoid the shipping costs.. :-)
I'll give one of those links a try as soon as I run low on the Hydrocal.
Just a quick update on the plaster casting thing...
I found some "Artplaster" at a local Michaels. It's a bit cheaper, sturdier and heavier than the Lightweight Hydrocal. I've been using that by itself and I've been mixing it with the Lightweight Hydrocal. That's been working fine.
But I still wanted something sturdier so I purchased some "Excalibur" dental plaster from one of the links on the Hirst site. That stuff is AMAZING. It mixes smoothly and quickly, it picks up extremely fine detail (fingerprints are no problem for this stuff) and it feels like solid rock. The only possible negative for it is that it settles down quite a bit compared to the Lightweight Hydrocal or Artplaster. You have to account for that settling or you'll end up with some issues. It's about the same weight as the Artplaster.