Akeela, check out the Hirst Arts website for 3D terrain. You can also look at Dwarven Forge, but that's an expensive habit.
You can also make really nice terrain with cheap styrofoam that you can cut with a hot wire. You can buy styrofoam cutters pretty cheap at hobby shops like Michaels, JoAnns or Hobby Lobby. I use a lot of styrofoam from packing boxes, so it's effectively free. I make mountains, hills, rubble, mesas, etc. with styrofoam.
The Hirst Arts stuff is made using silicon molds to create plaster blocks that you then connect together into whatever you want to make. You can make towers, bridges, castles, inns.... pretty much anything you can imagine, but you have to cast lots and lots of blocks to do it. But it gets very cost-effective the more you make.
You will want to use one of the modern strong plasters for this, not just plaster of paris. Use something like Hydrostone or Excalibur or even Duracal or some other enhanced plaster product. A 50 pound bag of Hydrostone costs me less than $30 from my local pottery supply store. You can make a whole lot of terrain with fifty pounds of Hydrostone. I'm on my second bag.
I also do a lot of re-purposing of packages to make items. I have a fort I made from Pringles cans, towers made from nut cans, huts made from cut up Pringles cans...
Your imagination is really your only limit.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh, and your best friend... Foam core poster board... You can do amazing things with that stuff. Especially the cheap stuff you can get from dollar stores, not the expensive stuff you get from Hobby Lobby. Foam core poster board rules the 3D terrain world.
Also, there are lots of ways to make trees, bushes, etc. You can by lifetime supply bags of moss and lichen from hobby stores that are used for floral arrangements, and you can make all the trees, bushes and other plants you want.
Be careful though, making 3D terrain is addictive and can take over your entire garage....
|
Are there particular parts of the messageboards or internet which would make good starting places to look for tips on putting together nice built-up maps for modules or PFS scenarios?
Akeela - search for Thod and DwarvenForge on these boards. I have posted several build up PFS scenarios on the DF boards with links here. That gives you an idea what can be done with DF. There are also some other bits sprinkled in - like Hirst Arts.
Just a spoiler warning - I'm not trying to give away the plot - but a 3d built up scenery can give away a lot.
|
|
@Thod: Thank you! That stuff looks amazing. Beatiful. And way outside my pricepoint.
@AD: What are common uses for the foam core board? Walls for buildings? I realize a dremel will be overkill for foam, but it's what I have to start with. Is the hot wire like a taut-stretched wire that slices kind of like a jigsaw? Or a long, slender point? Multiple types available?
Thanks for the input all. Working on Citadel of Fire from FPS first.
Akeela, I use foam core posterboard for lots of things. Yes, I use it for walls. I have a castle that is mostly made of foam core posterboard and Pringles and nut cans for towers. I have a palace that is entirely made of foam core with drawn brick patterns.
I also use foam core as the base for my Hirst Arts block constructions.
I make "wooden huts" by taking a strip of foam core posterboard, slicing one side of the paper into slats, then making a cylinder that I can paint to look like wooden slats.
The styrofoam hot wire cutter I have is just a straight 8" wire, but if you are creative you can use that straight wire to make some pretty complex and organic looking cuts. There are hot wire styrofoam cutters that come in loops as well, and you can certainly make your own if you don't mind fooling around with potentially fatal electric currents.
I wouldn't use a dremel tool on styrofoam. I think I'd have better success with any sort of serrated knife.
I use other things as terrain too. Pieces of bark from trees make surprisingly realistic boulders and rocky outcroppings if you paint them carefully. They create a very realistic layered rock look. I also make lots of things with craft sticks, especially furniture, wagons, crates, etc. I've got a whole plastic container full of stuff made from wooden craft sticks, toothpicks, bamboo skewers, cork board, etc...
Check out some train diorama websites for tips on making terrain. There's some really creative stuff you can find, using all sorts of common household materials.
|
|
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=319305514819623&id=137 833402264¬if_t=share_reply
SKR posted a review of a hot foam cutting device. I asked if he had good references for beginners. He listed four or five links, including a three part blog series he did n Paizo's site for beginning mini-landscapers.
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lc9s
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/2011/june/v5748dyo5lcad
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/2011/june/v5748dyo5lcb1
SKR is da man.
|
I LOOOOVE foamcore posterboard! Love it! Cuts with a simple box cutter / craft knife; no special tools needed.
I picked up the pdf for "The Maiden" from Worldworks Games and used foamcore for the base material. Worked like a charm. Foamcore is durable enough to use hot glue on, if that's your preferred adhesive.
I've also used that pink insulation foam available at your friendly neighborhood hardware store. Didn't have a foam cutter, so I used the craft knife, and my hills and other terrain turned out just fine. You can use a foam-safe paint on it, if you decide your world isn't made of congealed Pepto Bismol.
Good crafting! And, like AD says, it's ADDICTIVE!
I picked up the pdf for "The Maiden" from Worldworks Games ...
I'll second WorldWorksGames. Their stuff is amazing. The TerrainLinx are labor intensive (though what 3D terrain people have mentioned isn't?). But they are fun to put together.
However, if you want a balance between price and labor, check out their latest products, called TerraClips. I bought the Streets and Buildings, and they're fantastic. Can't wait for their dungeon sets! (They do have slight limitations in terms of accurately depicting maps you see in Paizo products, but if you're willing to change that 5-10' hallway into a 15' hallway, they'll work well.) If you're not set in stone map-wise and willing to "get close", I think you'd do well with TC.
My 2 bits. :)