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Author Topic: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)  (Read 12092 times)

john blackwell

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. . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« on: 08 March 2012, 21:27:02 »
Water tiles . . . check                                                                             Shoreline . . . check



Swamp tiles . . . check                                                                           Sand tiles . . . check



Heavy woods & rough ground . . . check                                                  Light woods . . . check



Industry & destroyed units . . . progressing



60-hex stencile . . . check



time to flock 3272 hexes of open terrain . . . uuh . . .




. . . and so it begins . . .
JB
« Last Edit: 22 March 2012, 19:58:55 by john blackwell »
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House Davie Merc

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #1 on: 09 March 2012, 03:50:47 »
I'm not into the tiles like a lot of people , but I REALLY like the look of the
shoreline tiles you made .

Those are gonna look really good connected .

The dark green for heavy woods and light green for light is pretty much what I've
used for my terrain .

With a 4 day weekend coming up for me I need to get something done to .

As someone who's patience has been tested by making an accurate stencile I can
appreciate the amount of work that went into making yours .
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Papabees

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #2 on: 09 March 2012, 08:28:42 »
buy a sponge paint roller. The 4" kind. you will thank me later.
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ApokalypseTest

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #3 on: 12 March 2012, 11:29:21 »
How did you make the stencil?
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #4 on: 12 March 2012, 12:10:08 »
Quote from: ApokalypseTest on 12 March 2012, 11:29:21
How did you make the stencil?

Quote from: john blackwell on 08 March 2012, 21:27:02
60-hex stencile . . . check


tag board (not thick enough and may warrant another shot at it) and 3 exacto blades . . .

. . . and several hours of time.  I would love to know how others would tackle this.  Anyone?

Please?
JB

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Propnut

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #5 on: 14 March 2012, 17:05:53 »
Um.....with a CNC cutter? :D

I know, not fair...... O:-)
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Jeffrey

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #6 on: 14 March 2012, 18:25:47 »
love the water pieces
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #7 on: 14 March 2012, 19:11:40 »
Quote from: Propnut on 14 March 2012, 17:05:53
Um.....with a CNC cutter? :D

I know, not fair...... O:-)

Yeah, if I were still in GR I would have taken less time to swing by your shop and work something out there . . . oh well.  I took the low (very low) tech approach.

Well, y'all know what I'll be up to for the next . . . oh . . . *insert appropriate period of time here*.

Quote from: Jeffrey on 14 March 2012, 18:25:47
love the water pieces

Thank you, Jeffrey.


JB
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markhall

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #8 on: 15 March 2012, 10:58:14 »
Jebus that's a hex of work.

Good luck with it all John.
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ExtremeBloodAspUser

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #9 on: 16 March 2012, 14:27:59 »
I would get so lost in a work load like that, but man that would be a great roller coaster ride while it lasted. #P
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Maddog3025

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . .
« Reply #10 on: 17 March 2012, 11:33:54 »
I don't care for the Heroscape tiles or hexes in general, but your versions are really exceptional.  Well done!
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #11 on: 22 March 2012, 20:07:34 »
I thought I would pause and remind myself if all this work is worth it . . . anyone else been there?

comparison: original tiles next to new open ground (after all, even open ground has texture - none of it would slow down a mech)



Add various terrain elements (two-tree = heavy, one-tree = light, log jam rough ground, solo trees are simply there for asthetics)



Add all other terrain elements (swamp wet & dry, sand, shoreline, open water: depth 0, 1, & 2)


Those shoreline stones pop out more than I expected - oh well, can't (won't) go back and fix that any more



Only about 10% of the way through all the terrain tiles . . . yeah . . . *long pause* it will be worth it.

Back to work,
JB

EDIT: grammar
« Last Edit: 22 March 2012, 20:13:09 by john blackwell »
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shadhawk

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #12 on: 22 March 2012, 20:17:42 »
when you finish you will say yes ... it's just the  finished part O0
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ApokalypseTest

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #13 on: 23 March 2012, 07:47:43 »
VERRRRRY Nice - how did you make the Shrubs on the hexes? I mean the little green sprinkles

And what glue do you use?
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Whitar

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #14 on: 23 March 2012, 11:25:28 »
I love it. Nice buildings and trees too.
I share your thoughts about the shoreline stones  ;)
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #15 on: 23 March 2012, 15:47:43 »
Quote from: Whitar on 23 March 2012, 11:25:28
I love it. Nice buildings and trees too.

Quote from: ApokalypseTest on 23 March 2012, 07:47:43
VERRRRRY Nice - how did you make the Shrubs on the hexes? I mean the little green sprinkles

Thank you both.

The sprinkles are from Woodland Scenic - from a local model RR shop.  I think they're the fine shrubs - NOT coarse.  Each piece is millimeters in size.

side note: the flocking is Woodland Scenic Fine Turf: burnt grass and accented with Fine Turf: yellow grass.

Quote from: ApokalypseTest on 23 March 2012, 07:47:43
And what glue do you use?

I use regular elmers glue mixed with water.  I'm guessing it's about 3:1 water to glue and applied with an eyedropper.

I'll photograph a sequence the next time I do this.

JB
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Papabees

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #16 on: 24 March 2012, 14:03:11 »
What are you using to adhere the regular flock?
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #17 on: 24 March 2012, 16:12:14 »
I begin with a 60-hex panel.  This was the original shape of the stencil.  I have begun working without it.  It was an unnecessary element in this.

This panel is gradually coated with cheap hair spray and burnt-grass flocking.  This will help hold the original flocking to the hexes for the future glue/water.  Without this, the glue/water will bead on the plastic surface and not cover the tile evenly (learned this the hard way).



I break the panel up into its respective tiles.                  Using an eye dropper, apply white glue/water to each tile


until each tile is saturated.                                           Then I apply another heavy layer of burnt grass flocking . . . 


. . . then yellow grass. . .                                              . . . then dirt brown between the hexes.


Add kitty-litter rocks (very sparingly) . . .                       . . . dark fine shrubs (1 hex per 6) . . .             


 . . . lighter fine shrubs (2 hexes per 6).                         I pressed them carefully into the wet hex . . .



. . . reapplied glue/water to the shrubed tiles . . .            . . . and let it dry over-night. 



Next morning, 60 finished tiles. 


It's a bit of a process, but easy to replicate and repeat.  I have found that working with these requires a bit more care, but I think the final terrain will be worth it.


Happy hunting,
JB

EDIT: layout
« Last Edit: 30 March 2012, 21:17:57 by john blackwell »
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Whitar

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #18 on: 25 March 2012, 08:01:08 »
I want to add, you achieved a fantastic swamp water effect  O0
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ApokalypseTest

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #19 on: 25 March 2012, 10:07:13 »
Very interesting - you obviously use a very different method than I do.

I first sanded the tiles with a fine sand paper. Then applied a basecout with an acrylic pulyurethane primer (black), than I drybrushed the raised part of the hexes will brown and green wallpaint in a random pattern. AFter that I applied a coat of wood-hglue (basically like elmers) thinned with water, 3 parts water, 1 part glue and then some drops of dish washing detergent (that further reduces the beading effect). Finally I flock them with a mix of summer and fall model railroad grass flock.

All this left the spaces between the hexes untouched  to make sure that the stacking later would not be affected.

Finally I spray the flocked surface with several coats of hairspray to fixate the grass flock.

After seeing what you did, I will look for something to add shrub in the same way you did and also add some sand to the flocking process.


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Alex Keller

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #20 on: 25 March 2012, 10:40:19 »
Really well done.  I'm not a fan of the Heroscape terrain, but you make it look really good. 
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Papabees

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #21 on: 27 March 2012, 16:06:16 »
Interesting to hear different approaches. I used elmers straight from the bottle and used a foam roller to paint it on the raised tile faces and then buried them in flock. 
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ApokalypseTest

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #22 on: 27 March 2012, 18:13:48 »
didnt you get too much glue between the raised parts?
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Crimson Dynamo

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #23 on: 30 March 2012, 18:09:07 »
John, you're as certifiably awesome as you are crazy. Very inspirational work in this thread!
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #24 on: 30 March 2012, 21:22:08 »
Quote from: ApokalypseTest on 27 March 2012, 18:13:48
didnt you get too much glue between the raised parts?

The glue/water covers the entire tile.  Once it dries, it's not sticky at all but allows for flocking to adhere between the hexes.

Quote from: Crimson Dynamo on 30 March 2012, 18:09:07
John, you're as certifiably awesome as you are crazy.
  ^-^
Quote from: Crimson Dynamo on 30 March 2012, 18:09:07
Very inspirational work in this thread!

Thank you very much

JB
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[1st RDR] Surtr

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #25 on: 05 March 2014, 09:58:19 »
This is beautiful. I am currently torn between more standard terrain or getting into HS tiles. This helps the case for heroscape however.
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john blackwell

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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #26 on: 05 March 2014, 12:29:46 »
Welcome to the boards, and thank you.  If I may, here are other links to other terrain elements I have built that work with Heroscape tiles:

Terrain: (where I first developed the terrain tile that I use for many of my ground applications)
Part I: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,7543.0.html
Part II: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,14983.0.html

Keeping in on land, I ventured off to other elements:
Bridge part I: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,6197.0.html
Bridge part II: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,28894.0.html

I worked on different ground items like buildings, hedges, road tiles, and etc:
more place-able stuff: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,28896.0.html

I took the Heroscape road & bridge set (2 of them) and converted them:
Spaceport & tarmac: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,28897.0.html

I went offshore and began working on swamp tiles:
Swamp part I: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,6724.0.html
Swamp part II: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,14791.0.html
Swamp part III: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,31524.0.html

I also worked over my water tiles:
Tile: (terrain part II above)
Water: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,30329.0.html

I'm happy to share these and pass around the ideas.  Many of them originate with others.  I've simply made them work for me.

I hope you find a system that works for you.  Please post as you develop it.

Happy hunting,
JB
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Re: . . . and so it begins . . . (update: 3/22)
« Reply #27 on: 05 March 2014, 22:31:46 »
You continue to inspire and motivate all while setting the bar higher!  O0
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