"Need Inspiration: Any Photos to Gaming Tables for "Aliens"?" Topic

Other than paper or cardboard . . .

. . . and suitable for gaming ship or station action on any of the "Alien" films?

I know that the Aliens Gaming Yahoo Group used to have lots and lots.

Are there any links to photos anywhere now?

Thanks.

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The old "Wild Walls / Sci-Fi Supply" website is still up:
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See especially this pic:
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I'm pretty sure the products are OOP, but surface on eBay from time to time.

JakeB,

Game Crafter was very kind in selling me one of those "Giegeresque" Wild Walls sets:

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It looks absolutely fantastic.

I wonder what layouts and materials others have used for making rooms and other spaces within large space ships and stations that could be used for gaming Aliens.

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The best homemade version of that I've seen used thin lines of caulk to make the organic ribs on the walls. That probably was in one of those Aliens Gaming Yahoo group pics.

I've seen people do great stuff with texturing paper mache/spackle/wires/bits onto foamcore walls/structures they've built.
Don't know of specific sites though… you might try looking at some of the online sites that specialize in 40K Tyranids. Some of those guys get crazy with their scenery making.

The Hirst Arts pages have some good ideas:

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I've had a hard time getting clean enough castings from some of the sci-fi molds, but I plan to try again with better plaster and a simple vibrating table instead of the fist-pounding method.

I had several false starts trying to complete a very large scratch-build starship interior layout. The plan called for several rows of large rooms across the table, separated by corridor sections.

Here's some of the small pieces I fiddled around with:

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Foamcore works fine for walls but I don't like it for floors. It warps too much, if not from glue than from paint drying, and it doesn't always straighten out when painted on the bottom. The cross-stitching mesh on the floor didn't hold paint well. If I use it again I will wash it carefully and select a better paint for the first coat.

Aw, crap, that webpage of mine is 2-1/2 years old.

I have done some work since then on some larger rooms using a different floor style. I layered thin plastic panels over pink foam insulation board, glued with a spray adhesive. This didn't warp.

Here are other ideas I want to implement when I finally do pursue this "Aliens" project:

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Gale Force Nine built a gorgeous temple for gaming the Aliens vs. Predators game. It's in the tables gallery on their web site.

Very nice AVP temple game table there!
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I wonder if they are planning on a station or ship gaming table, like for the other Alien films?

CC

I wish someone would do some of this for 28mm:

"Hadley's Hope" on LV-426 ("Aliens"):
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USM Auriga ("Alien Resurrection"):
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If you're just looking for the industrial tech interiors to start with, there are several makers of resin corridors, rooms, and accessories. Some of the Ainsty (now Old Crow) Tech Tunnel pieces resemble those Hadley's Hope interior pics.

Simplest solution is to buy this:
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Listing price seems cheap for what you get. Shipping cost might be painful. Or schedule a vacation to the Northeast.

You could make one smaller hive section to butt up against one side of the existing layout. Completely cover the hive walls with the Wild Walls or caulk ribs so you don't even have to worry about matching the shape and color of the original facility.

This NICE suggestion came from Ursa . . .

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Can those plans be purchased and later be zoomed and printed to fit 28mm, or are there legal restrictions to doing that.

If it is a go, I would use the plant to cut out foamboard sections instead of paper.

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Here was Ursa's suggestion:

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You can also split in half some flexible rain drainage tubing – give you a semi circular corridor floor that paints up nicely. Also instant foam and some solvant to create graigs in it.

For flooring, I plan to use wooden chinese dominos, glued on card. One domino has two squares with I think nine circles in them. Primed and drybrushed rows of eight or so, and you have the El Cheapo Corridor System©.

That card kit of Mod 5 can of course be adapted to the right size for 28mm with a bit of mathematics and photoshop or a photocopier.

I downsized the aliens APC to 28mm-scale, but never built it…

Wow. Look at what I've just found!

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More here:
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More ideas for materials:

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Found lots more ideas:

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gandalf23.com/?p=1702
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I already have the "Wild Walls". However, I will get these too . . .

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Hey Jake – question: what sort of glues and paints do you find work best on that plastic cross stitch stuff?! I use it too but find most of my glues don't hold long.

I have glued the cross stitch material to foamcore using a 3M spray adhesive that is safe for the exposed foam edges.
This seemed to hold together well over time.

I still need to experiment more with painting the cross stitch grids. In my very first attempt to use it over a foamcore base, I sprayed it with floral spraypaint because it doesn't melt foam. But that paint also doesn't stick well to this plastic.

Spraying multiple layers of cheap craft paint just seemed to make the paint more brittle and prone to cracking off in small pieces.

I'm wondering if washing it first might help. That's recommended for many plastic figures.

It is a relatively soft and flexible plastic, so the spraypaints labeled specifically for plastics might be useful.

Thanks! I did have more success over this past weekend priming the cross stich stuff with Krylon sandable auto primer before painting. The super glue is holding better too. But admittedly I haven't tried anything rough with it yet.

Have you considered the Hexagon & Platformer
lines of terrain, this is cheap, plus its
Modular (like legos) they are made by tehnolog.
but they seem to licence them to a bunch of companys.
Airfx, imex, urban mamoth, pegasus.
you can get a set with 100 pieces for $15 USD
if you shop around

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Thanks!!!

Here is a review of some of those sets:

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They are certainly inexpensive, and seem to be available in a lot of places (here are just a few):

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imex-model.com/games2.htm
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I have to get my hands on a set or two.

Has anyone ever heard of "Syberclix"? I really am not familiar with them.

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Ooops. No wonder I could not find them. I guess it is "Syberclicks" then.

Those are a bit too "gothic-looking" for gaming "Aliens":

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QUESTION: Are the parts in the "Hexagon" and "Platformer" sets interchangeable?

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Scratch that last question. Here was the answer all along . . .

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More on Hexagon and Platformer sets here:

fiddlernet.net/ImexWiki

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Look at THIS!

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Very impressive!!!

Wow. Even a small fraction of that station set up would give me plenty to game with.

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And, I guess, they used the now OOP "Wild Walls". :)

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This is very, very nice for AVP:

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All this time I have been admiring that "Fort Apache" tutorial in TerraGenesis and never, ever, realized that it was simply one part of three:

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Fascinating, at the very least.

I am definitely getting some plastic takeout containers to use as walls though, in my case, they will end up as corridors for an Aliens scenario.

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More of SciFi Gamer's fantastic expertise on the subject here:

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This thread by Javelin98 has given me additional ideas:

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QUESTION:

Even if all I did was a single level of the building containing the science/medlab units in "Aliens", how big would this project be, if done for 28mm gaming?

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Could it be contained in a single table, or would it become a huge multiple table terrain board?

Entire colony and reactor compound (way beyond my current scope):
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Thanks.

CC

I'm guessing the habitable area of the amin staion would have a foot print "to scale" (whatever that means) of about 2' x 4'.

Thanks!

That's something I can definitely put on a single table, though I would probably make it in modular sections for easier storage.

CC

Anyone ever use office and/or kitchen drawer organizers?

Many, if turned upsidedown, look very industrial/SciFi.

Examples:

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Those with rounded bottoms can look like turbines, engine cylinders and such.

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If anyone wants to add a finishing touch to their foamboard corridors:

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Before finishing with the plastic slides, I plan to put this on both sides of the foamboard (for greater effect):

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For other possible base layouts:

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Games Workshop seems to have discovered the many uses of what they call "Crochet Grid":

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Yes, same Space Hulk Terrain article, from 3 different sites. One of them, I hope, stays working for future reference.

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No Sci-Fi Supply "Wild Walls"?

Applied Imagination Inc. comes to our rescue!!!

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Another fine example of how to use the plastic cross-stitch canvas:

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How is this figure comparison then?

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You will like this then.
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Another twist in the search for compatible materials:

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I guess all I need is eggs for these guys:

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I forgot how nice this "Aliens" trailer was:

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