"How to model a sunken city" Topic

This may to ambitious for me, but I would love to have some of the ruined buildings sticking out of the water like these massive rocks do here:

picture
picture

I bought several of the Heroscape building ruin pieces, that I could mount so that they stick out from between the rubble:

link
link
link
TMP link
TMP link

The size of those pieces are about 4.5" by 1.5" on the big one and 3" by 1.5" on the small one. Both with a maximum height of 3", which would be about 76mm (I think). That would be about 4 storeys high in 15mm talk, right?

May need to smash a couple to make bits that have collapsed though.

What do you think of that idea?

CC

This is the sort of thing I had imagined. Most of the buildings would have collapsed on themselves, forming barely recognizable rubble heaps. These rubble heaps would be the basis for most of the habitable land mass in the flooded regions.

-Eli

. . . maybe having an elevated highway section poking out of the water with a shanty town atop it.

Along with a few rusted-out car chassis.

And here's another vote for "Popeye". It's certainly not a great film, but Sweethaven is a beautiful creation, very inspiring for this kind of thing.

link

LOL, Chironex.

Then you'll like this "redneck condo":

picture

I think a couple of these huts on stilts as "accent pieces", sticking out of the water, among the rubble and ruins:

link
link

CC
PS. Check this out: picture

Actually the redneck trailer boats make a lot of sense to me. There would be tons of those cheap home left in lots and trailer parks. Salvaged from the wreckage in part or whole, they would prove ready-made shelter.

-Eli

"Anyone know any quick and dirty ways to do bamboo or woven walls in 15mm? I seem to recall seeing some things about using cheap dollar store beach matts or bamboo place matts."

Eli, I completely forgot about your question.

This is what I used for 28mm, but the bamboo mat I used for the most part was thin enough to work for 15mm. Instead of using a dinner place mat, I went with a "bamboo brush roll", sold at most craft stores for a couple of dollars. The bamboo rods are very, very thin:

link

The key is to "paint" diluted PVA on the strings before you start cutting them appart. Otherwise, you will simply end up with a bunch of loose bamboo sticks.

link
TMP link

Hope this helps.

CC

Has anyone thought about a Desalination plant yet? Or at the very least rain collectors across the city, maybe a few filtration systems?

I think those would make awesome objective points as well as terrain, I imagine the Desalination plant would be located toward the center of the settlement to provide more protection while there could be smaller filtration systems scattered throughout the town both privately owned and public

This is an idea for factions YouTube link

Have the Frogmen be a faction, maybe smart raiders who attack several of the Post City settlements to raid supplies and the villagers are too afraid to stop them because they think they're servants of an ocean god.

To occasionally refresh the fright of the villagers they might have to use a disguised submarine (As the sea god) and bring it to the surface to frighten them again.

Just some ideas!

BTW the link is to the anime series, The Big O. It's great if that kind of thing is up your alley. An interesting post -apocalypse setting which combines Nior with Giant Robots. What more could you want!? Plus, they aren't the usual flashy robots (Though there were like two of those). They are the old-school juggernauts.

The first episode if anyones interested, YouTube link

Explains some of the back story right off of the back. The voice acting improves in the next episode because this one is just a pilot.

Good stuff there. Interesting to see a Lovecraft storyline brought into an anime.

I am curious how much slab concrete would hold together. As I am starting to actually think about how to build the rubble pile bases of my islands, I am on the fence on how many pieces of flat rubble to use.

-Eli

You can actually visit the Popeye town. It was built in Malta, and is still there. They advertise it to tourists. We went to Malta for our honeymoon. It was a beautiful place with lots of history. Americans are rare there, so we were kind of a novelty to them.

That's cool and I did not know that. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

-Eli

Tree houses might also provide a good bit of inspiration for flood zone dwellings. Perhaps either away from the coast on the new inland water ways or as possible model for homes built off of rubble instead of simple stilted homes.

picture

picture

picture

picture

picture

picture

And last but not least…

picture

Also might work for zombie/mutant animal proof dwellings on dry land.

BTW, you all might want to look at pictures of the various Burning Man festivals. If you can get past the counter-culture and sometimes racy content, there are a lot of good PA looking builds, craft work and style there.

-Eli

Wow. Eli, those treehouses look amazing. Thanks for the links.

CC

Oil rig living at its best?

picture

-Eli

More rustic stilt and aquatic home construction -

picture

picture (not on water, but principal might apply for building on rubble piles)

picture

picture

-Eli

For terrain/scenery- at least one large upside down ship. Lotsa rust!. This is dependent on scale and availability. A massive but small scale ship can be used (hull-wise) to stand in for something more tolerable.
I agree with all the above posters in that junk of any type is now treasure as the means of production have tanked. The Boston Whaler as the new Camrey. Sails and oars, especially oars would be big in this terrain. Ropes, ladders would count for a lot as well. A wierd and wonderful idea.
…Oh where does the ammunition come from?

Ammunition is always the big issue in most PA settings. Very few movies ever seem to address it. Road Warrior did a pretty good job of it, I would say. But, yes, that is sort of the one point that just seems to get overlooked or just ignored for the sake of action.

-Eli

Eli,

I guess it all depends on how soon after the event.

Are you talking within 50 years or so? Or centuries after?

CC

So,

Where has this all led? I have started sketching/doodling possible looks and ideas. I am thinking of starting with the building islands themselves and the structures built on them. These should prove the easiest to build as they allow for a good amount of solid foundation to build off of.

I am thinking that in many cases, building a single island as the rubble of several buildings all in a row would work best. It would make construction easier and allow me to get a greater area of playable board down the quickest. With these built, I can move on to other smaller isolated building islands as well as floating structures.

Now, if I can find time and materials to do this justice. Terrain on a budget is always fun.

-Eli

CC: that link to the sale item is nonsense. Jhe kit is 1/76 just as it was in the first pic; I have one. The item for sale you linked to lists it as 1/72. Can't they read? it's written on the box top…
picture
Won't look so pretty though.
link
link

Chironex,

I noticed that myself but didn't think it worth mentioning. Thanks for the clarification for those who did not catch it.

Those pics are great. Would static rigs like that hold up against a rising sea level? I suppose if they were tall enough they might end up closer to the water and be more easily accessible as community centers.

-Eli

link more of the Maunsell Sea Forts, good stuff this type of structure
link
picture
picture
picture

And another treehouse picture

Actually the redneck trailer boats make a lot of sense to me. There would be tons of those cheap home left in lots and trailer parks. Salvaged from the wreckage in part or whole, they would prove ready-made shelter.

-Eli
bring a whole new meaning to trailer park trash

Don't laugh.

Those "trailer trash" will likely do better than I. Being talented eeking out a living on the fringes of "polite" society is a skill that will serve them well. While I'm struggling trying to find canned goods and jerky, they'll be canning their own in any jar they can scrounge up and jerking any piece of dead whatever into survival rations..:)

-Eli

My plan is/was to build a 2x2 or 4x4 board as a base. Then at the corners put up pillars on the outside edges of the board to a set height. these would have a lip at the top to take an acrylic/perspex whatever sheet – clear or tinted to be the 'water'. The baseboard would be the seabed. That way, I'd build buildings up from the base to the bottom of the water – with strong magnets in the top, and 'tops' of buildings (with strong magnets in the bottom) to place on top of the 'water' lining up with the bottom part. That was I can play games that incorporate action above and below the water on one board. thats the plan anyhow. if it makes sense :-)

I love your idea of using magnets for removable roofs!

CC

Sounds quite cool, indeed. I have been trying to figure out ways to get more mileage out of my terrain, but every time I think of a way to make it more versatile it's at the expense of some cool detail or feature.

The big one I was working on was trying to figure a way to make the "islands" usable and land-based rubble heaps as well. But a good portion of what would make the water city cool doesn't work for land-based terrain.

-Eli

A clear under belly is a great idea…critters, false critters (logs), shadows, etc.. Great idea. And if not being used you can store all your stuff under it and it looks like the water is cluttered with stuff…s'nice.

"like the water is cluttered with stuff"

Very true. Particularly if the sea level rise is not so deep, but is widespread – as in these maps of a modest 6 meter rise in sea level:

picture
link
link
link

There are lots and lots of lakes in Texas and Arkansas where you can get yourself impaled if you dive in the wrong places. Though that is the result of man-made lakes, I believe the same holds true for any low-lying areas that have shallow, but widespread, flooding.

CC

Guys,

You are going to love this!

picture

CC

That is very cool. Wish I could get more detail out of that though.

-Eli

Eli,

Did you click on the image itself? It zooms in.

CC

QUESTIONS:

1) Since the streets will become canals in this environment . . . how wide would a modern 2-lane street be in a 15mm world?

2) How big would a typical city block be in a 15mm world?

CC
PS. In case you are wondering, I didn't think it would be safe for me to get out of my car, stop traffic, and take out my measuring tape to get those figures.

I would say that you have a great amount of wiggle room there. The width from building to building varies greatly by city. Here in the Seattle area, we have pretty narrow city streets compared to say New York.

Add to that the rubble of the collapsed buildings filling that space and the fact that not all buildings are as wide higher up as they are at street level. Also consider that some of your smaller buildings may be fully submerged depending on how deep you plan to make your city.

My best suggestion would be to wing it and if it looks good, then it is good!

-Eli

P.S. I am glad you did not get out to measure. We men spend too much time pulling things out and measuring anyhow.

LOL.

Eli, look at this elevated highway section!!!

link
link
link

Bring it down to almost water level and then imagine a few make-shift defenses on top.

Some of it would have to have experienced collapse, of course:

link

CC

I guess I would start with lots of square and rectangular sections of mdf and build up the "islands" on them, much like was done here:

link

CC

I think you are on target. I think elevated highway sections are basic enough that buying them seems almost a waste.

I agree that squares of rubble areas is a good place to start, though squares might be a bit too linear and you could still justify some odd shapes as the rubble piles are not going to stay in the lines.

-Eli

Good point, Eli.

I guess I should have said "loose squares and rectangles", and only because any remaining standing walls would create the occasional linear and angular footprint.

Someone built this for Mordheim or something else:

picture

Don't know if they meant to use them as islands or if they were going to be laid on a street of some kind.

For islands, I would do the bases very irregular in shape, with the occasional wall piece as a buttress on an edge or corner, or within the island itself.

CC

Or . . . imagine the ground level here as deep water (perhaps something like 20-30 feet deep):

link
link
link

CC

That is a good idea there. I am still working on some smaller items as proof of concept then I'll expand to full blocks. What I am modeling now are the isolated homesteads attached to more lonely spires.

-Eli

Eli,

Please take and post pictures of each step in the process! Please, please.

CC

lOL…I'll try.

-Eli The ones I am working on are going to be small enough to fit on DVD/CDs. The only basing materials I have at this time.

-Eli

Eli,

I was once considering purchasing cheap plastic travel soap cases/boxes to use as 15mm SF "bunkers":

link
link

However, now that we have been going back and forth on this other subject, it dawned on me that they might also work as small floating barges or boat houses:

link
link
link

What do you think?

CC

Hmmmmm..I'd have to see that done before I can get my head around that.

My sunken city project is a bit on hold right now, due to lack of some key components.

-Eli

What key components?

CC

Basing materials, wire mesh, and still trying to get a handle on the corrugated siding effect.

-Eli

Eli,

Please let me know if there's anything I can do to facilitate.

daniel DOT martinez1 AT sbcglobal DOT net

CC

Thanks Dan,

I appreciate the offer but the need is really not that dire.

-Eli

100 :) The project is picking up speed I hope to see this wonder soon!