"Semi-Giger Alien Terrain For 15mm: How?" Topic

Suggestions for scratch-building something like this?

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Reminds me of a cross between Giger's Alien concept and the filming set of Farscape (Moya ship).

Anyway, what suggestions do you have for duplicating those "organic" design elements over and over again?

Thanks,

Dan
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Love that movie, always scared me when I was young

spray foam…perhaps with a template pressed it when it is almost dry?

CloudCaptain: "perhaps with a template pressed it when it is almost dry"

What do you suggest I use to make that template, so that it doesn't stick to the foam after it dries hard?

By the way I really like the shape of those "columns" in the background:

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More here:

kindertrauma.com/?p=16114

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Dan
PS. Also found amazing sites that show the concept behind the living ship Moya (from Farscape):
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Dan what happened to your green stuff roller you were working with to make walls like this?

I've made several actually.

However, it seems that, no matter how much detail I add to the rollers, the impressions made on thin polystyrene sheets is never as good as I expect.

So, I think I need to look at other materials and/or other means to make crisp 3-D impressions.

Dan

For most of the repetative wall textures, I would rough out the basic terrain shape in foam, then draw the patterns that I wanted on the surface of the foam, then "re-draw" them into the foam with something like the Foam factory engraver.

You could also make some pattern sections, make molds and cast them in plaster/resin/etc.

Columns and other free-standing constructs could be done as clay/putty/plastic masters cast in resin.

Though it probably sounds intimidating, I would go with the hot wire engraver with resin cast details added. Working with the hot wire thing would be faster for me than making masters, mold, casting and fitting together the parts for extended hallways and rooms. Additionally, using the hotwire for most of the wall textures would create a more flowing style, than using cast sections.

I've make rollers for use with polystyrene foam, and they can work, but you need a lot of pressure to get deep crisp patterns. You might even have to build a press, depending on the specific application. The best results that I had with rollers involved carving the pattern into a hardwood roller, though that was many years ago, before some of the newer digital technology was available. I've also made pattern plates using a roller over the plate to apply the pattern into the foam, working something like the ringer from an antique washing machine.

CC,

I've seen you ask about this quite a bit. How do you plan on using this, what is the final goal? As a space hulk like table with a slew of rooms and corridors? A whole table? 15mm, 28mm?

Mass making organic shapes would be pretty hard to do anyway in a realist fashion.

I would suggest your roller used in sculpty, then cooking it half way and draping it in the organic shape your looking for. Lastly you need to make a small mold of outcropping shapes, chicken bones walling, chest-burster sacks, whatever and add to the outside for more depth.

Maybe you need to try another material instead of polystyrene sheets. have you tried lubricating the roller and using more green stuff instead?

I'd go for using relief moulding with plasticene and plaster. Cheap and easy.
Theres a bit about it here if you aren't familiar with the technique (lesson 2 in the PDF)
tepapa.govt.nz/henry_web/pdfs/Lesson_plans.pdf
Chicken bones and pork ribs (cleaned up and dried!)are good for making giger like organic imprints in the clay mould.
Just remember to use a good strong stone plaster like Herculite to make sure the casts dont break easy.
Of course the good thing about this technique is that you can mass produce loads of wall sections quickly and cheap, because you just reuse the modelling clay again and again!

Napthyme,

One of my earlier tries at an embossing roller. I did away with it a while back:

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However, this was my very last attempt at making a roller. I tried to impress on thin polystyrene foam sheets with, once again, very mediocre results:

More:

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Not sure how this latest try might work on clays though. I wonder if I should try it on a polymer clay (Sculpey), once I flatten it out the appropriate height (about 6mm) and then stretching a thin sheet of plastic wrap on the surface to avoid having clay stick inside the roller detail.

NOTE:

My goal would be to make alien wall configurations somewhat like this, without the floor portions:

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Thoughts?

Dan

Imagine walls like these, but with Giger-esque patterns instead, and with the floor area left open:

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Dan

wow, now that new roller is really cool. You should be able to use petro jelly on it and then roll it into other green stuff without then sticking together…

Have you considered rolling into Sculpy?

You could roll it, then shape it, bake it and then mold the final results.

I'm sure you could find a resin caster willing to help you out.

-Eli

Thanks!

Let me see if I can get a hold of some Sculpey to try it out.

If I were to emboss Green Stuff with it, I will end up needing a lot of it. Too much, in fact, considering that I haven't perfected the concept yet.

Dan

Sculpy is readily available at craft stores as well as several alternative brands.

I advice working in a very warm room and letting the Sculpy warm up and then work it really well before you lay it out to roll it. I'd imagine that you do not have to worry about squaring the edges of your Sculpy bands as you can trim after rolling.

Apply your lubricant to the laid out Sculpy, not the roller and make sure to wipe it off before baking. Tinfoil can be used to build bracing forms for baking your corners and such.

DAS air-dry clay might work good for doing masters for resin-casting.

-Eli

All I can think of is to use an electric glue gun and build up 'ribbing' on the wall sections. You could make smooth ribs, and also make ones built up of small 'blobs' to represent segments. Then paint to hide any mistakes…. ;-)

Tweazers and Jewlers Loop Magnifier, tons of patience….

Made these over the last couple nights.

Not exactly the walls your looking for but I played with butting them together in a solid wall and it made for a reasonably organic looking wall but without all the gubbins you are looking for.

-Eli

Eli,

Those look so cool!!!

Have you done any alien-ish terrain that is horizontal, and low to the ground, instead of vertical?

Thanks,

Dan

Not yet.

I have an idea to do some low rocky outcroppings with sculpted Giger style bug holes and vents under the overhang.

-Eli

Eli,

Can't wait to see what you do in each step of that project!!!

Dan

Having a hell of a time shaping the foam base for the horizontal piece. Trying to get it to look like wind-swept and built-up.

-Eli

Some nice ideas here guys!

Cool! I loved that movie. :)

I guess that rubber rollers like these work best with Sculpey and other clays:

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Dan

Well …

If the ancient Summerians succeeded making their "cylinder seals", I should have been getting some semi-decent results by now:

Dan

Here's what I initially thought of using:

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But after seeing a nice picture of one ancient cylinder seal mounted on "wheels" at each end, for producing an even impression, I realized that should be the way to go:

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Dan

I like the idea of your roller technique a lot, CC, but I think you haven't found the right medium to 'roll onto' yet.

The sytrofoam won't take the pattern well enough.

Sculpey needs to be heated to cure.

Green Stuff will cost far more than any reasonable person would pay.

Have you tried Paper Clay?

paperclay.com

Holds detail well, dries on its own by air exposure. I use it for exosed brickwork on buildings, using the reverse of a piece of plastic embossed card. my 'real artist' friend Bill Slavin uses it extensively in his WWII terrain.

@Dan – Would you consider selling copies of your alien terrain texture roller?

Artbraune, I'm thinking about it. But I need to work out some details yet.

Guys, look at all the different textures you can put on a roller:

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houseonthehill.net/rolling-pins

Now, if the pattern in the background here could be done the same way . . .

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Guys, if anyone can do it, it must be THIS FELLA HERE:

4clay.com/custom%20rollers.htm

Dan

For the miniature version of Leading Edge's Aliens boardgame I put together for their 25mm figures – I found it fairly easy to use egg cartons, silicone for slime, and casts of bone – or just bones. It's fairly easy to find complete skeletons around roads. You only want the smaller ones though.

Dan I have a big tube of GS that I have never used. I offered to send it to you to try and make some wall sections in 15MM with your rollers.

I'll take it!

Thanks so much.

Dan

ok, let me know where I need to send it then.