"A morbid / tasteless idea ... Plus RfI" Topic

I know this is a pretty morbid & tasteless idea 'right now', but it was originally inspired by some posts made by Dan (CC), including his latest thread from "in the thick of it…"

I'm thinking of a "flooded PA terrain board", largey/mostly water, with just the roofs of buildings extending above the waterline…

Much like in this photo:

Including trees and perhaps even the occasional top couple / few floors of higher buildings (the High Ground, so to speak).

I could envisage this as a more near-future version of the general Waterworld-esque scenarios, and the islands scenarios posited by Dan in his other thread.

I imagine it could also be realised quite inexpensively as only roofs & trees would be needed? As terrain at least. OK, realising the water could be hugely expensive if you went with resin, but there are cheaper alternatives…. a sheet of glass or acrylic over a painted substrate, etc. Privacy glass would probably be good for that.

I could imagine fire & manouvre depending largely on shallow hull amphibs?

For the US gamers: what are these things called? The one in the background one so often sees in any media involving the Everglades:

Also rigid raiders, rafts, even logs/tree trunks (esp[ecially for sneaky beaky stuff).

Please forgive the timing of this thread, but if I didn't post now, I'd probably forget by tomorrow!

Usually called an airboat, sometimes a swamp boat.

Air boat = 21 million hits
Swamp boat 20 million hits

Thank you Hamilton!

Now, if anyone knows of a manufacturer? Pref 28 mm?

You might consider a flooded downtown area, with brick and concrete buildings – I think the wooden buildings would not last too long once flooded.

Dueling boats in a maze of flooded buildings might be an interesting scenario.

Airboat in the back. Jon Boat in the front (like a copier is called a Xerox machine, no matter who makes it, that flat bottomed aluminum boat is a Jon Boat, no matter who made it). I think the better practice is not to let your shoes trail in the water, especially if it's cold enough to wear a coat.

Also, DG, because of you morbid and tasteless bad timing, you should donate to the American Red Cross as atonement.

What they forget to tell you about the hurricane is that it is still summer in Texas (and will be until mid-October or so). In a few days, the sun is going to blaze through on all that water, and on all the houses with no power, no AC, and no fans. Living on the Gulf Coast is going to be really tough for a while.

Jon Boats?

I think they're what we (UK army/marines) call Rigid Raiders?

I know we had 'something' VERY similar in the (UK) army back in the 80s-90s, but I totally forget what (if anything) we called 'em?

Oh … and yes … I shall atone for my timing :-) (I'm used to it … just ask my ex ,-))

You might consider a flooded downtown area, with brick and concrete buildings – I think the wooden buildings would not last too long once flooded.

Good point … but I think the residential area as a scenario would still (pardon me) 'hold water' … it could just be 28 days later, as opposed to 28 weeks or months later :-)

But yeah, the 'tops of skyscrapers jutting out from the waves of a flooded world' scenario would also be very cool … and equally easy to make. Plus you wouldn't need trees :-)

Hmm, could be am interesting new setting for my "Mad Wet Max" game……

@Bill

You mean like in AI?

@David: Precisely! :-)

Actually if you have building with removable roofs you could just use them on a water mat…

Well, that was the idea when I first posted … whether a mat or some other gaming surface… But for someone who doesn't have a ready supply of buildings with removable roofs (i.e. ME), I'd imagine just getting the roofs for this kind of scenario would be relatively economical?

Perhaps scratch with some textured styrene would be enough?

For a game like this I'd probably only play a few times, I'd make paper rooves over a mat made shiny with Modge Podge. Add a few tall buildings.

For a more permanent type game, small settlements based on malls and garages, connected by rope bridges (easily taken down for defense).

P.S. This is a hobby about the absolute worst aspect of our species. I don't think a little awkward timing is anything to worry about.

@Extra Crispy! Thank you! :-)

And YES … bridges! How could I have forgotten them? See! This is why I wanted to post before I forgot it! I was thinking the only way between roofs would be boats.

Rope bridges would be excellent!!!

Stupid idea now … but how about "pole vaulting" between rooftops? :-)

Actually … it might be called something different … but I'm sure you guys know what I mean and someone will correct me! :-)

Here is a link to a TMP post that has some nice water effects without using Resin.

TMP link

@Mithmee: that looks very convincing! Thank you! :-)

I like the idea of half-submerged skyscrapers. You can take the stairs up to get better firing and observing positions, but you'll need scuba gear to go downstairs and retrieve anything.

You could have a whole Thunderball-style battle of frogmen in the streets -- are there any rules for that? I do have some HO and 1/32 frogmen that I've never painted -- and make good use of watercraft for troop transports and fighting platforms.

Maximum sea level rise, if all of the polar ice were to melt, is estimated at about 216 feet. That's about 20 stories. So you can easily have 10+ stories above water certain cities. See:

link

@Gravitas,

Looking at that first photo you posted, I have a vision of how you could do this very easily and with not a lot of money!

Imagine the water level in that photo to be your "baseboard". A large sheet of pink insulation foam for instance.

The partially submerged buildings would be built on top of the insulation foam, but ONLY the parts of the buildings above the water line. In other words, you could build the rooftops and just the top floor of the buildings out of thin card or foam core, and glue those to the insulation foam.

Same would go for trees. Just build or buy some model trees and then cut them so that only the top third of the tree is glued down to the insulation foam. The rest of it would be "submerged" and therefore out of sight anyway!

Here's the cool part! You don't have to worry about achieving "depth" to the water by pouring multiple layers of any kind of expensive resin! Think of the pink insulation board as your water level. Paint the entirety of the insulation board surface in that exact brownish/greenish color.

THEN, take something like Mod Podge gloss sealer and just apply it with a paint brush over every single part of the painted brown surface.

In that way, you would achieve the exact look of murky, brown water but you would let the depth of the water be achieved by nothing more than the color of the insulation board. The Mod Podge will provide a PERFECT watery surface!

So to sum up, you don't have to build entire buildings or trees, just the tops of them. And you don't need resin.

Here's an example of what I mean doing a different kind of project. These are two coastal boards I made using the same pink insulation foam and MDF board. In this case the MDF board is my "water level" and the insulation foam was used to build up the landscape above the water level.

The Mod Podge here is applied over a dark bluish/greenish/black color made from mixing up straight colors of cheap craft paint. The Mod Podge is then applied with a paint brush over the painted surface going in a back and forth motion to achieve some ripples and waves.

All of the water you see in the photos below are nothing more than a painted surface with one thin layer of Mod Podge over it. No resin, no multiple pourings of anything complicated!

You can see the rocks sticking up out of the surface of the water on one of the coastal boards. Same exact principle for your flooded buildings. You only build what's above the water level!

Pics:

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Perfect Baranovich! Absolutely perfect :-)

I'd never heard of Mod Podge before Extra Crispy and you mentioned it. I've just had a bit of a Google (as one does …) and even found a recipe for home-made MP. Apparently just PVA and water…

This is starting to take shape :-)

Cheers lads!

I wasn't familiar with it either (and the cat seems unimpressed.)

You could always put a layer or two of plastic kitchen cling wrap over a painted board or over a layer of blue cellophane. Very on the cheap. The wrap can be crumpled into Rapids around buildings.

For roofs just get a bunch of Shoe boxes or similar. Cut them so you have angled roof shapes. Cut thin card or cerial packets in 2cm strips. Snip along 1cm at 1cm intervals (approx of course). And glue in layers for roof tiles. Then paint.

Random encounter cards may be fun, logs, bodies, equipment, survivors to join you if you can rescue them.

@79th Pa,

Lol, yep that cat is quite a cynic…

Don't forget the top of a water tower or maybe a cell phone tower as well. Tops of model railroad phone poles and other misc tall items.

This is a hobby about the absolute worst aspect of our species.

Nonsense. In a world with re-education camps--not to mention death camps, and I could name a few more of our recreations--shooting at people who can shoot back can't rate above 3rd, and might not make the top five.

But on subject. You need an old TV show, just called "The Everglades." 1961-62. Everyone went around on those airboats. Bound to be some scenario ideas.

"Call Billy Bob! He has the fastest boat in this whole damn river!"-live and let die.

Also police academy 2? I think it was.Swamp people and the like could make an appearance. "Shot me a gater" in Texas?

Ooh, and don't forget Sir Elton John's swamp buggy:

Or from this thread from Lead Adventure forum, just play on a glass topped table outside

Instant watery terrain fun

Glen

Stupid idea now … but how about "pole vaulting" between rooftops? :-)

In combat, sure.

Too much effort to do on a regular basis.

Oh, and is it bad that I first read "I'm thinking of a "flooded PA terrain board", largey/mostly water, with just the roofs of buildings extending above the waterline…" I went to "flooded Pennsylvania" not post-apoc?