"Moria terrain" Topic

I was thinking about making some Moria-style terrain. I don't need to represent anything specifically from books or movies, but would like some variety from my typical grass, trees, and ruins.

I'd like chasms, columns of rock, and maybe some different heights if we can keep from restricting movement too much.

I think it would be fun to do something modular, but having pieces I could put together without having to fit in a pattern would be more flexible.

Anybody got any inspiration? I've been looking at lots of old GW Middle Earth terrain.

andy

try sally 4 cavern s

link

Thanks. I'm not looking for tunnel style, but I suppose could play on the rock surfaces.

andy

inlgames.com/layers.htm

There's a multi-tier. You can put in a two story tier if you want some height differences and such.

Or you could make a bigger hole for down to the next level, and let that drop several stories.

From the visuals in the movies, Moria had some rough and wild areas and some well laid out grid pattern areas. You could make a bit of both on a large table.

If space is an issue, you can make some square areas to fight in and have the doors/entrances open to areas "not represented on the table". ie. A fight breaks out in the temple room, the players leg it out of the archway on the left. There is an implied tunnel there that opens up to a storage room. Move the minis from the temple to the storage room and don't bother with the tunnel.

Or make some generic tunnels if you want to stage battles there, too.

I cut up some pink insulation foam, using my Proxxon Hot Wire Foam Cutter, painted them a light tan, then I applied The Dip, Royal Walnut tint.

These are completely modular, and they are designed/sculpted, to show a natural cavern routed by water, rather than hammer and chisel. They are fast to sculpt, on my Proxxon: slope the wire around 5-10 degrees, off vertical, then wiggle the foam as you cut it, to achieve the scallops.

If you want a more chiseled look, try something other than the wiggle technique, by making them more squarish, with the cutting. Then, texture them with a crumpled ball of aluminum foil.

Here is my first attempt at making modular caverns, using pink foam, cut on a band saw -- did not have the Proxxon back then. I took brown paper grocer bags, cut into strips. I then crumpled the bag strips while wearing pig-skin leather gloves, to protect my hands. I then flattened out the crumpled paper, which gave it the textured, chiseled look.

I then employed Low Temperature Hot Glue (High Temperature Glue will melt the foam…), to apply the strips to the foam pieces.

I found a texture/modeling paste formula on YouTube, to save money. I applied this paste to the tops/bottoms of the foam pieces, to mate the paper edges with the foam edges. I used a stiff, stippling brush to form a texture in the wet paste, then I let it dry.

I finished the pieces using The Dip -- Royal Walnut, as already detailed. These have an obvious chiseled appearance, and texture. They are also an incredible amount of labor to create! They are incredibly modular, easy to use, and they look fantastic sitting atop my randomly sponge painted, Harbor Freight Floor Foam Pads. Here is another close-up look at the finished pieces[, in game use.

Here is one of my favorite photo's: Link; "No flesh… Gonna' have to do this 'Old School', I guess." In D&D, Green Dragons breathe Chlorine Gas (not fire), for those wondering about the Dragon's comments… The foam mats were cut to 1/4" deep, on a Table Saw, to create the one-inch grid. They were then painted using craft paints, and a natural sponge, as an applicator. I used around four different colors, applied while wet, to allow some blending. These cavern pieces clearly show the stippling brush effect on the homemade texture paste, used on top and bottom of the pieces. Some of the first pieces received an S-pattern of Hot Glue, but I found that I was using up Hot Glue way too fast, spending way too much money on it! The homemade texture paste cost around $3 USD, total, to mix up a huge batch. And I prefer the ease of the texture paste, as well: slather it on, stipple it, let it dry, then paint, and Dip.

I hope you find this informative, if not useful. LOL! Cheers!

Sgt Slag

Thanks for that. It's helped me with some ideas for my eventual Mines of Moria scenarios.

Thanks. I am looking more for open spaces with chasms than walls. But the techniques will probably be similar.

andy