"Ice/Rock Caves, Caverns and Shelters?" Topic

I am sure they would be great to build for Sci-Fi, prehistorics and fantasy.

I am looking for links to good clear images of such as:
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I want to build a corner piece with a nice entrance and plenty of stalactites and stalagmites for effect.

Any suggestions from among you experts in Sci-Fi and Fantasy terrain?

CC

. . . Any tutorials out there?

Thanks.

CC

Raid your local craft or fabric store. they might have left over christmas icycles on sale, that you can use. In a pinch you might wind up buying some of the "Icycle" string lights and cutting the wire off of them.

A simple paint job on top will probably get the desired effect, or they might even be good enough the way they are

How about these?

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I'm not sure how much it'll help you, but here's a technique I came up with several years ago. It gave fairly realistic results, (and has the advantage of being cheap) though I always used it for boulders, freestanding spires etc.; you're on your own for adapting it to larger structures. At one point I tried to adapt these instructions to making ice spires and glaciers, but never came up with a painting technique I was happy with.

Step One: Get some green styrofoam. Not the soft stuff that they sell in cubes. This is hard, funky-looking stuff that usually comes by the sheet. Use a hot-wire cutter to get your basic shape. Don't worry too much about getting things perfect and smooth, just as long as it's the ballpark of what you want. One warning: make it at least slightly bigger than what you want your final product to be.

Step Two: You want to do this part in a well-ventilated area. I mean it. If you melt your forebrain it's not my fault. Get yourself a candle. All that you'll be doing during this part is holding your proto-rock above the candle's flame; the rising heat will cause the foam to shrink and deform, which helps give it a more natural shape and texture. I always varied the height, as well as how long I'd expose any one area – just eyeball it, and quit when it looks right.

Step Three: Time to paint. Some people like to seal the foam with a PVA/water mix before base coating. I preferred not to. I always liked the effect I got with a black base, and working my way up from there. However, you can do without a traditional base coat. I did a prototype "alien" piece with an unprimed metallic blue base, with silver brushed onto the raised areas for a web/honeycomb effect. Turned out rather nice.

That's it. It's cheap, easy and gives a nice result. If your google-fu is strong, you may be able to find the original article on the web – which may or may not help you more than this does.

I've been sitting here trying to sift through memories that are 6+ years old, and I have to confess I think the above painting information may be a bit off.

If you're trying for a natural look, then you very likely do need a base coast of paint. A thick one, or two. There's not a lot of detail to obscure, so you don't need to worry about using super-thin layers of paint, and by laying down thick layers early on, you'll fill in the last of the pores – which'll help give a smoother, more natural surface.

If you want something like my alien arch, though, you can do without thicker layers of paint.

Wonderful suggestions! Any good pictures of finished projects?

CC

Be very very very careful of melted styrofoam. The fumes are not just bad, they are deadly! Even using a hot wire cutter is only to be done under optimal ventilation. I would rather that you made new styro. The stuff that comes in cans for spot insulation makes very nice drippy, droopy or melty cave-type forms. Leave the leathal stuff alone. I got stories and nightmares I could tell ya!

"The stuff that comes in cans for spot insulation makes very nice drippy, droopy or melty cave-type forms."

An easy way to make a "mold" would be to poke a pointy stick into some damp sand and fill the hole with it.

What wisdom! I bow in the presence of greatness.

CC

I am also getting a bunch of these:

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CC
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Parrafin wax used in histology when melted and hardened looks a lot like stalagmites and stalagtites. It can be shaped to create snow drifts or dribbled over objects to represent ice.

This is nice!!!

TMP link

CC

Here is a photo of my attempt to make a prehistoric hut out of Sculpey:

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I guess it could also be used for barbarians of other genres.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks.

CC

Great idea here from SciFi Gamer:

TMP link

CC

Cacique, "Terrain from Silo8" sent me this link to the old Arkansas Cave club, now trashed

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What about those kid's toys that used fine sand-like stuff that was colored? You built it up using a liquid water mix and it made real nice stalagmites. You might then be able to deal the outside surface using a thick laquer spray and use them as-is. Or else, after coating them rinse the inside out and reclaim the raw material for reuse. Is this what you are after?

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These are a few designs I've played with.

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Btw, that hut was great! ("Uggh, children go outside. You, woman, get inside hut and bring bearskin…")

Here is a quick way to lay down some flat-bottomed "wall design" decorative man-made rocks for Line-of-Sight. They could be used as a possible prehistoric layout accessory.

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Here are some sandstone "weather-worn" rocks such as in the SW U.S. I included them in a yet-to-be published article on making planet colony structures. One of my favorite ideas is the design of myalien "Exo-trees". The rocks are in the background behind the human coloy and trees (ignore the Arachnid invasion as every home has its pests to deal with .

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Thanks for the kind words on the hut. It was truly my very first attempt at sculpting anything.

I plan to make my next one with GreenStuff instead. The result should be even more detailed.

CC

Yes Fragon Gunner, I've been on a stack of melted beeswax 20 feet tall, and it does! (My job as in house counsel for one of the larger wax companies allows me to visit the factories abroad and play with the molds, wax etc. ) Some Areas of the factories are covered (floor, walls) with cavelike wax (I slip on the petroleum residue and fall down the Damn stairs EVERY time I go!)

This ebay seller seems to make a few interesting stalagmite pieces:

auction

CC

The Heroscape glacier pieces also look pretty good:

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CC

Why has no one brought up the quality 3D resin terrain that Dwarven Forge markets called Master Maze?
TMP link
Granted, Jeff, the guy that does the business end of the company can be difficult to deal with, especially in his guise as the moderator of the Dwarven Forge forums (do not give too honest feedback on people's comments -you will find yourself in trouble for your honesty), but Stefan, the guy that creates and manages the art/creativity end of the company is a fabulous guy.
Dwarven Forge markets far more than just the dungeon terrain they have been doing for the last ten years.
They have Cavern, Sci-Fi, Medieval and Gothic Master Maze products currently plus more stuff in the pipeline.
Personally, I like and own much of their Cavern and Sci-Fi product along with a good bit of Dungeon I picked up before the others came out.
Their Cavern Master Maze system can please nearly all of the most discerning terrain buyers out there.
Take a look:
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I think all will enjoy despite the price.
This terrain is agile, mobile and hostile to any of the cavern paper terrain out there and beats HANDS DOWN the Hirst Arts stuff as far as durability and weight even if you use Woodland Scenics' Lightweight Hydrocal to cast up the Hirst stuff.
You can drop this Master Maze stuff, and I have only had one piece even chip; drop Hirst Arts castings and y'all already know "the rest of the story."

Custom terrain has its place in gaming, but if you are looking for high quality, easily taken to games, easy to maintain, pre-painted, resin terrain that will never embarass you, invest in Dwarven Forge's Master Maze.
You will never regret it!

You might want to check out hirstarts.com for some molds that can be used to create caverns and other terrain types.

Already have, used friends', saw the many disasters during gaming sessions, store demonstrations and game cons and there is no way on this planet, I would buy into Hirst myself.
Too much investment as far as time, materials, paint skill and personal grief to simply have it broken when someone runs into the table, the carry case, the cart, etc.
Hirst Arts is good for one thing in my experience – displays that never move and are never played on.
The product from their molds is always a compromise and never a completely successful one at that.
If you get durable enough materials, then either the mold decays at a vastly accelerated rate (using resin in them) or the casting is so heavy (gypsum hydrostone plasters) that portability becomes questionable.
If you go light weight and portable (WS's Lightweight Hydrocal), there is absolutely no durability.

If you want to have control over the paint job on your terrain, then I would recommend Armorcast.
If you want pre-painted and a bit mre modeular, Dwarven Forge is the way to go.
Both are well sculpted, good strength, high portability resin terrain products.
Most anything you can accomplish with Hirst Arts, you can accomplish with Armorcast, Dwarven Forge or both with a lot less fear of loosing one's investment because of a careless gamer or an accident.

"If you go light weight and portable (WS's Lightweight Hydrocal), there is absolutely no durability."

Would varnish of some sort make the lightweight hydrocal more durable?

CC

Thread about the use of varnish to reinforce items made of plaster and hydrocal materials:

TMP link

CC

When moving from -1000 to -500, yes, there is an improvement, but you are still in fragility territory.

Seriously though, if you are going to put in the work and the time casting and painting, do you not want a product that can take more than just a couple of bumps?
Hirst Arts stuff can look great, but nothing you can do can grant both mold durability and product durability.
You are going to lose one way or another or in both directions.

What I do is use my Dwarven Forge cavern sets, and use some cheap " spray on snow " from Christmas.

The trick is to buy the really cheap 'snow' thats in spray on cans. I have found that its the least sticky, so it comes off in a warm water rinse. Always test it out on a small peice first! The expensive type of 'snow' sticks on there forever, and its a real biatch to get off..

I use this trick all the time, and it never hurts the Dwarven Forge pieces, and looks great.

SciFi Gamer, one of the pics you linked to has some plateau pieces that look plastic (see here link Where are those from?

-B6

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-B6