Feral's 3D Lustria Dungeon [WIP]

[Necanthrope]

Looking really great Mr Feral! Can't wait to see these with a lick of paint on them.

[Shas'El Tael]

Your post reminded me to comment; I agree.. sacrificial pit!

I have actually got some old 6th edition Saurus stored up to do a Quest version of Lustria, as per the Deathblow rules. But first the old world zoo of monsters!

Great work and really impressive. Most (including myself) tend for the Hirst Arts plaster kits.

Reminds me, how are you sealing the cork so it won't suck up all your paint?

Also; I have these on file for inspiration; hopefully they're of use :




- Tael.

[Mr Feral]

Nachie, I certainly will do a Sacrificial Pit down the line after I've worked through the more basic boards first. I can see it in my mind and it looks fantastic.

Necanthrope, aye they'll get paint when I've built them all first! Could be a while yet because I don't want to rush this important stage. I'm just as eager as you to see some colour on them too. I'm thinking generally cold blue-greys with various greens and browns for moss / lichen / undergrowth and rusty ruddy browns (Dark Flesh?) for ermm.... the chain rust!

Shas'El Tael, much obliged! I have dug out some of the most recent Lizardmen plastics which I will get cracking on as soon as I've made enough progress on other things to clear the needed space!

Thanks a lot for the reference pictures, I think judging by the massive amount of various lichen pieces used I will do the same on my more Lizardmen-themed boards! I particularly like that last picture, I must find out what materials went into that fantastic undergrowth.

Regarding sealing the cork, I honestly hadn't thought of that! I was going to just white primer it, but now you've mentioned it I will have to see how that works on a spare piece. A very thin PVA/Water mixture might be needed first I imagine.

- - - - - - - - - -

I haven't done any more on the boards but however after years and several aborted attempts at getting just the right Lizardmen skin colour, I started on this;



The basis for that wondrous turquoise is Vallejo's Scurvy Green. It's the first of their paint range I've tried and I love it!

The model is not far from completion, but I would like feedback on the following things;

• Is the NMM Gold convincing enough?

• The fur edging of the feather cloak, I'm not sure what colour to go with. I basecoated it Khemri Brown but I don't think it suit the rest of the model. Suggestions?

• The cloak itself - keep it dark blue or do some colour fading? (if so into what shade?)

That's all for now, thanks again everyone for the feedback and comments. In the near future I'm going to combine this and all my other fledging threads into my (much ignored) Random Log, but I'll let people know when that will happen first!

[Shas'El Tael]

Mother nature provided the last image; but it shows you the combined effect of using differing lichen to achieve a similar result in miniature

Love the Lizardman colour.. that really is spot on how I see them too. This general blue theme GW uses tend to frustrate me. Definitely noting this down.

Critique :

The NMM is well executed, but the colouring is soft. I thought you were doing bone work rather than NMM. To be frank, GW metals with Gryphonne(?) sepia washes can have startlingly good effects. That said, this is the best reference photo I have for strong NMM style :



Fur edging is great; picked up that's what you were intending. To make it stand out, possible some dark tone streaks (few) to undershade the lighter hair streaks. Check out "Adalhein" in my Quest log; his hair uses similar principles to accentuate the lighter strands. Gives you an idea what I mean.

Love the cloak, possibly a sharp edge highlight, but regardless.. nice deep blue, goes really well with that Vallejo colour you mentioned.

Look forward to your painting update (and the PVA paint mix you mentioned being a success)

Tael

[Purplebeard]

Your project is looking pretty awesome already. This, I am sure, will be amazing when it is all finished.

[Mr Feral]

Tael, many thanks for the advice! Naturally, my photo completely screwed up the colours so I can see what you mean when you say it looks bone rather than gold! That reference picture is very helpful, thanks again. As for the Skink, I'm going to aim for a blue to green blend when I get around to finishing him off (the cloak is only basecoated atm)

Purplebeard, let's hope so!

- - - - - - - - - -

I pulled out the rest of my Zombie Pirate bits and started work on some Deck Gunners, mashing bits up from GW, Warploque Miniatures and a few Mantic limbs here and there too. The first one has mostly been assembled, and the second one is tacked together to get an idea of how it'll look. There will be three altogether when done, methinks!

Obviously it's hard to make a Zombie look convincing firing such a gun, so mine will be modelled aiming their Swivel Guns instead. There is still lots of basework and gapfilling / missing muscles to add back but overall I'm quite pleased with them so far. I might even add a few more pirate bits to add to the theme still.

[Purplebeard]

They look great even at this early stage.

[Shas'El Tael]

Their ramshackle stumbling nature is what amuses me with these decrepit pirate minions. Really looking forward to seeing them shamble toward some hapless heroes in future

[Andy_T]

Hi, this looks great! I'm doing something similar (based on an old deathblow article) and thought I'd contribute / share ideas if thats ok? I'm using 3mm Hardboard as bases and using 30mm squares. It's taking me a while though to 'rough up' the cork tiles-any tips for speeding up the process? Here's some of my pics

The painted floor tiles are my first attempt using plastic dinner mats as bases (too flimsy!) What you gonna do for doorways?

[Daniel36]

Yes yes yes!!! I want one too! Make me one!
Nahhh juz kidding. But they look really nice man. Have you started work on the walls yet?

If not, for some reason I always envisioned Lustrian dungeons to have slightly diagonal walls, like this \__/
With some vertical pillars with these scary aztec faces that shoot out arrows when you try to pass them, you know?

Maybe you can take that thought and work with it. It would certainly make them stand out even more from traditional dungeons.

PS Lustrian Zombie Pirates for the absolute win!

[Butch1973]

Hello, new around here.
I was chewing over the idea of making a 3D dungeon and put in a search and found my way here. Your board pieces have inspired me, especially the cork tiles. My plan was to use polystyrene or maybe the high density stuff sandwiched between two layers of mounting card so there's plenty of scope for carving chasms and fighting pits and wells etc, but I reckon your cork tiles are a much better top layer. I have a question, though and hoped someone might be able to help. How do you ensure that the pieces don't warp or curl up? I've tried basing scenery on cardboard, hardboard and MDF and they have all ended up warping. The only stuff that has stayed flat is some modular Necromunda boards that I based on 12mm chipboard, which pushes the cost up and makes them heavy and difficult to store. So...any tips on how to keep my dungeon sections flat?

[Mr Feral]

Purplebeard, the leftmost one has been thoroughly cleaned up, gapfilled and is nearly ready for priming! I did have to shorten the gunner's left forearm because that photo made it obvious it was too long.

Tael, yes! Ramshackled is exactly how I wanted them to look! I imagine them to of ripped the fixed Swivel Gun off a ship or other fortification and drag it around to shoot at things.

Andy_T, welcome to Warseer! You're tile is looking great so far. Might I suggest a few glazes of various browns and greens to add a bit of realism? The only tip I can give to speed things up is to do tiles in bigger batches! As for doorways, I still have the original plastic ones which I'll mount onto some 2 x 1 tiles to make them the same height as everything else!

Daniel36, there be no walls in my dungeon, I like the flexibility of being able to place doors where you like! The Aztec faces which shoot out darts / spears would make some great floor-based traps (like in one of the Crash Bandicoot games, the nostalgia!)

Butch1973, welcome! I'm using two layers of foamboard (cheap enough) and they seem to resist warping enough for me.

- - - - - - - - - -

I've been doing loads of hobby stuff recently, but barely have anything to show for it. Typical!

I can though say that the first of the Zombie Pirates are done! There'll be pictures of the six Deckhands tomorrow.

I do in the meantime have another WIP to show and some queries that need resolving.




So, a Beastman Wargor! What I haven't mentioned yet that he is one of 30 others I am going to do (10 Ungor, 10 Gor and 10 OOP Pestigors.) I'm aiming for an Albion theme,so I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on where I should put some swirling tattoos? I was thinking either some design on his biceps, or something fancy on the flat sides of his axe. What do you guys think?

Dare I even mention the other Albion-themed models I have in the pipeline? How do a Dark Emissary, Fenbeast and FW Fimir Warriors sound?

I'll be back tomorrow!

[Mr Feral]

Just like I said, finished Zombie Pirate Deckhands:



What do people think? I quite like how drab they look.

[Mr Feral]

....tumbleweeds.....

Where did everyone go?

Anyway, I made a few more of the simpler board sections to get them out of the way:



Another pair of Corridors and the Corner tiled up and ready for detailing.

Gah, some much waste cork shavings from cutting up the tiles into nice damaged ones:



Hobby Tip: Stick 'em in a spare tub and break bits off to add texture to bases!

Til next time, whenever that may be.

[azhagmorglum]

Great tip, and nice tiles btw. Keep it up !

[Shas'El Tael]

Bit hard to check out the zombies, the colours have come across a little washed out. (Having this issue with my shots too).

The new tile sections as ever, impress me with the handiwork. I can also see a use for piled up compost of rotting leaves etc in corners of the dungeon with the left over materials.

[Mr Feral]

azhagmorglum, much obliged! They are rather easy to knock out to this stage en-mass.

Tael, all my photos are like that. I've never been able to get the lighting correct!

However, the models also would appear washed out because I meant them too. I deliberately chose to use dreary greys to fully establish that these guys are long dead. I think in future models I might try mixing in more fleshy tones and experiment on getting different stages of decay and decomposition. Reminds me that I have some spare Empire Handgunners lying about, might convert them up into washed-up zombies sometime and see if I can get a more "recently-killed" look to them. Does that lot even make sense to you?

- - - - - - - - - -

Nothing new to report, except this swag I got through the post this morning!



Yes, OOP plastic Chaos Dwarves, and untouched by glue or paintbrush! These bad boys originally came out in 1994 according to the tabs. I remember when all Warhammer plastics came in these little boxes (Lizardmen especially, the nostalgia! )

The idea will be to paint them as Tzeentchian Renegades, something along the lines of this fantastic Golden Demon winning entry from years past:




NOT MY WORK SO YOU KNOW!

I just love the blending of cool blues and purples (particularly on the big hat) and the sickly purple-grey skin tones with the bold tattoos around the eyes. I'm going to knock up a quick test model to see if I can pull it off.

[S_A_T_S]

Wow. Those dwarves must have cost you a pretty penny - I've been looking at eBay prices for maybe a Blood Bowl team and any official Chaos Dwarves are really pricey. I loved those old small boxes as well, that's how I started my dwarf army. The old unit of 20 warriors I have are now titled "The Bearldings" cos they look so young and inexperienced compared to the newer models, but they are my favourite, especially because I converted the standard and drummer for them myself, even whittling a tiny drum stick out of a tooth pick and making my only hand painted banner.

I have to say, though, for Quest I would have gone with Mantic. Although they don't have the same groovy hats, you get more for your money, and they look quite individual with interesting head gear, some of which includes squids and other watery stuff that would go well with your lustrian theme. Plus as they have an expanding range, it should be easier to get hold of what you want, rather than trawling eBay.

Using the Dreadfleet mat as a backdrop for zombie pirates was also a great touch

[Shas'El Tael]

Ahhh, okay. Completely missed your artistic approach to the Zombies. You get used to full colour and full on models, that subtly can be overrun easily. It is a good idea and nice approach to do them in neutrals, grey with decay.

Great going on the Chaos Dwarves. Been meaning for ages to pick a handful up as surprise encounters and mod a few for Heroquest as additional monsters.

And 1994? Please kid, I have a hero who pre-dates that by another ten years! Just teasing! This is what I love about Warhammer Quest, you can throw in all sorts of models to play a fairly robust set of dungeon bash rules. Right now I have two 'sets', my 1990's styled WQst plastics and bold heroes.. and then the Kev Adam's era orcs/goblins with 1980's adventurers (the fighter and Elf I previewed a day ago for example).

It's like looking at original Trek, then Next Gen haha.

To your next update!

[Mr Feral]

S_A_T_S, yeah they were quite expensive (think a little bit more than resin Infernal Guard and you get the idea!) but I think when done they'll be worth it. I only wanted these ones to do as a handful of Tzeentchian Renegades to go with the rest of my ever-growing Tzeentch stockpile (Horrors, Flamers, Beastmen, that awesome plastic Sorcerer etc.). If I did want to do a full-blown "normal" Hashut-worshipping faction, I'll go with the newish Forge World range because I love them! I understand what you are saying about Mantic, but to be blunt they may be much cheaper but they look it too in my opinion.

As for the Dreadfleet sheet, I use it for all my finished models but the nautical similarity has not be missed.

Tael, thank you. My style tends to be as muted as I can get it, I prefer my models to be dark and grungy over the high fantasy primary colour overload of the 90's. However as I've mentioned before I'm going to try and mix in more normal flesh tones here and there for the variety.

Fair enough on the nostalgia! I mention 1994 because I came in the hobby a couple of years after that, so the whole "little boxes" thing brought out the memories of childhood hobby joys! (I'm still a young-ish 'un) I remember getting a brand new half-price copy of Warhammer Quest the first time I wandered into my local GW. Those were the days!

- - - - - - - - - -

I threw some colours at one of the assembled Chaos Dwarves to see if I could get the effect I wanted:



Still lots to do, like bringing back the Hormagaunt Purple highlights on the robes and the blending at the bottom of the big hat, lots of NMM and other jazz.

What I want to know is does this feel it has enough of the light Tzeentchian theme I was aiming for?

- - - - - - - - - -

I also built another pair of Corridors (no picture because you know what they look like by now ) and what was supposed to be a Well of Doom:



As cool as that gapping sinkhole is, it's just too big! I am seriously considering cutting down the middle, adding another row of tiles (to make it 5x4 instead of 4x4) and turning into the Lava Vent instead.

What do you fine readers think?
Feral