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Post by wildagreenbough on Jun 28, 2014 19:05:42 GMT -9
 You know the kind of thing, - very popular addition to various fantasy worlds, - but how would you suggest I make one as a printed paper terrain piece? I'm not talking about a particularly large island by the way, - one big enough to put a medium sized tower on or perhaps a small copse of trees with a waterfall spilling down the side of the island, or a not too large ruin. I did consider taking something like Fat Dragon's Mountains and Cliffs set and modifying some of the pieces considerably to create the base of the island. Light and strong is the design criteria so while I could do a major crafting exercise to make a 3D island using lots of corrugated cardboard and hot glue or start carving up styrofoam I don't particularly want to. Storage isn't a problem as this is my house, my daughter is always deeply burrowed into her software development work and doesn't mind what I do, so I can store stuff where I please. I have a good sized table that I built a Lego town on, only while I wasn't so well my cat 'Devastator the Terrible' (not really her name) went and busted it all. If I was to clear away the ruins I'd have a great place to start laying out a fantasy landscape (While patiently waiting for the Elven Terrain kickstarter to bear fruit). Any suggestions, methods and ideas on building a floating island or two would be gratefully received  |
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Post by cowboyleland on Jun 28, 2014 21:13:15 GMT -9
If the waterfall you mention could be made from something strong ( a cluster of steel wire?) then it could provide the support for, I would suggest, some paper hills or rock formations turned upside down with paper model castle ( or whatever ) built on top. You might need a layer of foamcore in between the two models.
Just my 2 cents
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Post by wildagreenbough on Jun 28, 2014 21:51:01 GMT -9
If the waterfall you mention could be made from something strong ( a cluster of steel wire?) then it could provide the support for, I would suggest, some paper hills or rock formations turned upside down with paper model castle ( or whatever ) built on top. You might need a layer of foamcore in between the two models. Just my 2 cents That's a really good idea cowboyleland  What I was basically planning is to have perhaps three islands altogether at slightly different levels so the stream on the highest one could pour down onto the next lower one and then onto the next and then the water would pour down to ground level. The waterfalls would indeed be a great way to hide the supporting structure. These islands would be Sky Elf territory which should come as no surprise and the tower and any other buildings will use Lord Zsezse's Moon texture which again should be no surprise. For practical reasons the islands won't be 'floating' all that high off the ground and there will be a narrow suspension bridge to enable non-flight capable visitors with good nerves to climb up to the level of the lowest island. In the plan I'm constructing in my head I'll make it possible for the islands to be removed as a complete module from the table so that other scenarios with different terrain features can be played should I want to. |
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Post by wyvern on Jun 29, 2014 4:23:24 GMT -9
Given you're already going with the Lord ZseZse Elf towers, the Lord ZseZse Ancient Worlds - Hills set might be a useful group to use for the inverted rocky bases, particularly as they conveniently come as a group of three different models. The set also comes with rope and plank bridges which might be adaptable for your suspension bridge too. Supportable basing could be made from transparent plastic, maybe inverted clear plastic drinking cups or pots of varying heights (this will obviously depend on the size of the models, the shape of the base crags, and what stability the group needs). The truncated-cone shape should work well for stability in all circumstances, and that could be an alternative way to go using clear plasticard sheet, perhaps, if a larger support proves necessary. Disguising the basing mechanism using clouds/mist/spray of some kind, very much on the lines of your original illustration, will likely be helpful. I made a scratchbuilt paper castle in the air a long while back, and used a paper truncated cone covered in multicoloured cotton wool for the base, for example. Following from Cowboyleland's suggestion of steel wire, any shiny metal wire could be easily disguised once embedded in a clear waterfall (resin, perhaps, though I know not all of the model water resin products dry solidly). Corrugated water-effect plastic card (from model railway stockists, for instance) could be an alternative here, as again with care, any shiny metal support structure should blend in with a bit of effort. Or you could use the plastic card as a base/former, and add streaks of resin model water to give more interesting effects. Going with the Sky-Moon theme, you might also consider adding some small sparkly "gems" to the waterfalls (crystal, glass or plastic; craft stores stock various kinds), as "stars-in-the-water", and for a degree of extra distraction from the engineering works holding it all up. And we just reached the 10K mark to let slip the horns of summoning on the Lord ZseZse KS, so now less than 2K to the minis! |
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Post by gilius on Jun 29, 2014 10:56:25 GMT -9
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Post by wildagreenbough on Jun 29, 2014 14:04:22 GMT -9
Given you're already going with the Lord ZseZse Elf towers, the Lord ZseZse Ancient Worlds - Hills set might be a useful group to use for the inverted rocky bases, particularly as they conveniently come as a group of three different models. The set also comes with rope and plank bridges which might be adaptable for your suspension bridge too.Supportable basing could be made from transparent plastic, maybe inverted clear plastic drinking cups or pots of varying heights (this will obviously depend on the size of the models, the shape of the base crags, and what stability the group needs). The truncated-cone shape should work well for stability in all circumstances, and that could be an alternative way to go using clear plasticard sheet, perhaps, if a larger support proves necessary. Disguising the basing mechanism using clouds/mist/spray of some kind, very much on the lines of your original illustration, will likely be helpful. I made a scratchbuilt paper castle in the air a long while back, and used a paper truncated cone covered in multicoloured cotton wool for the base, for example. Following from Cowboyleland's suggestion of steel wire, any shiny metal wire could be easily disguised once embedded in a clear waterfall (resin, perhaps, though I know not all of the model water resin products dry solidly). Corrugated water-effect plastic card (from model railway stockists, for instance) could be an alternative here, as again with care, any shiny metal support structure should blend in with a bit of effort. Or you could use the plastic card as a base/former, and add streaks of resin model water to give more interesting effects. Going with the Sky-Moon theme, you might also consider adding some small sparkly "gems" to the waterfalls (crystal, glass or plastic; craft stores stock various kinds), as "stars-in-the-water", and for a degree of extra distraction from the engineering works holding it all up. And we just reached the 10K mark to let slip the horns of summoning on the Lord ZseZse KS, so now less than 2K to the minis! Thank you for suggesting the Ancient Worlds Hill Set, I'd forgotten about that one I think that those hills could be made to work for what I want and the bridges are a real bonus. I like your clouds/mist/spray idea as a means of disguising supports and adding 'sparkle' in some form to the waterfalls would be worth exploring too. I have some hot glue sticks I purchased a while ago that have glitter in the glue sticks. When I saw them I thought that they would be useful for something and perhaps enchanted waterfalls just might be it gilius, those cake stands look like they would be awfully useful for all manner of floating and flying projects. I don't think I'm going to use them on this project though as I'd like all forms of support to be hidden. 3 hours ago |
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Post by greypilgrim on Jul 3, 2017 6:40:56 GMT -9
OK, am admitted necro-add to this...
I like the idea of the cakestand or other thingys for use a support.
WWG also has a couple of sets of terrain: Hinterlands groups for darker rock maybe with some vegetation clinging to it, and the western sets for more of a sandstone flavor.
Use some cottonballs or cotton gauzing - stretched out to make it fluffy - for cloud wisps, which can also be used to hide the bottom tips of the cakestand legs.
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Post by oldschooldm on Jul 3, 2017 9:37:27 GMT -9
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Post by greypilgrim on Jul 3, 2017 12:13:16 GMT -9
Your clouds effects looked great! Well done.
What kind of clear bowl did you use for the observatory?
You must have really dug into your old photos - or had them organized to the max - to be able to bring those out to share this quickly. Thanks!
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Post by oldschooldm on Jul 3, 2017 15:29:24 GMT -9
Your clouds effects looked great! Well done. What kind of clear bowl did you use for the observatory? You must have really dug into your old photos - or had them organized to the max - to be able to bring those out to share this quickly. Thanks! Good spot on the bowl. It's a Good Grips salad spinner. If you follow the links, you'll see that I organize my play photos into blog/journal entries. |
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What I was basically planning is to have perhaps three islands altogether at slightly different levels so the stream on the highest one could pour down onto the next lower one and then onto the next and then the water would pour down to ground level. The waterfalls would indeed be a great way to hide the supporting structure. These islands would be Sky Elf territory which should come as no surprise and the tower and any other buildings will use Lord Zsezse's Moon texture which again should be no surprise. For practical reasons the islands won't be 'floating' all that high off the ground and there will be a narrow suspension bridge to enable non-flight capable visitors with good nerves to climb up to the level of the lowest island.
