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Tunnel Terrain - WIP; Fighting in the dark....
Topic Started: May 4 2010, 09:59 AM (5,771 Views)
mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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I have been thinking for some time that it would be cool to have some tunnel terrain and underground labs and what not. They seem to be everywhere in the post apoc world.

In the computer game Stalker you spend a lot of time inside underground tunnels, inside the reactor complex (lots of tunnels here) and a three lab complexes.

In the Fallout series there are train tunnels and bunkers. In Hellgate London there are the old sewers and train tunnels of a PA london. In Metro 2033 its something similar (in both these games the survivors live in the old train tunnels.

There are bunkers in the Deathlands and outlanders series of novel and countless others.

I dare say I could go on for a long time listing the books, games and novels that feature tunnels and underground places. I have been digging through the various abandoned underground places in the 28 days later forums for further inspiration.

So I am looking at 5 sheets of A3 size foamboard/core thinking about chopping them up. The tunnels will be 4x3" or 8x3" with a 2" high wall to make it look tunnelly. There will be some right angle tunnels, T sections and a cross section. I am thinking of some rooms. These will be kept detail free as I will add barricades, lockers, barrels, crates, strange machines and other wotnot as I see fit.

Each room will have doors placed in the walls and some sort of way of blocking them off if they are not in use during the game. One or two of the longer tunnels will have fittings to block them off or add a airlock. As Stalker and Metro 2033 are the big influences for these models I am going for lots of dirt and rubble. I plan add odds and sods from the bits box for minimal detail and to paint them in textured paint.

There will be at least 1 tunnel section and room that will correspond to Sterlok's lair in the Argoprom underground (big vent shaft in the wall). I am thinking of at least one dead end tunnel section too and of a large blocked tunnel at both ends like one of the bandit camps in Metro 2033. :D

*Graps scapel* Wish me luck - I am going in!


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HVNSNTSOLDIER
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Coldheart
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Very cool Matt! Im exited for this, please show pics ASAP. What about:
-Tunnel with exposed, dorment nuke
-Bottomless Pit
-Small exposed cave complex broken off from a crumbled wall
-Crystaline growths
-Survivor's hidden cove/home
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Ironblood
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Cannie!
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I'm interested to see how this project turns out as well. Will be watching this space with interest!
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consectari
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Rat king
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Can't wait to see this. I've always wanted to do some tunnel terrain, but I know it would grow beyond my ability to store it.
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mgentile7
Vault Dweller
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A long time back GW rans some articles about making tunnels from rain gutter type materials. I forget the exact composition but it might be worth re-visiting.
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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Thanks for the encouragement. I have a feel that once I get this rolling it wont stop. :D Great ideas HVNSTSOLIDER. I will see if I can work them in at a later date. With the problems Aryanrieche are having the tunnels under their lost bunker city, the lost SOS bunkers and redoubts (military & scientific bunkers) and the Stalker liking labs I guess it was time to make some. :D

Firstly I am going to be working on some generic concrete tunnels similar to service or access tunnels with some larger tunnel/rooms added. One thing I am missing is some 45 degree bends. For later in the project I am thinking about some 6" wide tunnels more suited to Metro lines and Lab rooms (I have a few evil scientist and Mad Doctor games planned). Then it will be some more oddball rooms although the bomb one will be a tile I will fit to a room. I plan something similar with the odd ball machinery and other terrain.

The survivors den will have poly walls to make it look like it was dug out. I may even make some mutant nests and lairs.

The doors, bulkheads and wall covers (for the unused door holes) will be made from poster board. Although the tunnels are concrete I may do some experimenting with floor surfaces such as slab, tiles and grates.

How about this for starters....

Posted Image
All the bases cut up for the various tunnel sections and rooms. The big pile of long pieces at the top are to be the walls for the rooms.

Here is one that I made earlier.....

Posted Image
This is going to be a collapsed tunnel hence the slope at one end -which will be filled with rubble.

This was part of the fuselage of a foamboard drop ship I started about 6 years ago and got bored. I was going to lash it out, the rest of the ship getting recycled when I needed scrap foamboard. :D Lucky it was about the right size. I have chopped a couple of door ways into it.

Its a good start me thinks. Good job I have a A2 sheet of foam bard stashed in my store room.




Edited by mattblackgod, May 5 2010, 08:08 AM.
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Ironblood
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Cannie!
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Thats a big start. Good idea with the sloped caved in recycled piece! Seeing this is getting me motivated to try something similar.
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tinker
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CEO of "Rat-on-a-Stick" Industries
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I know that extruded Pink or Blue foam may be tough for you to get your hands on but it is excellent material. BT's friend Grégory Privat has used it on his Incursion Boards @ http://gloarmy.blogspot.com/search/label/INCURSION

I like the modularity idea for variety and for storage.
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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Thanks for the link Tinker. I did think of that. I was going to do a whole set like like Denataus's. But I figure I get more flexibility this way and I can set up a game on a small table. Plus I had tons of foamboard laying about. :D Bum - I just remember I was going to do a folding vertical set up like that one on Terragensis. Bah!

I hope to get some assembly done soon. I may experiment with the recycled bit about door fittings/covers this weekend.
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tinker
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Yeah, I see your point about table space. If terrain or a structure is a show piece I tend to forget about the practicality of it or it's playability! Will you be basing in formcore, or will you use MDF?

Keep us up on your progress.
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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Its all going to be foamboard.

I have made several tunnels up now, the Sterlok's stash room/random room and added some details to the collapsed tunnel. It took me longer to trim and fit the tunnel walls to the bases than it did to cut the foam board in the first place. :D

I need to cut more wall sections so I can get the larger rooms and tunnel pieces constructed. Good job I have that spare foam board. :D Pictures of the progress so far to follow (when my cats stop thinking they can climb into them or use them to ambush each other!).

I am using bits of foam board in a couple of tunnels so I can slide door pieces or wall blanks into. It doesnt look great but I hope the textured paint and other detailing (I am thinking of "ribbing" the walls in some tunnel sections) will distract from that. I did discover some plastic I beam that has a 5mm gap in-between the I sections. This makes an ideal board holder for the doors/wall blanks and looks industrial enough to be found in a man made tunnel complex. :D
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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Picture time....

Posted Image
A layout of all the bits I have constructed so far. I think I have got some good versatility out of the design as I can make several different layouts.

Some of the tunnel bases got cut at angles due to the numpty with the knife - doh! The result is some tunnels with walls sloping in odd directions. But then its Post Apoc so I can live with it.

Posted Image
The Stalker Stash room. The door opens although in Stalker access is through the vent in the wall. At least I can use it for other things. It is the only room in this set with a dedicated door - although that might change once I get to the room sections.

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A picture of the access vent. I am thinking of adding some grills to the walls and floor.

Posted Image
A little more detail of this room.

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This is the vent that leads to the Stalker Room. It is made from a old mini base and some aluminium mesh used for repairing car panels. I am quite pleased with this. It might also make a good place for nasties to drop into the tunnel on your adventurers.

Posted Image
This is the fixing for the wall/door/airlock to shut this tunnel. I think that this might be a good game objective. Shut the airlock before the mutants get in.

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Detail of the collapsed tunnel. The rubble is made from colouring plaster with paint letting it go hard and then smashing it up. Very therapeutic and effective.

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More detail of the tunnel

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This is the detail of the door/wall fixing.

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These are the rooms still to make. As you can see the pile of 2" wall has dropped down to two! I need more.

Looking at the tunnels I think I may need some bridging pieces to cover the odd short gap in the layouts. Strips of plastic card or cardboard can be used to make them.

I also need to think about all the extra door and wall blanks too. That will be done once I figure out how many of each type I need.

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Dentatus
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Coldheart
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Nice idea. Can't wait to see it finished project. Regarding "ribbing" or girders, I've noticed these huge bags of crappy, single blade disposable razors at the Drug Store on sale for cheap. The handles are straight, textured plastic, and since you can't really use them for shaving... might be worth picking up a bag and clipping off the heads for support beams.

Dunno, just a thought. Good Luck.
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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Thats an idea. Cheers. I have also been stealing plastic spoons and forks from everwhere. :D
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tinker
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I dittoed the fork and spoon theft idea too :lol:

I like the beginnings of this project, thanks for sharing and inspiring.
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Ironblood
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Cannie!
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I really like the cave in section! A LOT. I can't wait to see some pieces with paint on them.
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mattblackgod
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Big boss warlord dude!
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Ta - I am going to have to seal the edges of the board. The textured paint should do this. Then its going to be a couple of coats of spray paint.

I may add some more detail to the tunnels before I do that. I need to go to the monster bits box of doom (read crap I have horded for the last six or seven years) and dig out some tasty bits.
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tinker
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I love bits boxes :) That collapsed tunnel with colored plaster is now nabbed, that is really effective and attractive.

Thought's about how to do some posters and signage for interiors are floating about in my head, I'll let ya know how it works out.
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Mal
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Road Warrior
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This is actually a really good idea, one I may just have to steal, after all foam core is cheap and easily obtainable pretty much anywhere!

May I make a suggestion on the joins however Danny.

You may want to consider 'sleaving' the joins to make them appear more solid (basically have a small piece of card/plasticard/foamcore/etc overlapping half the joints so when they are put together one joint fits inside the sleeve of the other with the walls lining up.

If you want i'll throw together a quick pic to show you what I mean... not sure if you'll understand my description, which would not be suprising, im rubbish at describing stuff! :P
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Schrodinger's Cat
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Kitty Kat
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Looking Good! I do think "sleaving" as Mal puts it, would neaten the edges slightly. Need to start my own.
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