The Sump Empress (Terrain) Part 2

When tackling big projects, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer size of the undertaking.  I find it useful to concentrate on smaller, individual elements - maybe trialling a particular technique or attempting to create a template for later use.   Getting some runs on the board does a lot for one's self-confidence and sometimes you need a few creative boosts to find your stride.  Let's have a look at where things got to this weekend...

With the ship's bow pretty much sorted (it just requires a skin), I turned my attention to the hull.  My intention is to employ my ever-versatile stackable boxes.  Unfortunately, my inventory is increasingly diminishing, but you know what: I got them to use, not sit in box collecting dust.  In any event, I've got plenty that I can repurpose for this project, so there's no problem on that account. 

Here's a stacked box next to the bow.

The boxes, once assembled, are 5.5-inches square and stand 2.1-inches tall (14cm x 5.5cm).  Because they interlock together, when they're stacked, they're very stable and stand a fraction under 4-inches tall.  That height and width make for one a large boat - I can lengthen it in 5.5-inch increments and stack a wheelhouse etc at will - more of that later.

Firstly, those boxes aren't what you'd call streamlined - they look great as dystopian architecture (watch out Melbourne) but would suck in the ocean.  I saved a bit of an Ikea desk that I had assembled earlier this year and cut two strips, enough to cover at least four boxes each.

It's a bit boring at the moment, but I have plans!

With a few cuts, they're pretty much ready to go.
This is a bit of a test run - I'll be a lot more careful with the final cuts etc.

The boxes are, well, boxes i.e. they have four-sides.  Now one can get around that in games, either pretend that the walls aren't there or add some (often fake) doors.  But.  It sux. So I got my saw and multitool fired up and hacked out two sides of each two-box stack.  The result was a U shaped profile, with a ~3-inch wide and 2-inch high gap.

No measurements or nothing, I just went for it.  The pic on the left give you
the idea of the result - a nice gap running down the middle of the ship.
PS those bannister things were from another project - I may still use them on this one!

You can see last weekend's boat in the foreground - it looks tiny!

With that aspect of the build settled, my mind turned to how I could make the interior interesting without being a pain to construct nor too fiddly when it comes to gaming.  The 4-inch clear interior was a good size - that can readily accommodate three 28mm minis on my usual 1-inch (25mm) bases. With that in mind, I decided to line the upper gantries, insert walls below the gantries, and try a removable deck on the bottom, big enough to hide the bulkheads.  Yes, experimentation time!

Using some cardboard and plasterboard joining tape, it was a simple matter of making the upper gantries.
I used the same tape to line the middle of the lower deck as well - why not?
PS the image on there was some printed papercraft I built about 2-years ago - awesome stuff. 

More cardboard with some wires threaded through made for a deck.
It's a bit boring right now, but I can always add some further texture later.

I just pulled bits out of my "Little Things" box and stuck them onto cardboard.
As they're going to be largely hidden by the upper gantries, I didn't go to too much trouble.

I sprayed everything matt black using a dirt cheap auto spray I got for $2.50 a can!  Who cares that I can only get 3/4 of the spray out at that price?  Then I hit it with a dry brush using my cheap-arse craft paint (I call it white water) and assembled it for a look-see.

I am a big fan of monochrome scenery, but I wanted to try something a little more...

Finally, I mixed up some very watery PVA, sepia acrylic & sand then painted the bits with a little more strategic thought than I'd normally employ at this point.  All assembled, it's starting to make sense!

Oh yeah, I made some ladders out of wire that can be easily pushed into the
gantry's cardboard - making for easy removal etc.

Whilst all the above was happening, I also tried my hand at two different styles of the outside hull.  

The left side was coated with a few layers of plastic hardware tape - it's cheap and cheerful and has a subtle pattern in it.  Whilst I was applying the tape plastic shaving from my desk got stuck to it - well, in for a penny, in for a pound they say.  It saved me PVA-ing it, instead just sprayed black and dry brushed with my white water.  On the right side, I sprayed black, then painted with the same PVA + Ink + Sand mixture mentioned above - keeping it a little thicker at the bottom of the hull.   Presently I'm unsure whether I'll go with either approach just yet... I think this calls from some more experiments next time around.

All up, I am quite happy with that little escapade.  Four or five similarly kitted hull sections would make for an inviting game piece indeed and if I was under pressure, I could likely pump them out in a day.  I've got some more ideas for interchangeable bits for both the bottom-deck and gantry-level, however, I ran out of time to do any more than do some measurements today.  AND I've got to work out what to do about the bridge/wheelhouse - that may call from some research.