The Flesh Price (Terrain)

The 2020 Second Quarter Necromunda Terrain Maker's Terrain Competition was themed "Hive Shrine".  From the write-up:

Pray for your souls. Pray for redemption. Pray to the plague. Who do you pray to?  Let's see what cult icon, what religious institution has sprung up in your Underhive.


The idea that there are all manner of cultists, ancient xeno ruins and Emperor knows what else lurking on at the edge of Imperial civilisation - if you can call a Hive 'civilisation'?? - provides a multitude of game hooks and terrain ideas.  As such, I've been slowly but surely venturing outside of the Hive proper, exploring the Ash Wastes, oozing into the Sludge Seas and more recently traversing Forbidden Cities.

This particular build took form rather late in the piece and thankfully quickly.  Thanks to my recent home office refit, I had some slabs of packing polystyrene available and, having never used it before, wanted to see how it worked for carving (for another work-in-progress).  One of the pieces reminded me of some sort of temple pool or something, so I thought I'd try and shape it a little.  

All too quickly I discovered that hacking (at least this) polystyrene with knives, files and power tools did little more than create a huge blizzard of foam, so in a fit of rage, I smashed it with my manly paws and decided to punish it further with my favourite hobby tool: my blowtorch!

I was delighted to discover that torching polystyrene causes it to contract and harden as it melts. Additionally, found I could carve it in a fashion, shaping it, making rounder curves and even holes if I was feeling daring. And so the infamous "The Pool of Unknown Pleasures" started to take shape (thanks goes out to my mate Brendan Day for the name).

After the loving kiss of my flamer, the piece looked rather different.

I used a bit of honeycomb cardboard, sanded down on the edges
to fill the inside of the 'pool' and stuck it in using my hot glue gun.

As it was bound to happen, I ignored the advice of my fellow builders and decided to seal the freshly carved piece using my trusty automotive primer spray.  As a result of the solvents in the primer, the polystyrene started dissolving - I took some pics, but the black doesn't cooperate well with my phone camera and the detail is washed out.

Being a man of limited intelligence, I thought I just hadn't sprayed the (white) polystyrene with enough (black) primer and went over the areas again and again and again. The result was quite glorious insofar as it looked like diseased, rotting slabs of meat - perfect wargaming terrain! While the Pool was drying, I smashed up some more polystyrene pieces, intent on making more fleshy terrain features. Hot glue stuck the pieces together quite readily and I even hot glued some old bolts in the underside of some pieces to add some weight. They were all torched and more selectively sprayed with said primer as well.

Now if that doesn't look appetising...
this people is why you hang onto that tin of red paint for 10 years.

When it came to painting, I found an old sample pot of red house paint that I had bought 10 years ago (?) to paint a kid's toy box and mixed it with water and PVA in an attempt to use it as a sealer. It seemed to work. Next, homemade wash (acrylic ink, washing up liquid and water + PVA for the hell of it) was liberally applied. After everything had dried, I spent two evenings drybrushing with craft paints and some gloss varnish (cheap stuff) to get what you can see here.

I didn't quite get to finish all elements in time for the competition due date but that didn't really matter - Builders are encouraged to enter with whatever it is that they've managed, completed or otherwise.  At the time of my submission, I had some additional 12-inch-ish type boards underway, additional scatter pieces and intended to try some water-type effects.  Let's have a look at some pics of the end result...

Here is my 'official' entry - we're limited to a single image file, however, it
can be a collage if desired.  If only I could have included a video.

A simple diorama.  Notice the Eldar in the background, moving through that
hole in the wall?  I've made a number of pieces with such orifices(?)
Not only do they look good, but they will also work nicely when it comes to gaming.

This is a nice shot of the pool before I applied my water effects.
Yes.  Water effects weren't the best.  Cherish this shot.

Since then, I've done even more work on the painting of the pieces - the Pool of Unknown Pleasures has a huge amount of different tones and colours now.  This piece gives you an idea of where things are going...

Master Chef, eat your heart out!

So what's next?  I like to be able to use my creations together if possible, I'd like to try and make some blended pieces e.g., mixing my Spoils (rubbish-strewn wasteland) boards with the flesh-effect I've developed during this build. That's the great thing about this hobby: one build often leads to another.

Next weekend I'll try and set up a table proper and take some more shots with some decent light... maybe even play a solo game on it*.  I've made some progress over the last few days, doing little bits here and there, so it should make for an interesting showcase if nothing else.  Thanks for stopping by!

*I've been working on my mash-up Inquisitor-themed solo rules for what seems like forever.  It could be time to share some of the mechanics with the world at large?