The Campurian Drop (Terrain)

Palatine. Trazior. Acropolis. Temenos. Necromunda's Hives are renowned throughout the Imperium of Man. The likes of Quinspirus Cluster are bustling epicentres of faith, commerce and martial might, while others, such as Hive Secundus are akin to huge leprous sores, threatening the Imperial rule by their very existence.

Like it?  There are more pics way below...

The Skull is the name given to the largest of a cluster of three remote, derelict hives at one time captured by Ork raiders.  The subsequent 'liberation' all but demolished the hives, piecing them with huge, gaping holes.  From a distance, the hive resembles a titanic humanoid skull, lying within the drifts of choking ash wastes. Few willing talk of, let alone venture to The Skull, for who knows what dreadful horrors are secreted amongst the rubble of cities that had sheltered and then become the tomb for untold billions of Imperial citizens and xeno monsters alike.

Rumours abound of huge caches of Neconumda's infamous Spook to be found by those who dare fathom The Skull's tunnels and heat sinks. The Campurian Drop is one such fabled location.  Legend has it that The Drop was an enormous service shaft boring kilometres through the planet's crust.  During the Hive's siege, millions of loyal citizens reputedly attempted to flee the Xeno invaders only to be thwarted when the shaft was sealed during the loyalists' bombardments. One can only imagine what transpired within those depths but despite the undeniable risks involved, the Skull's Campurian Drop continues to lure treasure hunters, criminals, and zealots alike.

Discovering and Developing the Technique

During the course of 2020, I have been exploring a wonderful material: honeycomb cardboard.  Commonly used for packing, it's almost synonymous with Ikea furniture. Whilst cleaning up my shed early during March 2020, I stumbled upon a piece of honeycomb cardboard and, on an impulse, created my very first piece of honeycomb cardboard terrain that was oozing - or should I say dripping? - with character.

My very first piece of cardboard madness. 
I especially liked the middle section, which was very organic looking.

A call out to the local community saw me accumulate a decent collection of honeycomb cardboard for my next round of experiments.  What followed were two wall collections: one using layers of honeycomb cardboard, resulting in quite large, thick pieces and the other slightly less imposing pieces, incorporating additional gubbins to add some further character.

I employed a variety of wires and the like, seeing how
readily I could provide the impression of pipes.  Interestingly,
fabric wrapped wires like on some headphone cords are great.

After creating more than a dozen pieces solely for the joy of it, I wanted to try something different again.  Being an avid Space Hulk player and having recently acquired a modern collection of terminator space marines on larger (32mm?) bases, I tried my hand at a 'Space Hive'.   PS I may well come back to this...

Using an orbital sander on the cardboard allowed me to partially
remove the top layer of the card - making for a lovely alien pattern.

The concept showed promise but I simply didn't have the fortitude to 

build a complete Space Hulk map!

Another game that I've enjoyed is Lost Patrol, which is played on a board created out of hexagonal pieces.  Using the sanding technique I had trialled during my Space Hive experiment, I built some large hexes with surfaces much like you see above, before getting distracted by my polystyrene 'flesh' builds, both scatter, game boards and Lost Patrol style 'lava' giant hexes.  I just loved the effect.  Just vile!

 

Sorry. Once I got that little distraction out of the way and Having a decent handle of the technique, I set myself a challenge: building an ornamental piece to add some interest to my otherwise nondescript Ikea home office and hobby station.  I had it in my mind that I'd create it with honeycomb cardboard with a little joining paste - my supplies were running low thanks to Covid-19 related dramas - and attempt some lighting using a Christmas Tree LED kit I had acquired. Soon my hobby mates became sick to death of this latest work in progress aka "The Tower of Doom".

You can get a sense of the scale - down the bottom is a 
Terminator and there are 6 28mm Eldar Scouts 
hidden over the wall.

The one thing that I did well was creating a perfect wooden 'frame' using some wood sourced from Viv at the Knights of Dice no less!  Standing 25-inches tall, it was V-shaped, with each of its two sides about 6.5-inches wide. I had envisaged it slotting it into my desk, next to my monitor, providing an interesting feature in which to display my minis and admire as I smoked my pipe and read the Times.

If you've ever done any woodwork, you'll understand
the joy associated with creating a box with perfect dimensions.

Next, I added the cardboard.  For this piece, I used all the offcuts from my previous builds. I commenced by kind of stacking them all in, then came back and stuck them in. I think I used my hot glue gun.

This is how I started sorting out the placement of bits.
Once everything was glued down, I simply cut the edges off
using my trusty hobby bread knife - they're great for cardboard.

Once the cardboard was glued, I apply some plaster stuff.
"Stuff" being the term I use when I don't recall the exact product employed.

Alas, my plan was flawed.  Firstly the LED lights were way too bright - they could have done with a defuser - and I should have incorporated them into the build from the start rather than drilling into the back of the wood and threading them into the already glued cardboard.  Also, I didn't really think through the various platforms that I was building with much of the area unsuitable for displaying miniatures.  Finally, the intended location meant that the walls weren't as readily visible as I had intended - it was a dark little nock.  

But despite that, the end result was rather glorious.  After countless hours of painting Emperor knows how many layers of paint, it has a real sense of ruin about it. I also experimented with varnishes to provide some different looks to the surfaces... all in all, it was definitely a success.  Here are some more photos:

You can see it on the left of my laptop.  These days I actually
twist it a bit so it is a little more visible + I now have a monitor
and new light setup which makes a difference.

The following pics were taken early on - after I installed the Column, I continued to paint it

as it was a couple of shades too dark.  The earlier picture/collage above gives a truer impression

of where the build's colour is currently at.

 

 

 

The Campurian Drop

Having successfully worked through a prototype, I turned my mind to a new iteration upon the announcement of 2020's 3rd Necromunda Terrain Builders Challenge.  Why?  Because the challenge's theme was 'Cardboard'!!  I really enjoyed making my earlier column and this time I wanted to create a piece that would be more visible, so I determined that it should go adjacent to the right-hand side of my desk, basically visible upon entry into the room. 

The picture/diagram I shared with my mates when discussing
the build.  Entry to the room is from the right side of the pic.

It was about an inch taller and one side was about twice as wide at ~14-inches - I had planned on a bigger, more imposing piece.  Construction was a little different.  Firstly cut and stuck down a thin veneer of cardboard.  Why?  I was conscious that I didn't want to over-fill the area and didn't want any holes/blank spaces to fill in afterwards.

Here is the wooden frame.  I forgot to mention: made from old Ikea shelves!
We are real tail to nose recyclers in these parts!

Here's a little tip: make your own layers of honeycomb cardboard then
only cut it to size after it has dried.  It makes life sssoooo much easier.
I used my table saw to cut the big block into thin strips.

The end result was quite attractive.  I didn't consciously try and line it all up
but it mostly worked out that way.

This time I also consciously created many ramps and sections to accommodate a horde of minis - I was thinking in the realm of two dozen or more.  Also, I wanted to add some extra little features that caught the eye, kind of things that invited you to explore the build more.  There are chains, wires/ropes, supporting scaffolds and even a cog hidden around the piece.  Knowing me, I'll likely go back and add some more in due course.

My hot glue gun broke (blew a fuse no less!) so I had to resort
to PVA - Covid-19 lockdown in Melbourne made for tough times!

Here's the starting of the plaster.  I worked out that applying it in a
relatively consistent direction seems to make for a better effect.

With all the plaster applied, I began to basecoat: I used HEAPS of PVA + Water + Black Acrylic Paint. Piled it on really thick.  It took me close to two days!  

 

The transformation from white to black...

 

... and black to white(ish)

 

I really liked this look...

Until I tested the piece out in the study :-(

I did strike a problem when it came to colouring.  My initial paint job ended up with a great contrasting black-grey-white scheme that just shouted old, which was exactly what I had in mind.  However, once installed it just didn't work with the white Ikea desk and walls - it simply looked out of place. So I went back to the workshop and repainted the entire piece, going for a lighter, green hue - reading about Spook was the inspiration for that.

Ignore the random children playing Roadblox - when they finally grow up to be Pro Gamers, they will look at this Blog in the years ahead and wonder 

"Who was that Noob wandering around the house?  Why wasn't he gaming??"

 
I got a tad frustrated with all the waiting to dry - Melbourne winter

and all that.  I am lucky I have a shed in which to do all this stuff.

Here is a batch of photos so you can see what it is looking like at the end of September 2020, just in time for my competition entry.  FYI the competition isn't too serious - people are encouraged to enter, regardless of whether they're able to finish their pieces or not.

 

 

The above left was the picture I submitted for the Necromunda Terrain Builder Challenge (the light was rather weird - I must have had the LED set to warm or something?) and the same piece pictured in natural light on my kitchen table - needless to say it didn't last long there! 

What's Next

I will continue to fiddle away at the Campurian Drop in the weeks and months ahead - having a piece like this next to your painting desk means there's always an opportunity to tweak it some more - stopping just isn't in my blood!  I've still got some more virgin areas on my desk that could be similarly converted, including a... actually I might keep that idea to myself 😉

My gaming buddies (domestic and otherwise) have been pressuring me to take this technique and build a collection of terrain pieces suitable for a series of campaign games. I like the idea/challenge of somehow combining my Tonksche Station with this sort of terrain... now I just need to find the right inspiration.