Page 1 of 1

Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:22 pm
by Bishmeister
Hello to all the peoples of the Darklands and beyond.

This blog will document my progress through the Darklands and Mierce Miniatures hobby.

I will be painting their wonderful miniatures and documenting any work in progress on any Darklands terrain or scenery projects (of which I hope their will be many).

I am generally a slow blogger and if you want a daily/weekly update follow me on Twitter @bishmeister1.

Firstly a little background about myself.
I have been involved in miniature painting for 27 years, 25 years solely spent on GW miniatures.
During the Mighty Monsters Kickstarter I discovered Mierce Miniatures and Darklands and could not resist the exquisite models.
Having built up a massive collection of miniatures over the years (most of which will sadly never be painted) I decided it was a good time to make the switch to spending my limited disposable income on quality models rather than accumulating quantity. This may also help with my pledge to paint every miniature that I own. So I jumped in and then the amazing models just kept coming and I couldn't resist.

I am now collecting five kindreds:
Erainn - it was the Fen Beasts that started my obsession with these guys, I also spend a fair bit of time in Ireland.
Fomoraic - what can I say, loads of massive beasts, Uthull is my favourite ever model, such an amazing sculpt.
Jutes - amazing looking Undead, I've always been a fan of skeletons, blame Ray Harryhausen and Jason and the Argonauts for that one.
Infernii - Just could not resist the best looking demon models on the planet.
Byzantii - I never intended collecting this army despite growing up in a village founded by the Romans and spending much of my childhood playing in the ruins of a Roman Fort but again the miniatures sucked me in.

Fortunately I have bought most of my miniatures through Kickstarter so have yet to receive them. This is fortunate as I am not overwhelmed by unassembled and unpainted miniatures.
I have painted one so far but it is a big one, Vaak, for the Fomoraic. I enjoyed painting at this scale and was using this model to try out my ice painting technique which I had never attempted before. I also tried out snow basing and grass tufts for the time.
I am happy with the results and am looking forward to painting Skaadi using the same technique when she arrives.
I used a Zenithal effect going from very light blue to very dark blue.
Enough words for now, here are the pictures of Vaak

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

I have also the started construction of a Darklands specific gaming table that will incorporate hills, a river, woodlands, Byzantii monuments and a Temple emerging from a cliff face.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Thanks for reading.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:47 pm
by zedmeister
That is a gorgeous paint job for one of my favourite models. Looking forward to see what else you produce!

Even the base is wonderous. What materials and colours did you use for it?

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 6:35 pm
by Pirate Robot Ninja
zedmeister wrote:That is a gorgeous paint job for one of my favourite models. Looking forward to see what else you produce!

Even the base is wonderous. What materials and colours did you use for it?


Looks like bark?

Gorgeous paint job, definitely. Can't wait to see the rest of your work!

Let me also just say that the quality of paint logs on this forum is astounding. Makes me feel very intimidated about posting my own work!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:27 pm
by Jonathon Chester
Bish where is you live?

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:28 pm
by Phil Winstanley
Jonathon Chester wrote:Bish where is you live?


He says, sounding like a pervert :P

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:35 pm
by Jonathon Chester
barefootquill wrote:
Jonathon Chester wrote:Bish where is you live?


He says, sounding like a pervert :P


Lol was wonderingly if he was near me for gaming

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:59 am
by Phil Winstanley
I figured :P

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:10 pm
by Jonathon Chester
barefootquill wrote:I figured :P


anyway you get the SHeffield Slaughter blog posts up! I want to sup on the rage of game 5 ;)

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:38 pm
by Bishmeister
zedmeister wrote:That is a gorgeous paint job for one of my favourite models. Looking forward to see what else you produce!

Even the base is wonderous. What materials and colours did you use for it?


Thanks for the compliments. Pirate Robot Ninja is correct, the rock formation on the base is made up from bark, not sure which tree though but it had been felled.

The base was a bit of trial and error, the first attempt at snow it went yellow so I scraped it off with a wire brush which also scraped the grey paint off which actually gave a noce effect as it added some brown into the base. The second snow attempt I used powdered glass, white paint and PVA as I wanted a slushy effect to give the impression that the snow is melting. The snow is also concentrated to the rear of the base to give the impression that Vaak is coming from the North. I glued on sand which was then painted green and dry brushed a lighter green for the moss effect. PVA for the water and a mixture of tufts and flock for the grass/planting.

Pirate Robot Ninja, thank you, don't be intimidated, be inspired, I've been painting for a very long time.

Jonathon Chester, I live in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Your comment and the responses did make me laugh.

If you live in the area it would be great to catch up for some Darklands.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:27 pm
by Phil Winstanley
Jonathon Chester wrote:
barefootquill wrote:I figured :P


anyway you get the SHeffield Slaughter blog posts up! I want to sup on the rage of game 5 ;)


I will, moving house takes a toll you know :P

@Bish - sorry to derail, want to see more stuff from you , the above is stunning!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:08 pm
by Bishmeister
More progress on the Darklands Briton board. Currently working out the trees I require.

Image

Image

Image

Image

The hills need a little more filler and I have yet to create this cliff.

I will be making the Byzantii temple removable to give the board more options.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 10:29 pm
by Jonathon Chester
I live in Coventry mate (sorry for the long reply didn't see it until now!) so could sort something out in the future. Board looks great can't wait to see models on it when it's all done.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:48 am
by Tim Fisher
You might see it sooner than you think! ;0)

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:29 am
by Bishmeister
Well it’s been a year to the day since my original post here and I thought it could do with an update.

Firstly, I’ve had a busy year, particularly working on Darklands projects. All the Kickstarters have really fuelled my hobby passions for this game.
With regards to Kindreds I’m now collecting Albainn as this seemed a bit of a no brainer with their amazing looking monsters and I managed to get Gomagg for free from one of the kickstarters.

Anyway let’s go back in time to a year ago and continue this blog of the creation and construction of the Darklands table.

During the construction of the Darklands table I contacted Rob and Tim at Mierce and asked if they would like to use this table for their demo games at Salute 2016. They were both hugely enthusiastic so this gave me a deadline to work towards which I find necessary to complete hobby projects. In my discussions with Rob he stated that he only had space for a 4’x4’ demo table. This was actually a bonus as I would not be able to complete the entire 6’x4’ table for Salute 2016. So I focused my efforts on the river section and monument section.

After a tonne of filling, sanding and cladding all the flat areas with pvc it was ready for painting.
Primer
Image

A couple of scale shots with Vaak and Uthuull
Image
Image

Pre shading
Image
Image

Rockwork spraying completed with five different colours speckled on and then green for moss. The speckling helps to give a more natural rock appearance. I was going for a granite type rock of northern England.
Image
Image

The river section with brown airbushed on in streaks, I wanted the impression of shallows and deep water.
Image

Grass sheets added, this was the paper variety, great stuff albeit incredibly bright and vivid.
Image

With trees, I wanted an autumnal look to the table.
Image
Image

Detail of the tomb entrance that has been ‘greened up’ and had foliage added.
Image

I sprayed the grass with a brown spray to knock back the colour and make it more natural and dirty looking.
Image

Some action shots
Image
Image

Next onto the column which I had cast in plaster and added a 54mm Roman soldier figure to the top.
Image
Image

The column and plinth were heavily weathered which was easy to achieve in the plaster. This was sealed with pva, sprayed off white and I then set about using brown and green washes to add weathering and dirt.
Image
Image
Image
Image

I wanted to have a Roman road running through the table, this would also help to disguise the join in the table sections. After some research I settled on this design. The white areas are pvc, the blue are foam with rocks and sand. This was built in three sections to allow me to replace the middle section with a T-junction as I would be adding a bridge over the river section to connect the third table section in the future.
Image
Image
Image

The water effects were poured onto the river section. I had some issues with this as it took over 2 months to go completely hard and was still tacky whilst being played on at Salute. The resulted in some damage but I’m hoping that this can be cured with another thinner pour of water effects.
Image

The table in action at Salute 2016 at the Mierce stand with Rob Boyce giving a demo game.
Image

The two Robs in action
Image

After the storm of Salute the monument section sat in my hobby room where I was able to display all my Mierce miniatures.

Personally for me 2016 was a year of highs and lows: In April I completed my first ever wargames table, displayed this at Salute where I was lucky enough to meet and chat with Rob, Tim and the Militia from Mierce. In July I survived bowel cancer and sepsis thanks to the NHS and my wife. I have been able to cope through my recovery by throwing myself into the hobby which has kept me looking forward and focused on goals in life to achieve.

So one year on and another conversation with Rob regarding this year’s Salute. Rob stated that Mierce had a dedicated demo space and would like to have a 6’x4’ table. Awesome. This gives me the perfect incentive to complete the next section of the table, which I hope will be the most impressive. This section is a hillside with a Byzantii temple on it, whilst working out the scaling of the table I had to reduce the size of the Temple as it would leave no room for gaming. This resulted in just having the porch of the temple which is the most impressive piece anyway and allows for another table section for expansion in the future.

Some updated pictures of the board with some gorgeous Mierce miniatures on it.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

With the third table section I wanted to have the Byzantii temple removable. This was because I wanted to have the option of just a hillside which would increase the table’s versatility. I also have a rather tight deadline to complete and plan to work on the temple once the table is near enough complete. Most of the construction work was complete, I just need to add some rock work, pvc for the flat areas and built some sides to the table. I had originally planned to construct a cliff face on the edge of the table but scaled this back to some rocky outcrops.
Image
Image

Rockwork complete, pvc added, filled and sanded.
Image

With the rockwork complete I added lots of rubble, stones and sand for a more natural look. The trip to this is to use stones and gravel of varying sizes. This was then sealed with pva glue.

Large stones
Image

Medium and small stones
Image

Sand
Image
Image

Sealed
Image

At this stage I had to make a start on the temple as I needed to work out how it would fit onto the hillside. This was an important stage as it meant that I would have to include some substantial steps to access the temple.
Image

Scoring the pvc for the temple floor. The temple would be derelict and heavily weathered.
Image

Having sorted out how the temple would interact with the hillside I turned my attention to the construction of the Byzantii bridge that with link the Temple with the Monument section. This would match the road sections I have made and would have the appearance of being weathered. I wanted the bridge to be removable and set about making the main construction from pvc. This was to make it durable and sturdy, the brickwork was then clad in blue foam which had been scored up and textured.

Texturing the brickwork
Image
Image
Image
Image

Crazy crazy paving
Image
Image
Image

You shall not pass
Image

So this is where I am currently, Salute 2017 is in nine weeks, I have my work cut out for me but I’m confident this will all be finished in time. I will try and post more regular updates from now on.
Thanks for reading
Bish.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:51 am
by Rob Lane
Christian... what can I say. You have excelled yourself once more.

Fantastic work! No words are adequate to describe how awesome this is mate.

Keep it up!

Cheers
Rob

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 9:12 pm
by deadlydeceiver
Incredible work Bish! Highest respect and a tiny bit of envy ;-)

Best Sven

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 7:49 am
by Beire
Wow Bishmeister, that table looks awesome :shock: . I'm looking forward to seeing it in action at Salute, it will draw a lot of attention!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 10:04 pm
by Bishmeister
Thanks for the kind words folks.
I'm starting to get excited now as I've started to crack on with the Byzantii temple. The steps took a while to design as I wanted there to be steps for humans and beasts. This also gives more room for standing miniatures on the steps.
I have added two plynths either side so I can have two Daunted Behema of Dis statues standing guard. I also added two smaller plynths for smaller statues although I may leave these empty as it adds more 'gaming' area to the temple.

Image

Image

Image

Image

The steps and the plynth still need a lot of work, mostly weathering.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 5:20 pm
by Beire
Two Daunted Behema of Dis statues standing guard? What an awesome idea Bish! I'll be following your updates with great interest...

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 7:27 pm
by OrlandotheTech
Really impressive work there

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 9:43 am
by Bishmeister
Thanks folks.

The next part of the project was to work out how the temple would integrate with the hillside terrain. The temple is modular and is made up from two parts, the temple and the plinth it sits on. Whilst this is a lot of work to make it removable from the board this is necessary for transporting the piece and also to increase it's versatility, The board can just be rolling hills if required.

Image

With plinth (WIP)
Image

With base of temple
Image

With columns and potential statues
Image

Image

Views of the entire board so far, this can be set up with the river section in the middle dividing the two hill sections or with the two hill sections together to create a more imposing temple.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:23 am
by antoine
Incredible job!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:23 am
by Bishmeister
There was a day of perfect weather for spraying so I just had to go ahead and get some paint on the model.

I started with a grey primer which would be the colour of the board's sides and the base colour for the rocky outcrops. I then airbrushed some shading in the recesses using a darker grey.

Image

This was followed by creating the rock effect. I had to match what I had done before on the previous sections which was not straight forward. I used a spray gun on the speckle setting and used a variety of colours in the following order: dark grey, almost black, light grey, almost white, warm brown and then with the almost white again. This gives a granite look to the rock and I think I matched the previous work fairly well. I then airbrushed two shades of green to mimic moss.

Image

Image

At this stage I was painting the road sections and the bridge so they would all match.

Image

Next it was time to work on the grass. I have a paper flock sheet that I used before. As this will be quite complex cut i started out by making a template with scrap paper, this will save wasting the valuable flock sheet.


Image

I then flipped it over and traced the pattern onto the rear of the flock sheet.
Image

Flock paper pattern
Image

Flock paper glued down and the edges softened with extra pva and flock.
Image

With the temple in situ.
Image

Image

The grass was then speckled with a brown spray to tone it done a bit and tufts, bushes and trees were added.

Image

More pics over the coming week.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 5:57 pm
by Bishmeister
With the base board finished I turned my attention back to the Byzantii temple.
With the columns completed I set to work on the pediment and ceiling.

Image

Image

I contacted Mierce regarding the painting of the model as I wanted to add some colour and wanted to check with the experts on the Byzantii. I was thinking something like this.

Image

Rob was unavailable at the time so I had an extensive chat with Tim which changed the temple direction slightly. The temple originally built by the Romans has now been reconsecrated to the worship of the Infernii. We also revisited a discussion I had with Rob some time ago about the sculptures that make up the pediment. I was told that the rule of cool is paramount by Tim so I just had to turn up the coolness to number eleven. I butchered the pediment so I could fit the sculptures in.

Image

Image

Rob emailed to confirm the details Tim and I had discussed and gave some art direction. Just two and a half weeks to go.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:58 pm
by Skull king
Wow Bish!

This is really going to command people's attention at Salute! Excellent work!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 7:02 am
by Bishmeister
Cheers Skull King, let's hope, just two weeks to go now.

This week has been very productive, I've managed to finalise the pediment design and get some paint on the temple. The bottom part of the columns have been painted with the blood of Christians, this happens when the temple was desecrated to the worship of Sceechus, Servile Fiend of Dis. I wanted to add colour as this was traditional on some Roman temple, is more eye catching and balances the green colour.

Image

Three columns fully painted, proper dank looking.
Image

Image

Image

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2017 9:28 pm
by Bishmeister
With the columns completed the next job on the list was to waether the steps. This was done using the same technique as the columns. Wet blend Agrax Earthshade into the recessess followed by the same with Biel tan green.

Image

Image

Next up was adding the flock for moss, static grass, tufts and bushes for that really deprivated overgrown look.

Image

Image

I was now into the last week before Salute 2017 and I needed to repair the water effects which had not set properly at the last Salute and ended up being damaged. Probably should have left more time this time round but hey ho. This time I went for water effects and lashed it on with a paint brush, warning, do not do this, it looks terrible. There was also a tense 24 hours waiting for it to go clear. It did go clear and I redone it applying it with a piece of plastcard to give it a smoother finish which worked out much better.

Image

I wanted to paint all the Infernii sculptures as aged bronze so they would be a green patina colour. These tutned out rather well.

Image

Image

Image

Work on the roof of the temple was completed. I decided that the rear of the roof that would have been timber and red clay tiles would be completely ruined and overgrown after hundreds of years of neglect.

Image

With all the work complete it it was off to Salute 2017.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2017 8:09 pm
by Bishmeister
The drive to Salute was uneventful but it was a very early start. I arrived and the Mierce team came down en masse to give me a hand with the board. It wasn't too long before it was all set up and Jonathan Chester and I just had to go ahead and christen the board by having a demo game.

Image

Image

Jonathan was a real gent and had an amazing understanding of the rules. We played a battle using Norse and Ysians.
We used the painted starter hosts and I chose to command the Norse. I had Eirik Longaxe as my commander, a unit of 10 Holumann and 3 trolls whereas Jonathans force consisted of Carrowek on foot, 10 Axe Drunes and 3 Brutes.

Jonathan set up his forces either side of the river but I was a bit sneaky and deployed a reduced flank formation on the temple side of the river.

Image


I felt the two sides were well balanced and the board facilitated some cinematic and realistic events such as the Holumann unit with the commander forming a shield wall across the bridge to reduce the frontage and subsequently the attacks of the 3 Brutes. This of course reduced the amount of damage coming my way and eventually prevented the Brutes from annihilating the Holumann. All the action was occurring at the base of the temple steps.

Image

I thoroughly enjoyed the game despite not really knowing the rules which is a great tribute to Mr Chester. After the dust had settled there was one very wounded Troll left and a bleeding Eirik.

By the time we'd finished the hall was beginning to fill up and there was quite literally a que of people waiting to play.

In one of the many games that Jonathan hosted that day there was an absolute classic historical myth moment when the three Norse Trolls emerged from under the bridge to attack the Anglecynn.

Image

Image

It was a great day where I was able to chat about Mierce miniatures, Darklands and the demo board to numerous people from all over Europe. I was amazed by the number of people that had travelled huge distances to attend Salute and felt privileged to be part of the Mierce team.

It was great to see people walking past and doing a 'double take' when they saw the board and then come over and take a load of photos.

Image

Of the many questions I was asked on the day the four most popular were, Who made the board?, (me) How did you make the Trees?, (instructions are on my blog on the Mierce Forum, although I've just realised it's not so I will have to update this blog with that) Where did you buy the columns from?, (they're scratchbuilt by me but you might be able to buy them from Mierce in the future - keep an eye on their website) and Where can I buy a starter set? (just over there).

The board travelled well and didn't sustain any damage. My wife was also impressed with the board and suggested that we set it up in the spare bedroom, I wasn't expecting that I can tell you. So there it resides for the time being but it isn't quite finished and I will be tinkering with it over the next month just to add some little details.

Image

Thanks for reading and commenting.
All the best Bishmeister.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 9:11 am
by Beire
That table must have been a real eyecatcher at Salute, fantastic work Bish!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 9:27 am
by Rob Lane
Just excellent work mate! You are a legend.

I can only say thank you for putting so much effort into what was a fantastic day for us all!

Cheers
Rob

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 10:01 am
by antoine
Thanks for the feedback, I was eager to see darklands hosts fighting on your amazing table!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 11:14 am
by Jonathon Chester
It was a privelidge to play on the board all day it was gorgeous and was wonderful to see so many people interested. Glad you enjoyed the game mate :)

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:10 pm
by deadlydeceiver
Amazing work Bish! The table is pure art!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:56 am
by Bishmeister
PhotoBucket has decided to display all the pictures again.
Happy Days.
I'll be updating this thread soon!!

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 11:33 am
by Bishmeister
It's been a long time since I posted here despite saying I would post more often.
This thread needs an update and I'll be taking a retrospect look at the Darkholds: Byzantii Catacombs board I made for Salute 2018.

Firstly a bit of background on Darkholds. This was going to be a Mierce Miniatures 'dungeon crawler' style boardgame that looked amazing and had a very solid and entertaining ruleset. It was launched as a Kickstarter but unfortunately didn't gain the momentum required and was cancelled. I was deeply saddened by this as a dungeon crawler board game with Mierce Miniatures would be my dream come true. Alas, it never ended up being produced but it may be resurrected in the future, more undead than dead. Fingers and toes crossed.

I began this project before the Kickstarter launch and managed to get hold of the dungeon plans of the first level. The boardgame is set in a Jute Barrow but I wanted my own take on it and used this as an excuse to build a 3d Roman/Byzantii style dungeon crawler. I love Roman architecture and wanted to make a 3d 'dungeon' with a difference. Despite the game not being funded on Kickstarter I was determined to complete this 3d dungeon.

So I discussed this with the Mierce guys and began planning.

The first level based on the informatiom from Mierce.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

A 3d dungeon crawler creates some interesting compromises for anyone who decides to design and build one. It has to perform it's primary function and be playable but also be believable as an immersive environment. To achieve the feeling of being in an enclosed space meant that the walls would need to be taller than the models, some of which would be monsters upto to 100mm tall. This then impacts upon the ability to play on the board as higher walls restrict the visibility of the players to the board. So to reduce the impact on playability I increased the size of the dungeon. This was achied by increasing the board squares from 32mm to 40mm and also added a 45mm corridor between the walls and the board tiles that contained columns, plinths and statues that clearly blocked movement but allowed the players to view the play area. These elements were magnetised so they could be removed to create differing dungeon plans.

Creating the larger dungeon floor plan whilst retaining the original design and play area.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I started work on some scale drawings of what the walls would look like. I wanted the catacombs to be a mix of 'regular' burials but also grand burials. The idea being that this was the catacomb of a particular settlement or legion.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Having the tiered catacombs worked very well visually and allowed full view of the gaming area.

The material I used throughout this project was ePVC. 5mm for the floorplans and 3mm for everything else.

Once the foorplan tiles were designed I cut them out of 5mm ePVC and tried out some figures on them.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I built a dungeon tile up to full height to see how it faired.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

The project became really exciting at this point as I could really see the cinematic potential of the board.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I purchased a shed load od 54mm roman soldiers for the statues.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I built some large plinths and played around with some statue ideas.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I went through each room tile and made a cut list of what was needed to build the walls.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I wanted the dungeon to have some level changes so I built some room tiles as steps. These are the first three tiles of the level which correspond to a level change in the original boardgame design.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

More floor tiles and some walls.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 1:18 pm
by Bishmeister
Here's the process I use to create the floor tiles.

I use a pen with some shortened and smooth sanded coat hanger wire attached to it to score the ePVC.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr
Draw in the tile design, then score in the squares.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Mark and score in the brickwork.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Randomly score in the cracks. You'll also notice I added magnets to some of the squares, on the underside, to help architectural features to stat in situ.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

The cracks were softened by rounding the edges.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Mierce were a great support through this project and provided me with a tonne of architectural casts of the masters that I had provided them. This was just one box.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

The entire floor plan laid out, all of the floortiles maintained their functionality of being able to be configured in multiple dungeon layouts.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

One of the tiles nearly complete with hand scored brickwork.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Some action shots testing line of sight and playability.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

All of the grey architectural elements, except the arches, are removable and help in place by magnets. I also created some removable walls to greater increase the dungeons potential.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 1:38 pm
by Bishmeister
Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

After scoring up the horizontal lines of the brickwork I cut the sections into what I would need to build the walls, each piece had a 45 degree cut into the corners where required so the brickwork would marry up. I then set about scoring up the vertical brickwork lines.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

The walks were cut to size for the column niche.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

With resin arches for the catacombs

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 1:40 pm
by Bishmeister
More of the dungeon tiles completed.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

One of my favourite rooms

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Onto the plinths, decided to use a Roman warrior flanked by Mierce lions for this room.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

The entire dungeon level all set up.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I wanted a special feature for the 'end of level' room, hence the Infernii shrine.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

I wanted a room that looked like an ossuary with skulls falling out of the walls.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

All the bits laid out ready for spraying. I wanted to added texture to the paint work to make it look like stone and brick so I used a spray gun to speckle the paint on.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

At this stage I also started to make the treasure markers.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

After spraying the stone and brickwork I used a syringe with Agrax Earthshade to bring out the cracks.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Then Biel Tan Green was washed into the edges using a brush.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

At this stage I decided to mound the game pieces on clear bases to blend in with the gameboard.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:05 pm
by Bishmeister
After being speckled with three different shades of red the brickwork was painted randomly with varying shades of yellow, brown and red ink to give a natural look. Emulsion was then washed into the scored surface which bleached the brickwork slightly and added a pale colour for the mortar. Green and brown washes were added for the weathering focusing on areas that would retain dampness.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:22 pm
by Bishmeister
Some shots of the finished model.

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Here you can see the painting process from start to finish

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

Imageimage by bishmeister75, on Flickr

The model turned out very nice in the end. Two of the rooms' wall were built higher, 150mm, to accommodate larger architectural features. All the floortiles were magnetised so they would stay together once set up. This was a massive project that was completed for Salute 2018. There are still some bits to do some more work on, adding some more weathering to the statues, but by and large this project is complete.

This model recieved a lot of attention at Salute with many compliments. Hopefully the Darkholds game will be rescheduled for a Kickstarter sometime in the future.
A big thank you to the Mierce guys who helped throughout this project.

Re: Bishmeister's Darklands Hobby Blog

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2018 3:27 pm
by Brightblade
Wow, Bish, hat's off to you buddy, this looks absolutely amazing, the amount of work that has gone into it is phenomenal, I would not have the time, patience and definately not the skill involved to have even known where to have started.

It's a shame the Darkholds kickstarter didnt realise it's funding, was talking to Rob abaout it a few weeks ago and it looked amazing.