3D-printing dungeon decor... pt. VI

You can never have too much loot... And that's why you can also never have too many loot piles. These piles are very versatile and can be used just about anywhere in the dungeon, they can be used to store/hide loot (well, they áre called loot piles for a reason) and serve as cover during sneaking or combat. If all else fails they just look good... 

This is an overview of my current set of loot piles...

These loot piles originally started out as barricades for Mordheim, but a year or so ago I updated and repainted them to enhance my dungeon. The base of each of these piles is a stack of home-cast plaster crates, the smaller and more detailed pieces are a mix of plaster, metal, plastic and resin parts.

Having a 3D-printer opens up a lot of possibilities and the last couple of days I have spent some time putting together and printing a couple of complete loot piles and some separate pieces to further enhance the excisting loot piles.

The first two, relatively simple, loot piles...
These were printed as one piece.

The third pile, also printed as a single piece... 

For the third pile I wanted to try something a bit different. I searched, and found, a chicken and a birdcage.

The cage was printed separately, mainly for ease of painting...

On Thingiverse there are a lot of interesting and usefull pieces that can be used for this purpose. Most of the new pieces are designed by a very friendly designer from France. He designed the wicker baskets with tomatoes and apples, the bottles with a wicker shell, the bag of potatoes and the sacks... The wooden crates were found elsewhere on Thingiverse.

Three 3D-printed loot piles mixed with some of the models
from my collection...

The separate pieces... The detail of these items is amazing!

The printed pieces used on a couple of existing loot piles...
The size of these bits is just right!

This is just the first addition to the loot piles, I can imagine there will be more to come!

Gearing up for CRISIS 2019... The CRYPE is real!

CRISIS 2019 (Mainland Europe's largest Wargaming convention, organised every year in Antwerpen by the wonderful people of TSOA) is just six weeks away, so it's about time to get a proper shopping list ready...

I have been to CRISIS for more than a decade now and it's interesting to see that my enthusiasm for Wargaming hasn't diminished in the slightest, but the focus is ever shifting...

All those years ago I was playing mostly Fantasy games (WFRP, Warhammer Fantasy, Mordheim), at that time I was already building the Dungeon, so I only bought stuff related to that. After that came Flames of War, and for several years I mostly bought 15mm miniatures.

And now there is this new project, 6mm WW2... I intend to give all the stands selling 6mm/1:285 miniatures my full attention. I am somewhat ashamed to say that in all those previous years I mostly skipped anything smaller than 15mm, writing it off as way too small. How things can change...

As always, I will be looking for furniture and other cool stuff to put in to the Dungeon. But this year I will be mostly getting some 6mm miniatures to use with my new Hex terrain. While I love being surprised by finding cool stuff I am not taking any chances and will place a rather substantial pre-order at a merchant who stocks GHQ Micro Armour...

Bringing the Dungeon to life...

The dungeon project has been around for years, steadily growing into the behemoth it is today... Work is done in leaps and bounds, sometimes it can be (almost) forgotten for years, and then, suddenly, inspiration strikes and a flurry of activity pushes the project a bit farther. The pictures below represent its current state, but, as the project spans several years, I can't post all the pictures here... Check out my PROJECT THREAD on the Hirst Arts forum if you want to see more (much more).

The Dungeon is completely made with Hirst Arts blocks, lots and lots of Hirst Arts blocks... It consists of well over 250 modules, ranging from very small and basic to large and elaborate.

We mainly use it with WFRP (Warhammer Fantasy Role Play) but it has seen action with some other games as well, including Mordheim and even Flames of War (our very own Dungeons and PanzersTM)... 

While the Dungeon is very large, extremely versatile and a blast to play with, it can feel a bit empty...  An empty Dungeon is fine for some scenarios, but most of the time I want these corridors and rooms to represent the halls  of a castle, so I was looking for a more 'lived in'-feel. Hence the last bout of creativity was mainly focussed on adding some furniture and other pieces of smaller scenery. The furniture comes from different sources and manufacturers, made from plaster, resin, plastic and metal... I also worked on adding some much needed NPC's... While not nearly enough to fill the entire dungeon, I can at least make a part quite habitable...

More Treasure Markers...

Even before finishing the first couple of Treasure Markers I started making another four...

Just like the first set, these were cobbled together from plaster, metal and resin bits. All the plaster bits are my own casts, the metal and resin bits are from various manufacturers. 

The coins and bases should tie them in with the rest of the set... 

Together with the first six Treasure Markers... These were a lot of fun to make (though making all the coins was a bit time consuming) and were a blast to paint. 

Treasure Markers for Frostgrave...

As I am venturing back into Mordheim, Frostgrave caught my attention...

Both games are comparable, yet have notable differences. One of the similarities is the setting of both games: a skirmish game in a ruined city... Starting a new game is just another incentive to finish my Mordheim table.

As a start I set about creating a set of Treasure Markers. A thorough dig through my bitsboxes yielded enough metal, plastic and plaster bits and pieces to make some interesting Treasure Markers. 

It was a lot of fun putting these together, and I have already started working on another four Treasure Markers. Painting them was great fun, too...

A return to the City of the Damned...

Waaaaaaay back in 2009 I started building on a Mordheim board. While it all started out simple enough, the project quickly turned into a whole table: the board was built up with Hirst Arts blocks and filled with scratch-built scenery and an ever growing number of statues...

After about two years of building the project slowed down and eventually fell silent, my hobby time diverted elsewhere... Even so, Mordheim was never really forgotten, and now, almost seven years after I started the project, I picked it up again... This time, I fully intend to finish it...

For a more complete overview of the project, I should direct you to My Own Little Corner of Mordheim. Here you will find the thread I started in 2009 to document the project.

The sorry state my Mordheim table currently inhabits... Collecting dust for a couple of years. The lack of paint should be obvious, so that's where I have to invest some time and effort...

One of the scenery pieces I never finished, a huge tree... I really liked this piece, and decided to paint it as one of the first new items. After this picture was taken, the tree was painted in it's base colours, it is now awaiting further detailing.

One of the changes I want to include in my scenery is the addition of foliage... To make the city feel a bit overgrown I want to add creeping vines and clumps of foliage to the scenery pieces. 

Nother new addition, a huge statue... This one is based on a 'miniature' from the Colossal Lords series.

As well as the smaller scenery pieces, my buildings will also be updated with some vines and foliage... This was the only building I finished, all these years ago. With the recent update it looks better than ever...