30/10/2024

The (final?) touches

 It's been quite a long way until we've reached here, but I think I can say that I declare myself satisfied with the results. You got to see essentially everything on last post, but now I had to add some details here and there to see it all finished.

Well, "details" can be sort of an understatement, given that the first thing I'm bringing is a whole piece by itself, but you know how these things happen.😅

If you recall the last post, there was an open terrace up on the top left of the board. It's meant to be a dock, but it needs a platform where ships can load and unload their stuff. I had been keeping this child toy for ages. It originally had some wooden pieces and plastic marbles going all the way down.

But, once upside down, it will be a decent landing pad
 
In fact, as you can guess, I designed the dock on the building thinking of the height of this platform. But of course it will need a base:

Can't even remember the source of that
 
I kept that... thing because in my mind it would be a Tyranid egg/organism/whatever. But fate turned different and will serve this way:

I'll make it look like rock or something
I covered all the surface with cardboard and glued some random gubbins here and there. All the base was heavily covered (and filled) with DAS to add weight and stability:

I do hope it won't fall
I also needed a bridge to connect the landing pad and the dock. Using my recently discovered technique of adding handrails, I got this:

It will have to do
OK, so some paint then!
Ta-daaa
It looks big, but it hardly can harbour any ship

Definitely nothing larger than the Arvus
 
Well, once I have the large piece finished, now it is really time for the tiny details all over the board. Nothing too elaborate, just these tiny flowerpots from GreenStuffWorld. I filled them with tufts, as I wanted just to add some colour, but not to provide any garish sense that would be out of place:

Still the most colourful thing of the whole board

I placed them randomly on different windows, just to give the impression of people taking care of what scarce life can grow here in the depths of the desert. In the pic below you can see a couple of them and another tiny silly proof of life in the town: look up in the corner, you'll see the laundry hanging on the rope:

Cozy corners

So, after five long years of interrupted work, long periods of procrastination and a final rush of frenetic activity, this is what I've finally got:

Remember, it all started with a Danish butter cookies box

Let me show a few close-ups of the whole monster:

Some strange visitors approach the bazaar to bargain their lavish products
The fellas in the Cult didn't expect to find another underground dweller here
You better keep an eye on your purse when entering here!
Hard neighbourhood, but interesting to visit in any case
Traffic can be an issue though
Apart from that, everyone has a place in Qala Debdou
Problems with the Administratum can be dealt quietly and in civilised manners
Planet Express delivers here too

When you have a labyrinth of streets, these encounters quite logically tend to happen

 If I add some of the stuff I've built along the years, I get this:

I should have put the desert mat for the pic


And what about a few pics with my recent silly idea of adding lights?

Let's sing some carols!
Blade Runner meets Mad Max
This could be the stage for a Broadway musical
The sign only reminds you that you can also play Firefly on this board
Scary? Dangerous? What makes you say that?
Private security escorts the lady to her home

If you are patient enough, here you have a puny video to show the whole thing:
 

I've never edited or prepared a video of this kind in my life, but if you find it useful, I may try better attempts in the future!

SO.

WHAT NOW?

Little shock. Please remember that this is just the first module of the board. It is by no means finished. I will try to add a second module upwards, on the back section of this board. It won't be as half as large or elaborated, of course, but it will avoid that sense of rectangular shape and will allow more interesting interactions with the third dimension, providing (I hope) some fun gaming options.
How will I build it? When will I dare to build it? Honestly, I cannot tell at the moment. I simply don't have room enough for such an element at home, so first of all I'll have to sort out the logistics of storaging such a piece and then I'll be able to design it! I don't think it will happen in the next weeks, so please be patient with that.
I'm declaring this module of the board finishe... Hmm. I'm declaring this module of the board almost finished. Esentially finished. I may still add minor elements (I'm not entirely convinced with the flatness of the entrance tower; the antenna on the front building doesn't look as satisfying as I originally thought...). But in any case there will be really small changes.
For the moment I have to say I'm happy with how this board came out/ is coming out. I may take a break of this kind of scenery projects for a while, as I need to do any kind of different stuff. Whenever I'm ready to come back to Qala Debdou don't worry, I'll let you know!

22 comments:

  1. Another masterpiece mate🔥🔥🔥

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    1. Thanks! Glad you like it! I need some time off now, but I don't think this is the last you've seen of this board!

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  2. Absolutely awesome Suber!
    It all looks fantastic. I love all the characters you have. Especially the minotaur 😂

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    1. Thank you! Haha, you never know what you'll find when you turn a corner here!

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  3. First module! Seriously! That is such an awesome board. I imagine it's even more impressive in person. And to play a game on that: wow! I remember your Rogue Trader battle report with a pursuit across your board. That kind of game would be brilliant on this table.
    Bill.

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    1. Thank you very much! Well, that's the kind of game you can enjoy most on a board such like this! I don't think you can play a traditional battle there... Or maybe I'll have to try and test that hypothesis!

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  4. Fantastic and inspirational work, as ever. Can’t wait to see what happens next…
    Alan Tradgardland

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    1. Thank you! Not even I am sure of how will this evolve next! I have vague ideas, but I'm taking some time off from the project. Whenever I have proper storage again, I'll resume it again!

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  5. This is the best hobby-related thing I've ever seen, Suber. You can be proud.

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    1. Thank you so much! I may need some beta testers of the board to see its real possibilities...

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  6. Stunning finish Suber, all the extra details add to the entire piece. If you want to make the landing pad bigger, you could always add a removable outer ring for when you want a bigger ship to land. With all great scenery, is it ever really finished, or are we just kidding ourselves, when a little tweak takes us down a whole new rabbit hole ! LOL

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    1. Thank you! That's a nice idea, I'm definitely considering it! Haha, you are so right, projects like this are never finished, but merely postponed...

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  7. This is amazing. So much cool stuff to see. And there's going to be more! Wow!

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    1. Thank you very much! Oh, but the upper module won't be as half big as this one, for sure! It will be just the topping of what you see now, much more modest. In time we'll see!!

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  8. This is just too much for me. So detailed, every corner showing its own personality. A delight....

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    1. Thank you! It's been a loong way till I got here, but I find the experience quite rewarding!

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  9. This is such a fun build! I hope you get some great games on it.

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    1. Thank you very much! I may have to test some things before I can run proper games on the board, but I hope there will be nice chances of doing fun stuff there!

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  10. Amazing! I loved watching you build this, and I am a little sad that it is "finished" (for now!).

    Seeing it with your other terrain made me wonder what it would look like on a more traditional game board, something with a few houses on one side, and then the town on the other with space in between for fighting rituals/pirates/orks what have you.

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    1. Thank you! Oh, but you nailed it! You can see I have some small independent buildings. I also have plans to build a few more! So I can have the outskirts of the large town that will be at the end of a large board :D

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  11. The level of detail inherent in this piece of massive work is fantastic. Great job, Suber.

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