14/11/2025

Vertical and horizontal

 Some fresh updates on the Qala Debdou front! I've been working on the upper module and have enough progress to show!

You got to see the lift in the latest game I had, so let me show you a little bit more of it.

Made with the rests of an old toy crane, the same I used for the bridge you see in the pic too
This piece was always in my mind, I designed the lower module with the intention of connect it to the upper one with this lift.

I can tell now, I also had this other crazy idea, but unfortunately I had to drop it some time ago, as I had no room left for it. I wanted a kind of funicular or almost vertical train which would climb up through a railway.

This was my inspiration
Sadly I didn't find a proper place for it. And before anyone states the obvious solution, no, sorry, I'm afraid I'm not building more modules for this town :P

But let's come back to the lift: 

Ugly, dirty, unsafe. Just perfect

Handrails are for cowards
 It mixes the vibe of an industrial or mining lift with the silly looking of this whole project, so I'm ok with that.

Let me show how I fix these pieces to the board. Of course in the cheapest, laziest way possible:

I pierce holes in the foamboard and use toothpicks to fix the structures

Top engineering. Totally suitable for this town

 Ok, this covers the part you had already seen. Let's move on. You may have asked yourselves why the hell I am building such a big gate or hollow space on the left of the module. Though "because I could" sounds like a reasonable answer, I can elaborate a little bit more.

Now, what the [redacted] is this?

A bridge to nowhere!
I'm building a landing platform, which can host a larger ship, and which is connected to that hangar or cargo bay. Now, given that I have to think about storage, I cannot simply glue it to the module.

Underneath view
Now that explains that slot I cut open down the gate

(Right, I say it a lot, I plan things way more than you suspect. Though, to be fair, I improvise some others too).

Fix in its place but removable for storage
Mandatory tubes and wires
Crazy idea: my original plan involved stuffing all the space underneath the landing platform and build houses that hung from it. Small blocks growing like stalactites. However, I was talked out of doing it, and my pals recommended me to just add some light stuff and not overdo that part. Sometimes you have to listen the advice of wiser people.
Anyway, it looks good to me

Just an example. I have a different ship in mind for this, but that's for the future

Let's keep on building stuff! Let's get to the central section:
More lifts!
 This is an old MDF piece by Multiverse Gaming. I purchased it at the very beginning of the project (like more than six years ago! With more stuff!) but I had never got the chance to use it. Multiverse Gaming have gone fully digital (I believe like 2-3 years ago), so I'm happy to have this one.
 This piece will serve to connect these two levels:
 
Notice I've also built stairs to reach the upper level
This explains the height between the levels, as I designed everything to fit in. Just let me call your attention on the fact that the previously shown large industrial lift that comes from the below module conditioned the height of this upper platform. Then this small elevator platform conditioned the height of the lower floor. And so on. So I kind of designed this from the top down, though, obviously, I had to build it from the bottom up.
This absurd methodology explains what you are about to see:
A build-up of miscalculations
Right, no matter how well you think you have made your numbers and taken your measures, now I have a gap between the platform and the lift itself. Great.
This is the part when I improvise. I adapt. I overcome.

 Well, let's pay some attention to the rest of the section...
I have a problem with horseshoe arches. I cannot stop doing them. I need help

Now I'm adding the LEDs before I close the building

The access to that house in the mountain looks... interesting
Some basic colour to better envision it:
This should provide some fun to play on different levels
What about some more colour?
 
I finally added a wooden walkway to get to that remote home up left there

Here you have a general overview of the whole board so far:
Locked stretch goals on the right section XD
Just a close-up to show the module populated with some random citizens:


 I don't know when this project got out of my hands. Most probably the very first day I started to imagine it. I have a general idea of what I want to build on that space left, it remains to be seen if it's achievable!
Wish me luck! 

30 comments:

  1. Absolutely awesome Suber!!!!

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  2. More terrific developments, great stuff. Looking forward to seeing what is next…
    Alan Tradgardland

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    1. Thank you! I need some planning, because I want to add some elements that need to fit into each other, but I'm confident about the whole thing

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  3. This is absolutly stunning! I'm going to have to go back to the start and follow this.
    Truely inspiring!

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    1. Thank you! If you keep an eye on the 'Qala Debdou' label, you can follow the whole thing so far. You will see this is not any professional attempt and that I'm keeping it all into the cheap side, so it's really achievable by anyone :)

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  4. Replies
    1. Thank you! I'm already planning the next stage :)

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  5. Completely crazy, as always, but crazy in a way that is closer to genius :D Really looking forward to see how it develops even further. I don't even want to ask how the hell do you store this...

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    1. Thank you! Haha, storage is quite an issue, I've got rid of some dear things in the process to make some room for this monster, but I hope it's worth of the nuisance

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  6. Love watching this build through it's natural evolution, the way it has developed is almost organic.

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    1. Thanks! I have quite the same feeling about it. Though I've always had a vague, general idea of the final desired result, it has evolved by itself as I built it. New challenges have come up, new solutions presented themselves... and here we are! There are some structures I want to try for the rest of the module, but the limited space is quite an issue!

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  7. I love seeing this board grow and grow! Adding to it over time really gives it that lived-in feel!

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    1. Thanks! Right, it's quite a process, and everytime I revisit the board I see it with different eyes, and want to add different stuff, making it... liveable (if that makes any sense!)

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  8. Very inspirational!!!!

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    1. Thank you very much! It's truly enjoyable to see how it develops and how it asks for different stuff to be added :)

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  9. Awesome work. For some people this new module would be the entire project. Here, it's just a small slice of something huge!
    Bill.

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    1. Haha, thank you! Well, this is a looong term project indeed. I'm happy with the way it's growing, the challenges it poses can be quite rewarding when solved!

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  10. todo el proyecto a tiempo para poner el nacimiento.... yo ya lo veo, el patriarca, la madre y el bebé, y todo el culto de robagenes adorando al niño..... y una escuadra de la deathwatch apareciendo con un poco de mirra ;)

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    1. Jaja, me parto XD Ojo, que ahí veo el germen de un escenario, ¿eh?

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  11. La cosa más grande que he visto en la escenografía de 40.000 en años. O nunca.

    Madre mía.

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    1. He alcanzado el límite de almacenamiento en casa, la verdad es que me supone un pequeño problema, pero bueno, de momento me vale :D

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  12. How did I miss this? Even more excellent upgrades to the board! It looks excellent.

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    1. Thank you! I hope it looks a little bit chaotic, worn out and dirty; the things that make a place like this... lived :)

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  13. Excellent addotions to an awesome project!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you! I'm eager to keep on building, but I have to overcome a few structural challenges yet!

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  14. Great additions to this project. I love how this is evolving.

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    1. Thanks! It's quite a monster, but I'm enjoying every inch of it!

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  15. Replies
    1. Thank you! It's becoming quite a behemoth!

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