Sewers for D&D finished

I have now completed my sewer tiles and wall facades and it was time for the party to adventure down into the dark, damp, foul-smelling sewer system under the city.

The party enters the sewer system...

They fight off some evil-smelling (warhammer) zombies...

From out of the slime, two (Ral Partha) sewer worms attack...

A pair of (Ral Partha) sewer ogres challenge the party...

My four previous posts on crafting sewers are available here: first, second, third, fourth.

Crafting wall facades to add to my sewer tiles.

I have now completed my sewer tiles with which I am very happy and it was now time to add some wall facades. I decided that walls all the way round would just get in the way of playability. So I made special wall facades for use only where they were needed. I also have dungeon tiles which are made using Hirst Art's moulds and I wanted to be able to join the sewer up to them.

As before, the base of the tiles was made from 4 inch wide 5 mm foam core. The paving stones were also made from 5 mm foam core, which I had first soaked in warm water for a short while so I could then peel off the paper covering the foam.

The wall was made of XPS foam, 4 inches wide, 2" high and 1" deep.

Using an HB pencil, I then drew the individual bricks and details, pressing hard enough to make indents which would show up well when ink washed and dry-brushed. I then rolled up a piece of kitchen foil into a ball and rolled it all over to give the stones a more rough appearance which will show up well when dry-brushed.

For the sewer entrance I added two extra pieces of 3mm foam to increase the height of the wall to make room for a door.

To join up with my dungeon tiles I made a collapsed wall. This was faced with 3mm foam core. The collapse was cut out using a hot wire cutter. Individual bricks were added cut from both foam core and XPS. The paving stones were added at a height compatible with my dungeon tiles and then painted in their colour scheme.

Painted as follows...

Overall:

• Matt Mod Podge mixed with black hobby paint (80% / 20%).

Brickwork:

• Dark Grey
• Heavy Dry Brush of Medium (Rain) Grey
• Mix of Liquitex Brown ink and Black ink in equal quantities with a drop of washing up liquid and a drop of water added.
• Matt varnish
• Dry Brush of Stone Beige, but use Light Grey on some details for contrast (this is the opposite of they way I painted the floor tiles)

Paving Stones:

• As brickwork but final  dry-brush with Light Grey.

Sewage:

• Raw Sienna (you may need a couple of coats to cover thoroughly)
• Mix Raw Sienna and Lime (Leaf) Green (66% / 33%) and paint a line down the edges of the sewage nearest the paving stones.
• Using the same paint mix, take a small piece of sponge and use it to dab paint randomly onto the middle of the sewage flow.  
• Create a liquid effect using Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel. Apply quite thickly and work with a Sculpting Tool to give a running water effect. 

Earth:

• GW Steel Legion Drab
• Wash with Liquitex Brown ink 
• Dry brush of Steel Legion Drab
• Light Dry brush of Yellow Ochre

Job Done!

The ladder was made from matchsticks.
For details of how I did the door see my previous post.

The earth was covered with sand to give texture before painting.

The sewage exiting from the pipe was made by first using the hot glue gun
before painting and covering with Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel.

My three previous posts on crafting sewers are available here: first, second, third.

Crafting even more sewer tiles for the dungeon.

Now that I have made two batches of sewer tiles with which I am happy, I decided to make something more unusual. I wanted to try and make submerged grate in the sewer.

First I sketched out the tile that I wanted.

Just like for the previous batches, both the base of the tile and the paving stones were made of 5 mm foam core. I soaked both the base and the paving stones in warm water for a short while so I could then peel off the paper covering the foam. I also cut a 4-inch square of cornflakes packet card to use as a bottom, as I would be cutting a hole in the base foam core.

I cut out a 1½ inch diameter hole from the base. I then cut out a ring of 3mm foam core and a circle of grating.

I glued the paving stones onto the base using PVA (white wood) glue.  I placed the grating in the hole and then glued the ring above it. Using an HB pencil, I then drew the individual paving stones and then lines to represent cracks. Here I pressed hard enough to make indents which would show up well when it takes an ink wash. I then rolled up a piece of kitchen foil into a ball and rolled it over all the paving stones to give the stones a more rough appearance which will show up well when dry-brushed.

As the project progressed, I decided on the fly to add two more tiles: a cross tile covered with a grate and a straight tile with two pipes flowing into the sewer.

The pipes were made from drinking straws and the hot glue gun provided the sewage running out from them.

The grate support was made from matchsticks resting on small squares of 3mm foam core.

Painted as in the previous blog post.

Job done!

Crafting more sewer tiles for the dungeon.

Now that I have a method for making sewer tiles with which I am happy, I decided to make some more which should be less basic.

First I sketched out the tiles that I wanted; I decided on six different tiles.

Just like for the previous batch, the base of the tiles was made from a 4-inch square of 5 mm foam core. The paving stones were also made from 5 mm foam core, which I had first soaked in warm water for a short while so I could then peel off the paper covering the foam. Using an HB pencil, I then drew the individual paving stones and then lines to represent cracks. Here I pressed hard enough to make indents which would show up well when it takes an ink wash. I glued the paving stones onto the base using PVA (white wood) glue. I then rolled up a piece of kitchen foil into a ball and rolled it over all the paving stones to give the stones a more rough appearance which will show up well when dry-brushed.

For the Grate Tile I used a metal piece from Black Tree Design's "AA119 - Floor Tiles". I painted the inside of the grate before gluing it in place.

For the Straight Tile with Planks I used a piece of 3 mm foam core on which I will place the planks later.

For the Straight Tile with Grate I placed two thin strips of 3 mm foam core between which I used two strips from coffee stirrers onto which I will place the grate later.

Painted as follows:

1. Overall: Matt Mod Podge mixed with black hobby paint (80% / 20%).
2. Stonework: Dark Grey
3. Stonework: Heavy Dry Brush of Medium (Rain) Grey
4. Stonework: Mix of Liquitex Brown ink and Black ink in equal quantities with a drop of washing up liquid and a drop of water added.
5. Stonework: Matt varnish
6. Stonework: Dry Brush of Light Grey (use Stone Beige on a couple of paving stones for contrast)
7. Rock: Paint Red Brown and Dry Brush with Light Grey
8. Sewage: Raw Sienna (you may need a couple of coats to cover thoroughly)
9. Sewage: Mix Raw Sienna and Lime (Leaf) Green (66% / 33%) and paint a line down the edges of the sewage nearest the paving stones.
10. Sewage: Using the same paint mix, take a small piece of sponge and use it to dab paint randomly onto the middle of the sewage flow.  
11. Sewage: Create a liquid effect using Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel. Apply quite thickly and work with a Sculpting Tool to give a running water effect. 

Finishing touches:

Paint the grate on the Gate Tile in gunmetal and wash with red-brown ink to give rust effect.

Glue on small planks made from coffee stirrers to the Straight Tile with Planks and paint using brown inks.

Glue on metal grate to the Straight Tile with Grate and paint using gunmetal and wash with red-brown ink to give rust effect.

Glue some flock onto the Straight Tile with Rock.

Job done!

Crafting sewer tiles for the dungeon.

I decided that I needed some sewer tiles for my Dungeon Crawl Project. I have dungeon tiles from DMB Games which are made using Hirst Art's moulds and I wanted these to be compatible. This is my first attempt to try out different methods until I find out what works.

First I sketched out the tiles that I wanted; these were fairy basic. I decided on seven generic tiles. The idea is that they should be able to be placed together in different combinations. If they work out well, they will be the first batch and I will add some more tiles later.

The base of the tiles was made from a 4-inch square of 5 mm foam core.

The paving stones were also made from 5 mm foam core, which I had first soaked in warm water for a short while so I could then peel off the paper covering the foam.

Using an HB pencil, I then drew the individual paving stones and then lines to represent cracks. Here I pressed hard enough to make indents which would show up well when it takes an ink wash.

I then rolled up a piece of kitchen foil into a ball and rolled it over all the paving stones to give the stones a more rough appearance which will show up well when dry-brushed.

I glued the paving stones onto the base using PVA (white wood) glue.

Painted as follows:

1. Overall: Matt Mod Podge mixed with black hobby paint (80% / 20%).
2. Stonework: Dark Grey
3. Stonework: Heavy Dry Brush of Medium (Rain) Grey
4. Stonework: Mix of Liquitex Brown ink and Black ink in equal quantities with a drop of washing up liquid and a drop of water added.
5. Stonework: Matt varnish
6. Stonework: Dry Brush of Light Grey
7. Sewage: Raw Sienna (you may need a couple of coats to cover thoroughly)
8. Sewage: Mix Raw Sienna and Lime (Leaf) Green (66% / 33%) and paint a line down the edges of the sewage nearest the paving stones.
9. Sewage: Using the same paint mix, take a small piece of sponge and use it to dab paint randomly onto the middle of the sewage flow.  
10. Sewage: Create a liquid effect using Liquitex Gloss Heavy Gel. Apply quite thickly and work with a Sculpting Tool to give a running water effect. 

Job done!