Saturday 3 February 2018

Necromunda: Underhive Scenery WIP

Ever since I bought the new version of Necromunda last November, I have been doing a lot of work for it so that I can showcase it to its best advantage on my blog. This new version of the sci-fi skirmish game comes in two flavours. The boxed starter set is a boardgame played with miniatures and is referred to as Zone Mortalis, whereas the old style Necromunda, that many players like myself, are familiar with, is played with on 3D scenic gaming boards, and that version is known as Sector Mechanicus. In this post, I'm concentrating on the Zone Mortalis version.
The starter set comes with 9 double-sided heavy card tiles that can be set up in various configurations to show the area your gangers will be contesting.
This photo shows a typical set up, with the addition of some of the plastic doors and barricades that also come in the box. Obviously, no figures have been placed yet. It looks fine and I'm sure many people would be more than happy to play their games in this manner. But, when browsing the internet for Necromunda scenery, I came across this picture below.
It's got proper walls! I was hooked. I wanted my boards to look like that. I quickly discovered who produced these walls - an American firm called Death Ray Designs. These walls are made of MDF and come in kit form, unpainted. If you are interested in purchasing them, it is the Deadbolt's Derelict: Corridors Bundle set and it costs $130.00. For that you get 24 columns, 20 single walls and 18 Double walls, which is more than enough for any of the scenarios presented in the Necromunda: Underhive rulebook. I don't mind MDF models at all but I saw a few problems with this set. Although $130 wasn't a bad price for the amount of stuff you're getting, the $82 post and packing charge was too high for me. Plus, such a heavy parcel coming from America would most certainly incur customs and excise charges, which I most certainly did not want to face. So, I shelved the idea of buying this set. But the idea of having 3D walls wouldn't go away, and I started thinking, how hard would it be for me to make my own? And that is exactly what I did!
Here is the same board set up that I showed above, but this time with my scratchbuilt 3D walls added to it. How cool is that? I'm really pleased with how they have come out.
 Here's a different view of the same game board.
Here is a close up of my columns, single walls and double walls. They are all made of black foam-board, which is 5mm thick. I based their dimensions on the ones used by Death Ray Designs. I added strips of thick cartridge paper to them. The front and backs of the walls are recessed and I made use of the scenic bases that Games Workshop provide their ganger figures with, and thankfully, also sell separately. I had no intention of using these bases with my figures. Instead, I used circular MDF bases and coated them with sand and gravel to match the bases of all of my other 28mm scale figures. However, I did think that the new bases would look good as part of a scenery piece. I used the smaller 25mm diameter ones on my single walls and two of the larger 32mm diameter ones on my double walls. For my columns, I added a single control panel from TT Combat's Industrial Hive Control Panels set. There are three different designs for these panels and I used a mixture of all three. I had to buy two sets to cover all that I needed, as you only get 18 in a set and I needed 25.
 I made 25 columns and here they all are. Each column only has one control panel on it.
I made 15 double walls and 20 single walls. This gives me enough to play any of the scenarios from the Necromunda: Underhive rulebook. The one thing that my home-made walls don't do, which the MDF walls do, is link together. That's not a problem for me. I'm not in the habit of knocking over  scenery on my gaming table, so I should be okay.
Painting them is going to be a major task, simply because there are so many of them. I'll be keeping the paint schemes simple - a base coat, a wash and a dry brush, should suffice. I may add some little touches like graffiti and blood splatters on some of them, but not too much. It just goes to show what can be achieved with a little bit of imagination and a little bit of skill. Making these saved me a fortune over what the MDF ones from Death Ray Designs would have cost.

36 comments:

  1. They look great Bryan! I wished I had known this before you assembled all these. I am sure there is a UK company that does MDF walls like this I will have todo some digging as I can't recall the name.

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. My Google searches failed to find any UK based companies making these or similar products, which doesn't mean they are none. Anyway, I'm very happy with my own walls and columns.

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  2. Phew! What a lot of walls etc to paint, Bryan, but I have little doubt they'll look awesome once finished - and "Necromunda" is a game well worth a bit of effort imho. Splendid stuff :-)

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    1. There are indeed a lot of walls to paint, Simon, but I think the effort will be well worth it in the end. You know I love good-looking scenery and this was a project I had to do. :-)

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  3. Good call on homebrewing your own Bryan. They look great.

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  4. Hi Bryan - You are absolutely right - the game needs 3D walls and the ones in your 2nd post are very nice but $130 unpainted :-( They look like good quality printed card stock that would be way cheaper. Yours are going to be equally as good when painted.

    Will you be able to spray them to get the 1st coverage otherwise that's a lot of painting.
    You've probably already thought of this but the small rare earth magnets would hold them together quite well I think and wouldn't look out of place on the columns and walls even when you would be able to see them.
    Looking forward to seeing them painted - next weeks post?
    Cheers

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    1. Thank you kindly, John. I won't be spraying them. That would take too many spray cans, I reckon. No, I have a large 250ml can of black paint that I'll use to prime them. It's what I use for all my figures and models. It's cheap, lasts for ages and dries very matt. With a big paintbrush, I should get them done pretty quickly, although I just know it's going to be boring work.
      Earth magnets is not something I'd thought of but it is such a good idea, I think it'll be worth pursuing. Thanks for the helpful advice!
      I am also looking forward to seeing them painted, but it won't be for a while yet. I have too many other things that need painting first. Sorry!

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    2. Bryan - it's obvious but just make sure you get the polarity right, nightmare if you don't.

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    3. Thanks, John. Sound advice indeed!

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  5. Excellent bit of creative thinking Bryan, and you've done a cracking job on the actual build - they should really paint up well and rival any commercial offerings :-)
    Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

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    1. Many thanks, Greg. Once they're painted up, they should look really smart. Putting them together was very time consuming but I think it will be time well spent.

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  6. Definitely a useful bit of DIYing Bryan. Looking the job now, so will look grand when painted. $82 shipping - ouch!though understandable, if it weighed a huge amount.

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    1. Thanks, Roy. $82 is a lot for shipping but what scared me the most was how much the customs bandits would want to rob me of! By the way, TT Combat, who are based in the UK, offer free p&p on all their MDF kits. Go figure!

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    2. Yeah, I only ever bought one order from North America (Bob Murch's Pulp Miniatures, before North Star stocked them) and was really panicky about the custom issue. Luckily my order weighed less than a dvd box set so I was safe, but I don't really understand the customs charges and how they work so have just bought from UK companies or the odd time from the EU. To be honest, I don't want to either as its a great incentive not to spend more money after seeing stuff off the Internet :)

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    3. I'm sure customs charges is worked out on the value of the goods you're ordering and not the weight. Even so, I'm not certain about the cost needed to be exempt from customs charges. It used to be £15, but I don't know if that still applies. As if that wasn't bad enough, there is always an £8.00 administration fee to pay, which is sheer highway robbery! I am now very wary of buying anything from America.

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  7. That looks amazing! I was also equally tempted by the DRD stuff until I saw how much it would cost, will definitely use yours for inspiration if I get round to making my own!

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  8. Awesome effort Bryan, and they turned out wonderfully. Making your own is always better. 😉

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  9. Very nice- I’d like to do something like this myself. The control panels are a nice touch.

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    1. Thanks, Barks. I thought they were a nice touch as well.

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  10. Nicely done Bryan, just a tip for painting large amounts of terrain - use emulsion! It’s waterbased and cheap as chips, I bought a big tin of black Matt for less than a tenner and it’ll last ages.

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    1. Cheers, Andy. That is indeed what I have. Great minds think alike!

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  11. Very nice Bryan, and a good way to solve the problem of expensive shipping

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    1. Thank you, Dave. It certainly did save me a fortune and was a fun project to do.

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  12. Looks like they'll be very useful. I want to see them painted, though :-) .

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  13. Hi Bryan, that a very cleaver bit of work which I'm sure will look fantastic when painted up, some of the lads in my club are playing the game & use card print out wall which look well enough & they tell me where cheap enough.

    Having said that card tends to move quite easy where the likes of your should be better at staying in place, while I don't play the game myself good ideas are good ideas & can often be used for other things : )

    Thanks for a helpful post.

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    1. Lovely to hear from you, Frank. Once I attach earth magnets to these pieces, they should stay in place very well. I really am indebted to John for that tip! Foam-board is far sturdier than card but still very lightweight.

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    2. A bit late now, but I suppose it might be useful for future reference, but with "hollow" structures gluing some washers or 1 pence pieces to the INNER surface of the base (before attaching all the sides) adds enough weight to keep things stable.

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    3. That's a good tip, Greg. I might still do that.

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  14. Very nice Bryan. I'd already seen your gangers from your more recent post on LA but I wasn't expecting this project. Those are slick! You should definitely show these off on the forums once you get them painted. I may have to have a go at this.

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    1. Thanks, HP. I'm just waiting for some earth magnets to attach to them before I start painting them. I will indeed be showcasing them on the LA Forum.

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  15. Hi, blotz in the UK do similar scenery to death ray design - I had the same problem with the shipping fees from the US. I bought the blotz set and am very happy with it. http://blotz.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=23_29_228

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    1. They look fantastic, Phil. If I'd known about them earlier I'd certainly have bought some. But for now, I'll stick with my own creations. I appreciate you letting me know about Blotz.

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