You'd be surprised how easy it can be to make 3D Space
Hulk sections with the help of a few co-opted building materials.
The bulk of the supplies for this room ("compartment"
for all you naval types) came from the roof gutter section,
the ventilation section, and the lighting section of our local
home-improvement store. With a little plasticard, a few metal
bitz from the GW inventory, and a plastic crochet grid from
a nearby craft store, we put the following three-door room board
section together.
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Step One - Click to enlarge.
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Step Two - Click to enlarge.
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Step Three - Click to enlarge.
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Step
1 |
Vinyl gutter
joints come in all shapes and sizes, and
they are
very cheap. We found a drain drop
joint that would work great as a compartment
with three entry points. What's more, vinyl
is fairly easy to work with (though it can
warp a bit when it's manufactured -
try to pick straight pieces). As you can
see in the pictures above, the side wall
of the
drain will serve as your compartment floor.
Mark off a line where the "overhang" of
the gutter starts to curve up dramatically.
You want to clear enough room for you to
reach
in and place models on the section while
maintaining the feel of a room. |
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Step
2 |
Following the mark you
just made, cut off the overhang with your
cutting
tool. You can use a variety of cutting
tools to accomplish this step, from a hack
saw to
a band saw. Regardless of the tool you
employ, make sure you take the necessary
precautions
(kids, ask your folks for help). We used
a Dremel rotary tool with a disc cutting
tool
attachment - it took a while, but
it worked just fine. Also cut off the small
U-shaped
connectors on the floor of the room. |
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Step
3 |
Crochet grid is great for
40K grating – the only problem is
that primer won't always stick to it right
off the shelf.
We found that a good scrubbing with soap
and water eliminated this problem (they
must use
a releasing agent when they make it). With
a permanent marker, delineate the room
section
area on the grid. Cut out this area with
scissors. |
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Step Four - Click to enlarge.
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Step Five - Click to enlarge.
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Step Six - Click to enlarge.
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Step
4 |
Now that you have
the crochet grid cut out, it can serve as a floor
template
while you work. Centre it over the floor of the
room with the middle entry point lined up in
the "doorway" like shown in the image
above. Mark off the edges on the gutter drain
with a permanent
marker. |
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Step
5 |
With your cutting tool, cut off the
edges of the room along the lines you made. While
you're at it, remove the screw brackets from the
floor of the room so it lies flat on the tabletop. |
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Step
6 |
Though you could leave the rectangular
frame around the doorway, it will make moving models
nearly impossible when you play games. Remove this
frame with your cutting tool. |
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Step Seven - Click to enlarge.
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Step Eight - Click to enlarge.
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Step Nine - Click to enlarge.
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Step
7 |
There are several
building materials you can use for doorways,
but the ones
we thought would work best are gutter C-clamps
like those shown above. They look like cross-sections
of doorways, have a built-in "door control" recess,
and won't block model movement. You can get these
very cheap too. |
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Step
8 |
Glue these to the floor of the
room section with superglue. Make sure you use
your
crochet grid as a guide on how far back along the
floor to place them. |
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Step
9 |
Find some 2" wall vents
like those above. The ones we found had a slightly
rough texture to the plastic, which will be ideal
for drybrushing
later. |
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Next: Room
2.
Previous: Space Hulk Terrain.
