Today, I did the second pass of detailing on
Multiverse Gaming's
Vault Builder set.
As I said before, this is only a quarter of the total amount of terrain I bought from them. I bought two Vault Builder Kiloton bundles, each containing two sets each of Vault Builder Sector Alpha and Beta.
I didn't end up adding as much as I'd thought on this second pass, for two reasons:
-One: I was afraid I'd overclutter the terrain (an odd thought seeing the new Kill Team and other terrain coming from Games Workshop, but as I said, this is supposed to be a set of multi-genre terrain).
-Two: I got impatient, I want to primer this stuff and paint it up! Having just these two sets finished has gotten me excited about the final table.
Here's how it looks before I covered it all in black primer:
I did some things differently from the instructions given, so let's recap these. I'll also include some tips an thought on my approach:
-I replaced the cardboard inserts with 15mm diameter ribbed tubing from the local hardware store. Just slide these in, mark where to cut and glue them in once cut. Tip: Cut in the recessed parts of the ribbing and clean up your cuts so everything looks as neat as possible. When drying, wrap the columns in rubber bands so the tubing gets compressed into place. (I'll see if I can get some step by step pictures the next time I build a few more columns)
-I cut the tabs off the wall bases, so the components all stay modular. If you built them according to the instructions, unless I'm mistaken, either everything locks together permanently, or you end up with walls standing on top of separate bases. All the items in the above picture can be separated. I did it for this set, but for the next set(s) I build I'm considering making a few double width walls. In the end I may end up building a few tiles with columns and /or walls permantly attached, in order to integrate lighting and hide the battery pack under the floors.
Tip: The tabs I cut off from the wall bases, I glued one of them onto the top of each door. This makes them easier to grab and pull out of their frames.
-I added Green Stuff (modelling putty) details. I made these by taking impressions from interesting details/elements from various unbuilt/semi-build sci-fi kits I own. (Mostly GW terrain and models, these walls have details glued on them taken from, among others, the new Mechanicus terrain, classic Necromunda bulkheads, even a Space Marine drop pod.) For the molds I used Oyumaru (a thermoplastic re-useable mold material), but you could also use Green Stuff to make the impression, just make sure you lubricate the surface enough, so the mold will come loose once cured!
-Extra details were added with parts from my scratch-building stockpile: plastic rod and guitar string pipes and cables. The retainer clips for these were cut from metal sauce/puree tubes (cut them open, wash them thorougly and flatten them out.), as was a patch panel on one of the columns. If you have a sturdy enough paper/card corrugator tool, you can also use the sturdier puree tube metal to make corrugated roofing panels.
-On one of the panels (fourth picture, lower right corner, 2 squares left from the space marine) you can just make out a large white panel. This isn't plasticcard but steel tape. The plan to add such panels here and there so I can attach setting-specific items to the walls with magnets or magnetic tape. I've yet to build any add-ons but I'm thinking of a gothic shrine for 40K/Necromunda, a laser-cut billboard or sign for Cyberpunk, and maybe a framed poster or something for Post-Apocalypse games.
Here's a close up of the steel tape, as well as some sryrene tubing:
If you are ready to start priming your MDF terrain, just get a cheap can of matt black spray paint from the local DIY or hobby store. MDF soaks up a LOT of paint, and it would be a shame to use an expensive can of hobby primer for that!
TIP: When building the walls, have a spare lenght of MDF (from the frame the walls came from) on hand to "wiggle" the side walls to the right distance throught the connector slots. Otherwise you might find that the connectors don't quite fit into the slots, as the sides of the wall are too close together. Once again, maybe this is clearer when I take some pictures during the next assembly session.
As to why I chose Multiverse Terrain's offerings over other brands of Necromunda compatible walls? One is price, you get a lot of terrain for your money, especially considering that other companies don't offer the floorboards as part of their sets. The second is the sparsity of detail, as this means I have lots of room to add my own details and to modify the appearance of the walls. This is important to me, as I am at heart a scratch-builder, I want things to look thoroughly my own. The Multiverse walls allow me to do this without significant modification of the parts/building sequence.
Future purchase plans include the connector clips, as I forgot to order those this time around, as well as an extra 30x30cm of floorboards, to give me enough tiles to fill a complete 90x90cm/3'x3' Necromunda gaming table. Plus, Multiverse Gaming has announced more walls, sets and other items for the Vault Builder range, so I expect to get a few of those as well.
Currently the primer is curing in the garage, hopefully I can fire up the airbrush and at least do the basecoats next weekend...
See you next time!
