A Stairway to the Realm of Azyr
Some have asked how I built the Eternity Stairs platform for the Holy Wars Realm of Azyr table. Here's the how to.
The Materials
1. MDF footprint base
2. 1" high density foam
3. 1/4" black foam presentation board
4. Pine bark nuggets
5. PVA glue
6. Paint, Washes & Pigments
6. Flock
4. Pine bark nuggets
5. PVA glue
6. Paint, Washes & Pigments
6. Flock
I always use an MDF base for all my terrain, I find it holds up best to game play and the abuse terrain takes when taking to games or tournaments.
STEP 1: THE BASE
The pink high density foam is available at any large box hardware store. Home Depot is selling these in 24"x24"x1" sheets very convenient for small projects but you will get more bang for your buck if you buy a larger sheet.
In the picture below you can see how I used the pink foam to elevate the Eternity Stairs so they could reach the lower level floating island. The stairs at the top of the Eternity Stairs are the stairs from the Dreadfire Portal kit.
STEP 2: THE STEPS
The steps leading to the Eternity Stairs were made from 1/4" black presentation board. You can find these at art stores or office supply stores. In the shots below you can see a couple of versions
Before I glue them together I do a test layout and use models to see how the models would interact with the steps. Most times this will determine the rise of the steps in this case it was very straight forward.
STEP 3: STONE WORK
After gluing all the steps together I take a blade and cut and distress the steps to look like slabs of stone that have seen better days. The cracks you see in the images below were made using a ball point pen and applying just enough pressure not to break the surface. When I press too hard I usually make it a deeper cut of crevice.
STEP 4: PINE BARK NUGGETS & THE FILLER
After the glue dries I put on the pin bark nuggets these serve as the rocks for all my terrain. Once I'm happy with the pine bark I fill in all the gaps using lightweight spakle. I lay this down very think in some areas and lighter in others creating waves in the surfaces. It's really important to make sure it dry before moving on to the next step.
STEP 5: PVA
Once the filler sets I brush on PVA over the entire surface. I will apply many coats till the pine bark nuggets are smooth to the touch and there is no give in the filler when pressure is applied.
After many, many coats of PVA sand is applied to the areas of soil. Then once that PVA dries the sand is sealed with more PVA and then painting starts.
STEP 5: PAINTING & FLOCK
After the rocks are painted and pigmented up I apply the flock. This first shot shows the flock after the initial dusting. It looks full with little spots of earth showing through.
When the flock is just about dry I seal it with a very watered down mixture of PVA. As I dab my brush to seal in the flock I pick up the lose and not yet dry flock this creates a more "natural" look to the turf that you can see in the images below.
Hope this was helpful and I will post more as progress continues.