advice request: general table-building, design + scenery tips

The problem with scenery is exactly that: details really sell it. Otherwise the building is just a plain MDF/foam/plastic sheet. PS rods and sheets are not very expensive and they last for months. You can add small details here and there to great effect. In the first building I had a lot of trouble 'sealing' the walls, because the UPS case is not a square box. It is curved, so I needed something to close the gaps. I added PS square tubes, and problem solved. But they looked like cheap PS tubes... so I added small bits of thin rod so the tube now looks like the typical AC conduit. The same with the small PS triangles in the roof. And so on...

If you have access to circuitry boards of computers, routers or so you can remove a lot of bits for boxes and so. Round sprues for tubing. Lego pieces for grids...

The most complicated pieces (the aircon unit, the terminal, the doors..), yes, that is an investment.

 

For me it is not just the details, but the scale of those. Yours look great, I don't know if the scale is perfect, but they don't look as a sore thumb. For example the aircon ducts, small rods to depict joints/reinforcements/supports, vs other cases in which you get 3 mm thick blocks that clearly look out of place. The stairs, the handrails, the ladder cage... Plausible even if not perfect vs obvious toy look.

So I have to ask: source of the stairs, rails and cage? Plastruct O 1/48 range?

 

fpvc is a little cheaper than foamcore here.

I can get a 2440x1220 sheet of 3mm foamed pvc for about $48(AUD). 2mm is about $10 cheaper.
It costs me about $10 more for a sheet of foamcore.

The fpvc can be superglued and spraypainted (rattlecan) without issue or melting. It also doesn't care if it accidentally gets wet. So I switched over to using it for all my building terrain pieces.

 

Guilty as charged... They are Plastruct O Scale (1/48). Easier to purchase the rails and stairs than making from scratch, though they are expensive.

Yep, that is quite important. Obviously you have to consider the dimensions compared to the minis, otherwise you see oversized struts, joints, etc. But PS rods come in a range of sizes (1, 1.5, 2 mm, etc.). That is one thing that I do not like with MDF: everything seems to be 3 mm thick. Ladders included.

 

Spot welded wire mesh can be used for ladders and horizontal rails, but sometimes the result looks a bit damaged (or more like mecha stomped) as source mesh is not always carefully stored. 8 mm can do ladders (with 4 mm steps, layering two strips or bending one on itself) or 4-6 for narrow ladders (single layer, width = step), 10-16 can do handrails (a bit less than 20-32 height). I think previous generation of this forum had pictures or links... damn. Really easy once you see them. Stapples can also do the "inserted in concrete" ladder, specially if you make a tool to achieve correct placement. Plastruct has the perfect "cut and welded tube" look or stair handrails (angled), of course, not "welded on the side" wire mesh provides.

Some other places with similar things, maybe wrong size (typical Warham) but concept still applies:
https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/547112.page#5998752 lacks the double layer to make steps X wide and X/2 tall, not X and X.
https://www.librarium-online.com/fo...unfinish-terrain-post1730329.html#post1730329 I would cut some of the segments, less legs, maybe also rectangular sections.

Some discovered they can also cut card, and do mixed kits.

 

I bought mine from an art-and-printing shop, they buy pallets of 4x8' sheets of the stuff to use as poster mounting. I think I paid $48US for the 3mm sheet. They could get other stuff in, but they'd have to order it for me.

 

I loved the use of the plastruct pre-made ladder cages, rails and stairs.

I've used their products for various jobs in the past. Certainly less tedious than having to make the parts by hand myself.

 

Too damaged for me, in fact. I do not like the effect. But the staples (if you are patient enough to draw guide lines, mark the spots, drill and use a guiding piece so the staples fit regularly) work fine. And there are different staples sizes...

That's my point. I suppose that we enter a philosophical realm here, about how do you prefer to invest your time (playing? painting minis? building scenery?), but making scenery is one of the biggest selling points of Infinity to me. And I prefer to invest my time adding small details or reusing strange pieces than making some available parts by hand.

There is another idea for stairs using LEGO pieces like this (https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2412#T=C). Cost: about 0.02 EUR per piece and widely available worldwide.

I have used them as grilles in the first buiding.

 

Neither do I. Raw material photos seem to be way more regular. So I wonder if handling or what (like crudely assembled MDF vs filling all the joints... big difference).

I checked the photos in your gallery and just noticed* the handrails are square, not round; that suggests it could be done cheap with one of those plotter/cutters. And even by hand with Evergreen sticks should be relatively fast if availability or money is an issue. I expected they to be round (way harder to create, with all the corners and T joints) and then be really worth what they ask for them, but square moves the balance a bit. Yeah, if money is no problem, but time is, premade all the way.

*: Plastruct parts avaliable here were beams, expensive, not very successful (even Evergreen was problematic to get)... never saw the rails in hand.

 

Yep, square and not round... I hate that, because all around, in all industrial facilities I have ever been, everybody uses round tube. So square are irreal... but I am willing to sacrifice this in order to save time.I would love seeing Plastruct or Evergreen delivering pre-made O scale round rails.

I mean, is like the minis stands. I would love to make my own stands and I have many ideas for that... but honestly, I prefer to purchase them around and spend my time on scenery.

 

Mantic Games has some good accessories bits as well.

 

I will chime in on 3mm foamed PVC, I'm now in the process of replacing all my 5mm foam board buildings with 3mm foamed PVC, it's more durable, shapes better, doesn't need the edges dressing and is basically welded with superglue and it takes paint well. Where I am I can get it for comparable prices with 5mm foam board.

The made for infinity TT combat stuff is good for the cost but needs some additional doors and hatches to have really usable interiors ( I 3D printed a load of hatches and play ladder underneath) it also benefits from playing shoot into or out but not through, as some of the buildings are very nice but block LOS like a sieve holds water.