We Be Clubbin' ... Near Future Board Progress
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Terrain – I spent some time working on the club terrain piece for my near future board. After constructing the walls I realized this was going to be a rather bland structure since it has no windows and only one entry point. The interior is fairly interesting with several height variations leading to the private rooms and stage as well as the main entry check point/bar.
To add some additional interest to the building exterior I've cut some strips of lightweight cardstock into "futuristic shapes" (yes that means variations on hexagons...) While I was cutting strips Empire Strikes Back was on Spike so I gleaned a little inspiration from the set pieces in the film. Most of the futuristic feel of the set comes from the various panel shapes in the background. I also have been paying more attention to newer commercial buildings and noticed most of them use something called efface for the exterior. Essentially what that means is the exterior walls are covered with a foam product skinned with concrete, this allows for interesting shapes at a low cost.
Taking these two points of reference I've added quite a bit of exterior detail that will bring out interest areas without resorting to the typical rivets everywhere look of some futuristic terrain.
I also created the removable roof. Initially it fit a little to snug, after trimming the paper backing off the foamcore on the interior side it is now easier to remove and shouldn't cause to many problems lifting off during gameplay to place models inside.
For the large sign on the exterior I opt to go with a silhouette and a large billboard. I'm still contemplating how I want to do the name of the club. Most likely I'm going to cut out the letters and paint them like neon but I'm still on the fence. For the actual name I'm leaning towards "The Slippery Kitty Lounge" this seems to be a solid name that will fit in numerous settings.
The roof needed quite a bit of detailing. Because the structure takes up a significant portion of the 3'x3' board, I have a feeling the rooftop is going to be a popular perch. Because of this I added some HVAC units and other structures to the roof to provide some cover. Ideally I don't want the roof to be just a sniper's nest but an area that could be contested by several models without becoming a no mans land if there is a model at a higher vantage point. The HVAC units were made from some Platformer parts I had laying around as well as some other bitz.
I still have some other details that need to be figured out before I can move onto painting this building but at this point I think it's ready for a test game to be sure it works as intended.
