MAGICKBK's Eldar Maiden World Terrain Project

[magickbk]

While my friend is away on vacation I've been working on my Dark Eldar, and decided to take a break for a few days to liven up the terrain for my table. His primary army has always been Eldar, and now that I'm working on Dark Eldar, I figured a Maiden World would make a great battleground for us.

I had a few goals for this project:
1. Make scenery that fits in with the appearance of the scatter terrain I already have, so it can be mixed and matched.
2. Make it sturdy!
3. Make the terrain fulfill a good role on the battlefield. Pretty terrain is useless if it sits in a corner and models make no use of it.
4. Make it quick, I've got an army to paint!

I started with some sketches to try to figure out proportions and get used to the basic curvature and design. If the curves are off, it won't look Eldar-y enough. Here are my sketch sheets. I'm not exactly an illustrator, this just helps me refine the ideas I have in my head.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9269723585/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9269723585/]Eldar Terrain Sketches 1[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/47042253@N08/]magickbk[/url], on Flickr


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9269723739/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9269723739/]Eldar Terrain Sketches 2[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/47042253@N08/]magickbk[/url], on Flickr

By the time I got to the margins and bottom of page 2, I felt like I was starting to get the basic shapes and proportions where they needed to be. I have the assembly started on the 'Mesa' Temple already, and will post up WIP soon.

[SotonShades]

Those plans look great. Can't wait to see the models come to life as it were

[Aegwymourn]

Indeed. I am always incredibly impressed, and jealous of, other peoples drawing/modelling abilities.

[magickbk]

I started work on the 'Mesa' Temple, which has turned out not to be a temple at all. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the top, and I ended up deciding it should be a meeting place instead of a temple, which is when I came up with this concept of a place that representatives gather to decided how to defend the Maiden World, as every one is precious to any potential future of the Eldar. To this end, I created a circle with the runes of the craftworlds that have pledged to defend the world, as well as runes for Outcasts, Exodites, and Dark Eldar that show up to these meetings.

First, here is a piece of my current scatter terrain so you can see where I'm going with it. I learned the technique from the old Games Day tables. It may not be as pretty as gentle sloping hills, but building the edges in this way means it is very easy to tell what models are elevated, and and things don't tip over the way they do on sloped pieces.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9273932457/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9273932457/]Eldar Maiden World Terrain 4[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/47042253@N08/]magickbk[/url], on Flickr

Here's the 'mesa' with the layers glued, everything is cut, and the sand has been applied where it belongs. There is a Dark Eldar warrior on there so you can tell the size of this piece. It is tall enough for most vehicles so be completely obscured, and most Flyers can't see over it either.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9276718482/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9276718482/]Eldar Maiden World Terrain 5[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/47042253@N08/]magickbk[/url], on Flickr

Here is the meeting circle, with all the runes carved in. I drew them freehand with a mechanical pencil, and then carved everything with an x-acto. As you can see, as I carved I also tweaked some proportions. The extra lines will all be hidden by my primer layer.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9273931793/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9273931793/]Eldar Maiden World Terrain 6[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/47042253@N08/]magickbk[/url], on Flickr

[eldargal]

Very nifty, really looking forward to seeing how this develops.

[primeministersinister]

This looks great. It's always neat to see non-imperial terrain pieces.
You think they'd make more.
I would think a few one or two level pieces would be in order too. Also, a fallen arch-way would make some great cover.

[Lost Vyper]

Looks awesome, keep them coming...

[SotonShades]

amazing start, keep em coming

[magickbk]

I ran into huge issues trying to get the proportions I was happy with from the sketches up to the size needed for the terrain. After trying a variety of methods, I broke down and decided to go the technological route. I scanned in my sketch sheet, cleaned up the piece labeled "Webway Portal Type 2' on the sheet in Photoshop, and then traced it and scaled it up in Illustrator. This got me what you see below. Tonight I will try to use this as a guide to create a cardboard template that I can use while working with the foamboard.

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9291657639/][/url]
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/47042253@N08/9291657639/]Eldar Maiden World Terrain[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/47042253@N08/]magickbk[/url], on Flickr

[BlessMyBeard]

Great looking plans and early work, can't wait for more!