Dungeon Bowl pitch casting has begun...

Phreedh · Post by **Phreedh** » Mon May 17, 2004 11:23 am

Ok, the ever so daunting project which I have been putting off for _years (ever since buying Dungeon Bowl, actually) has finally begun. I own a set of plaster cast molds for dungeon stuff since well... about 15 years or so. I've never actually used them for anything (original plan was to cast RPG environments when playing fantasy games) but test casting. When I got dungeon bowl I figured I could use it for that, but the tiles were 3.5 cm wide. Huge compared to the old BB-squares. 3rd edition squares are a bit larger, but not 3.5 (actually, they're 2.

but I've fitted the casting molds with some green stuff, shrinking the squares to 2.8 x 2.8 cm.

Now, the biggest problem. The thing which has put me off from doing this earlier... I need 768 floor tiles (give or take a few) and I only have a casting mould for... two. =) This means, I'll be casting tiles for quite some time... but atleast I've begun. The two first tiles are in the mold, hardening as we speak.

I'll get back to you in a few years when I have all the tiles and walls needed...

/Phreedh

juergen · Post by **juergen** » Mon May 17, 2004 12:09 pm

Hi,

First of all, good luck on the project. A dungeonbowl pitch can look great.

A little tip how you could speed up the process a little bit: cast about 10 tiles and then make a mold out of it (http://www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html). If you don't sell your mold then there shouldn't be copyright problems.

Phreedh · Post by **Phreedh** » Mon May 17, 2004 12:33 pm

Yeah, I'll do that eventually... I've located "mould rubber" in a hobby store here in town. If I'm doing it this way right now (about 4 tiles an hour) It'll take me 48 hours of casting every 30 minutes to get 96 tiles (one board). It'd take me 16 days and nights, refilling the moulds every 30 minutes, to get a full board.

I'm not in the mood for that.

I'm aware of the hirst site, and was contemplating getting those moulds. Too costly though, this way is cheaper and the floor tiles look just as good.

If I don't do a mold of my own to cast from, so I can cast 10 or 20 tiles in one go, I'll go nuts. I'd be doing about 10-12 tiles a day during the weeks, and a few more during the weekends. This would _maybe total a full board per week. Which means 8 weeks of casting before I have all the tiles and walls I need. I want to do them all tonight!

/Phreedh

juergen · Post by **juergen** » Mon May 17, 2004 1:50 pm

the link was actually the mold making manual and not some page to buy stuff

I've made a mold for my BB 7 field and it worked pretty well (for a first try at least

)

traveller · Post by **traveller** » Mon May 17, 2004 2:20 pm

good luck ! .... may time with you !

Traveller <mastercaster of hirstart molds>

Phreedh · Post by **Phreedh** » Mon May 17, 2004 2:57 pm

Thanks Traveller... Hopefully I'll be able to top your Street Bowl project...

Juergen: Yeah, I feel like just having a go at casting all kinds of crazy stuff when I read that page.

Now, for some other questions:
Any tips on chests to use? I don't feel like having those flimsy chest markers when I've got a fancy dungeon.

I've spotted the treasure chest on the GW MO, but at two quid a piece I don't think I'll buy twelve of them. Maybe I will in the end, if I find nothing suitable though. I'll try to find a mold from a swedish company which has a treasure chest in it. Haven't seen it since "back then" when I played RPGs though.

Any ideas for teleporter pads?

Spike traps etc will have to be markers... I'll just have to make new ones, as the ones that came with DB are a bit too small. The idea is to take a pic of a painted floor tile, print it out on a sheet and have that as the back of the markers (a back with a motife is harder to identify than white backs, as stains and specks quickly build up and make the counters recognizable). Then I'll just scan and print larger versions of my dungeon bowl pit and spiked pit markers too, and glue the two together.

I'll refrain from glueing the wall sections where it'll be possible to place doors, as the molds I have also have a wall section with a door hole.

/Phreedh

Devante · Post by **Devante** » Mon May 17, 2004 6:30 pm

I started work on this baby year before last, still needs work to finish it, it looks too blocky so i need to add things like moss. I used Hirst arts dungeon moulds for it

Played a few games and they were great, hopefully will be using it in the new league in essex i just joined too.

more pics here
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gumbo/DB2.gif
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gumbo/DB3.gif
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gumbo/DB4.gif
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gumbo/DB5.gif
http://mysite.freeserve.com/Gumbo/dugout1.gif
[/img]

Snorri · Post by **Snorri** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:46 pm

I wish I could do that(and had the time

)
But the pitch looks cool, devante!

Phreedh · Post by **Phreedh** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:49 pm

Looks excellent, Devante! Just one problem (though it might not be a problem in real life) - how the heck do you spot the squares there?

Agree on the blockyness. I think using different colours on the tiles every now and then can combat that... Moss, lichen, the odd bit here and there and I think you're home free.

Got a few ideas about details for my own dungeon... won't give them up just quite yet though.

Though I do fear the bland blockyness alot...

Can't wait until I get my paycheck and can afford some mold rubber stuff... not that it was expensive, but I'd rather drink beer and eat out for the little money I have left. Aaah, summer time.

At this rate, the DB pitch will be done around X-mas... got 16 tiles done so far. 752 to go!

/Phreedh

juergen · Post by **juergen** » Mon May 17, 2004 8:34 pm

take a look at the dungeon that was used in the Dungeonbowl in Cologne earlier this year - Andre used 2 different tile colors

Devante · Post by **Devante** » Mon May 17, 2004 9:57 pm

Phreedh, it's quite easy to see the squares when you're a bit closer to it.
I was also thinking of adding Advert banners into the dungeon (orcidas, bloodweiser, etc).

My advice when building it though Phreedh, don't worry about the numbers you have to make, just take it a bit at a time.

Khaine · Post by **Khaine** » Mon May 17, 2004 10:07 pm

Why not just make open spaces to simulate what would be hidden in the walls and make the "pitch" more spread out?... Make it sectional so you can take it apart easily and rearange it for different matches etc.

Post by **GalakStarscraper** » Tue May 18, 2004 12:44 am

That looks very very good.

I have a 3-D board as well ... its a lot of fun to play on.

congrats on all that hard work.

Galak[/img]

joker · Post by **joker** » Tue May 18, 2004 6:46 am

very good looking

but must take huge place

Phreedh · Post by **Phreedh** » Tue May 18, 2004 6:54 am

Oh, another question... especially for Devante and Galak.

On what did you base the separate fields? I figure mdf will do the trick, but how thick?

Also, I see you both went with full height walls... how does that affect game play? When playing the paper version of BB, sometimes the doors obscured minis etc so I was considering not doing full height walls in order to help the actual playing. It's either that, or stand up when playing BB... and bah, the main reason I play BB is that I can sit on my arse while doing it. ;D

/Phreedh

Talk Fantasy Football

Dungeon Bowl pitch casting has begun...

Dungeon Bowl pitch casting has begun...

Blockyness