15mm Industrial

So here the plan

I'm not sure how much interest there is going to be in 15mm laser cut terrain so for my first attempt I want to cast as wide of a net as I can. So I figured an industrial themed table with some fortifications can span from WWII to near future and I also want to make it work with 12mm - 15mm. In addition I want to develop enough terrain to cover a 6 * 4 table.


So first up I figured some pipes would work well as 'wall' feature for the table.

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The plan is to have a set that would include: 90 degree (pictured) End (pictured), straight, T, and Cross pieces.


Next up are some simple fortifications: a guard post and bunker.







The guard post comes apart to fit a standard FOW fig set and the bunker doesn't have a bottom and will also fit the standard FOW fig. I'm figuring 4 to 8 per set, not sure how many include, so if any has any suggestions let me know.


Next up a horizontal storage tanks:





And then lastly a garage(?) not quite sure what to call it:





The construction on these are a bit rough (I tend to rush through putting together prototypes) so no need to point that out, but other than that everything is fair game.

So what do you guys think?

It looks good for both WW2 and Scifi.

How would you sell the horizontal tanks, i dont think you can flat pack them

The warehouse thing looks like an early hanger. Could you corrugate the roof?

Thanks.

The shrink wrap will hold the pvc in place while it ships and the entire piece will fit in a small flat rate box.

Unfortunately with the changes in the shipping rates by the post office unless something is a letter or staying in the same state, the base rate to ship something even as small as that piece is around $5.

Pulling off the corrugating the roof at this scale is pretty hard, it's something that needs to have the detail of a resin mold. But lines can be added to give it a little bit of that look.

Although there are some pretty talented people in this forum maybe one of them has an idea?

Not sold on the pipe wall, if you have a lot of other "pipe" type terrain it would fit in.
I like the guard tower and bunker!
I like the tank farm but it looks time consuming to produce?
Like the garage = looks like an aircraft hanger to me.

Possible additions
Different sides bunkers, not a player of 15mm I don't know what would fit in, I know infinity works better with smaller rather than true scale type structures.
Dragon teeth tank traps?
Quonset huts - there is a way to cut mdf so that you can bend it into a nice curve, someone is doing that with a roller door, can find a link it required.

Really nice pieces, Wd. These are the main things that caught my eye:

I agree the hanger roof needs something to break up the large smooth surface.

The backs of the storage tanks also look pretty bland. Not sure what you could put back there though.

On the watchtower, would it make a big difference to put a notch in the floor where the ladder comes up? It seems really odd when you put the walls & roof on that you can see a ladder, but there's no actual way for them to get onto the podium.

Thanks for the replys guys I know a lot of you are busy.

bugbait_nz wrote: if you have a lot of other "pipe" type terrain it would fit in.

Yes there will be I'm working on putting all of it together now, should have pics within the next 24

bugbait_nz wrote:I like the tank farm but it looks time consuming to produce?

Actually not really, I will be cutting the PVC by hand with a chop saw it will go quick.

bugbait_nz wrote:Different sides bunkers,

Should that have been 'size'?

bugbait_nz wrote: Quonset huts - there is a way to cut mdf so that you can bend it into a nice curve,

MDF no but Oil Board yes and I'll have some examples of that next week (I need to get more oil board), and that's a good idea for an additional piece of terrain.

Melz wrote:I agree the hanger roof needs something to break up the large smooth surface.

I think I've actually worked out a way to pull off the corrugated look at this scale with the laser, pictures soon.

Melz wrote:The backs of the storage tanks also look pretty bland. Not sure what you could put back there though.

I left them blank on purpose, but I could put a small circle of grayboard to give it some more depth.

Melz wrote:On the watchtower, would it make a big difference to put a notch in the floor where the ladder comes up?

Good catch I'll make that change

On thing that I did want to do was get a consensus from everyone about things, and since it's hard to tell if you like something so you're staying quiet, or you hate it and you're staying quiet what I'm going to do is start making a list of specific questions and if you would just way in with a simple +1 (yes), 0 (meh), -1 (no) when possible, and or no explanation short answers are great as well

So...

1/ More detail to the back of the storage tanks?

2/ On the hanger there are 2 styles of windows,
A: keep the 2 styles
B: Use Just the smaller ones
C: Use the bigger ones

3/ Also on the hanger I've been debating about countersinking the larger windows, or do they look ok the way they kind of sit above wall (if that made sense)

4/ The MDF on top of the bunker for detail, does it look ok or might some thinner gray board pieces look better?

Also, somewhere (it doesn't show up for me since I'm the admin) there is a follow this thread button so you can stay informed when stuff is posted.

Thanks!

1. detail can be laser engraved, numbering/hazard signs/content labels.

2. keep both sizes of windows

3. I would need to see a mock up to make a decision

4. Whenuapai AFB has concrete hangers, rounded tops with a small ridge. see linky
OK so Im not allowed to post links for 7 days, treated like a newb . .  whats the world coming to! - google "whenuapai concrete hangers"

Option down the bottom of the post, defaults to "Notify me when a reply is posted" I can handle that!!

@ Bug
1/ Cool idea, looking for some images that I can use.
3/ Working on it
4/ Cool!

Here are all the pipe walls





I'm also going to include a pump house with the set.







Aside from the point that I really pantsed it up by making the roof too short, and the building not tall enough to put a pipe wall up to, it's brought up an interesting scale problem.

If you look at the size of just one of the WWII guys the door is the right size. BUT with the extra height of the base the door is a bit too short. So if I increase the height of the door then I need to also widen it to keep the proportions and now I'm wondering if if that will make it look too big if a fig isn't next to it.

A similar problem has arisen with the railing on the second floor. The railing is adjusted for the base height of the figs and comes up to the figs waist, so it looks ok with a fig, BUT take the fig away and it looks to high and if you look at it with respects to where it comes up to the door it looks REALLY to high.

And to top it all off, I'm not sure if I'm happy with how the block pattern looks?

But on a happy note I'm pretty pleases how the corrugated roof turned out

However it has made me take a second look at the walkway on the horizontal storage tanks.



I'm now wondering if the cut outs on the walkway looks too big? I can't make them as close as the ladders because that would weaken the piece to much, so it's either keep them like they are or just engrave a pattern on them.

So thoughts on all that?

1/ More detail to the back of the storage tanks?

Tanks are generally pretty plain. I would leave the tanks without additional detail. That leaves room for posters/signs/weather effects.
I assume these kits are intended for terrain-making novices, but a little room for customization should be left in, I think.


2/ On the hanger there are 2 styles of windows,
A: keep the 2 styles
B: Use Just the smaller ones
C: Use the bigger ones

I like the smaller ones. More 'textures' to confuse the eyes.

3/ Also on the hanger I've been debating about countersinking the larger windows, or do they look ok the way they kind of sit above wall (if that made sense)

I see what you mean. I'd need to see an alternative, but at the moment it doesn't look quite right.

4/ The MDF on top of the bunker for detail, does it look ok or might some thinner gray board pieces look better?

It looks a bit odd. Sort of like a cake. Thinner might be better.

As for the railings/door height.

Could you compromise? Drop the railing height a bit and raise the doors a little?

DickenMcNuggets wrote:1/ More detail to the back of the storage tanks?

Tanks are generally pretty plain.

Yeah the majority of my reference pictures the tanks are plain, but I liked bugz idea for the hazards sign, so here's what I came up with.



Continuing with the revisions. Thinner detail pieces on the bunker



Reworked the pump house. Not sure if I'm just losing my mind over small details, but I think I might have made the door too big, and lowered the railing a little too much. Plus I'm still not sure I'm sold on the brick pattern.



It's kind of hard to tell in the pic but the corrugated roof turned out pretty well. I was trying another design for putting the roof together but messed up, the final version the roof will sit flush like it did in the first version. Also countersunk the side windows (I think that looks a lot better) and tried the large windows on the side vs the same smaller windows that are like the ones at the top.





So..

1/ Detail on back of the tanks?
2/ Thinner detail pieces on the bunker?
3/ Size of door and rail on pump house?
4/ Block pattern on pump house?
5/ Bigger windows or smaller lower windows on the hanger?

Thanks guys!

1. I like the hazard symbol on the back; but perhaps smaller would be better.

2. This is an improvement.

3. I think your door is fine. The railings look seem to look OK, too. It's hard to tell because there's not a good photo of your dudes right next to it, but if they're the same size as the ones on the gangway across the storage tanks I think you're good.

4. I'm liking the bricks. I think the pump house is my favorite so far.

5. Bigger = better. It gives more variety to the building if they're different than the upper windows.

_______
Side note. I "followed" this topic, but it just gives me notifications to my account here, not email alerts. I will have to look into some settings to get that fixed seeing as I missed some stuff.

Melz wrote:Side note. I "followed" this topic, but it just gives me notifications to my account here, not email alerts. I will have to look into some settings to get that fixed seeing as I missed some stuff.

Yeah I'm not sure why that's not working. I'll send out PM when I've got new stuff to look at and what not

And that pic certainty isn't the best this is a little better

I love most of this, to be honest. The pump house has a lot of character, the pipe walls are very good for the 15mm style of gaming, I think, because they will help break up battlefields and create situations where a variety of responses are possible. The countersunk windows are a good touch but not entirely necessary. I think it might be nice if the roof overhung the building on the warehouse a little bit more.

The storage tanks look good, but they do raise a question for me: would a silo of some sort be a good addition to this industrial set? When I think of that kind of railyard/manufacturing plant design I think of there being the tank-on-scaffold-legs for either siphoning off industrial waste, like sawdust, or gravity-fed dispensing of whatever is being kept there in very large quantities.

My thought process here is that it might give you another building with the same footprint as the pump house so you have easy "objective" options. The extra height is good for deploying snipers, spotters, and the like, and with open legs it can block movement but not shooting.

Finally, I'd like to see some sort of "blind" option, as that would be useful for artillery, tanks, and mechs of all sorts (steampunk and futuristic).

1, Im with Melz, small warning sign, on the vertical line but above centre? If in doubt use "The golden ration" = 1.6 to position it.

2.Thinner bunker detail is better.

3. Door and railing look better, funny how I didn't notice that before.

4. brick size looks to scale

5. I like the idea of two different type of windows for a bit of variation, can you post a pic of the small windows that is at the same angle as the pic with the large windows.

6. How about pipes that are horizontal not verticle, they can be 2-3 or 4 wide, can be stood on easily, raised enough off the ground to provide a cover save.

my 2c

Thanks for the reply guys it really helps!

Here's 3 new pieces for you.

Q-hut





1/ Side windows or No side windows?
2/ Any other thoughts?

Oil Tank



The LED is 3mm but it's pretty darn bright! However, I'm I probably just splitting hairs here, it looked a little too tall. So I did a regular version and then I countersunk it.

Regular



Countersunk



3/ Regular or Countersunk
4/ Any other thoughts

Storage silos







5/ Thoughts on silos?


Thanks!

Opps almost forgot...

I'll be working on the blind idea, but I'm also thinking I need 2 - 3 more buildings so I'm open to any idea what they should be.

Thanks!

The storage silo is excellent, the Quonset Hut is fantastic but definitely needs the windows. Also, I need a package deal of at least three of them.

As far as extra buildings, here are some ideas:

Factory Office/Tenement - a 3 story (or taller) rectangular footprint building; if you want to get fancy, give it a fire escape option for stashing snipers, MG teams, and the like

Machine Shop - a building similar to the Pump House but instead of linking into a pipe network, it has a lean-to covered bay for working on vehicles/mechs and a garage door/delivery bay on one end.

Burger Joint/Drugstore - a one-story building with an L or rectangular footprint and a flat, recessed roof, large windows, and multiple doors.

These are relatively ageless and would fit into a variety of settings, everything from AQMF alt-history Great War to a Terra Novan urban landscape (complete with a Weird But Tasty (TM) because who doesn't need mid-battle refreshments?) and would give you a variety of "looks" to your pieces so you could go very industrial-park or more mixed-use city block.

1 Windows

2 I think less is more, windows are enough detail

2. Countersunk. Looks like you are using a 5mm LED, a standard LED instead of an ultra bright might look better, how about a 3mm LED?? Not sure why it has an LED in it, the taller tanks would make sense to me.

3. How about a ladder up the side of the storage tank?

You have an aircraft hanger, how about a air traffic control tower to go with it?

Thanks for the responses!

1/ Take a look back at the vertical storage tanks above. I was thinking of adding some black straws to the back to give it some more detail / interest, but is this a case where less is more and I should leave it as is?

2/ The LED's are 3mm on the tank, and yeah why put red lights on a low tank? Well, I was thinking of doing it on the vertical storage tanks but I liked the pipe look better, plus considering that when painted there are probably going to be lots of dark colors, I thought some red on the table would help make things look better. However, if they look too odd I can do without them. So the question is A: LED / no LED, and Ladder / No Ladder



3/ I came up with 3 blind styles. From left to right 1, 2a, and 2b. Thoughts?




4/ Here's the workshop (nice idea cymruvoodoo)!






5/ And I decided on a warehouse for the last building





6/ At the moment, the office area of the warehouse doesn't open up into the main section of the warehouse itself. Should I leave it closed, put in a door or two, or open it up completely?

7/ Obviously there's no detail on the warehouse or workshop, however I would like to add some but I'm open to ideas. I'm cool with the block look on the pump house, and good with the nothing on the hanger, but I think the workshop and warehouse could use some. I don't want to repeat the block look (unless everyone thinks is a good idea) so I'm looking for something different. Maybe vertical line on the warehouse to kind of give it that warehouseie (new word) look but no idea for the workshops. Thoughts?

Well, I like a lot of what I'm seeing here and I quite look forward to seeing it all together on a table to get a sense of what it will be like. Let me provide some specific responses:

1. LED/No LED: I personally don't find it necessary but it also isn't something which works against the piece for me, so if it stays I don't think it will hurt any.

2. Ladder/No Ladder: I think the ladder is mandatory. It looks good, for one thing, but it also has a very real in-game use for a lot of games.

3. Blind Styles: I think both 1 and 2a look good - 2b isn't bad either but I think 2a looks a little bit more "finished" and therefore ready to paint and slap on the table. I think 1 actually looks the most like something which would protect whatever was inside the blind, so in that regard I like that one best, but I appreciate that the design of 2a is more modern/futuristic. My one concern is whether these are the right size for games like AQMF and Heavy Gear. Have you compared the size of the blinds to, say, a Visigoth or an Aller?

4. Workshop: Looks brilliant, my one concern is whether the legs to that shed/lean-to portion are going to be sturdy enough.

5/6. Warehouse looks good but I do agree that at least one doorway from the office to the storage section is needed.

7. For the machine shop, I think either a smaller brick look than the pump house or horizontal siding would be good. As for the warehouse, I honestly don't know. It does look pretty good now and I could see some fun graffiti on the side of that. What about a billboard?

Sorry a bit late to the party, been caught up in real life junk.

I skimmed most of the posts, but might have missed something so forgive me if I repeat anything.

I am not 100% with the light on the oil tank. What about an access hatch with a gantry that goes from the ladder up the side and across the top? I was also thinking maybe some panel lines on the side?

I really like the Q-hut. Wondering if it would be possible to get some flexible corrugated and wrap it over the top and maybe on the half circles on the sides.