Turning Japanese

Greetings or perhaps konnichiwa would be more appropriate … it has been a long time since I have updated the ‘ol blog, but I hope to remedy that situation. So without further ado, cue the a-tonal woodwinds and taiko drums, because we are heading into the mysterious East!

It is my turn to wear the “Game Master” mantle in my roleplaying group, and breaking from my traditional venue of 7^th Sea, I have traded game systems with Grant (from 2D6) and will be running another favorite from Alderac Entertainment: Legend of the Five Rings.  

For those unfamiliar with the setting, think of game heavily influenced by Feudal Japan and Samurai… but that happily borrows culture, traditions, and stylistic elements from other Asian countries like Korea, China, Thailand, and even the Philippines. It is honestly one of my favorite games, and I am really looking forward to seeing how the players interact with my story!

Legend of the Five Rings (referred to as L5R for the rest of the blog) is not a miniatures based roleplaying game, and aside from a small, easily over looked sidebar, there are few rules that make using miniatures intuitive. However, our gaming group counts many wargamers among its members, and if we can incorporate models and terrain, we would like to do so. Also, I must admit that in our previous campaign, our Game Master Jon (from Retreat Condition)introduced terrain and had us use measuring tapes for the fight scenes… and it was epic! So there is the real reason… like iron sharpens iron (or perhaps it’s just a sick gamer form of keeping up with the “Joneses”), I must now make terrain for a feudal Japanese game.

So here is the start of what I have been working on over the past few weeks. None of the pieces are actually finished… though some are getting close. Still, I’m sure that you have all come to expect that (I do not hide the fact that I have completion issues!) At this point you can see that I am working on terrain for a small Japanese village: and I have two smaller homes, and one slightly larger (for a village headman), two sections of rice paddies, a Torii arch, and a stone courtyard that I will use as a dueling arena.

The buildings are coming along nicely. I used Hirst arts blocks for the foundations, and created the raised floor out of foam core with scored balsa wood. The Walls were built with foam core, detailed with balsa wood, and anchored in place by the balsa wood pillars (that are actually sunk through the floor and are glued to the base of the terrain on the larger building).

From here, I plan to finish painting the buildings, add flocking and foliage (with aquarium plants) and finish the roofs. Because these are peasant buildings, I bought a broom, and will be cutting the bristles and gluing them to a foam core base to make thatched roofs. They will of course be removable so that we can move models around for our games. I also will attempt to make small modular “rice paper walls” that I can set inside the buildings to create different rooms. Of course, we will have to see how this actually works out.

Next, the rice paddies look simple to make, but they were the most time consuming, and it was mainly because I chose an insane method of creating the rice. The trouble was that I liked how it looked… so I had to keep going with the technique. Here is what I did. First, everything is based on MDF board for stability… every terrain piece I make from now on will be made with detail AND durability in mind! I then took thin balsa wood and glued it around the edges, creating a “berm” and when this had dried, I glued sand over it to create the texture. I primed the terrain at this point, and then painted everything (water green, berms brown. Then the “fun” began. Using tweezers, gap-filer glue, and very small pieces that I cut from an aquarium plant, I began to “plant” my rows of rice. Honestly… it took hours! It became a project that I didn’t want to work on, but knew that I had to finish, and it was looking so good as it slowly came together. I began bringing it to my sons swim practice and kung fu classes, getting the work done an hour at a time when I couldn’t be distracted by computers and chores.

Finally finished, I used GW water effects, poured it in, and let it dry for about three days.  At this point all I need to do is add some flock and maybe a few plants to the berms. Again, it took a long time, but I do plan on making three more at this point, all angular but in different shapes so that they can be set up together and still make interesting patterns.

Next you can see the Torii Arch, which is one of my favorite pieces that helps to tie the theme together… It screams “Japanese” and was actually fun to make. Everything was done with round dowels and balsa wood. To finish the base needs to be flocked and plants added. Also, I want to paint the arch a shade or two brighter in red, and if I can find the right piece, I might hang a scroll from the top lintel.  

Then there is my stone courtyard / dueling arena. Honestly, I was playing with spare Hirst Arts blocks, creating patterns, and I saw something that I could use. The piece has been primed grey, and needs a lot of painting love, but it will be ready to soak the blood from one or two Iaijutsu duels in the near future!

Finally, here is a collection of walls that actually started this whole Japanese terrain project in the first place. I want to create a samurai “compound – walls surrounding a few buildings: shrine, dojo, living quarters. These pieces were again built using the Hirst Art blocks. I then glued balsa wood and filled the top portion with spackle to create the “plaster” look. I am still casting the tiles that top the walls, and adding plaster to the corner pieces, but they are coming along nicely. Ultimately I will work on building a working gate, and I am currently torn over whether I should base the pieces on thin MDF or just leave them free standing…  there are advantages to both.

From here, I would like to add some more buildings. I am sketching plans for a temple (picked up some cheap Buddhas is different poses to act as the Rokugani fortunes) and I would love to build a pagoda. I just placed a “father’s day” order for five more Hirst Arts molds, so we shall see what inspiration they give for more projects.

Well, that’s it for the moment. Next post I will take some time to show you some of the models that will be battling on this terrain… that’s right, I have samurai!