Asteroids - more terrain making

[Red-24]

I've started working on asteroids to go with the planets I made. It took me quite a while to find a store that carried lava rocks, but I tracked down a 7 lb bag for $6 Canadian.

Here is how they are turning out. No painting has been done yet, I was just trying to figure out assembly options.

 

[Renny]

They look fantastic, and great photographs again. And on a personal note, thanks for your tips on planet making. We're applying your crater making technique to my nine year old daughter's homework this weekend. See, ACTA is for everyone

 

[Davros1]

Very effective especially in the photos with the black background !!! Cinematic even

 

[Captain Jonah]

You can get some decent sized lava rock from anywhere that does BBQ supplies, I got 2KG from amazon delivered for £5. They are great for asteroids and 2KG is plenty for several asteroid fields of the small 1-2" ones.

I like your idea of a large base with a number of rocks floating above it, more effective and less work that individual bases for half of them which is what I was going to do ( a mix of on the mat and on stand ones for a 3D effect).

I'll see how easy it is to base them each, if its too much like hard work I may steal your idea of a single base (well not steal as such that would be rude, borrow, take on loan, wander off with the idea while fully intending to return it, but not stealing becasue stealing is bad :lol: :wink: ).

 

[Red-24]

We're applying your crater making technique to my nine year old daughter's homework this weekend.

Funny, after making the planets I was wishing I was back in school with a science project to apply the skills too. ;-)

 

[Spectrar Ghost]

I'll admit I picked up lava rocks from a local fast food joint. Seriously.

Find a place that is landscaped with lava rocks and don't go overboard. As my mother once told me, "More than a handful is too much."

edit - how did you get the bases to attach? I've always found them too crumbly to adhere and too brittle to drill.

 

[Star Ranger]

edit - how did you get the bases to attach? I've always found them too crumbly to adhere and too brittle to drill.

They are a bit crumbly but I have had no problem drilling them and then squirt in a bunch of glue and stick a stand in and you are done - thought I do like to wash them first, dry for days and then a couple coats of clear afterwards to keep them from making dust.

The house I bought had some landscaping done with lava rocks so I have a free supply sitting outside.

 

[Red-24]

how did you get the bases to attach?

I found some floral pins for the supports:

I have this 1/4 inch thick foam, that is sticky on one side. I think it came with our car top carrier and I threw it in my terrain making box years ago. I peeled off the paper and stuck the pins through from the sticky side. I then stuck it onto craft foam sheets (black) and bend pins out.

I used a wire cutter to cut the pins to length.

I had tried drilling holes in the lava rock with my dremel, but it was ineffective. Then I realized that as long as I took the most porous of lava rocks, I could always find a hole that the pin could fit into.

Using five minute epoxy, I filled the hole (after test fitting):

Then I just stick it on and let it dry. I might do a bit of repositioning, but I try to get it shoved in in such a way that the asteroid looks good.

 

[billclo]

Red-24, those asteroids look pretty good. I agree that having multiple asteroids per foam base looks better.

I can see needing to make up a BUNCH of them to get good asteroid coverage though.

 

[billclo]

Red,

I've been making up some asteroids as well, and I'm wondering what material you are using for the bases? All I've been able to locate locally is a very stiff foam that's intended for some sort of floral arrangements (it's not the green squishy foam). The problem is that no matter how much I spray it black, the insides of the cells don't get black, only the tops. So I end up with black top, green cells, and it doesn't look right at all.

As for attaching the rocks to the bases, I was not able to find anyone who knew what the floral pins where, so I picked up a roll of 17ga wire from the local farm store and it's working out fine.

With your rocks, did you drybrush them? The pits look a little darker, or is it just the lighting?

I went with a matte black, and some of the areas still show as shiney, which is okay with me.

 

[Red-24]

If you check my other thread showing my dust clouds (http://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewtopic.php?f=103&t=50628), I didn't use the foam afterall. It turned out to be too thick and hard to paint.

Instead, I used little wood shapes (circles and squares) that come in a pack called Woodsies.

I used my dremel to drill small holes to put the pins through from the bottom. The inserted the pins and crimped them tight with needle nose plyers.

I spray painted them black then put stars on the bases.

Then I glued them onto black craft foam, and when dry cut around the base with scissors.

I sprayed the asteroids with flat black, then lightly sprayed them with grey, then drybrushed them with grey and a bit of brown to make some a little different coloured.

 

[billclo]

Here's my take on asteroids.

I painted them with black primer, then painted either dark grey or flat black. Matte spray final coat.

I used some bases from Hobby Lobby, and drilled 5 holes in them. One asteroid in the base for each density level. Level 3? Just put in 3 rocks...

Still a work in progress as it's slow. 15 bases x 5 rocks each. May do more later if I need more bases.