Saturday 4 March 2023

Sci-Fi Walls

These 28mm Z.O.D. Sci-Fantasy Walls by Dutchmogul were scaled down to around 56% original size for printing as 15mm scenery.  They're designed to print upright (Z.O.D. = "Z-Axis Optimised Dominion") and I managed to squeeze this entire set onto a single build plate.  Given how small the Photon Zero build plate is, I was very impressed with this result!  I positioned them all diagonally on the build plate to try and reduce the vertical pixel lines which has worked reasonably well.

Look out!

They interlock using tabs and slots.  There are three main wall panel designs, a gateway and a number of connectors to allow angled or dividing walls.  Because these are resin printed, I had to do some sanding to remove the "elephant's foot" around the base that closed up the bottom of the slots.

A build plate's worth of walls.

I printed 3 of each of the main wall panels to give me plenty of variety when putting together a structure.

Wall A.

The panels were base coated burnt umber, then some patches of burnt sienna were dabbed on.

Wall A reverse.

The whole of each panel was drybrushed silver, then given a coat of Pledge/Klear floor polish to seal it for the next stage.

Wall B.

I masked various areas with toothpaste, applied using a small scrap of sponge.  I tried to vary it so that some had more than others, and concentrated on the areas where most wear would occur.

Wall B reverse.

Before the toothpaste could dry out, the panels were sprayed with cheap white primer.  Once they were touch dry, I soaked them in warm water and scrubbed with a toothbrush to reveal patches of the rusty metal effect underneath.

Wall C.

The set also includes a decorative gateway.  This includes a chunky threshold to keep the piece rigid and prevent the top from snapping.

Gateway.

A few of the walls had some extra detailing applied with very dilute sepia ink to enhance the detail.  I'm not sure about this yet, so I've only painted a few so far, including the gate.

Gateway.

The paint chipped effect has worked as planned, and these will work with either my desert buildings or with various other sets of my sci-fi scenery.

Gateway - reverse.

The connectors have been painted in the same way as the wall panels.  They include angled joints, end sections and 3-way connectors in both 90 and 120 degrees.

Spacers & cappers.

The circular objects on the panels were painted gem-style in blues, reds and greens.  The small gems came out just as I wanted.

Gem detail.

The blue didn't work quite so well, they were more awkward to paint because they were much larger, but they aren't too bad.  All the gems were given a coat of gloss medium to give them a shiny finish.

Gem detail.

Although I don't think I'd build an entire complex out of these walls, they will be ideal for enhancing some of my scratch builds.  My desert buildings are all very generic so far, but I'd like to build a few more definitely sci-fi ones.  These walls would be great for making some small compounds attached to the main buildings, or to enclose a yard between a couple of buildings.

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