Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hirst Arts Walls


In original Dungeons and Dragons, Dwarves have the ability to note new construction in underground settings.  That OD&D Dwarven ability heavily informs my approach to Hirst Arts dungeon tile construction:  I am building tiles that feature different construction styles, depending on who built the particular dungeon area, and during what epochs they were built.

Hirst Arts provides a plethora of options, including gothic, fieldstone, egyptian, and other themed construction molds.  Even within those broad classifications, there are varied pillars and block sizes and shapes around which different construction styles can be aggregated.


I've been spending much of my limited spare time building wall sections.  I have plenty of floor sections.  The wall sections tend to be more complicated, with more pieces, so it has been a drawn-out process building them, not to mention that the related construction elements are more detailed and less common on the molds than those for floors.


Almost all of the currently buit walls have been built with gothic elements.  Because there are two different sizes of doors, door arches have to come in two different sizes, thus explaining the two photos above.  One doorway is peaked, the other is arched.


All of my floor tiles are built in 3"x 3" sections.  In order to create corner sections, I have sandpapered the edges of the walls where they connect at the corner.  Dental plaster is a pretty hardy material, so this takes some time.  I recommend wearing a filter mask while you are sandpapering, as you generate significant amounts of plaster dust.


There are several different sizes of wall bricks.  The above photo shows a "bricked-up" door arch, representing those door arches that have been bricked-up, to prevent access to the area beyond, or prevent whatever is behind the door from getting out.

4 comments:

Gothridge Manor said...

Those look great. Rob Conley, was at his house and he got two new Hirst molds in the mail. And my other freind Dwayne has been constructing a keep, inn and dungeon beneath them. So much work. You have a ton more patience than I do. Looks fantastic.

Sean Robson said...

These look great! The wall sections illustrated here remind me of the dungeon levels in the original Diablo.

christian said...

In the early 80s I was always struck by the grand architecture style of dungeons via various TSR illustrations. Your hirst walls and floors really capture this nicely. They convey a wonderful style and must really help you stay busy on cold, dark Calgary nights!

Anonymous said...

Very cool!