I am designing some dark lands terrain at the moment and I wanted a general idea of what the river Ruin and its tributaries might look like.
My first idea is to have the water itself look green and sludgy, an industrial wasteland stereotype of a polluted river. Add in little things like maybe bones/skulls to convey the sense that whatever flows in it is quite toxic.
Second idea: It is my understanding that the Chaos Dwarfs use daemonic energy to forge their weapons and that this magic runoff is dumped into the river. Now I might be wrong but it still makes for an interesting concept. Now I was thinking that this would allow me to sneak in more psychedelic colors that would indicate daemonic corruption. To drive this idea even further I would sculpt subtle daemon faces that would twist and contort beneath the waters surface.
So what sounds better to everyone? Im free to hear other ideas of what people think this polluted river may look like.
I like the sound of the psychedelic colours in the water… I don’t know what you’re using (a resin?) but giving it a swirly look on the surface, like an oil slick rainbow thing, would look super sweet. then it’s kinda polluted (it may look like oil), and kinda magic. if you had to choose only one, I’d sayyyyyy… magic scenario
I don’t see why you can’t use both ideas, toxic and magic. I think the daemonic faces would be very fitting as well. Are you going to have a sewage pipe going into the river on the board?
Also depending on how large it is, a bronze statue on a small ziggurat shaped island would be an interesting feature.
I dont see myself likely using resin for my rivers. I am building it in sections so that we can change things up from game to game. I will likely top the river off with a couple coats of gloss varnish after painting/sculpting the surface. Unless anyone has a good idea to keep the resin from running off the sides.
The river I am making isnt very large. Its really more of a tributary, but I like the idea of the bronze statue somewhere in the river, perhaps near the sewage pipe. I have already made a sewage pool, but it doesnt lead into a river. But I like the idea of the sewage leading off somewhere. This should help give an idea what it would look like.
(By the way, due credit must go to wallacer whos CD scenery post originally inspired this sewage pit)
The water on this piece of terrain doesnt have anything as special as what Im planning with the river, just polluted greens with resin.
Let me ask what kind of colors might be good for the “magic sewage”. I want it to be more subtle and dont want to over accentuate the colors. Its a river of sewage, not of rainbows. I was thinking of choosing a few colors like blue, purple, maybe red and use darker tones so it isnt as much of an eyesore. Im not sure what to use as too many colors will be excessively ugly and make the river look crowded.
! are water are not polluted. A tar and oily water that may have part where it on fire!!due to the volcanoes.The magic water would make cool muntans. I say make it green with oily rainbows where the sun shine on the oily muck.and have flamming burning chunks of toxic stuff on the river. * Kera smell the great smell of the river mummm Refreshing*
If the river is actually on fire, that could be really awesome… make spouts of flame or something…
or just make it bubbly/thick looking if you’re still aiming for pollution.
and this is what I kinda meant about the oil slick look (you’d obviously make the water more murky) you could do this in a very subtle way.
I think you could mix some Brass Bits paint with a lime green and really water it down (it was what I did to my faerie wings) and it looks iridescent, so on top of a dark water, it would only give a slight reflection in the light on the right angle
AHHH! no no no… I’m sorry, that pic isn’t anything like what I did (just a Google image search), but I wanted to explain why I said “rainbow oil slick” (I feel silly now) sorry to disappoint you Deebo
I like the oil slick idea. It fits very well with the theme. Only problem is Im not sure how Ill pull it off. Ill have to think about that one for a while, perhaps turquoise’s oil/water paint idea will come in handy…see what I can come up with I suppose.
The patches of fire I dont see working well for the river. Being that the water isnt stagnant its hard for fire to catch unless the water is polluted enough to set the whole thing ablaze. However, it would be a great addition to the oily bog I had lined up to make after the river (more on that coming soon).
For the sewage pipe I was possibly thinking of making the pollutants spilling out the mouth of a large sculpted skull (made of stone or metal) or a bestial looking head (lammasu maybe). This all depends on how elaborate I choose to get. It is sewage after all, not a demon-shrine.
Perhaps have it as murky (English seaside style ) water, then mix some water, gloss varnish and the colours seen in Sojourn’s oil pic (must have each colour in a separate micture though) and paint little, as though you were highlighting, but using different colours and sometimes swirling them. Might work well to do it the next colour before the first has finished drying in some parts too. Or to have a colour go over more than one in some parts, but not in others (which ya don;t do in highlighting). Then, in the eyes and mouths of the daemonic faces, put slightly less subtle colours in, to show the magical aspect more than polluted. Perhaps have the odd hand/claw climbing out or if it crashes around a corner, within the spray, is a daemonic form amidst the water…
Is there no other way to get that rainbow slick effect? I remember they have that sort of thing on marbles, we used to call them oily’s back in school… surely there is some sort of paint to do that effect, well there is because they put it on the marbles… We just need to find out what it is and where to get it, If I stumble across it before anyone else I will post it in this thread here to share with all interested.
you know, I was thinking that too… and I know this sounds really weird, and I’d like to test it out first… but when I found the pic I posted to describe what I meant I instantly thought “bubbles”. could you maybe mix a bit of either dish soap or a bubble solution into a glaze paint or something?
another options, again, really weird, is maybe nail polish? depending, you can find some sweet metallic colours, although it won’t mix well with water I don’t think…
just trying to think of some household items that could do the job I’ll try to test them out and let you know what comes of it!
) water, then mix some water, gloss varnish and the colours seen in Sojourn’s oil pic (must have each colour in a separate micture though) and paint little, as though you were highlighting, but using different colours and sometimes swirling them. Might work well to do it the next colour before the first has finished drying in some parts too. Or to have a colour go over more than one in some parts, but not in others (which ya don;t do in highlighting). Then, in the eyes and mouths of the daemonic faces, put slightly less subtle colours in, to show the magical aspect more than polluted. Perhaps have the odd hand/claw climbing out or if it crashes around a corner, within the spray, is a daemonic form amidst the water…