I've downloaded the Mars Station set, and have tried a few of the small prop pieces. I was hoping to be able to make a bunker-like building with the set though, and a close look at the surfaces for the buildings don't really look all that hardened. They kinda look like they'd be pretty flimsy, as far as how well they'd take gunfire. Of course, that's just subjective, but that's the sense I get.

I've looked at the Ebbles stuff, especially the classic stuff, and there's a building in there that looks nice and "business-oriented", but I want a hardened bunker kind of thing that you can open up and move stuff around inside, and that looks like it's solid and can't be opened.

So the Mars stuff looks cool from the open-it-and-walk-around-inside angle, and the Ebbles thing looks neat from the perspective of it looking hardened... Does anyone have a suggestion for anything that takes care of both of those requirements?

Mix and match!


Also make your Mars Station build then print off sheets of walls to cut out more pieces to glue to the surface (edged of course) to make the building look as though sheets of steel have been added to the building.


Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

Little bits and pieces off PCON might also look good stapled..er..glued to the Mars Station buildings as well to give it that hodge-podge look.

Has anyone done sandbag walls? That would add to the look - say sandbag the lower half of the building. Would give that Vietnam barracks touch, improvising hardened facilities from a 'civilian' pre-fab structure. Also, adding anything that looks like sheets of steel would also help. Part will depend on what sort of things you are shooting with - updates of today's slug throwers, or next generation lasers. They need different sorts of armor. I think Mars Station was somewhat a civilian pre-fab sort of look, which is along the lines of Rodenberry's TV movie of several years ago. It would be a good basis for 'up-armoring', at least for my own plans.

Anyway, best armor for laser would be ceramic, and for a combination, ceramic and steel sandwich, so the steel side showing with some pock marks/impact scars, showing white ceramic underneath. Might even go multi-media - put a sheet of foil, shiny side out, on a sheet of card. Cut to the size you need for covering walls. For "modern" armor piercing stuff, have these set up a few inches away from the rest of a structure or sandbagged wall to detonate HEAT type rounds away from metal armor. I figure the technology will be around for a few more generations, but the size will be smaller and the power greater.

For actual stability, you can use thicker card or reinforce with crackers/cereal boxes inserted between the layers of printed cardstock. I did this on my Mayhem Industrial warehouse and I think CCotD can attest to just how sturdy that is.

If it's the study look you are going for, modify and combine. Use the Ebbles outer shell with the Mars Station interior. It's a bit of work, but the beauty of cardstock terrain is the ease of modification.

Good luck, and post pictures of what you end up making.

Arabin

Take a look at the classics line of Ebbles Miniatures - might be just what you need. Ebbles has a very different style than Denny's, but is very good.

The Auld Grump

Good point Auld Grump. I had assumed that's what we were talking about, but Mel has done other terrain sets so I guess he Tiny Brain might have meant those instead. I was pictured Mel's Maginot base pieces cut so make thinner but just as detailed walls, with Mars Station or First Light interiors.

Arabin