tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184 
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Post by tauster on Aug 31, 2013 6:15:37 GMT -5
Ever since I started crafting I have collected all kinds of stuff: metallic bottlecaps from beer bottles and plastic caps from juice boxes, fancily designed containers from food or shower baths and roll-on's, cardboard rolls from kitchen and toilet paper, all kinds of things that had an interesting (or identical) shape. I even kept wornout ballpoint pens for years, and that was long before I started crafting. Don't ask why...
For most of these things, I have at least a vague idea what to do with the moment I come across them, but for some I didn’t had that instant inspiration – I kept them because I knew that eventually an inspiration will strike me. It can take weeks or months until I find a use for something, but as long as my family’s patience and storage space doesn’t limit my collecting habit, I can happily continue that way.
Since I started crafting not with roleplaying terrain but with steampunk stuff (even though I’ into roleplaying since 1998), I collected lots of clockworks from disused mechanical watches, faulty alarm clocks that can be raided for gears and other cool-looking metal parts (you can find both in relatively cheap mixed lots on ebay). When my interest shifted from crafting steampunk stuff towards roleplaying terrain, a lot of the materials kept for the former are now sitting there in the workshop and gather dust.
Long story short: I have – and keep finding – lots of materials that I keep without an immediate crafting idea, and that is what I want to find here. So let’s post some of the cool flotsam and jetsam we come across and throw around ideas what to do with it. Normally form follows function, but here it’s the other way round.
So let’s start brainstorming what to do with all the cool stuff that live throws our way!
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Aug 31, 2013 6:28:11 GMT -5
Example 1: Metallic bottlecaps from beer bottlesi.imgur.com/uoLp7zB.jpgThese can be used as counterparts for magnets (small neodyms have become dirt cheap, even though I hate that their mining (>95% from china) causes extreme environmental destruction). As you can see, I made some mushrooms with cardboard for the heads and old pencils for the stems. To reduce storage space, I made glued bottlecaps in the underside of the heads and small (5x5x2 mm) neodym magnets on the top of the stems. Second advantage: Depending on how I paint them up, I can use the stems for other things. Trees are one example, legs for a large creature are another. Adding magnets give you all kinds of flexibility. You can use these bottlecaps as magnetic bases. Just glue them on thin cardboard to avoid scratching your table / battlemap. So lets start the first brainsotrming: What else can we do with them?
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Aug 31, 2013 6:32:18 GMT -5
Example two: Cones from lawson cypress i.imgur.com/AJoMNdp.jpgThese are tiny wooden cones (5-7 mm diameter) with a very interesting shape that practically screams out ' do something creative with me!' Since I couldn't come up with something to do with them, I just glued them on a base (three actually, because why not) and basepainted them black, hoping that some inspiration would strike me. i.imgur.com/zIto7dz.jpgSo far, I'm still waiting... 
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Neil
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 160
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Post by Neil on Aug 31, 2013 11:40:10 GMT -5
For the cones I would see how they looked as part of a treasure pile, rubble piles or on a base with a miniature.
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 1, 2013 4:53:06 GMT -5
For the cones I would see how they looked as part of a treasure pile, rubble piles or on a base with a miniature. ...treasure - great idea! I didn't think of painting them in gold/silver/weird metallic color... This should give them an arcane / 'ancient technology' look! |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 1, 2013 5:52:24 GMT -5
Since a few months I'm making glasses out of old bottles: I got a Kinkajou bottle cutter and made dozens of glasses, more than we can use for ourselfes (a set of self-made glasses makes a great gift for friends who appreciate DIY stuff). But that leaves me with the upper halfes of the bottles, some of which I have already given to another crafter. But I still want to find some uses for them*, and preferably something that has to do with terrain. * combining them with LED lights is an option I haven't explored so far, but might someday..(mini for scale) i.imgur.com/n3f25Cw.jpgThe only idea I have is that they might look like the upper part of some giant boiler / cauldron (think beer brewery or the lab of a mad alchemist)... upside down: i.imgur.com/EaC7fSC.jpgLooks a bit like an umbrella, or vaguely tree-like. Make it a bit more opaque, add some texture (hotglue for both) , place a flickering LED tea light below it and it looks like some weird faery tree / plant. So what are you thinking? Any ideas? |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 1, 2013 5:58:21 GMT -5
Brass clamps used for closing envelopes: i.imgur.com/y0CQG5e.jpgObviously they might be used to fasten to pieces of cardboard to each other with the option of removing it later again, but then they should be made invisible so that they do not break the suspension of disbelief. Other than that, I fail to come up with something. They have a nice brass color, so maybe they're some part of a steampunk / clockwork setting? I have some hundred of these collected over the years and would love to include them in some piece for my gaming table. |
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Neil
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 160
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Post by Neil on Sept 1, 2013 12:32:36 GMT -5
Since a few months I'm making glasses out of old bottles: I got a Kinkajou bottle cutter and made dozens of glasses, more than we can use for ourselfes (a set of self-made glasses makes a great gift for friends who appreciate DIY stuff). But that leaves me with the upper halfes of the bottles, some of which I have already given to another crafter. But I still want to find some uses for them*, and preferably something that has to do with terrain. Thanks for the link to the bottle cutter. My wife buys hand cut bottles at a local farmers market and would like to get one. Obvious use for the tops is pillars and statue bases. |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 2, 2013 5:14:44 GMT -5
Mommy always told us not to play with food, so lets keep quiet while we're brainstorming about what to do with pasta and noodles...  I haven't worked with this stuff before, so I have no idea how to paint them up. I guess that you should use colors with very little water and after the painting you should let it dry asap, to avoid that the pasta soaks. I'm also not sure how long this can be kept, but I'm pretty sure that if kept totally dry, it will keep almost forever. Three types of pasta & noodles I found in the house:i.imgur.com/1zVf2GF.jpgLetter noodlesThis one is pretty obvious: Glue it to whatever you want, paint it up and you're done. I haven't seen this idea anywhere else, but I am quite sure someone else came up with this before me - it's just too obvious. Farfalle...hmmm, this one is a bit harder. What to do terrain-wise with a slip knot shape? Ideas? Fussili
Another interesting shape. Looks like technology, so maybe it can be used in steampunk, modern and scifi terrain. Perhaps some drilling equipment, or as energy-collecting part of a Frankenstein apparatus.
Asian fried noodles
i.imgur.com/iXAeTla.jpg
This one makes an awesome snake- or worm-themed terrain piece! Imagine how much modelling work you'll save by using these.
Bonus points if you glue tiny (human(-oid) or demon) heads to the ends of the noodles.
More pasta
i.imgur.com/9tChlC9.jpg
...oh boy, what have I done? There's a whole universe of pasta shapes out there!   I can see almost every type of pasta in some terrain piece or as a creature. Here's what I came up with spontaneously. I'm sure we'll find dozens of uses for each type in time.
- Spiral shapes make good worms and snakes, or slender pillars
- Gnocci, Pipe Rigate, Pipette Rigate, Pipe Doppia Rigatura: Fat worms, caterpillaars or large pipes
- Radiatori: Machinery (modern, scifi, steampunk)
- Fisamorniche, Riccioli: Glued back-to-back, these make nice pillars
- Castellane: two of them can be used for any funnel shape, as business end of a ray weapon. One alone looks like the sprout of a fountain
- Conchiglie: sea conch shape (it's in the name, right?) for decoration on maritime buildings or as actual conch in any beach terrain or nautical/pirate setting
- Insalatonde: All kinds of weird shapes... I can see bits of machinery or alien vegetation here.
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Post by dm1scotty on Sept 2, 2013 10:47:25 GMT -5
Cool thread.
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 11, 2013 6:08:48 GMT -5
My gluegun dribbles. This annoyed me for a while, but then I realised that tese dribbles, if left drying without disturbing them, create an interesting shape: i.imgur.com/ATMlFit.jpgI didn't have an idea what to do with it (apart from eyes maybe), but from then on I peeled them off the paper and kept them in a small glass. Fast forward a few weeks of crafting and collecting dribbles... One of my campaigns will soon feature a lot of Torog-influenced Terrain, i.e. mutated flesh and bubbling cysts. Torog is, at least when it comes to the aesthetics (if you can call it that), partially parts similar to Warhammer's Nurgle. I always ...*ahem*... liked the open pustules on Nurgle's servants. See these Plagebearers for an example: www.tartanpaint.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/nurgle-plaguebearer-wip61.jpgfc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/145/7/a/plaguebearer_of_nurgle__painted__by_demoncloak89-d66i0eo.jpgIt hit me yesterday how to replicate these pustules: 1) Make a large squirt of hotglue 2) Wait until it has dried somewhat 3) Carefully press the dribbles in 4) Let the whole thing dry and 5) Paint it up. Should be super-easy, I thought. Turns out it is super-easy!  I haven't painted it up so far, but here's how the stuff looks just before painting: i.imgur.com/AbNiPBh.jpgI also tried to do some 'crawling, sprawling flesh'-type of terrain. DM Scotty's door to the fleshy room was a good inspiration for that one. I'm not sure how exactly I'll paint that up, but here's hot it looked so far. i.imgur.com/7YkDM1x.jpgi.imgur.com/kpBehdB.jpgi.imgur.com/LXlvw9b.jpg |
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Post by madladdesigns on Sept 11, 2013 10:43:46 GMT -5
Some good ideas there tauster. Amazing what you can do with left over dribbly bits... |
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Post by skunkape on Sept 11, 2013 10:53:35 GMT -5
Tauster, you've posted some really great ideas and places to obtain materials for crafting! Thanks!
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 11, 2013 13:35:15 GMT -5
Tauster, you've posted some really great ideas and places to obtain materials for crafting! Thanks! I'm doing this for two reasons: First, I have been stunned countless times, whenever I saw a new tutorial by DM Scotty, then The DMG and then when I finally joined this community, so I am happy to give something back as well. Second, you can say I'm also doing this for egoistical reasons: If I share my ideas here, there are dozens of people who can point out flaws, offer improvements and/or taking my ideas a step forward into directions I would have never thought of. This is a principle that's been at work since the industrial revolution, when people took inventions made by others, improved them and gave them back into the pool, where others improved further. Of course their motivation was profit, unlike ours... But the power of the internet multiplies and accelerates this principle: When I post something here, I don't have to wait months or years until someone else improves upon it - sometimes it takes only hours until I get something back. Third, I'm hunting for praise and adoration. Just kidding, mostly.  Before this post completely derails my own thread, here's something else: Screwcaps.These things enter my household almost on a daily basis, and even before crafting I have kept some glasses with screw tops for later use (homemade chutneys, jams, pickles, etc.). But until recently, I kept only a fraction of them, the rest were thrown away. Not anymore. First, these caps are magnetic, and thus can be used as is for magnetic bases. Just paint them up, glue some basing materials on (rock chips, static grass, yaddayadda) and there you go. Here's an example with mushrooms on (unpainted) screwtops. I glued small (5x5x2 mm) neodym magnets to their stem, so I can use the shrooms on other tiles as well: i.imgur.com/8BIYGbK.jpgThe second use is also for magnetic bases, but differently. As these caps are quite high and sometimes I want very flat bases, I came up with something else: I cut them into strips of 4 - 5 mm (use only old but strong scissors!) and later into small squares, which I glue on my base: i.imgur.com/0l2vyjw.jpgWait until dry, then glue on some basing decoration. I used only rocks, because these will be used in an underdark campaign. i.imgur.com/UwQPlIo.jpgAgain, wait until dry and paint it up however you want. I'll go for a plain generic Black / grey / white drybrush color scheme, because I want to use the bases in other settings as well. Here's the black basing that is at this moment drying. You can still see where the metal squares are, but only barely. I expect them to nearly disappear once the paint job is done. i.imgur.com/o3vNgSJ.jpgI'll post pics of the finished pieces when they're done. |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Sept 17, 2013 1:59:05 GMT -5
...just realised that wrestling action figures make great giants and/or troll miniatures, with a little bit of modification*... * which is beyond my current skills, as I'm concentrating more on terrain crafting. If you look for a while, you should be able to get them cheap by the dozen on ebay, in your local 2nd hand market and on flee market / garage sale. Too bad I din't need giant and troll minis in my campaigns in the near future...  |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 2, 2013 12:53:39 GMT -5
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Post by dm1scotty on Oct 2, 2013 13:01:14 GMT -5
I bet if you coated those propeller seeds with white glue they would be plenty strong =)
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Post by dm1scotty on Oct 2, 2013 13:02:16 GMT -5
I am already swimming with ideas for Beechnut husks
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Post by northtroll on Oct 2, 2013 13:53:54 GMT -5
Hey Tauster those cones would make very cool fungal growths, or coral growths for underwater terrain! Either way with some bright colors they would sure make players leery around them. Maybe some illithids are using them like shriekers, or the Sahaguin use them as they are contact poison emitters....
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 3, 2013 2:46:43 GMT -5
Has anybody ever used poker chips as bases for miniatures, spellmarker or small terrain pieces?I think they are a bit larger than one grid square, but if you play gridless this should be less of a problem. And even grid-players could use them for larger monsters. I personally couldn't care less, as our groups were never much interested in the movement part of battles... The advantages of these chips, from the top of my head: - made of plastic instead of cardboard, cardstock or some other material that could warp - come in standard sizes & huge numbers (100, 200, 500 pieces...) - most often sold together with a storage stand, some even come with a nice metal suitcase- dirt cheap - just get a used poker set on ebay! There are even rectangular ones, so you have more variety. Disadvantages: - more difficult to work with than cardboard (cutting plastic...) - not sure if they are paintable - many chips are stamped, so you have the casino's name or something else stamped in, which needs to be covered
@ DM Scottie: So I guess we can expect a beechnut video in the near future? Cool! @ northtroll: I hadn't considered using the cones as fungal growths... Neat idea! I know for sure that my players will be leery around those. But they will probably be leery around each and every new piece of dungeon dressing. Which is great for every crafting DM. 
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apokism
Cardboard Collector
If a Treant fell over in the woods, would it make a sound?
Posts: 23
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Post by apokism on Oct 3, 2013 13:20:39 GMT -5
Could always fiberglass over the wings. that would make it sturdy.
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2013 4:29:35 GMT -5
Could always fiberglass over the wings. that would make it sturdy. Never hear of that method... Con you give a quick explanation or post a link to a tutorial or something? Thx!
Walnuts II: I'm looking for something to do with cracked walnuts. i.imgur.com/Ql4LmwN.jpgSure, they look like brains/heads or cerebral structures in general... I want to do something else with them, but can't find for the live of me some cool ideas. So I'm essentially looking for a little brainstorming session here with you guys. Stuff that floats around in my head but didn't really satisfy me: - They're essentially broken. So anything that is broken might go: Eggshells (that one's obvious), other egg-shaped objects... - Paint them metallic and see how that looks. Probably my next experiment. - Use them as cracked flagstones. Put many of them together to form a large, cracked object / field of rubble/debris - Some of the larger pieces look like the front & back of a small boat. |
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sgtslag
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Posts: 102
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 4, 2013 7:03:27 GMT -5
The Hot Glue drops, plus more Hot Glue, could be combined with certain pasta bits, to make a large/small Juiblex figure... The images posted reminded me of him/it/whatever. Make it more vertical, stick in a tube noodle, with lots of the beads, and you would have a close approximation of the drawing from the original, 1978 Monster Manual. Apply the appropriate, disgusting paints, and colors, glossy of course, and, Voila! The Disease Prince, himself! I may have to do this, just for the fun of it -- he/she/it has always intrigued me... Cheers!
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 4, 2013 10:59:05 GMT -5
The Hot Glue drops, plus more Hot Glue, could be combined with certain pasta bits, to make a large/small Juiblex figure... The images posted reminded me of him/it/whatever. Make it more vertical, stick in a tube noodle, with lots of the beads, and you would have a close approximation of the drawing from the original, 1978 Monster Manual. Apply the appropriate, disgusting paints, and colors, glossy of course, and, Voila! The Disease Prince, himself! I may have to do this, just for the fun of it -- he/she/it has always intrigued me... Cheers! I love all slime-related critters, and Juiblex already featured in one of our campaigns - I guess I'll do one of those www.merzo.net/Gallery_Dungeons_and_Dragons/Jubilex.gifNice example (can also used for a gibbering mouther), although I'm not sure how to sculpt mouths & maws (which is very high on my 'to learn'-list anyway). www.merzo.net/Gallery_Dungeons_and_Dragons/Jubilex.htm One of the best slime-related minis I've ever encountered: www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/49629-zhoublexx-slime-lord-of-the-bleak-fens/ If I could ever sculpt that well,... *sight* ...but one can dream, right? |
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sgtslag
Paint Manipulator
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Post by sgtslag on Oct 5, 2013 9:28:02 GMT -5
That is the best Juiblex mini I've ever seen -- and probably the only one I've ever seen! LOL! The really captures Him/It/Whatever, quite well. Thanks for sharing the drawings, photo, etc. Cheers!
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 6, 2013 11:58:23 GMT -5
I have a box full of empty printer cartridges (epson pixma 4000, should anyone care).  It doesn't make sense to refill them (new ones are simply too cheap, less than 1 €) and you can't sell the empties either. So I simply threw them in the box, which is finally overflowing... Now I'm looking for something to craft out of this junk instead of throwing it away. Any ideas?
On related news, here's some stuff I did today with the beechnut seeds. I'm going with northtroll's 'fungal growth angle...  Also, I used some shrivelled acorns to do beholder eyes:  |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 10, 2013 11:07:03 GMT -5
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Post by cenakorpsewalkin on Oct 10, 2013 22:13:54 GMT -5
Example two: Cones from lawson cypress i.imgur.com/AJoMNdp.jpgThese are tiny wooden cones (5-7 mm diameter) with a very interesting shape that practically screams out ' do something creative with me!' Since I couldn't come up with something to do with them, I just glued them on a base (three actually, because why not) and basepainted them black, hoping that some inspiration would strike me. i.imgur.com/zIto7dz.jpgSo far, I'm still waiting... I see colorful versions of 'Chicken of the Woods' or less colorful 'Hen of the woods' mushrooms. If you google image search either mushroom, you will probably see the similarity in shapes that the lawson cones and those mushrooms have. If I had a source of them, I would make some cool fungal cavern features that were potentially very toxic obstacles. They could be stand-alone on bases, on wall sections, or around stalagmite structures. The colors are limitless, from bright yellows and reds, to neon green, to deep purples and black. In any color I used, I would cover them with a high gloss coat of polyacrylic to give them a heavy wet shine to enhance their look. They could also work well on bases for random locations as well as using them to add more fungi around the bases of your larger mushrooms. Additionally, they could be used to enhance any 'water dwelling' mini as a form of colorful coral around their base. |
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tauster
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 184
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Post by tauster on Oct 15, 2013 6:20:32 GMT -5
I never realized how awesome autumn is for crafters, when you do an afternoon walk with the family and come back with as many crafting materials as your pockets can carry! *SNIP* Wow, wings! Extremely fragile, but still... perfect shape! I'll probably give them a glossy varnish and see what creatures will lend themselves to them. i.imgur.com/PslkoaM.jpgI finally got to experimenting with the wings... I used some that were colored different, but the effect is the same - and it surprised me quite a bit! i.imgur.com/HEqsqA4.jpgI painted 2 sets of 6 'wings' each, one set with pva glue and one with transparent acrylic gloss varnish. Both are now very flexible not not at all brittle anymore. I would have no problems of glueing them to a miniature and using it in play. But while the varnish looks as I expected it (well... glossy), the pva glue completely dissapeared! You don't see even a trace of it once it dried. i.imgur.com/gbVdW0l.jpgLeft wing without any treament, center: PVA glue (looks like the left one), right one: glossed (sry for the blur). So in the future I'll probably go with PVA glue, as it keeps looking natural after it dried. |
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Post by northtroll on Oct 15, 2013 8:57:02 GMT -5
Tauster if you do any science fiction role playing those parts of printer cartriges could be made into bulkhead reinforcements, fuel cells, and other machinery with the addition of straws or wires into holes in the pieces and the like. You could even make some trap like thing with the framing pieces!
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I can see almost every type of pasta in some terrain piece or as a creature. Here's what I came up with spontaneously. I'm sure we'll find dozens of uses for each type in time.
