Considering N scale / 10 mm terrain and buildings for CAV

[Pingo]

Has anyone got recommendations for terrain of a suitable scale for CAV robots, with a particular focus on buildings?

 

I am told the scale is 10mm, which I am told is about 1/180, or model railroad N scale.

 

There are a lot of readymade and kit model railroad buildings out there, although most of them seem to be smaller and more rural or historical. Are they worth the price?

 

Hydrocal is like plaster, isn't it? So a hydrocal building would be pretty heavy. Styrene, however, sounds a bit fragile. But I don't know; it's not my area of expertise.

 

I have some vision of playing the game among futuristic, relatively tall skyscrapers. While I'm pretty sure I can make some out of half-gallon milk cartons, I am wondering what other possibilities are out there and if anyone can recommend -- or warn against -- products or processes.

[Erifnogard]

Hydrocal is indeed like plaster.  Styrene is just plastic and is used in lots of model kits, definitely no more fragile than any other plastic model.  You can get all kinds of building kits and pre-assembled buildings for N scale train layouts but they aren't usually cheap.  Plastruct and Evergreen make lots of useful plastic sheets (plain and patterened), pipes, ibeams, etc. for making your own stuff or modifying kits.  I find lots of interesting shapes for use in building terrain while wandering around hardware stores.

[buglips*the*goblin]

An N scale skyscraper is still going to be very tall.  The Empire State would be 8 feet. 

[Ludo]

Styrene is just a type of plastic. In foam form is referred to as styrofoam but it can be a hard plastic as well.

 

I've actually had some luck with 28mm terrain. These are some gothic snap together kits I got off Amazon. 

IMG_1800 by LittleRukh, on Flickr

 

I also go for the scrap terrain. A lot of my stuff is packing inserts or bits of industrial machinery. 

A note on scale, CAVs are only about 30' tall so equivalent to a three story building so if you're going for Pacific Rim style games you'll need smaller scale buildings.

A CAV would only be slightly taller than Gypsy Danger's foot

[Doug Sundseth]

Hydrocal is a mix of plaster of paris and portland cement. Significantly stronger than the former, so you can make what's called "hard-shell" terrain from paper and hydrocal.

 

For city terrain inspiration, you might take a look at this Flickr photo stream:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157603736133777/

 

Bachmann is probably your best bet for plastic model kits in N-scale (which is technically 1:160 scale). Modern buildings are possibly easier to find in N than in HO.

[buglips*the*goblin]

If you don't mind fudging scales a bit, I can dig up some alternatives when I get to a computer. I stockpiled links in prep for the Robotech game. Might be some 10mm in the mix.

[ShadowRaven]

When I brought this up in the CAV kicktarter thread, a couple folks posted links to printable paper buildings that with some reinforcement could probably be made to work very well, on the cheap. That's the way I am going to have to go, just for a lack of storage space

[buglips*the*goblin]

Those might be some of the same links.

[Heisler]

I would probably take a look at the Gamecraft Miniatures line of MDF kits. They produce in 6mm, 10mm and 15mm and while they aren't sci/fi they tend towards modern so there is a reasonable variety of buildings to pick from.

[TGP]

You might pm Walt (wdlanghans), he is a member here, and on terragenesis, and he creates 10mm lasercut MDF buildings.

 

Or, try googling the following: "impudent mortal" terrain 10mm.

 

I would just link the page but that breaks the board rules? 

[Dr.Bedlam]

An N scale skyscraper is still going to be very tall.  The Empire State would be 8 feet. 

 

Well... in all candor... most buildings aren't the Empire State building. Or even the Sears Tower.

 

Be interesting to see a CAV game set in Manhattan, though...

[buglips*the*goblin]

 

An N scale skyscraper is still going to be very tall.  The Empire State would be 8 feet. 

 

Well... in all candor... most buildings aren't the Empire State building. Or even the Sears Tower.

 

Be interesting to see a CAV game set in Manhattan, though...

 

 

Most buildings are not skyscrapers.

[ShadowRaven]

Oh yeah, would be fun blasting through Manhattan in a CAV game, though I don't think even modern buildings would have floors capable of holding that much weight on that little surface area, so don't go wandering through buildings unless you like taking a trip into the sub basements

[Girot]

Check this out:  http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/56802-cav-terrain-electrical-boxes/ 

[smokingwreckage]

..... did I post here and then get modded? Or was it somewhere else?