Flash Gordon Terrain Board part one

This themed terrain board is 2' 6'' x 2' 6'' (750mm x 750mm) and inspired by an illustration in the book Flash Gordon Volume 3, published by Checker. The book is a reproduction of the original Alex Raymond, Flash Gordon comic strips - by King Features Syndicate.

In part one I will show the inspiration and initial construction. The picture or drawing that was the inspiration appears in the strip Dr. Bono's Secret.

Here you see the actual strip with the vault in the upper left and the steps in the centre top illustration. I initially sketched some, rough drawings, but this illustration was the main 'blue print' for the vault and steps.

The core of the board was layers of cardboard - actually layers of cardboard that are used to seperate layers of products on industrial pallets, which were given to me free-of-charge. The cardboard was cut and glued with an additional layer of white polystyrene for the upper section and another sheet of cardboard on top.


The edges were sealed with sheets of torn newspaper stuck with PVA glue and then coated in dilluted PVA. The piers to either site of the stairs are more cardboard, first stacked, then clad with card and then glued in place. The steps are layers of cardboard, clad with card. The yellow cappings on the piers are sections of a water pistol, cut and sanded before being glued down with super glue.

This phote shows the construction of the vault, foam board clad in thick card with detail from more card and plastic strip. The interior is left undecorated so I can change the buildings purpose as scenarios dictate, allthough the floor is covered with textured plastic card. The paving is wall paper, which I picked up from a local DIY store and the capping of the cardboard retaining walls is plastic card.

In this photo you can see my construction methods: cardboard, newspaper Das modelling clay and sand! Allthough if you study the photos you will also see 'blue foam', a button, balsawood, natural stones and a GW shield!

Here you can see the completed model and how the vault allthough situated at an angle still occupies the centre of the terrain board. The figures are 40mm Graven Images troopers shown for scale.

You can also see how the vault is modular, the main base which will be glued down, a central roof section and a top section - the reason is that I intend using the building for different senarios - the vault being the core one, but a radio or comunications tower has also been modelled.

Here you can see the first coat of paint - dark grey applied before the vault is glued in place.

Tony