Terrain Showcase: Ultron City, Part 2

Atomic Mass Games had commissioned me to build a terrain board representing a city that had been overrun by Ultron, the Metal Tyrant. In this post, I'll discuss the wrecked vehicles, smaller buildings, and accessories that I built for the board.

 

 

Wrecked Vehicles

Everything on the board needed to be destroyed or damaged in one way or another. To create dents in the plastic Marvel: Crisis Protocol cars and trucks, I used a heat gun to soften the plastic, and bend it. This can be a bit tricky, because too much heat will damage the plastic and ruin the surface detail. It's also difficult to control and can often end up looking like smooshed plastic rather than bent and torn metal.

For the Oscorp truck, I first glued the halves of the tanker trailer together, minus the platform on top, and made some cuts where I wanted the break to be. I gradually heated it until the plastic began to soften and flex, and I used smooth pliers and clippers to cut and bend the plastic outward. Once I was satisfied with the overall shape, I let the plastic cool, and then used my hobby knife to trim the edges and cut nicks and dents into them. I used the same process for the top platform, and then glued it in place. I also replaced the hose molded on one side of the truck with a broken and bent piece of styrene tube.

 

 

 

The small cars received a similar treatment, but the SUVs fortunately came with already smashed windshields and hoods. Atomic MassGames had also sent along some of Ultron's drones that I could use to embellish the wreckage. I added some of these with broken bits of building to make the vehicles appear as though the drone had been flung into them and destroyed during the battle.

 

 

 

Ruined Shops

The little shops were a lot of fun to work with. Since they are basically enclosed boxes, most of the damage was applied to the exterior– I etched cracks into the windows, and cut kicks and chips into the corners of the walls and roof. For the news stand, I broke a hole in the top, and removed the front window inset so I could have mechanical tentacles bursting out. The sign was broken, along with the awning, and I added some sand and gravel around the wrecked spots.

 

 

The other shop had its entire roof caved in. To accomplish this, I cut a block of polystyrene insulation foam to fit inside the building. The block was angled so the caved in rooftop could be glued onto it, and the recesses were covered with sand, gravel, and scraps of styrene rod and I-beams. The door of the shop was also cut free and glued in at a crooked angle. To bend the roof, I partially cut the individual slats, and clipped the frame around the edge so it could be bent and curved over the shape of the interior foam support. Another destroyed Ultron drone was added to tie it in with the theme of the board.

 

To make the mechanical tentacles, I cut some short lengths of plastic conduit tubing that I picked up at the hardware store. These were then covered with segments that I mage from thick styrene tube. The tube was carefully cut into sections and then wrapped over the conduit, leaving a thingap between each segment. The ends were capped with pieces that I made by covering pieces of square styrene rod with square plastic tubes and other sections of styrene to resemble a nano-tech structure that's forming and building itself as it grows.

 

Taco Truck and Accessories

I added similar tentacles growing up through the taco truck. In this case, I added a small base below the truck to elevate the rear end, and replaced the side panels of the truck with a sheet of styrene card that was cut and bent around the tentacle pushing through. The ends of these tentacles were capped with "blades" made from styrene card.

 

 

 

I also made a handful of damaged streetlights and stop lights. As with the vehicles, I used a heat gun to soften and bend the plastic to create bent light posts. Some of the tops were cut off, and attached with pieces of paper clip pinned into the ends to look as though they were broken and dangling by their wiring.

 

I printed out the "walk/ don't walk" icons and "push button to cross" signs and glued them onto the stop lights to add that little extra bit of realism.

 

Roxxon Gas Station

The service station required the least amount of work, since it was a mostly self-contained kit. The new version even had Ultron drones crawling out of the rubble. My only addition was the large cybernetic tentacle.

 

 

All these elements really help populate the board, and add to the carnage wrought by an epic battle between super-powered beings. In part three, I'll discuss the construction site and the backdrop.

 

 

'Til next time!