Rangers of Shadow Deep - Broken Stairs - Custom Board

I had been mulling around building a 3D board for a notorious Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario, the "Broken Stairs", for quite a while. Essentially, the rangers and companions descend into the shadow deep using a treacherous staircase, all the while being beset upon by giant flies. When the 2021 "Build Something" contest was announced on the Lead Adventure Forum, I decided that I would take on the project, as it was the next one in line on the campaign my friend and I had been playing.

I started with a paltry 20 degree slope, and scratched it as not threatening enough. Next pictures are of the build process. The main structure is 'gatorfoam', which I love using for terrain. Then, lots of insulation foam, foamcore, and spray foam to build up shapes. It is all tied together with bathroom toilet tissue and Mod Podge. Sand was mixed into the paint layer to provide a little more texture here and there. Painting involved washes, flicking paint, drybrushing, and spot painting, with a few tufts and some flocking as well.

Bird nest made from greenstuff and furnace filter, pressed into an Instant Mold.

 

 

 A few pics of the final product.

 

Action shots from the game:

Watch your step...

Gabriella the Duelist skillfully dispatches a fly.

Giant fly takes a vicious bite out of the wardog, taking it out of action.

 

Ladyhawke inspecting the nest. 

All in all, this was a resounding success and the height really helped pull off the threat of falling (literally too, not a lot of room to place figures!).

Since this was a lot of work for a single scenario, I'm hoping to get this to some conventions and will likely use it as a scenic backdrop.

Obligatory scenic shot, with a Photoshopped background...

Thanks for looking :)