I was putting together a little narrative scenario for Kill Team set on a dying planet and decided I needed some interactive terrain to hinder the players. Not having any more than a couple of hours and no budget, I decided some clouds of toxic gas would fit the bill nicely.
This simple technique is pretty versatile, I've used variations to make wrecked vehicle counters, exhaust plumes and smoke from chimneys. As well as slightly shrinking the Fill, the spray paint tends to make it more rigid, meaning it has some added durability. The clouds won't hold up to too rough a touch, but they should last a while with careful handling.
So that my foul gas didn't waft away accidentally, I pulled out some old CDs to use as bases. Thankfully I had a few spares up upgrading to an MP3 stereo for my car. The "writable" sides take glue better than the shiny ones.
Before I glued anything down, I pulled out some clumps of "Hobby Fill" to size the clouds up. The Fill tends to shrink a little when painted, so I made each cloud a little bigger than I wanted the final product to be. The Fill is around $5 for a large bag and tends to last a few years of hobby projects, but is highly flammable.
To attach the Fill to the bases, I used a spray contact adhesive, as it's a bit quicker than superglue and less likely to stick to my fingers. After a liberal coat of adhesive, I pressed each cloud down for a second or two to ensure a good bond. Despite the picture, I did this outside as the adhesive can create a toxic cloud all its own.
After the glue had dried and I made sure that the clouds weren't going anywhere, I hit them with a coat of spray paint. The coverage isn't perfect as the more paint you add, the smaller the clouds shrink, and any mistakes can be hidden with the later coats. I just used what cans I had laying around, so the first coat was a terracotta red.
After the first coat was dry, I followed it up with a brighter red. The aim is not so much to cover the clouds again as it is to do a "highlight" of whats already there; making sure to get the edges and any bits missed on the first coat.
Next up was a nice bright orange, which shows up much better in real life than in the picture.
To make my clouds look more like gas and less like fire, I spotted them with bursts from a can of dark green spray. If I had had the time and money, I probably would have used shades of green and yellow rather than red, but that was what I had to hand.
Obligatory scale shot with a Space Marine. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out for a quick job, if I need better versions down the track, I know they won't take long to put together.
This simple technique is pretty versatile, I've used variations to make wrecked vehicle counters, exhaust plumes and smoke from chimneys. As well as slightly shrinking the Fill, the spray paint tends to make it more rigid, meaning it has some added durability. The clouds won't hold up to too rough a touch, but they should last a while with careful handling.
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