The World Of Twilight

I really like the World of Twilight, so when I've read about the scenery contest, it inspired me to start working. I've remembered one of the art pieces so I've started to work from memory. When I had enough time to browse the forums I've found it:
(http://www.eastern-empire.com/forums/twilight/twilight_market_bw_lowres.jpg)
What I've remembered was close enough to the original artwork that I don't need to start over, I'll just try to modify the pieces I've already made.
I started with gluing strips of corrugated board to create boxes.
Then I've cut arches into the sides. I've also put walls between some of the market stalls. I'll separate the remaining stalls with shelves or other scenery.
After the basic shape was done, I've covered them with a thick layer of plaster.

The last picture attached shows how will these look like. I think it's close enough to the original art to continue :) I'll take pics of the plastered & painted buildings too. I'm working on the shelves and the goods now.

nice start. clever use on the boxes.   :)

An amazing start!

Great idea, that sketch is cool and I'm digging what you've done so far.

Superb! I've wanted to do that sort of market ever since Taelan sketches it out but never quite got there.
Well done!

Also, I said I would offer some extras bits to help with your projects so I'll drop you an email to discuss what sort of goods will be going in your market...

What a great idea for a project and it looks like you've made a good start.

Thank you for your kind words, and I'm flattered by Carcharoth's offer! In the past days I've continued the project.
From the sketch it's not easy to determine the colour, so I went with a natural looking light brown, with some additional bright colours, to enliven the marketplace.
As I knew I'll need a lot of shelves, I've cut strips of 2mm cardboard (I've received a bunch from a stationary store), and I've also cast some boards in plaster. I've painted them, and I'll add some goods later. I still don't know if I'll just glue them to the walls or if they will be removable pieces.
When I checked the original sketches, I've realized there are some shaders above the entrances - that's why I should always check the plans before start... There wasn't enough place above the arches, so I thought I'd raise the top of the building a bit, so I could have place for the poles of the shaders. To make a more versatile terrain, I've added a removable 2nd floor with some walls.
At the moment they are covered with a thin layer of plaster, but I'm still waiting for it to dry so I could continue with the painting. I've added some PVA glue into the plaster mix, as some parts fell off from the walls of the stalls. I hope it will make it more lasting. (If there were no printed text on the cardboard, it would have been no problem, but as it came from a furniture box, it was unfortunate to see the text. Or rather, the plaster that fell off would have made it more natural, as the corrugated cardboard has a nice brown base colour, and it would have looked like it's just the erosion of the wall.)

Now that I have the base for the market, I need some goods.
There is a scroll merchant on the sketch, so I needed scrolls. These are going to be tiny, but as it's easier to work with bigger things, I first made larger pieces that I cut into smaller ones.
I cut strips of paper, glued one side and rolled them. I then cut every roll into smaller pieces.
Then there are some sheets with an attached border - so I glue thin strips of thin cardboard to a strip of paper, and cut them up so that half of the cardboard became the top border of a sheet, and the other half the bottom border. I painted them with a very diluted light brown to give them some colour. If I had more patience, I could have created some graphics to print out. I might do this later, it's good enough for now.
When I had enough scrolls, I moved on to the boxed and baskets of goods. I suppose they are some kind of fruits, so I'll paint them accordingly. However I don't have any kind of premade props I could use, so I had to make my own. I got out some playdough, pushed a glue cap into it to make baskets and pushed the top of a pencil into the middle to make the small fruits. I repeated it with the other end of a brush for larger round fruits, and pushed the tip of a knife into another to make banana-like fruits. For the square boxes I pushed a piece of 2mm MDF 4 times into the playdough to make the walls, and used the same method to make the fruits.
I've poured the plaster in, and a few minutes later I've got some boxes I can use.
In the last picture you can see the playdough mold, the "sculpting tools" and the results. (Two  of the boxes came out broken, so these will be some special 5 sided boxes...)

Ps: Sorry for my bad use of English, it's not my first language.

so far so good!   :) 

that's a creative way to make the trade goods. I've never worked with plaster, but you seem to have a good knack for it.

These are definitely proving to be very innovative! I can't wait to see the finished result :)

Thank you for your encouraging words :)
I've finished painting the first fruit boxes, baskets and the two scroll shelves. I think they look okay, so I'll continue making similar pieces.
I've plastered and painted the removable tops of the buildings, and added poles for the shaders.
I think I'll add self-adhesive glue to skewer sticks, and glue the shelves to them, so I can remove the shelves or change them if needed.

Looking good!
Clever use of toy dinosaurs to help populate the world.

wow!  that is looking awesome!   :)   :)   very inspiring.                 

Very close to the original artwork, well done! Looks amazing!

I've finished the first "wave" of the market. I have to travel away for 3 weeks, so I took a day off to complete the project at home :)
Here are the comparison shots to the original art

I've made the shelves removable by putting self-adhesive (SA) glue on the backs of them. This way I can easily remove them from the buildings if I want to. I have only 4 yet, partly because I realized they won't be seen during games if I put them into the buildings...
I also used the same glue on the frames of the market stalls so I could remove the stall tables.
The scrolls are glued permanently on the table, but the boxes and baskets have SA glue on the bottoms to stick to the tables. I have several more tables, so I'll need to create more stall stands. Most of the tables and also the boxes have markings on them - maybe prices, or signs of the merchant house, I have no idea :)
The big, round trough for the animals is also attached to the stand with SA glue. I'll make removable water and feed to put into that later. (Probably add SA glue to those too)
Most of the things are just parts I've casted in plaster by creating strange forms in the playdough and filling the holes with plaster. Then I painted random colours on them. They might be works of art, musical instruments, they could be anything.
I've made a bunch of sacks, too. I never would have thought making them would be this easy, so I'll make a few more in the future. (On the big picture the sacks are on the left, above the cow-patties)
The cow patties are supposed to be some kind of ropes or similar things, but it doesn't really show :) That's why I've painted some red and white on them to show they are artificial things.
The other round things are maybe rings of copper? Or some other yellow metallic things.

When I started to compare the things I've made to my miniatures, I've realized they are totally oversized, so next time I'll try to make everything smaller.
I've measured the size of the stalls and the shelves though, so they should be okay.
(http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1957.0;attach=751;image)

As I want to use the market with several scales of miniatures, I tried to make sure they look good with 1/72, 28mm and 32mm too.
I took a comparison pic with a 28mm orc, a 32mm human and a 1/72 human. The stall doesn't look out of place with them (at least for me :) )

(http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1957.0;attach=753;image)
Also here is a pic of the animal trough with my creatures. They seem to reach it easily.

And that's it for a while :) I'll try to be online when I can, but I won't be able to continue this until I get back.

Great job!  you knocked that off in record time.

I actually like size of them especially as they are intended for different scale miniatures. even in Twilight I think that can work out ok as the Devanu and Casanii are somewhat tall so I don't think they'll look out of place. and the assortment of trade goods is what really makes it work for me.... lots of small bits that can be arranged any number of ways or for special scenarios, thrown at attacking Devanu   ;D   ;D

Getting better and better! I have to agree with GrimSnik about the scale. It doesn't bother me and I think it looks great.

I love the innovation shown with these! The plaster goods is a very clever solution and gives the feel of lots of different things on the stalls. I really want to make a market now...

While I was away (and I still need to finish things before I can continue the market) other members of our gaming community started their own Twilight terrain pieces.

Nomad started to make Anyaral relics. He found this picture inspiring:
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/t.groves/twilight/Images/Inline/Rocks.gif)
So he'll base some of the scenery on these carved rocks. Also, he'd like to include things like this:
(http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Colossal-stone-head-of-the-Olmecs.jpg?itok=GGlfmUXz)
As a base for the giant heads he took some of these from my collection. I think these could be some gods or ancient heroes.
(http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1957.0;attach=799)
Are there pictures of the Devanu gods somewhere? As another player started a Devanu tower it would fit that nicely.

Comoran wanted to do a Prin-Gull tower but after reading about Devanu towers she changed her mind. The only picture she found was this:
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/t.groves/twilight/Images/Inline/Towers.gif)
The world info tells about towers that serve as houses, so that sketch was just a base, but she tries to come up with some similar design.
(http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1957.0;attach=803)
The base of the tower has round holes for the slaves to enter - this could be reason why they use round doors on their houses later.
(http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1957.0;attach=805)

The youngest member of our group started to make a village.
(http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1957.0;attach=801)

Their idea was to create an abandoned Devanu tower in the wastes with some ancient relics around it, and their is a village among the ruins.
I don't know how my market will fit into this, but maybe it should remain a separate project.

Ooh, interesting developments!
Faces - those flat faces would be very alien to the Fubarnii and the Devanu, so they might need some work to fit. I've never really thought about the Devanu gods, although I have imagined them to be more likely to worship spirits and powers rather than specific gods - consuming powerful enemies to gain their strengths etc.
Those images of towers take me back many years! the Devanu towers of old would have been very different (but also very varied). I've attached the sketch from the Chronicles of Anyaral that might give some inspiration.
The alternative approach looks fun though, so it'll be good to see how it develops!

I suppose the towers of old were very close to actual buildings at the peak of their power, given the fact they were build by the Fubarnii. The Fubarnii craftsmen must have been learning a lot by building these towers. A bit like the Egyptians of earth.

Now that I'm at home I've finally finished the buildings I've already started some weeks ago. I've sent the kid and wife to her mother so I could work on this project :)
Here are the pics of the market as it stands now.
I got a ton of stuff from Michael that I didn't even prime yet, so I'll have more things to do :) Also the buildings need lots of shelves (that I'm afraid nobody will see, because they are hard to see from a gamer's point of view).
The first buildings had two rooms, but they were so small I changed it to just one. I always try to think how the scenery will be used during games, and it's still hard to move a miniature into the building itself. Also, there needs to be at least a 4 inch road between the two rows otherwise you won't be able to fit your hand in, and even at 4 inch I still knock over the scenery pieces. Maybe SA gluing them to the buildings might help this.
Also, if I had a base for the buildings with the props glued to that, the building itself could be taken away if minis enter... I'll work it out later :)
One thing I've learnt while making the first buildings was that plaster doesn't stick to cardboard boxes. So I've primed them now before plastering and I've also mixed more glue into the plaster.
One of the new buildings is a bar for the weary travellers. The serving table at the window can be folded back, closing the window. I've also made a door that will be able to close.
The round tables are caps of coke bottles with a piece of paper glued on as a tablecloth to conceal their origin.
I wanted to print some rugs, tableclothes and curtains to use, but I still didn't have the time, so it's just some freehand doodles on those papers.
So then, I think I have enough buildings for now. I'll have to start working on the detalls :)

Very atmospheric, I can see lots of fun games being played around this market :D

you did some great work there.  :D  a really nice theme that stands as a center piece for a specific scenario, or one corner of a larger town if you decide to expand.   ;D   ;D  it looks like a lot of fun to use.

GrimSnik: " it looks like a lot of fun to use." I hope it will be, but I still need to figure it out the most efficient way to use it in games. In the last post I've mentioned a 4 inch path between the houses, but it seems that it should be more like 8 inch. Also, having the props SA glued of blutac-ed on the board is also recommended. Having them on bases might also help, I'll try that too.
Now some progress report. I've painted the characters and the props that was donated by Mike for the project, still need to finish the critters. The minis were a bit rushed but they don't look that bad in real life as on the photo :)
The sculpts of the minis and the props are amazing, I loved to paint them, I feel I didn't do them justice, but time clock is ticking and I still need to arrange the whole market into a contest entry...
I've made a rack for the spears. It's lucky I've made a ton more shelves in the first run so I could just take some to modify. The spears are held by the SA glue on the shelves, so they heavily varnished, so the paint won't come off. The racks themselves will be attached to the walls or ground with the SA glue on them.
I tend to call the self-adhesive glue "liquid magnet" and I use it as often as I can. Btw the red minis limbs are held by SA glue so I can exchange them for ones that hold tools if I want to.

I love the bright colours on the weapons - something I might have to borrow for the Casanii...
You and your friends have done a great job with all your projects  :)

Love the little spear racks.

It's good to hear! I also love your huge tree :)

Here you can find my entry to the competition with lots of new pictures:
http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?topic=1982.0 (http://www.worldoftwilight.com/forum/index.php?topic=1982.0)

I'll add some more info later, but I'll be offline for the next few days. I couldn't even finish everything I've started, at friday I got informed that I'll need to travel again, so yesterday I had to leave the scenery, and I had to rush making the photos of them too. I hope you can still see what counts :)

Mike kindly alerted me to your project; it is really tremendous to see this scene made real. I am still feel delight seeing the Casanii model my art inspired - and now this!

I have always wanted to recreate this scene also; but time and moving places/new work has kept me away from large hobby projects.

Great project - very happy to see it realised :)

Taelan: It's my pleasure that you like it :) Without your work to inspire me I wouldn't have entered the contest, and it was a great experience for me.
Keep on imagining and inspiring!

When I'll have more time I'll try to write up a how-to article so you could create your own "Taelan's market" :) I just need a few more weeks as I got a new project to start and it just takes away all my time.
Btw as I'm getting used to making market stands and shelves, but I have enough of them for now, if any of you need stuff like this, I can trade some. I can also cast an unlimited amount of crates, bags and market goods out of plaster but I'm not sure how would it survive shipping.