TABLETOP GAMING - "Making a MAMMOTH CAVE" Pt.3

I finished a new Cave piece...a Stalactite Waterfall with Cascading Calcite Pools!

I won't be spending as much time showing the process on many of the upcoming posts. Mostly because it gets a bit repetitious with techniques. So, here's a quick review of how I constructed this one. I carved my base structure from styrofoam using the hot wire cutter. I wasn't happy with the first stalactite shape, so I made another. The cascading pools were made from 3 sections of foam spray-mounted together, then carved into multiple levels.

I covered the foam core with paper mache. I let the first stage dry, before adding on the little cone pieces and blending them in. I then coated everything with wood glue to give the surface a smoother texture, and to give it a harder shell. I did the same process for the Calcite Pools base.

Once I had painted everything, I got a heavy-gauge wire from a plastic clothes hanger (with the clips on it) and pushed it into the base and stalactite (with a little wood glue on the wire). I then began to make the water effects with a hot glue gun. As I covered the wire, I went back and reshaped some of the glue by rubbing and melting it with the hot point of the glue gun. I also added "splashes" and ripples in the base pool.

When that had set up, I finished off the water with a glaze of white, a glaze of aqua, then coated it all with varnish for a nice shine.

Here's a shot of the piece in the lake. But it could also be a stand-alone somewhere else in the cave. I know it looks like it's floating in the air, but the intention is that you have to imagine the cave ceiling above it. Then again...could be cool to have a levitating fountain.