My custom playsets for the Adventure Series

[SpectreOne]

Hi there, fellow scummers!

Thought I should make a thread for the big dio playset I'm building right now for the Adventure Series figures. I love toyphotography and ever since I heard of the Adventure Series line I had the idea of a big, modular temple with plenty different rooms spread over several floors all in the form of one big (toy)box to play in and to take photos at. The perfect opportunity to finally give xps foam a shot, since I have only worked with card so far. I made a quick test dio in the form of Indy's Classroom and that worked well enough. So I felt comfortable enough to start the main attraction (for now).

In the next days and weeks I'd like to document my progress a bit for anyone interested. I want to spend this month with building the thing and the next with painting it - something I'm a total noob at. I hope to be done by the end of June and on time for the release of Dial of Destiny. Get yourselfs a bag of chips; this is either gonna be really great, or a colossal dud. But it should be entertaining in any case

I started with scribbling down a plan, making some calculations (something I'm usually terrible at) and just doing some floors, walls and decorative pieces. I haven't taken any photos during that phase, since I worked pretty quickly, but after a couple days, I had a nice pile of... things.

Not trusting my own calculations, I quickly assembled the pieces (nothing glued yet, just stuck together with pins) and to my utter surprise... it all fits. At least for now. I'm sure something is off, somehwere. There allways is. Anyway, pictured here is the "backside" of the temple and it already gives a nice idea of what the finished temple will look like.

It will have over ten rooms/halls and hall- and crawlways, some of them modular, all of them linked to each other and following a (mostly) logical progression pattern. To give a quick rundown:

Through the temple entrance (not build yet), one arrives at the entry hallway, full of different hieroglyphs and runes:

The hallways leads to a room not unlike the well of souls

That seems to be a dead end, but there is a hidden path. Okay, it's not really hidden yet, but... we will get there.

Behind that is a big modular area. I can place all kinds of things there, but I'm specifically planning for two interchangeable treasure rooms and two trap rooms - a spike trap and a rotating blade trap.

Here, Jones has to blow a hole in a wall (not yet done here) to get to "safety" and to get to the next room, the firewalker room.

Here, Indy has to step on the right tiles, otherwise he will catch fire. The correct tiles are mirrored at the roof. At the end of the room waits a staircase (not yet build) that leads to the second floor and a puzzle room.

It's yet empty, but there will be a puzzle here or something and Indy has to solve it to open the door. When he steps outside, he will stand on a gallery (by the time I took the photo it wasn't build yet)

A rope bridge will lead him over the chasm to the main hall

Up the stairs...

And he will be at the top where I can put a throne, or an artifact, or whatever I need. And yes, that would be a great spot for Mola Ram.
Indy might escape the temple by using the whip and catapulting himself through a crack in the wall at the other side of the chasm.

 

[Coreworld]

Awesome stuff! You've probably come up with the best Indiana Jones adventure game ever created. I can't wait to see it completed.

 

[xfamousnicknaro]

This is really incredible. Can’t wait to see it all painted and put together.

 

[MysterioMaximus]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! That's IN-CRED-ABLE! I cannot wait to see more and more. I also love that you're incorperating traps and puzzles and hidden passages as well. My God, I WANT one. Hah! I absolutely love it, keep up the great work.

 

[xjsn]

That looks awesome!!!!! I am planning to get into diorama building and love your foam work. Do you have tips, tricks, suggestions?

 

[SpectreOne]

That looks awesome!!!!! I am planning to get into diorama building and love your foam work. Do you have tips, tricks, suggestions?

This is the first time I'm working with foam, so I'm a beginner myself. Only tip I can give is that you want foam with a densitiy of 300 or higher - everyting else crubles easily. I got the tip that you can sometimes get free foam from construction sides. They would be happy to get rid of surplusses, for the waste disposal would cost them noney. But I haven't been in luck yet and I'm sure that the US scummers can find this stuff for relative cheap at the hardware store. Other than that I use regular tools. I cut everything with cutter or an exacto knife and I use wood glue or the glue gun. The stone textures are done by rolling a ball of aluminum and or a stoan over the foam.

So, a couple updates:

The well of souls-like room (I need a better name for that - suggestions are welcome) got frames for its doors, a floor with several steps in it and an additional wall layer.

Of course, there will be hidden secrets from long past times.

A tilted roof piece has also been addet. It doesn't have andy details and carvings yet, for... well, I'm not quite sure what to put there, but that's stuff for later. For now I'm just making sure that everything fits.

The gallery has been added as well. The floor still needs to be done.

Next on the to-do list is the rope bridge. Looking forward to that one

 

[IndyMike]

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't think the water bottle is historically accurate.

Kidding aside, this is all kinds of awesome and I look forward to seeing it progress.

 

[SpectreOne]

Got some things done today. Among them: a rope bridge! I simply cheated and used wire instead. That way, I can bend the bridge a bit and give it a wobbly, windwept look. I'll put some spikes on an insertable floor beneath it to make it even more dangerous. Man, I really hope we will get Willie now.

Also, the room under the balcony got a floor now:

The puzzle room a door frame...

...and the firetrap room a fire logo

And this is how it looks right now:

 

[gijigsaw]

Wow. Just wow. That is amazing.

 

[SpectreOne]

Thank you, gijigsaw!
Got a couple little things done during the weekend.

I installed a railing. Safety is a concern after all, even in a temple full of deathtraps

I build a throne...

...a couple pedestrals...

And a couple of these fate of atlantis faces. I can decorate some of the walls or doors with these.

Next week I will build the outer walls.

 

[ClanVizsla]

 

[SpectreOne]

A little update. I'm making continued progress. The roof of the Puzzle-Room is now done and the floor/roof panels can either be put into the stairs-like design, or they can be stacked onto each other to emulate another set of stairs in the middle of the hall above.

Work on the outer walls has begun as well. I still need to add like twenty centimeters in height, but for now I'm glad that everything seems to fit.

 

[SpectreOne]

Update Time!

One of the rooms got a secret door:

After that, I started finishing the outer walls:

The "hole" in the wall will later be filled with interchangeable emblems.

And with that, three of the four outer walls are done. Number four will be finished tomorrow (hopefully) and after that, I'll start building the grande temple entry on the exterior

 

[Lance_Quazar]

Hmm. Interesting. I haven't seen you post around here before.

Why not tell us a little about yourself? Like, where do you live? What's your exact address?

What times of the day are you generally not at home? What's the code to your security system, if you have one. Where do you keep this diorama stored? Hopefully out in the open, where it's easy to find, uh, I mean see.

What's the fastest way to and from the airport that would avoid any chance encounters with local law enforcement?

Just trying to get to know you better!

 

[SpectreOne]

Any thief who manages to overcome the security system (aka my neighbours one eared, one eyed, and really mean spirited cat) AND to flee with this thing would actually have my respect. Because this thing is... a little bit bigger than anticipated and it's getting even bigger. Jesus, what have I gotten myself into here? Too late to stop now.

All four outer walls are done and everything fits. That means, that I can finally start working on the exterior.... or at least the temple entry.

I managed to (mostly) finish the first of three segments from the ground level.

While I waited for the glue to dry, I used some foam scraps to build a scupture. I liked it so much, I made two more. Stuff like that is always useful for photography. And, honestly, I'm so deep in "where the hell am I going to put all of this stuff"-territory, it really doesn't matter anymore if there are two or three more

 

[Lance_Quazar]

Any thief who manages to overcome the security system (aka my neighbours one eared, one eyed, and really mean spirited cat) AND to flee with this thing would actually have my respect. Because this thing is... a little bit bigger than anticipated and it's getting even bigger. Jesus, what have I gotten myself into here? Too late to stop now.

I'd be honored to be the one to earn that respect.

In 25 years or so of toy collecting and visiting collector and customizing websites, this is probably the most amazing diorama I've ever seen and I've never wanted anything more!

Unbelievable. Can't wait to see it in its finished form.

 

[RadioNixon]

What an imagination! Looks like lots of fun to play with!

 

[JediDelight]

Looks fantastic. You’ll have a setup as big as the map room by the time it’s done.

Great design that is also a lot of fun.

 

[Idpullthecurtain]

Incredible work. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SpectreOne]

I'd be honored to be the one to earn that respect.

In 25 years or so of toy collecting and visiting collector and customizing websites, this is probably the most amazing diorama I've ever seen and I've never wanted anything more!

Unbelievable. Can't wait to see it in its finished form.

Wow, thank you so much! That's one hell of a compliment. I hope the finished temple will be worth of all the praise

A little update: the first level of the great temple entrance is mostly finished. Still have to do the roof and the temple emblem and then I can continue with Level two.

I'm gonna need a bigger table. 8[

 

[VideoViper]

Not sure what I am more impressed with
1.the speed you are building this (Looks at my10 large dios in the basement that I’ve been working on & off for years)
2. The size - If later on you need to disassemble it, plan for that now before painting plastering & redesigning
3. The skill - serious carving skills

Great job all around!

Painting it going to be a big job.

 

[yodashizzle]

This is one of the most amazing dioramas I've ever seen. Twenty years ago guys like Niubniub and @Daigo_Bah were posting their work with Star Wars dios that just knocked my socks off. Indy stuff is so rare, seeing this is such a treat and reinvigorates my own interests, can't express my admiration enough. Just, WOW!!! If you're just beginning to work with styrofoam, I'm anxious to see more. The trick with rolling an aluminum foil ball or stones across the surface to give that stone texture is one of the coolest little tips, definitely gonna want to try that. Watching this so far is like watching something being engineered, the planning and knack for using the material is off the charts.

 

[SpectreOne]

Painting it going to be a big job.

Don't remind me. That's the one thing I'm not looking forward to. I could build stuff like this all day long, but painting... ugh. I hope I don't bodge it.

This is one of the most amazing dioramas I've ever seen. Twenty years ago guys like Niubniub and @Daigo_Bah were posting their work with Star Wars dios that just knocked my socks off. Indy stuff is so rare, seeing this is such a treat and reinvigorates my own interests, can't express my admiration enough. Just, WOW!!! If you're just beginning to work with styrofoam, I'm anxious to see more. The trick with rolling an aluminum foil ball or stones across the surface to give that stone texture is one of the coolest little tips, definitely gonna want to try that. Watching this so far is like watching something being engineered, the planning and knack for using the material is off the charts.

Thank you! I really appreciate that. It's weird that there aren't that many dios/playsets for Indiana Jones to be found. Maybe the adventure series will be the spark for more. I for one have a couple playsets planned. But all in due time

Level one of my entrance got a roof and a badge (the temple is named after my late dog D'Argo) and thus work on level two started.

I also started work on the staircase that will connect the firewalker-room with the puzzle-room in the second floor. Because apperantly this thing isn't big enough already.

However, the bulk of the wok is done.

 

[Daig]

Insane!!!!

 

[comicalUser]

Seeing Indy posed throughout really helps imagine what will be! Great job posing. Looking good!

And: I am the opposite, I fear the molding, cutting and assembly — getting the measurements and planning right. I love painting, detailing, aging, spattering paint and coming up with creative ways to add textures. One of my favorites was painting a ceramic skull and adding pencil shavings to the paint to get the effect of dirt and grit.

 

[SpectreOne]

Seeing Indy posed throughout really helps imagine what will be! Great job posing. Looking good!

And: I am the opposite, I fear the molding, cutting and assembly — getting the measurements and planning right. I love painting, detailing, aging, spattering paint and coming up with creative ways to add textures. One of my favorites was painting a ceramic skull and adding pencil shavings to the paint to get the effect of dirt and grit.

I'd say let's pool skills, but we are propably not even on the same continent.

Speaking of painting: I'm nearing the end of the building-phase. Work on the temple entrance are pausing for the moment, because I want to have some pillars on that second level and I need to get the materials first. Which brings me back to the actual temple. I added a couple wall panels and ornaments to the walls to make the main room appear a little bit busier

Then I went and build the staircase that connects the firewalker room to the puzzle room.

And this funny thing started as an abstract pillar or something. I just plastered scraps onto a pillar. After a while it started to look mechanical. So it's an old machine/computer from a long lost civilization now. Indiana Jones and the God Machine. That has a nice ring to it

I also made another safety rail for the upper area. Just in case.

That reminded me that there really aren't enough traps yet in the temple, so I build one of the interchangeable trap areas. It's basically just a floor and a wall with also interchangeable blades and cutting... things, but it's effective.

I'm quickly running out of foam, which is propably a good thing for a change. If I had more, I'd build more and I'd never get this thing finished. The only big missing pieces are the roof and a floor for the temple entrance. Well that and a couple more interchangable rooms and whatnot. But I can always build those later. I'll use the remaining foam to build a couple more pedestrals and artifacts and bits and pieces and then... I will take this monster apart and start painting. Ugh.

 

[Lance_Quazar]

Oh my god, this extraordinary masterpiece just keeps getting more and more amazing!

 

[JediDelight]

Now it’s got booby traps. Watch out.

have you painted anything like this before?

 

[SpectreOne]

Now it’s got booby traps. Watch out.

have you painted anything like this before?

Nope. This is gonna be quite the learning experience.

 

[xfamousnicknaro]

Nope. This is gonna be quite the learning experience.

I don’t want to assume you don’t already know, but just in case, don’t use spray paint or you’ll destroy everything you just did! Can’t wait to see more progress.

 

[JediDelight]

I don’t want to assume you don’t already know, but just in case, don’t use spray paint or you’ll destroy everything you just did! Can’t wait to see more progress.

What’s it do to the foam?

Would you recommend airbrush paint application?

 

[xfamousnicknaro]

What’s it do to the foam?

Would you recommend airbrush paint application?

I’m glad I said something. It’ll melt the foam. I forget if it’s the aerosol or some other ingredient, but yeah, your outstanding work would become an ugly lump. I think I read once that it’s possible to hand seal all the foam and then use spray paint, but that’s still risky and would take a ton more time.

I think airbrush should be fine, but I’d recommend doing a google search because I’m unfamiliar with them so I don’t have any first hand knowledge to give. There are tons of foam modeling groups on social media that could happily answer those questions, though.

 

[JediDelight]

I’m glad I said something. It’ll melt the foam. I forget if it’s the aerosol or some other ingredient, but yeah, your outstanding work would become an ugly lump. I think I read once that it’s possible to hand seal all the foam and then use spray paint, but that’s still risky and would take a ton more time.

I think airbrush should be fine, but I’d recommend doing a google search because I’m unfamiliar with them so I don’t have any first hand knowledge to give. There are tons of foam modeling groups on social media that could happily answer those questions, though.

It’s not my work. I’m just a curious observer. Thanks for the info!

 

[xfamousnicknaro]

It’s not my work. I’m just a curious observer. Thank for the info!

Welp, that’s what I get for not paying attention. Glad to help though!

 

[yodashizzle]

Yeah, spraypaints contain solvents like acetone and other chemicals that will eat the foam. I've used spraypaint on foamcore and it works okay because the foam is double sided with paper which takes the paint fine, but if you aren't careful, overspray can hit the foam and it just more or less disappears. I don't use foam or even foamcore that much but acrylic and latex based paints are best for that material. I have used half dome styrofoam for some Tatooine-ish stuff and coated the foam in wood patch or wall spackling, any area not fully coated will suffer major damage if you use spraypaint.

Just wanted to say again how amazing this project is, Indy is always posed perfectly, the lighting and photography alone is stunning. Looks like there's one shot with Professor Indy, is he already showing up in Germany? Anyone seeing him in the U.S.?

 

[SpectreOne]

I don’t want to assume you don’t already know, but just in case, don’t use spray paint or you’ll destroy everything you just did! Can’t wait to see more progress.

I appreciate your warning . I'm watching a lot of tutorials to kinda prepare myself and yeah, spray paint seems like a big no-go. I might use it in one place, though. I want to make an insertable floor/roof for the trap area that will be riddled with spikes. Would be neat if that floor/roof had a rugged/melted appearance, so carefully applied spray paint might be the way to go here. I'll just test it. If it works, neat, if it doesn't, not much is lost, except for an optional, insertable piece.

Other than that, I'll use acrylic paint. From what I have gathered so far, my process will be the following.

First: Prime everything. I got a bottle of mod podge and several bottles of my wood glue. I'll mix them with black paint and a little water. Then I'll paint some test pieces with both to see what gives a better result. (I hope wood glue is enough, for that is a bit cheaper)

After that comes the normal painting process with acrylics. Then I'll give everything a black wash (black paint with a lot of water and a bit of soap) to - hopefully - bring out the details and then comes the dry brushing phase.

Then I'll pray to whatever gods may listening, glue everything together again in the hopes that nothing got warped and everything fits, and the last thing will be the addition of sand by using clear wood glue with a little water and... well, sand.

Have I forgotten something?

Just wanted to say again how amazing this project is, Indy is always posed perfectly, the lighting and photography alone is stunning. Looks like there's one shot with Professor Indy, is he already showing up in Germany? Anyone seeing him in the U.S.?

Thank you! Yes, Professor Indy got available here a couple days ago. He's even on amazon. I think Club Obi-Wan Indy might be next.

 

[SpectreOne]

Have I forgotten something?

Yes. Yes, my young, naiv and just slightly dumber self. You forgot that "in theory" and "in practice" are two entirely different things. Thankfully, you and me, we were both raised on Indiana Jones who teached us that you just need to be stubborn and that by being unwilling to give up, you can fail yourself to success.

But first I was still hemming and hawing by doing small things. I build another... artifact/puzzle thing.

Then I cut out another trap door

I continued to do this and that for the past couple days until I really could not put it off any longer: I had to start painting this monster. For that I got a little help in form of a punk kid from the neighbourhood or something.

First, I primed two of my three pillars to see what method I'd use going forward; pod modge, or wood glue mixed with black.

The wood glue worked well enough, but the finished piece turned out to be a little bit glossy here and there. So I tried pod modge, mixed it with black and got... grey?! I could have sworn that I grabbed a bottle of clear pod modge, but as it turned out, I grabbed a white one. Not a big deal. I do plan to do a (much smaller) jungle temple later on and the grey is pretty much perfect for that. The only downside: pod modge has an interesting... odhor. Let's call it that. I also tried both on a cutout piece from the entry room with all the carvings in it, because I was afraid, that I might loose detail here. But nope, that also worked well enough.

Then I applied a layer of acrylic paint. And this is, where the disaster series started. 'Cause it turned out like this:

I thought, that, if I prime it black, the details and carved signs and lines might be dark(er), once I apply the acrylic color and the flat surface might be bright. Or at least as bright, as the color I apply. As it turned out, it's almost the exact opposite. I watched some videos of people that prime their stuff black, but I don't know how many layers of paint they later use. I'd guess a thousand?

At this point, I got slightly worried. Let's pretend that I didn't fail two times more, until I "quickly" realized, that a bright (in this case white) base layer might work a whole lot better for brighter acrylic colors.

So I got my staircase, primed it white and started mixing the beige I had with a bit orange, because without it, it was just a bit too... beige for my liking (big surprise!). At first, I mixed just a tiny bit for test reasons and painted the side wall (sorry, I forgot to take a picture from that.) Then I tried to mix more, got the ratio of orange to beige wrong, which resulted in something that looked way too... well, orange and burned

At that point I really started to hate myself, this project and everyone who considers painting a relaxing undertaking.

The next couple of hours, I tried to fix the thing that I had just painted. A smart person might have just started anew by priming again and getting the color right first. I'm not bright. Luckily I'm stubborn. I mixed a bit more beige in and applied that, which had like zero effect. I mixed a little yellow in, which had a little effect. And then... well, I'm not sure, what I did, but after way too many episodes of mixing/painting/waiting/swearing/mixing/painting/waiting/swearing again I got it... well not right, but at least to an acceptable point. Then I painted some of the stones in brighter or darker tones and dry brushed a bit. That worked surprisingly well.
(The left piece here is the one that got the perfect color in my opinion.)

I realized that I had forgotten to build a roof, quickly cobbled one together and mixed a bit more color. This time I got it immediately right for reasons unknown to man.

I also gave it a black wash with a bit on an eh?-result (maybe too much water?) and without further ado, here are some quickly taken pics from the (mostly) final result (it's not yet glued together and a wall ornament and sand on the stairs are still missing):

It's not perfect, but I'm still quite happy with it. If the rest of the temple turnes out to look just like the staircase, then I'll be happy too.

 

[yodashizzle]

Awesome, just awesome!!!!!!!! There's one shot where you can see Donovan's gun peeking out behind Indy and I actually thought ,"watch out, Indy!"

 

[Idpullthecurtain]

Yes. Yes, my young, naiv and just slightly dumber self. You forgot that "in theory" and "in practice" are two entirely different things. Thankfully, you and me, we were both raised on Indiana Jones who teached us that you just need to be stubborn and that by being unwilling to give up, you can fail yourself to success.

But first I was still hemming and hawing by doing small things. I build another... artifact/puzzle thing.

Then I cut out another trap door

I continued to do this and that for the past couple days until I really could not put it off any longer: I had to start painting this monster. For that I got a little help in form of a punk kid from the neighbourhood or something.

First, I primed two of my three pillars to see what method I'd use going forward; pod modge, or wood glue mixed with black.

The wood glue worked well enough, but the finished piece turned out to be a little bit glossy here and there. So I tried pod modge, mixed it with black and got... grey?! I could have sworn that I grabbed a bottle of clear pod modge, but as it turned out, I grabbed a white one. Not a big deal. I do plan to do a (much smaller) jungle temple later on and the grey is pretty much perfect for that. The only downside: pod modge has an interesting... odhor. Let's call it that. I also tried both on a cutout piece from the entry room with all the carvings in it, because I was afraid, that I might loose detail here. But nope, that also worked well enough.

Then I applied a layer of acrylic paint. And this is, where the disaster series started. 'Cause it turned out like this:

I thought, that, if I prime it black, the details and carved signs and lines might be dark(er), once I apply the acrylic color and the flat surface might be bright. Or at least as bright, as the color I apply. As it turned out, it's almost the exact opposite. I watched some videos of people that prime their stuff black, but I don't know how many layers of paint they later use. I'd guess a thousand?

At this point, I got slightly worried. Let's pretend that I didn't fail two times more, until I "quickly" realized, that a bright (in this case white) base layer might work a whole lot better for brighter acrylic colors.

So I got my staircase, primed it white and started mixing the beige I had with a bit orange, because without it, it was just a bit too... beige for my liking (big surprise!). At first, I mixed just a tiny bit for test reasons and painted the side wall (sorry, I forgot to take a picture from that.) Then I tried to mix more, got the ratio of orange to beige wrong, which resulted in something that looked way too... well, orange and burned

At that point I really started to hate myself, this project and everyone who considers painting a relaxing undertaking.

The next couple of hours, I tried to fix the thing that I had just painted. A smart person might have just started anew by priming again and getting the color right first. I'm not bright. Luckily I'm stubborn. I mixed a bit more beige in and applied that, which had like zero effect. I mixed a little yellow in, which had a little effect. And then... well, I'm not sure, what I did, but after way too many episodes of mixing/painting/waiting/swearing/mixing/painting/waiting/swearing again I got it... well not right, but at least to an acceptable point. Then I painted some of the stones in brighter or darker tones and dry brushed a bit. That worked surprisingly well.
(The left piece here is the one that got the perfect color in my opinion.)

I realized that I had forgotten to build a roof, quickly cobbled one together and mixed a bit more color. This time I got it immediately right for reasons unknown to man.

I also gave it a black wash with a bit on an eh?-result (maybe too much water?) and without further ado, here are some quickly taken pics from the (mostly) final result (it's not yet glued together and a wall ornament and sand on the stairs are still missing):

It's not perfect, but I'm still quite happy with it. If the rest of the temple turnes out to look just like the staircase, then I'll be happy too.

This looks amazing painted.
Incredible work! You are very good at this.

 

[JediDelight]

Is Indy hunting Dragon? Smaug?

Looks great.