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Article: Making modular terrain boards
- Thread starter McEagle
- Start date
Crunchysock
New member
Great article, makes me want to go build a table now.
me_in_japan
New member
I made a desert board using a similar technique to this one, but I made 3 boards of 2x4ft rather than 6 boards of 2x2 ft. I planned it out on photoshop, which helpfully allows you to rotate shapes to check they fit, but you could do it old school and just use bits of paper. The biggest difference to this tutorial was that I used styrofoam (the blue stuff) rather than polystyrene. I find it far easier to work with, and tougher, too.
I textured it with a mixture of wood glue, cement, sand, brown paint, and a bit of water to help it all mix together. I spread this over the surface using a trowel rather than a brush (it was quite thick - much like concrete, unsurprisingly). I spread it very thin, and once it dried I drybrushed it up through shades of tan into a kind of creamy yellow deserty colour.
For terrain features I used hills as shown in this article, as well as trenches. The trenches were actually recessed into the boards and were a bit of a bugger to do. Photoshop helped with getting them to fit in different configurations.
Tthere are pics in my photobucket page. No tutorial, but hopefully you can see what I did
Any questions - just ask. http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k20/me_in_japan/table/
One thing I would say when making any board, is that its very, very important to keep it playable. What looks pretty often doesnt play well. McEagle does this very well, as the table looks great, and also looks very playable.
I textured it with a mixture of wood glue, cement, sand, brown paint, and a bit of water to help it all mix together. I spread this over the surface using a trowel rather than a brush (it was quite thick - much like concrete, unsurprisingly). I spread it very thin, and once it dried I drybrushed it up through shades of tan into a kind of creamy yellow deserty colour.
For terrain features I used hills as shown in this article, as well as trenches. The trenches were actually recessed into the boards and were a bit of a bugger to do. Photoshop helped with getting them to fit in different configurations.
Tthere are pics in my photobucket page. No tutorial, but hopefully you can see what I did
Any questions - just ask. http://s84.photobucket.com/albums/k20/me_in_japan/table/One thing I would say when making any board, is that its very, very important to keep it playable. What looks pretty often doesnt play well. McEagle does this very well, as the table looks great, and also looks very playable.
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dolenmorgul
New member
Good tutorial. I made and sold two of these allready using the very same techniques. IMO the best way to build a gaming board. I used smaller panels of 40 by 40 cm, 20 pieces for even more options. I have to say yours look better than mine did. I really like the idea of reinforcing them I will try that next time round. Great job I agree terrain makes all the difference.
me_in_japan
New member
hammer some nails into it so they stick out of all the board edges. He may bump into it once, but after tearing a hole in his leg, he'll be more careful from then on
Ooooor, if you were looking for a sensible suggestion, you could either go for velcro strips along the joins (the board shouldnt be too heavy, if you're using mostly foam and thin wood), or you could go a bit more DIY and have wee hooks to hold it shut. Or, you could have a terrain feature span the gap (at least partially) and have pins on the bottom of the terrain, one in each section of the table. There are all kinds of things you can do, I reckon
Ooooor, if you were looking for a sensible suggestion, you could either go for velcro strips along the joins (the board shouldnt be too heavy, if you're using mostly foam and thin wood), or you could go a bit more DIY and have wee hooks to hold it shut. Or, you could have a terrain feature span the gap (at least partially) and have pins on the bottom of the terrain, one in each section of the table. There are all kinds of things you can do, I reckon
Choperos
New member
Magnets sound like a solid idea but they would have to be alternated in pairs on each side so that the boards can still snap together no matter how you position them...I guess with all the work you've put in the crafting,2 extra shallow holes on each side of the board wouldn't be too much extra fuss :laugh:
And yeah,I was thinking more something like a trip wire with a grenade attached to it or an anti-personnel mine but I hate cleaning up...Plus I want to be able to keep using the boards after a single game... :tongue:me_in_japan said:hammer some nails into it so they stick out of all the board edges. He may bump into it once, but after tearing a hole in his leg, he'll be more careful from then on
rocketmonkey
New member
Sweet tutorial, McEagle - straightforward and some great pics, too. I'll have to have a go at making a table one of these days...
draco010397
New member
thanks for the tutorial veri usefull
Count Duckula
Member
Awesome article, loved it... great pictures and the final result is brilliant
SpectralDragon
Member
An easy solution to interlocking the pieces is to make wooden U-hooks which can be magnetized to the board. Just like you made an edge in the first steps, do the same for the bottom areas. Cut a notch halfway down each side, and half again the height of the edge. Cut another piece of wood which fits in the notch of the connected boards and notched in the middle. Make it longer than the notch itself and notch the connector itself so it hooks in to the board. You can use magnets or velcro to make sure it stays on.
