building a game board

[incenerate101]

Im looking into building myself a game board and have a few questions.

What is the best material to make the acual board from.
Im generally looking for a supplies list or a step by step tutorial.

[fuzzbuket]

fot the actual board polystyrene and paper mache (several layers)

[incenerate101]

Ive heard many things. a Large sheet of foam board mounted to a sheet of plywood. Isulation foam. But i guess ill do the paper mache. but im ssssooo lazy. Lol

[Porty1119]

Insulation board being blueboard, you can find it at Home Depot or most hardware stores. You could use a rotary tool to sculpt, and Spackle/stuff like that for the actual surface. I'm just about to build an urban board with this, so we'll see how I do the surface.

[Duke]

I'm assuming you been to build a freestanding 6x4? If so here are my tips ( vie done it a few times so...)

Questions I have first before replying
1.are you bulding a permanent board, mobile board (for storing in a closet or such)
2. Based on number one, is it a modular board or one piece?
3. Do you also need space to store terrain and models/codices while playing?

After you answer ill reply

Duke

[Lykum]

Im looking into building myself a game board and have a few questions.

What is the best material to make the acual board from.
Im generally looking for a supplies list or a step by step tutorial.

http://www.drunkdwarves.com/?cat=88

I have built this table top and I'm really happy with it. It is hollow, so not super heavy, but not flimsy either. Also, we've painted both sides (one urban, one desert) for a little terrain variation. You can build a frame for it, or do like me and put it on top of one of those heavy duty plastic folding tables you get at WalMart.

Storage could be a pain, but we always keep it out so that isn't an issue.

[Little Brother]

If you decide to make a modular board like I did, take extreme care with your measurements. I made six 2x2 panels and assumed that the manufacturers measurements were exact. They weren't. To compound the problem I was a little lazy with my own measurements and assumed that 1 or 2 mm (I apologise to all the non metric readers) would make no difference, but it did. As a consequence none of the panels are exactly the same size and they don't fit togther perfectly. Lots of cocked dice.

Just about any board will warp over time when left stored against a wall. The way to stop this is to leave it out flat all the time, which isn't always practical, or reinforce it underneath with a frame. Lykum's tutorial is great and even though it may seem like a lot of effort, material and cost, it is well worth doing in the long run.Even if you just make the board and not the full table.

When I covered my board with sand and grit I was surprised at how much glue I needed. Most people thin the glue a little to glue on the sand, then paint it (which can be a pain because the paint doesn't always go between all the grains on the first coat and you get wood showing through the grains), and then seal it with another coat of watered down glue. I mixed paint with the glue to thin it and make an undercoat, scattered on the sand, and finally sealed it with more of the paint and glue mix. I used over a litre of glue in the end. It's holding together just fine after bashed about by the kids at the local club.

If you do have a foam top, which isn't necessary unless you want to start carving in hills and trenches, reinforce the edges and especially the corners.

[Crotch Lictor]

I used insulation board for my table top. As for painting and texture, I mixed sand in with latex paint. The latex is very durable, and the sand texture won't rub off. Mix in a few cups, then paint the board. As for the frame, mine was made from sections of 2x2 for the outside frame, with supporting sections of 1x2 across the bottom to support the foam board top (basic construction very similar to Lykum's). I put some rubber feet on the bottom supports so I can just lay it on top of any table for use. The rubber keeps it from sliding, but of course you can't bash into it. I put hinges in the middle of my 4x4 table so it can fold up for easy storage.

The lighter wood makes for a very light table, and keeps cost down. Wood ran me less than $10, and the hardware to fit it all together was less than $20 depending on what you use. I can grab some pictures if you like, but don't have a sweet tutorial like Lykum (great work BTW).

[incenerate101]

Thanks guys! im gonna try the drunken dwarves design and ill post pics as my WIP gets close to completion.

[The Dinosaur]

We've got two tables here, working on a third...
I guess it only works cos we have the space, but we have two half table tennis tables, one has a green carpet we picked up really cheap and another which was a mix of gravel/paint and PVA and just painted onto the table.

easiest part with the tables is the legs fold out when we need it, or we fold them up and store them sideways.

heres "greenie" a few weeks ago - hes been with us now for 8 years! - http://h.imagehost.org/view/0985/photo

[Lykum]

Lykum's tutorial is great and even though it may seem like a lot of effort, material and cost, it is well worth doing in the long run.Even if you just make the board and not the full table.


I can't take credit for making that tutorial. I just built the table based on their instructions.

It was about an afternoon worth of work. maybe 3-4 hours total. Materials were about $60. A few tips if you end up building it...

Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. will cut the sheeting for you. Because it is a little unwieldy I highly recommend having them cut it for you (unless you have one of those wall mounted circular saws). Despite that, they will end up being maybe 1/4"-1/8" off. This doesn't seem like a big deal unless you are mounting it in a frame like the Drunken Dwarves guys, or you are incredibly anal retentive like me. The way to fix this (I learned the hard way) is to take your circular saw and clamp a straight edge on the table flush with the edge of the saw. This will give you a nice straight cut. I tried to freehand it which doesn't work if you are only trimming 1/4"-1/8". If this doesn't make sense, just let me know and I'll provide pictures.