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Modular gaming table

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:07 pm
by AndyP
I'm just starting out on building my first modular gaming table. Doing a 6'x4' table in 2'x2' squares made using xps insulation foamboard. The plan is for it to be landscaped but with room for extra scenery to be placed where needed. Would love to theme it just on Darklands but it really needs to be fairly generic so I can use it for WFB, W40K, and possibly Malifaux. The extra scenery pieces would individualise it for whichever setting is required. Anyone have any previous experience they could share or just some interesting ideas to bounce around as regards features and layouts. Will try and take pictures and upload them as I go but this will be done over a lengthy period as I do have work, family, friends & painting to fit in as well :-) all ideas welcome.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 1:48 am
by Chad
I'm getting a board for Darklands (mainly as Industrial ash waste isn't the best look for Ys) from http://www.ct-scenery.com/ their work looks really good and they've answered a lot of my questions even some of the inane ones. A flat 48" x 48" board ready to play consisting of 4 rocky plains is around 130 euros delivered to the UK. It might fit what you want.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 7:39 am
by Funkychef
I'm thinking of doing some form of dark moorland board for Darklands, initially in 2 2'x4' sections, adding in a 3rd with a beach section and then possibly more over time.

Interesting to see you aiming to multi use the board for Malifaux as well, my mental image for that setting has alwys been a sort of blasted wasteland/deserts edge kind of setting where as for darklands I get a far wetter gloomier feel (might be because I live in the Uk and for Darklands I take a look out the window, then make the weather worse and sun even more scarce)

Be very interested to see what you come up with either way :)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 7:57 am
by AndyP
[quote="Funkychef]

Interesting to see you aiming to multi use the board for Malifaux as well, my mental image for that setting has alwys been a sort of blasted wasteland/deserts edge kind of setting where as for darklands I get a far wetter gloomier feel


I also live in UK and know just what the weather's effect has on the landsacaspe :-)
That's why I only said possibly Malifaux. Only way that will happen is if I go for a boggy/marshland setting which could work for Malifaux bayou maybe. Unlikely though. Malifaux will probably end up being another board dependant on the success of the first.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 8:14 am
by Funkychef
Either way, I'll be interested to see what you come up with :) Going to start formalising ideas for my new boards over the next few weeks, when you start make sure you show us pics ;)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 8:56 am
by AndyP
Will do. See what the next couple of weeks brings :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 9:20 am
by zedmeister
I'll be watching this topic closely for sure. I'm still building up a list of ideas. It'd be good to see what materials you use

As for terrain, you'll probably want some standing stones, a few woodland copse, lots of bogs and marshland and a bleak, remote stone church of some description!

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 10:33 am
by AndyP
Standing stones and trees are a certainty for scenery additions and either rough stone buildings or small remnants like ruined walls and such. As for bogs, I think I may make a couple of extra 2'x2' boards afterwards with bogs/marshes on and then I can swap and change the whole board layout as needed. Definitely like the marsh setting for Dark lands though with a dark oppressive feel. One issue I can see is scaling the hills so that they will be big enough for Darklands minis but not too big for warhammer & 40k. Having had a look at ct-scenery who have a coastal piece for their boards I also like the beach landing aspect, especially as I have Norse coming. So many options it is going to be hard to decide on the final piece, there is enough in my head for 3 or 4 full tables :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:23 am
by Funkychef
Oddly enough I have been thinking about this too this morning, and the second of my new boards (originally decided on for godslayer, but will also be good for Atalantes/Khthones/Infernii/Byzantii kindred games) is now spec'd out as a concept, with fixed layout for some features and scatter options for buildings and trees.

Now I just need to find some inspiration for a moorland board :?

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:41 am
by Rick_Boer
I keep thinking about the dead marshes from Lord of the Rings.
Should make a nice board if done right

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:52 am
by Funkychef
Rick_Boer wrote:I keep thinking about the dead marshes from Lord of the Rings.
Should make a nice board if done right


Damn it Rick, now I'm going to have to re-watch it to see what I can glean from it, and I HATE that section of the story, I skip past it when I read it and I often use that part of the movie for a drink/snap/toilet break :o

Ahh well, I suppose I can suffer it for Darklands ;)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 11:59 am
by Rick_Boer
Just google for pictures then ;)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:06 pm
by Rick_Boer
I just found something interesting if you want to build a marsh (and I will make one as well sometime in the future)
http://sidneyroundwood.blogspot.nl/2011 ... lding.html
Just don't build the bunker etc. but it gives you some awesome building-tips and painting-tips for a great board

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 7:40 am
by Rick_Boer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... OogQCC38s0
Just some more ideas for swamp-bases or boards

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:25 am
by AndyP
Foamboard is now all cut to size and glued to the MDF bases (drying as I type). When I get home I will have 6 2'x2' sections ready to be fillered, levelled and smoothed. Let me know if you want pics of this stage. Bit boring to look at right now but your wish is my command ;-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:54 am
by Funkychef
I'm inclined to say yes, a - for compleation sake so that if someone comes accross this in the future they can follw each step, and b - because I was planning on using 2" xps sheets, so would like to see how think you're boards are going to be with layers of foamcore :)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 12:16 pm
by AndyP
Sorry. My foamboard is 2" thick XPS insulation board with a quarter inch MDF base. Will take photos tonight of them in their current rough state and post them as soon as i can.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:23 pm
by Funkychef
AndyP wrote:Sorry. My foamboard is 2" thick XPS insulation board with a quarter inch MDF base. Will take photos tonight of them in their current rough state and post them as soon as i can.


Lol, nice to see great minds think alike then ;)

out of interest, where do you get your XPS from? I've yet to have a look around for some for this

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 1:50 pm
by AndyP
out of interest, where do you get your XPS from? I've yet to have a look around for some for this
[/quote]

AAAhhh well. That is a very good question. One that took me a lot of searching to answer. The only DIY shops that are listed on the internet as stockists are B&Q and Wickes, they are both listed as stocking Knauff Spaceboard insulation board. However both my local stores for these chains said they no longer stock it. Nearest Wickes to me that was listed as having stock was Mansfield, about 1 & 1/2 hours drive away. There are a few online builders suppliers who could supply 8'x2' sheets in a minimum order of 8 for about £120 which was a bit excessive for my needs. In the end, about 4 weeks ago a friend of mine turned up at games night carrying a 1'x1' piece. I asked him where he got it and was told B&Q had loads. Got down there to find plenty in stock for about £5 per 2'x18" sheet. I bought as many as I could carry :-) The following week I went in to get a couple more and there were only 3 pieces left and their shelf space had been taken up with other stuff, so I think this was a very limited supply. Don't know if they will get any more in or not.
So the answer is B&Q maybe, if you are lucky. Same goes for Wickes.
Yesterday however I found these: http://shop.panelsystems.co.uk/craftfoam.html
The blue stuff looks like it would be suitable and I will probably use these in the future although I have heard that the blue boards are not quite as strong (something to do with the density) as the pink ones which are what I got from B&Q but still perfectly useable.
Sorry for the long reply but it was a bit of a saga trying to source them. Hope this helps :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:41 pm
by Funkychef
Not a problem, thanks for the reply

I've had the same problems trying to get spaceboard from wickes, might have to take a trip round the local B&Q's though this weekend (I've got 3 big ones that I pass several times a week)

Thanks for the link, looks expensive, but the cost includes postage so not too bad really, getting sheeets that size shipped is always expensive.

Now, on with the boards :)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 3:14 pm
by AndyP
Thanks for the link, looks expensive, but the cost includes postage so not too bad really, getting sheeets that size shipped is always expensive.


Yeah they are around double the price I paid for all the boards i needed for my table but as you say it does include delivery and they are already cut to the right size so no chopping or joining required.
Something I think I will get is a "hot wire cutter" for shaping the edges of the hills. If anyone has any reccomendations of brands or where best to get one without costing the earth it would be appreciated.

Also found these guys: http://www.flints.co.uk/acatalog/Modelfoam_Sheets.html
Prices aren't any better but you can order single pieces and you can get 1" or 2" thick. Only in 1'x2' tiles though. May be good for smaller scenery pieces or hills.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 9:44 pm
by AndyP
Ok, I have some photos. As previously stated these are still very rough:
Imageside view of the 60mm xps board

Imagetop view of the 60mm xps board

Imageside view with 1/4" mdf base attached

Imagetop view of full set of panels

Imagetop view of single board

Imageboards stacked neatly

The mdf panels were cut by the staff at B&Q to 600mm x 600mm squares (since I live in metric Britain this is as close to 2'x2' as I can get). The xps boards came in 1200mm x 500mm x 60mm sheets so cutting 1 in half gave me 2 600mm x 500mm pieces (hence the narrow strip I had to add onto one side of each board) XPS is glued to the MDF using liquid nails and left for 24 hours with some bricks on top of the stack to apply even pressure. Next step will be to get all the sides perfectly square by sanding the foam flush with the mdf and then laying some liguid nails along the join line of the narrow strip to fill it and create a smooth join as well as a coating of liquid nails all around the outside edges of each board in order to provide a tough, damage resistant outer edge.
Hope this is clear enough, first time and all that. Any questions I will do my best to answer but I'm no expert :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:27 pm
by AndyS
Antenocitis workshop has Styrofoam sheets cheaper I think. Not sure about the postage though.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:54 pm
by AndyP
AndyS wrote:Antenocitis workshop has Styrofoam sheets cheaper I think. Not sure about the postage though.


Just checked and after delivery is factored in it would be £9 cheaper from antenocitis. Good find. Never even thought of them and they never popped up on Google searches because I searched for XPS not Styrofoam :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:57 pm
by bloodwars
in the US we have lowes, which has super cheap 4x8 foam sheets (the website is only showing 1" thick, but i've gotten 4" before in store for a couple dollars more).

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:22 am
by AndyP
bloodwars wrote:in the US we have lowes, which has super cheap 4x8 foam sheets (the website is only showing 1" thick, but i've gotten 4" before in store for a couple dollars more).


Yeah it seems this stuff is widely available in US, but its not so common here, probably due to house construction techniques being different to UK (wooden versus brick and the inherent insulation properties of both). Only thing it seems to be used for here is under-floor or loft insulation. I've been told that up until a year ago the government subsidised the use of it which brought the price down but have now stopped doing so.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:55 am
by bloodwars
yeah, here i can get a 4"x8'x4' (10cm x 122cm x 244 cm) sheet for about $23 (16GBP), which is a ridiculous amount. 2" thick is like $17 and 1" thick is $11. and within 15minutes there are 3-4 stores that always have it stocked. I imagine the UK has fewer warehouse sized stores though just sitting about.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:14 am
by AndyP
I imagine the UK has fewer warehouse sized stores though just sitting about.


I have one of the UK's largest DIY stores 10 mins away but it is dwarfed by the kind of places you guys have over there. :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:37 am
by Tim Fisher
Did somebody say standing stones ;)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:12 am
by zedmeister
You tease us with your standing stones!

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:42 am
by Tim Fisher
I imagine you've already seen them, they have been hiding in plain sight for nearly two years ;0)

#nomoreclues

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:20 am
by zedmeister
Let me guess - they appear in the background of one of the old box covers?

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:51 pm
by Tim Fisher
Old and new - Aragorn Marks sculpts they are.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:53 pm
by zedmeister
I think I see them. If I'm right, gimmie!

(One of the Albainn giants box...)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 4:07 pm
by Tim Fisher
That's them!

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 6:03 pm
by AndyS
How's the table going Andy? I'm looking forward to an update on this!

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 7:56 pm
by AndyP
Not much further on yet. Have either been too busy, prepping models, practising with the airbrush or too cold in the garage to crack on with it. Have sanded the edges and just need to layer some no nails round them to even up the sides and provide some damage protection then I will sculpt the main hill and post some pics. I will post a pic of the proposed layout in next few days and see what y'all think ;-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 8:21 pm
by AndyP
The look I will be trying to achieve will be along these lines:
Image
general look and feel like this.
Image
Boggy lowlands on the ground level boards.
Image
Hill will be along these lines. Sloping sides with jagged rock outcroppings.

Trees will be sparse if I have any at all for this board. More likely to have standing stones and maybe a cairn or two.

Fingers crossed and lots of optimism :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 8:29 pm
by Rick_Boer
Andy, that's exactly how I'm planning my board ;)
The Mierce standing stones will be great on a board with such a theme

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 8:48 pm
by AndyP
Any idea where I can get an image of their standing stones. Tried to Google search but no luck so far.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:41 am
by AndyS
They were on the old site but that has been hijacked by viagra salesmen! It is annoying as there was lots of good stuff on there. Better than the new site.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:04 pm
by zedmeister
Best thing to do is google kermorannac and switch to image view. You'll know it when you see ;)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:12 pm
by AndyP
OK. Seen them now. Thanks guys.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:10 pm
by AndyP
In case anyone is looking around for bark to use as rock face, I have just received my order of 1 cork bark priced at £10 from Antenocitis and thought I would post a pic to show how much you get.
Image
Standard 12" ruler on smaller piece for scale.
I was pleasantly surprised :-)

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:43 pm
by grefven
Will work great to do rocks for sure!

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:09 am
by AndyP
Took a trip to Northumberland over Easter. Took a few pics for inspiration
Image
Image
Image
Image
The last two are a ruined folly near to where we stayed which overlooks the scenery in the first two. The area is called Scots Gap. So called because Scots and Picts would venture on raids against the Romans through the gap between the nearby mountains.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 6:33 pm
by AndyP
OK, boring update before the interesting stuff starts and things hopefully progress faster. So I had heard that "no nails" made a good smooth and resilient finish to the edges of the board tiles. What I was not aware of was that if it goes on any thicker than a thin smear it cracks when it dries out and ends up looking like crazy paving. So having coated all the edges to all 6 tiles I had to go over them again with two layers of pollyfilla (Spackle if you are American) to get a smooth level surface. The first had to dry fully before the second went on and then although the filla was smooth it is quite soft so I have had to coat it with a layer of PVA glue. One layer just soaked straight in however so a second layer has been applied. This delayed my progress quite a bit as I learned from my mistakes.
So if anyone else is going to follow this as a guide I suggest 2 things from what I have learned so far and will do this when I make another board myself. First - don't worry about saving a bit of money and just buy the 2" thick 60cm x 60cm foam tiles from antenocitis website. Its worth the extra cost to not have to even up the sides after you have cut the insulation boards. Second - if you do use insulation boards and have slightly uneven sides go straight for the polyfilla and then PVA, don't bother with "no nails".
So I now have 6 even and smooth sided tiles

Image

Each one looks like this

Image

From here I can line up another layer of foam on 4 of them and cut my hill from it. Pics of this will follow shortly.
Also I have purchased a bag of this "ballast" for approx £1.50 from B&Q

Image

I then dried some of it out in batches on a roasting tin in the oven for about 15 mins and sieved out the bigger rocks so I was left with sand, small rocks and large rocks as shown, these will be used as the various surfaces on this and future boards. I have more than enough to complete this board and still have 3/4 of the bag left.

Image

Image

Image

Image

So that's it for now, hopefully the next posts won't be as long in coming and will be a bit more interesting as the landscape starts to take shape. Sorry this was a big read. I will be more succinct next time.

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 11:43 am
by JLLongshore
Thank you.. can't wait till next update!

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 12:02 pm
by AndyS
Don't worry about the long read. It's all good stuff! How do you plan to stick the ballast down?

Re: Modular gaming table

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 12:43 pm
by AndyP
The larger pieces will go on with a hot glue gun. The sand will go on over a layer of PVA glue.