So Vexxus and I got to work and started making the table. Using our rough draft as a guideline we went to the hardware store to pick up some supplies.
We returned with four 8’x4’ sheets of styrofoam (the crappy, but cheap bubbly stuff) and with one sheet of 8’x4’ pink styrofoam (the good stuff). We also picked up some foam-safe adhesive. And, we also took a chance on some textured ceiling paint, which seemed like a good idea for combining a sort of basecoat and flock texture into one step.
Vexxus had already created the plywood base with some reinforcement, and he might reply about that in a bit more detail. We first had to cut down the foam to 6’ lengths.
The next step was to sketch out the desired shape and cut the foam with a foam cutter. The foam cutter created the desired shape and texture of the excavated land.
Working with the bubbly foam can get really messy. Good thing Vexxus had his trusty heavy duty vacuum to make short work of all those annoyingly static prone bits.
The multi-level digging site is mostly finished. A bit more cleanup is done.
Now it’s time to glue the foam to the table and then more foam to that. Again, we are using a heavy duty foam-safe adhesive.
For the open valley section of the site, we glue the pink foam in place. We also used some black spray paint to create a small tar/oil pit.
We used a bunch of scrap wood to weigh down the foam and ensure a good bond between wood, glue, and foam.
We also begin creating the ramp/road back to Zharr Naggrund. We also started work on an underground railway that will run parallel to the ramp/road.
More pictures to come!
If you have any ideas on for structures or details, please share. Sketches and pictures are welcome. A small oil rig and refinery are planned, as well as the railway with mine carts. We may do a guard tower as well. But we welcome you thoughts and ideas.
Comments welcome!
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Batch #2!
Some tools of the trade!
The foam cutter in action.
The table is taking form!
Tar pit time.
Expanded tar pit.
We apply the two-part epoxy to fill some gaps and smooth out the ramp. The table shape is mostly complete.
Our underground mine cart railway back to Zharr Naggrund.
The ramp and road back to Zharr Naggrund.
In the next batch we’ll show you guys the effect that using textured ceiling paint had on our board. Stay tuned!
Looking damned good so far! Can we see a close up of the tar pit-to-be, please?
For the minecart, you could always obtain and modify one from the dwarf miners/BfSP box and for tracks, either get very small train-tracks from a nearby hobby-shop or make your own from wires and balsa/lollipop sticks.
With the guard towers, make sure there are CDs patrolling atop them, aiming giant guns at people (like films portray American prison wardens doing so).
What sort of oil rig ya looking to make? I think you can find them at the sorts of hobby-shops that sell trains, so you couls get one of those and use them as a basis…
Sweet sweet terrain… wish I was there guys!! Thanks for keeping us in the loop, can’t wait to see more. As I’m not building terrain at present I have to live vicariously though others
Great start - and like others looking forward following this new quest of yours - and dont forget, that you would need a big Chaos Dwarf force for playing on that game board.
Looking good… I would recommend you using simple wood putty for filling… as its cheap, easy to apply and it doesnt shrink… also when you apply the PVA layer before flocking it will make a solid, smooth area with no seams showing. Also a mix of playground sand with common cat litter is great for flocking a large table as it gets that variety of size in there… also find a large sized volcanic rock… in nevada we have tons… so if you need some tell me and ill send you a box… but you can pretty much shatter them easy with a hammer and it will give you some great larger sized rocks.
Looking good... I would recommend you using simple wood putty for filling... as its cheap, easy to apply and it doesnt shrink.. also when you apply the PVA layer before flocking it will make a solid, smooth area with no seams showing. Also a mix of playground sand with common cat litter is great for flocking a large table as it gets that variety of size in there.. also find a large sized volcanic rock.. in nevada we have tons.. so if you need some tell me and ill send you a box.. but you can pretty much shatter them easy with a hammer and it will give you some great larger sized rocks.
Servius
Some great ideas in there certainly, and thank you for your post!
HOWEVER (lol), we happen to have our hands on some industrial grade product (a 2 part epoxy of immense strength, and very little shrinkage) for filling in the gaps. This stage is now complete, photographs pending.
Also, as opposed to using a sand mixture, Xander came up with the (brilliant) idea at the hardware store, of buying some ceiling paint. The product we picked out has tons of sand mixed in, and is meant to provide a tough surface, which also happens to be textured with sand. This provided a relatively easy, and VERY solid solution. This paint goes on thick, can be extra-textured as desired, and has now hardened into a thin layer of what is practically concrete, lol. Again, pictures pending!
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