So, what's Hammers up to these days? (Update 2010.09.18)

[Col. Aubrey Bagshot]

Heres a trick a carpenter told me years ago...

When you have the board wet and ready to set, put in ontop of a large sheet of MDF/wood/whatever and the screw up into it from the under side THROUGH the large sheet.

For exmple:

Scenic board backing 20mm thick.

Large sheet of solid whatever 70mm thick.

Buy some 90mm screws.

Then screw them up through the large sheet of whatever and into the backing of teh scenic board.

Leave to dry for however many days....

Unscrew the screws.

Flat dry scenic board.

Repeat process everytime you want a flat board.

[Silent Invader]

I must say, I've never known MDF boards to warp, so not sure how you've managed it

I did manage it once when attaching terrain paper using PVA. I guess the mild-ish warp was caused by the PVA soaking through the backing paper and bringing together the flock fibres.  On that occasion lots of weight (books) and clamps at the edges straightened it out, I guess by breaking the glue joint between the flock fibres.

I now use a latex based adhesive (copydex) that doesn't soak through the paper to the flock fibres; result = no warping.

[Col.Stone]

working in patches might help avoid warping

[Hammers]

working in patches might help avoid warping

I've considered this to.

[Hammers]

Thanks but this would probably fuck up the artfully sculpted features   of the ground work. You'd have to do something quite intricate to make it work.

Heres a trick a carpenter told me years ago...

When you have the board wet and ready to set, put in ontop of a large sheet of MDF/wood/whatever and the screw up into it from the under side THROUGH the large sheet.

For exmple:

Scenic board backing 20mm thick.

Large sheet of solid whatever 70mm thick.

Buy some 90mm screws.

Then screw them up through the large sheet of whatever and into the backing of teh scenic board.

Leave to dry for however many days....

Unscrew the screws.

Flat dry scenic board.

Repeat process everytime you want a flat board.

[Hammers]

Ooooh dear.

I must say, I've never known MDF boards to warp, so not sure how you've managed it Peder... 

The surface looks great though 

Thanks Richard. As I said, the shrinkage and adhesiveness of Cellyclay and white glue is mighty powerful.

[Mindenbrush]

Maybe a little late for my method of making gaming boards -

I used 2" x 1" prepared pine battens to make the base and added a support across the centre. I then added 5mm MDF on top. Undulating terrain could then be sculpted in using pieces of ceiling tiles or pink/blue foam which was then covered with a mix of plaster/PVA glue and tea leaves, coffee grounds or sawdust.

Low lying areas were made by cutting out a section of the MDF and gluing a piece underneath. Rivers, canals, ditches had the upper pice of MDF cut away and the edges built up with battens and the base added from MDF. If the river, canal, ditch extened either side of the board additional battens were added to strengthen the board,

Not quite as light as foam/mdf but rigid and never lost any edges.

[Hammers]

A bit of progress with the hospital tent:



Clothed and planked and the Red Cross has stamped its mark of approval on it. There is another cross on the other side and I will probably paint another (smaller one) one the the end wall to. The planks were stained in different colors to give an impression off slap-togetherness.

The doors (there is another one on the other end ) have working hinges.

The sail cloth was fastened with super-glue, strengthened with diluted white glue and air sprayed with three shades of tan, ending with white.

[Remington]

Awesome!!!! 

[Hammers]

Nownow...

[Centaur_Seducer]

I like it a lot!
What type of sailing cloth?

[Hammers]

A linen cotton mix. Prewashed.

[Centaur_Seducer]

A linen cotton mix. Prewashed.

Are we talking about real sailing cloth or the hobby version of sailing cloth here?

[Remington]

Now now? When this is going to be set on your plate and kinda tied to it (figuratively and literally ), it will look amazing!

[Hammers]

Are we talking about real sailing cloth or the hobby version of sailing cloth here?

No, cotton cloth would surely look much to coarse. It's fabric meant for clothes, nicked from  the wife's chest of such things. Discarded bed sheets gives you a weave which is closer to scale if you want to simulate canvas.

Thank you all for your kind comments.