A project that I have kicked off and been asked about it over on FoD though it's more appropriate home is probably here.
I have a number of the 'foam insulation' homemade boards but their thickness means that they take up a lot of storage space while their larger size means that I can't have many variations in their overall layout. Also, when pushed together the nature of the foam means that the joins aren't as crisp as I'd like.
So, I'd been pondering a clip together system of smaller tiles when I discovered* the Ex Illis Game Board, of which the box set comprises 20 9"x9" plastic tiles with preformed detail.
http://ex-illis.com/main.php?logged=1&goto=storeThe tiles are light in weight and easily modified by grinding or cutting.
As my use will be for the woodlands of North East America (FIW) and the lowlands of goode olde Englande (WotR), the preformed detail isn’t of any use to me and prominent parts like boulders and cart wheels will be ground or cut away. So, what to replace them with? Hills, rivers and roads, of course!
Taking the 20 tiles from the box and using 18 at a time, I was able to come up with a system that will provide a good amount of variety.
Though the above layouts use 18 tiles from the box of 20, I’ve actually bought 2 boxes and so will have 40 tiles to select from, probably deploying 36 at a time.
The tiles do not come with preformed rivers (or roads) and so I have cut into the main surface (leaving the frame in place) that in due course will be filled with Vallejo realistic water.
The river bed is just sheet styrene glued to the base of the tile, with banks built up with pound shop epoxy and then a layer of sand; in time additional bank detail will be added with greenstuff.
Hills are built up from layers of foam board. Some of the tiles are detailed with a paved pattern that I have used to guide the layout of my hills, with matching faces following a common pattern of 2 layers, 4 layers etc. so I can have quite some variation in the hill parts that fit together.
Though the hills have been built from layers of foam board, where there are exposed crags they were covered with inexpensive finishing plaster with additional detail being added using greenstuff.
Example of different types of tiles:
The flock paper was attached with PVA, which seems to make good use of the textured tile surface, although I added a bead of Bostik at each edge. The link system enables quite a tight fit (NB: the gap between the two hill pieces above is due to my imprecise measurement that needs correcting).
However, when customising caution needs to be exercised as shrinkage can lead to a little warping with some joins showing but other terrain items do a pretty good job of hiding the gaps.
These first tiles still need quite a bit of finishing but as I make more progress I’ll post up some more images.
Comments welcome.
*For the sake of full disclosure I work for a company that sells Ex Illis but this isn’t a promotion, it’s my hobby.
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 18, 2024, 03:53:55 AM
January 12, 2011, 03:07:44 AM