Odd idea: bean bag terrain

[Connectamabob]

Way back in the mists of time, a photography instructor of mine had the class make bean bags out of spandex and lentils. The idea was to use the beanbag as a camera rest that would conform to and grab the camera bottom. The materials were important: the lentils shift to interlock and hold in a way beads or rice don't, and the spandex allows the bag to be more conformal than regular cloth would. The trick was actually to underfill the bag slightly so the spandex was under just enough tension to retain the lentils without compressing them into another shape when the camera was smished into the bag.

TL/DR: not normal beanbags, but ductile beanbags that can be "crunched" into shapes that they will then hold of their own accord.

Every time I think about full table terrain, my mind keeps wandering back to this idea I had to use a whole bunch of beanbags like this to make a cleaner version of sand-table style sculptable terrain. Basically pile beanbags around the table, squish them into shape, and toss a cloth mat over the top. Buildings and other hard terrain pieces could be pressed into place similarly to how you would with sand, but without the mess or abrasiveness. When the game is done, there's nothing to clean up, you just dump the bean bags into a plastic bin or whatever.

Sort of a bridge between using piles of books, and the full on sculptabilty of a sand table. What do you guys think?

[Daeothar]

There may be something there...

Only after reading your post twice did I realize you mean to use many small ones, wherre my mind had immediately filled in the (nonexisting) gap by imagining a single big one. No cloth, just this large bag that can be formed into ridges, hills, valleys and river/roadbeds, covering (most of) the table. Probably painted in some sandy color.

A bit like back in elementary school, when I played with my army men on my bed, using the blankets as a wild, undulating landscape with folds as ravines and ridges. But more refined, of course.

Especially for the purpose of 'blending' in terrain pieces, such a table could work very well and the terrain would be very forgiving when it came to balancing miniatures. Also, the landscape could be shaped more realistic and natural than with, say, the ubiquous styrofoam stepped hills...

Now, who's going out to buy 5 meters of tan coloured spandex and 10 kilo's of lentils for a proof of concept?

[Marine0846]

Interesting idea.
Am out going out today,
may have to spend extra time in the store.

[SABOT]

Sounds worthy of a try.

[Marine0846]

Managed to get out today.
Went to the supermarket, checked the price of lentils.
About $2.00 a pound. That's a little out of my price range.
So, went to the pet store.
Came up with some ideas.

1. Kitty litter. Have some at home, (yes its clean.)
Will be trying that today.
2.Bird seed.
3.A paper product that goes in the bottom of a bird tray.
Could be useful but think it would not lay flat enough.

[Connectamabob]

One issue with the lentils (or other organic/food media) is that with the bean bag I made, it eventually became a pest attractant. Wee tiny carpet beetles eventually found their way in, or made their way in, and went to town eating and breeding. It lasted me for like ten years, but once the bugs discovered it, I had to toss it.

I figure there's probably something you could coat or infuse them with that would make them unpalatable to bugs, but I wouldn't know how to find it, and it would add to the cost, of course.

Plastic pellets would be ideal, If one could find them in the right shape. The shape is important, as if you use the wrong shape (like the standard round or cylindrical pellets) the beads slide around each other instead of binding. Stuff that's made/sold for doll or pillow stuffing is probably deliberately designed to to do this, so finding the right pellets could be tricky. Plastic would also be lighter by volume, I think, which would be a good thing for storage/transport.

Bird seed I'd expect to be a no-go shape wise. Kitty litter might work, but I'll bet it would abrade itself and generate a lot of dust. My prof back in the day said he'd tried lots of different media, and lentils worked best, though I haven't tested myself to verify.

These appear to have a lenticular-ish shape (if the pic is reliable).

These have a flat sharp "shale scree" sort of shape that looks like it might be good. More expensive then lentils by weight, but I dunno how that compares volume-wise.

There may be something there...

Only after reading your post twice did I realize you mean to use many small ones, wherre my mind had immediately filled in the (nonexisting) gap by imagining a single big one. No cloth, just this large bag that can be formed into ridges, hills, valleys and river/roadbeds, covering (most of) the table. Probably painted in some sandy color...

...Now, who's going out to buy 5 meters of tan coloured spandex and 10 kilo's of lentils for a proof of concept?

I think a single huge bag would be impractical. Imagine wrestling that thing on and off the table, vs just tossing small bags around. Plus a pile of smaller bags is likely way more sculptable than a single large bag.

I considered using just the bags without a cloth mat over it, but I figured:

1) A mat would provide a better unified appearance, and you wouldn't need a different assortment of bags for different types of terrain, so costs and storage needs would be much lower. You could go nuts with texture paste or teddy bear fur or whatever, and make it look great.

2) I wouldn't want to risk ruining the spandex's elasticity by painting or flocking it. Also it would create storage problems, in that you couldn't just pile them all in a bin without a large risk of paint or flock getting worn off quickly. Alternatively, you'd be stuck with the spandex's natural color or whatever pattern was silkscreened on it at the factory. Probably a lateral transition from a plain felt mat, but not nearly as nice as a painted and/or textured mat. Plus it'd force you to be pickier about sourcing, which would likely drive costs up significantly, whereas if you're using it under a mat, you could just buy literally whatever spandex is cheapest on Ebay or whatever without caring about color/pattern.

[SABOT]

My bean bags arrived this morning just in time for today's game. I am happy. Cheap and cheerful they make nice contours under my fur terrain cloth. See what you think ...

[Hupp n at em]

That looks pretty awesome, Sabot.  Are those lentil (literal bean) bags, or are they "bean" bags filled with beads like those you'd find (albeit, much larger) in the kids furniture section?

[Ahistorian]

This is a great idea, and as a dedicated user of terrain mats, I look forward to following this thread!

[SABOT]

Amazon standard issue for kids - got X 7 in a bag for £7. They are just the job as they support weight . Figures not normally an issue but buildings on hills can make a dip. Not now.

[Connectamabob]

Cool beans! (I'm sorry: I couldn't help it.)

If regular bean bags work well enough, that's even better. I had been thinking that more shapable bags would be the way to go, but that was all brain storming on my part, not actual testing in-context. I'm super chuffed to see not only a successful proof of concept, but one that shows it can be more simply/cheaply viable than I thought.

[SABOT]

I am very grateful to you for the inspiration.

I cannot produce a photo that clearly shows the incredible shapes of contours formed by the bean bags but it is an impressive result.

[jon_1066]

Nice idea.  What dimensions were your bean bags? - the flat 6" by 4" ones?

[SABOT]

Yes mate .

[Smokeyrone]

Better than books, which work fine.

May I suggest that you experiment with something even more dense than lentils? 

We play "Cornhole" at Miami Hurricanes tailgates.  (Its a bean bag toss game).

The top quality bags are full of lead field and bird shot, or...SAND!   The sand conforms and stays put (so does lead, but the price...)