New Terrain elements

[mattblackgod]

The fences, barrels and crates really add to the set. I wanna come and play!! 

[Cosmotiger]

@ hubbabubba: If you don't mind one more procedural question, are you using Airbrush Medium to thin the gesso? 

I've never really thought it was possible to airbrush gesso, but it looks like you've proved me wrong.

[hubbabubba]

Yep, airbrush medium, and a little h20, question of trial and error. You can avoid too much clogging  in your brush by using a filter on the nozzel of your paint pot, I use a bit of an old pair of tights I stole from my girlfriend, (that'd be pantyhoes to you North Americans. )

[Hawkeye]

Hubbabubba - how do you do your ground cover? I mean the dusty, sandy, hard-packed earth look you've got over the entire board. It looks fantastic, and it's exactly the sort of look I want for my Old West project. A brief outline/step-by-step/mini-tutorial/psychic data transfer would really be appreciated!
The board, by the way, is looking great. I want to do a Serenity game too, and that sort of board would be perfect for it.

[hubbabubba]

It's just beach sand and pva, done the good ol' fashioned way.
Work in strips across the short end of the board, get a good coat of PVA on it and the pour the sand on it. work in bands like this across the whole board, (if ypu try to do it all at once some of the glue will dry out before you get the sand on.)
If you want to, you can scrape tyre tracks and the like into the sand while the glue's still wet. leave it to dry over night then brush the sand off and repeat any sections that don't have enough texture, or area where you want to build up more texture. Seal the whole thing with a thinner coat of PVA, then when dry, paint with house hold emulsion, I went for a chocolate brown base coat, and then dry brushed with sand colour, then a light biege. Then drybrush it, this the worst bit, knackers the brushers and your wrists too. When it was all good and dry, I gave it some thin washes of oil colours in different areas to add abit of variety in areas and bring out the texture.I did two 6' x 4' at the same time, only ever used the two buggers together once, still good to have the option

[Hawkeye]

Thanks, Hubbabubba - makes perfect sense of course. It's just that I've played on sanded boards at my old club back in Ireland, and they were like 6' by 4' pieces of sandpaper. They'd scrape paint off a mini in a heartbeat - not to mention skin off knuckles. I think the difference with yours might be that last overall layer of PVA. I'd say it smoothes out the roughness a little, and makes the board less abrasive.
Looks like I'll be gluing and drybrushing some time soon!
Thanks again.

[hubbabubba]

Next step, then I'm just about through with this board, although having said that I'm still tempted to add some roads and a landing pad, hmmmmmm.
Added these cork buildings a la http://www.matakishi.com/ (the Don)
There are two hab type blocks and a lab/workshop/warehouse area. They all stack, have removable rooves and are still waiting to have their interiors painted and furnished. Still a lot of work to go, painting inside and out, and then painting all the furnishing and interior details... yawn. Still, they're playable as is.





The walls are the dividers from an aluminium briefcase like tool box I bought for transporting minis, waste not want not

[zizi666]

  Awesome table. 
my likey very much !

[Willypold]

I see you are using the Microart catwalk set - any opinions about it?

[hubbabubba]

I see you are using the Microart catwalk set - any opinions about it?

Yeah, I think it's over priced. I bought it thinking I'd be able to take it apart and assemble it in different configurations each time I used it, but the board they've used is pretty poor quality and soon starts to fray at the edges where the parts connect. In the end I've stuck it together otherwise it'd have become un usable quite quickly.
Knowing what I know now I don't think I'd have bothered to be honest.

[Ajsalium]

That city looks great!

And if you want to craft a landing pad, this tutorial may interest you:
http://www.toposolitario.com/workshop/petalo_de_aterrizaje.html

[Willypold]

A pity about the catwalk - it looked like a great idea.

[matakishi]

A fantastic layout, loads of gaming potential there, just looking at it makes me want to push figures around it.

[Sangennaru]

love it, keep going! i'm curious to see them painted!

[hubbabubba]

Incedententally Sangenaru, I tried your concrete method on the MDF bases, looks good so far, I'll get my finger out and get it painted to see the end results, but that was a great tute you put up there, thanks again.