Oldskoolrebel's Terrain Board Project (Picture Heavy)

[oldskoolrebel]

Hello all,

After seeing so many wonderful games at BLAM and with my aborted attempt last year to start some new terrain boards, I decided to give it a go. I'm looking for an 6' x 4' playing surface, which should be more modular than my last attempt. My last board can be seen here

I found some 25mm thick blue foam cut to 600mmx600mm some where online and made the purchase. Albeit this was a couple of years ago and it's sat quite literally collection dust since then. I've decided that I'm going to buck the trend and work in metric! The quick sketch below shows the sample board layouts which I'm going to go for.



One photocopy and some colouring pens later...

As you can see I've cut each tile out, and had a play around with the different configurations. This is very unlike me, as I usually rush straight into building without any planning. Perhaps I'm learning patience. This is a pretty important step, as I felt that my previous terrain board wasn't anywhere near as modular as I've have liked. As you can see this allows for some interesting combination.

Incase it isn't obvious the brown is a 5cm wide 'road' or track and the blue is a 10cm river. I've not planned any of the topography on the individual tiles yet. I'll probably do that later this evening. I'm also pretty limited in the fact that I've already started to create one of the boards.



The 25mm foam doesn't seem very sturdy, I had a look to see what other people have done. Hu Rhu mounted this board on 12cm MDF. Being a clutz I decided to go for something a little heavier. Cue a trip to B&Q for some cut 18mm MDF. Even I shouldn't be able to cause much damage to it. The image below is the individual tiles glued to the MDF- my task last weekend.


This is the tile that some of you may recognise. It was created last year at some point. Upon playing around with the plans I realised that the configuration wasn't the most modular. I've put filler over one of the sections of road, allowing for greater modularity. Unfortunately this solution isn't ideal... I'm not going to be able to place trees anywhere along this road. You live and learn.


Another technique that I was keen to try last time was sanding a 3mm depression to allow the bases of my buildings to sit flush with the board. I'm not convinced that this is particularly effective- so it will appear on just this one tile. It seems madness to go to all of the trouble of making a board modular to then force yourself to place buildings in the same locations.  


I am aware that it doesn't look like much just now. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks you'll see a bit of a difference.

Oh and the table will simulate everything from North America/Canada to fantasy worlds. I've got some trees to repair and some new ones to prepare. And a large quantity of woodland scenes to play around with!

PS I'm sorry Bibbly, I know it's not bricks but they'll come... I promise.

Edited for spelling and added links.

[gamer Mac]

Still waiting

[oldskoolrebel]

There we go Colin!

[OSHIROmodels]

PS I'm sorry Bibbly, I know it's not bricks but they'll come... I promise.

I sincerely hope so 

Looking promising so far mate 

cheers

James

[AKULA]

Ahhh the age old wargamers dilemma of modular or not modular.... 

A good start to your project - it's always best to plan and plan, but you only learn from your mistakes. 

 

[Mason]

Good to see that are back at it with a vengeance, mate.
 

I look forward to updates.
Regular ones.
 

[Andym]

Good start Andy! Looking forward to seeing what you ckme up with! The board you took down to BLAM a few years ago was really good,  so no pressure!

[Captain Blood]

Yay! 

[Elk101]

Good start Andy. I used 6mm mdf for my base tiles and it's fine for the 300mm x 300mm and 600mm x 300mm ones but it doesn't work so well for the larger tiles or the 600mm ones where I've used water effect resin. They go a bit warpy.  18mm won't move though!

Storage is always the big thing for me along with the balance between modularity and detail. I can store 6 flat grass tiles for one river tile with relief.

[gamer Mac]

Looking like a good start.
How are you going to do the trees?
Are they going to be free standing or pushed into the foam?

[oldskoolrebel]

Thank you for all the kind comments guys.

Good start Andy. I used 6mm mdf for my base tiles and it's fine for the 300mm x 300mm and 600mm x 300mm ones but it doesn't work so well for the larger tiles or the 600mm ones where I've used water effect resin. They go a bit warpy.  18mm won't move though!

Storage is always the big thing for me along with the balance between modularity and detail. I can store 6 flat grass tiles for one river tile with relief.

Storage was an issue for myself at one point. I've now got accesss to a loft space. It's floored, light and I can stand in it! Storage shouldn't be much of an issue. That said I am decluttering. I'm being fairly strict with it getting rid of anything I haven't used in a while.

I'm pretty confident in the 18mm mdf-it's got a nice weight to it. Not too heavy, but heavy enough that it will stay in place.

Looking like a good start.
How are you going to do the trees?
Are they going to be free standing or pushed into the foam?

I am not sure. I am considering pushed into the foam, but the jury is still out. My only concern is long term durability.

[flags_of_war]

Great start. I need to do the same but as i don't have the space just now, the mrs will freak if i start

[Malamute]

Looking good 

[Captain Blood]

Good start Andy 

May I refer you to my own F&IW terrain project which started off in a similar fashion to yours?
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=12619.0
(Not saying it's perfect, but there may be some ideas you could use?)
I went for the spike-in trees and I still swear by them. Works very well. (See p7 of that thread)

Cheers

Richard

[oldskoolrebel]

A little update today. Managed to get a lot of the very messy work out of the way.

I always forget how messy this part is! In the picture below you can see the rough sanding of a road. This is definitely not finesse work, and the dremel is your best friend. However beware, this causes a lot of dust. Don't forget a dust mask.


From the above rough cut, I then start to sand the foam to a finer finish. I've found that foam sanding blocks are the best for this. I'll then touch up any stubborn areas with a small piece of sand paper. Please note that the contrast between the track and the surrounding foam isn't that great so it can be a little hard to make out. Oh also the small indents will all disappear when I apply Captain Blood's patented basing gloop (TM).



And the entire play out sans any topography. I'm pretty happy with how this is looking just now. I really like the island. I suspect it will add quite a bit of tactical play to games. Please excuse the uneven loft floor.


As you can see I'll need to modify the original board to allow it to better fit with the new boards. The lift at the bottom is cause by the uneven floor.

Good start Andy 

May I refer you to my own F&IW terrain project which started off in a similar fashion to yours?
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=12619.0
(Not saying it's perfect, but there may be some ideas you could use?)
I went for the spike-in trees and I still swear by them. Works very well. (See p7 of that thread)

Cheers

Richard

Cheers Richard. I spent quite a bit of time studying this tread when I created my first board. I'm refreshing my memory by having another read of it.

Having already got a number of pin trees, I suspect that I will continue with this. You've found the durability fine?

Kind Regards
Andy