This weekend I started on my gaming board for Ronin (28mm scale samurai skirmish), & made some roads/tracks for it. I'd had the 2'x2' compressed chipboard ready for ages, but couldn't decide how to prepare it (PVA + sand + dry-brushing or flock? As earth or grass?). I eventually decided to get 3'x3' of dark brown felt (£3.50 from the local craft shop), & glue this neatly over the top, around the sides, overlapping the underside. This results in a nice soft basic gaming surface, with the edges of the board tidy & protected, & the underside cushioned for placing on tables. I may follow this up by dry-brushing/stippling the felt surface with a lighter brown for a more natural effect, & to blend it in with my other terrain.
When trimming the excess material underneath the board, I had long pieces left over which gave me the idea to see if they would work as flexible roads/tracks which can conform to terrain like hills etc. A test footpath proved that these would work much better than I expected - they were
very simple to produce, & easy to press into shape on a gaming board (unlike flexible roads made of latex or canvas). I simply cut the roads to size, checking how they could be laid out on the board, & then brushed undiluted PVA glue on each in turn. I poured a custom mix of flock (1 part dark brown to 2 parts light ochre, with a tiny sprinkle of dark green 'plant' flock) over this, & pressed it down with my fingers (it adhered much more successfully than I expected). I then added a few patches of yellow-green 'grass' flock, & some small dark green 'plants' along the edges of the roads.
After tipping off what little excess flock there was, & saving what I could for future use, I moved onto the next road, & once the PVA was fairly dry on the whole batch, I gave the lot a spray of matte craft varnish, hoping this would reduce 'flock shedding'. The varnish has also made the roads feel a little more sturdy. Very pleased with the results so far. On the left is a quick shot of the board with some of the scatter terrain that I've already made. Now to start constructing those buildings, to really bring the setting to life...
This weekend I started on my gaming board for Ronin (28mm scale samurai skirmish), & made some roads/tracks for it. I'd had the 2'x2' compressed chipboard ready for ages, but couldn't decide how to prepare it (PVA + sand + dry-brushing or flock? As earth or grass?). I eventually decided to get 3'x3' of dark brown felt (£3.50 from the local craft shop), & glue this neatly over the top, around the sides, overlapping the underside. This results in a nice soft basic gaming surface, with the edges of the board tidy & protected, & the underside cushioned for placing on tables. I may follow this up by dry-brushing/stippling the felt surface with a lighter brown for a more natural effect, & to blend it in with my other terrain.
When trimming the excess material underneath the board, I had long pieces left over which gave me the idea to see if they would work as flexible roads/tracks which can conform to terrain like hills etc. A test footpath proved that these would work much better than I expected - they were very simple to produce, & easy to press into shape on a gaming board (unlike flexible roads made of latex or canvas). I simply cut the roads to size, checking how they could be laid out on the board, & then brushed undiluted PVA glue on each in turn. I poured a custom mix of flock (1 part dark brown to 2 parts light ochre, with a tiny sprinkle of dark green 'plant' flock) over this, & pressed it down with my fingers (it adhered much more successfully than I expected). I then added a few patches of yellow-green 'grass' flock, & some small dark green 'plants' along the edges of the roads.
After tipping off what little excess flock there was, & saving what I could for future use, I moved onto the next road, & once the PVA was fairly dry on the whole batch, I gave the lot a spray of matte craft varnish, hoping this would reduce 'flock shedding'. The varnish has also made the roads feel a little more sturdy. Very pleased with the results so far. On the left is a quick shot of the board with some of the scatter terrain that I've already made. Now to start constructing those buildings, to really bring the setting to life...
Inspiring work on the terrain mat!
ReplyDeleteThe paths have turned out especially nicely. I've been thinking of using felt for some alternative battlefield colours for my small scale stuff and what you've done thus far looks ace!
It might be a plan to give the felt a quick drybrush to make it look a bit less even but I'm loving the simplicity of it (not to mention the price!)
All the best!
Thanks, Richard, Seasons Greetings. I can definitely recommend felt. I've noticed a couple other advantages of the felt roads: felt-on-felt they have a little bit of grip, so won't slide too much if accidentally pushed during gaming, despite being lightweight. Also, unlike when I paint scenery base boards & then flock them, there's no shiny under-surface showing through the flock. I may prep all base boards with felt instead of paint in the future!
DeleteThink you're right about some kind of dry-brushing being needed to break-up the plain brown board surface - I'll trial it on a scrap piece first, as I'm not sure how the fibres will look/react to the paint.