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I got bored with my existing cityscape, and decided to make an orky desert scene.

So, off to Home Depot. I decided to go with High Density MDF board instead of foam, because while foam is quick and easy to use, it doesn't seem to stand the test of time too well. I want this table to have some longevity.

I picked up 4x6' worth of 1/4" MDF, and another 2x4' of 1/2" MDF that I'm going to use for hills. I also got a sheet of hardboard, to cut into bases for movable terrain pieces.



I'm going to do the base table in 2x2 pieces, much like the over-priced board that GW is selling. I figure this will make it easier to put away when I want to go back to the cityscape.

The first step in doing this is to make sure that boards I bought are all actually 2x2. Heh, of course they're not. Measure twice, cut once, and all that.



I use a circular saw to trim the pieces so that I get a neat stack.



Next, I have to lay out the boards, and make sure they fit together well, sanding any edges that aren't flush.



In order to make sure that they stay like this during games, I am going to use pins to hold the boards together. They're cheap ($.50 each) and do the trick for things like this.



With the boards laid out, mark the centers of the boards, and put the pins in the middle:



Once these are done, I put the bases back in place, and move on to making hills out of the 1/2" MDF. To do this, I use a hand jigsaw that can adjust the angle of the cut. Starting with the biggest hill piece, I cut out the levels of the hills.



Any leftover cuttings can be turned into corner hills too.



Waste not, want not, get as much out of the wood as possible - you might not need it every game, but it's good to have variety.



I put the hills aside, so that I can sand them all at once.



I then went through the hardboard as well, cutting out random base shapes. When done, this is how much of the table can be covered:



Now, for the most important step of all...



Cleaning up the mess. Seriously, if you take nothing else away from this little project log, learn this lesson. Keeping everything clean means that your wife (gf, mom, etc) will tolerate, or even encourage your projects. Leaving a mess means that they'll associate your hobbies with their messy house and resent it.

Last step for the night: Gluing the corner pieces to the board. This will be left to set overnight. Tomorrow, I will apply the primer.

Nice looking gaming table there!

Wow, that's a heavy duty board. Will definitely prove to be damage resistant!

Great project.

I see you have kept Sabol in business. How many cases do you have?

Great project to share!

Your step by step information so far is easy to follow. I agree with your assessment utelizing wood for durability. I know some folks don't like them, but I agree with tiered hills. A flat surface for models to stand on have taken precedence over certain tabletop visual appeal.

I look forward to seeing more of this project. Thanks for sharing.

Your hobby room makes me glad

Old Man Ultramarine wrote:
I see you have kept Sabol in business. How many cases do you have?

More than I should, yet not quite enough...


Tonight was painting, phase one. I used a 3" wide roller to lay down the base coat of primer (like with minis, when painting wood, it is best to use a primer coat).





On the hills, I did the edges first, then the tops, two coats each. For the flat boards, I had to use a brush to get the sides of the hills, but it turned out ok.

Tomorrow, I'm going to put down the darker coat of paint. I'm undecided how much texturing I want to use. Part of me wants to avoid using too much sand, for ease of gaming and lifespan of the boards, part of me wants to mix in play sand with the paint to give it a texture, and have something for the lighter coat to drybrush against. Decisions decisions...

The texture will add a much needed depth to the surface. Hard to say how much, but a flat painted surface just won't have as nice an effect for a game table.

Cant wait to see how this progresses! So far it's looking pretty awesome. My only beef is that the hills edges look too steep for my liking, but that's just a personal preference. Other than that, keep it up!

The steep hills are like that for 2 reasons.

First, my jigsaw has a setting for an angle cut, and that's the angle I get...

But second, I think steeper hills make for easier gaming, as you have more flat between the terraces, and only lose about half-an-inch horizontal spacing at each step. That also lets you get higher total hills for the horizontal space that you have, which can be important for LoS blocking purposes in the games.

Tonight, I added the darker base colour, and the texture to the board.

First, I went over all the pieces with the base colour, which only needed one coat over the primer that I used yesterday. I did this with the roller, so to have a smooth base to work over.

Then, I made a sand/paint mix. I did this with roughly 1/3rd play sand, 1/3rd paint, and 1/3rd water. Mixing the water in here is important because otherwise the mix is too viscous to spread easily. Then I used a brush to cover everything with the sand mix. Now, I'm going to leave it to dry for 48 hours (besides, tomorrow night is gaming night at the GW store.

Cool. kind of badlands-like, you should have some tall buttes and make it more canyon-like than just straight-up desert.

Looking great so far. I wish I had tools to be able to make my hills out of wood rather than stryofoam. Would be able to take a beating much better.

Sweet!

I always like seeing people build gaming boards/terrain.


Looking good so far.

What would gluing sand with PVC glue (Elmer's school glue) on board then painting do?

I'm thinking of doing this on my FLGS tables.

I, too have thought of making the paint/sand/water paint o' doom.

Looking good. Are you going to do any highlghting?

Best of luck on that table. I'm thinking of making a table eventually.

Love it so far! Wish I had the space to set up a real gaming room and full time board.

I've always just used a coat of white glue and sand over my terrain pieces. Once painted, I've never had any issues with it coming off.

Old Man Ultramarine wrote:What would gluing sand with PVC glue (Elmer's school glue) on board then painting do?
...
Looking good. Are you going to do any highlghting?

I've tried the glue+sand approach in the past, and sure, it works, but no better (or worse) than using the paint as the glue itself. And it's an extra step, and therefore, takes more time, without more results.

When they want to make steps with sand texture for better traction in the rain, they just put sand in the paint, and that deals with foot traffic, not just minis. So I figure it's ok.

As for the highlighting, that was tonight:





Then, the boyz sent a scouting party to check out the new place:




They thought it was pretty neat, but needed a bit of orking up...

So this weekend, I'm going to start on the more detailed stuff. I have, over the last few years, accumulated a decent amount of random stuff that will be used in this project. Here's some of it:



In here we have:
Armorcast chemical balls, and reactor stack
JR Miniature Terrain Shack and Mining Exhaust Port (From the Warstore)
GW 'orky' barricades and manufactorium
IMEX Powerplant
Assorted cans and tubes

Not Pictured:
IMEX Chemical Plant
Miniature Scenery Sand Series buildings
Bag of Popsicle sticks
Bag of plastic straws
Draw full of bitz
Draw full of plasticard

This should be all sorts of fun.

Terrain building is one of the more interesting and fun parts of the hobby, imo. Good stuff! Keep it coming!

I'm just bummed as I can't start this project until my house sells and I get into the larger one.

Now you're getting to the fun stuff. I really enjoy building various terrain features; Ork stuff is a true free for all and it all looks good. Can't wait to see more. Thanks for sharing.

I like what your doing. Looks like a rolling desert. Orks will soon be a sproutin'.

I have the cardboard GW kit Ork Fort with little windmill. I'm going to base it on some press board, soon.

I constucted the first set of terrain pieces for this table today (The second set will be assembled when I get my order from miniature scenery).

First thing this morning, my wife and I went and picked up some more materials at the local Jo-Ann Fabrics (and Crafts). Our local Michaels closed, so this is now the closest craft store. We picked up: Bendy straws, a couple of $1 bird houses, card sticks, a pack of bobbins, some balsa wood and dowels (for part of the second-set), a plastic whisk, and some craft paints. We spent less than $25, and everything got used.

The semi-theme to the planet has evolved to be that people (or orks) are there to exploit natural resources from the desert, the most prevalent being some sort of liquid or gas that rises to the surface only at certain places. Anywhere that you see a pipe going into the ground, I'm going to paint around the pipe as a dark, oily puddle, and then apply water effects over it, so that the pumps will actually be running into these oil puddles to extract the resources from the planet.

That said, here are the constructed, yet unpainted, pieces.

Drill and small storage Tanks:


Ammo and supply dump:


Captured gun, used as field piece:


Small Hut:


Power Generator:


Pump:


Pump and silos:


Small workshop:


More silos:



I'm in the process of priming them now. All the cans, tubes, etc, are getting a coat of roughcoat as well as primer, to add some texture to otherwise shiny surfaces.

THAT STUFF IS DEAD ORKY!!!!!!

Yep. Putting my imagination to shame.

Great work. And fast. Has this only been a week?

Yeah, I started it all last Sunday.

Where did you get the cargo container pictured in your supply dump? (The big white one.) I want one!

Redbeard, what are you using to cut the terrain bases? I'm currently building a table myself, and while I've built plenty of terrain in the past, I've never used MDF for the bases. I bought a Dremel but there isn't a cutting bit included that can cut rounded edges easily. Do I just need a better cutting bit or a different tool entirely?


Oh, and awesome table! Very inspiring for me as I move forward with my own table!

I believe he said he used a jigsaw, so he could control the angle of the cut.

I never thought of using 1/2"MDF for hills without doing anything else to them, interesting. It looks like you used MDF for the terrain bases as well, you said you got hardboard, I've found hardboard to be a pain, which are you using?

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:I believe he said he used a jigsaw, so he could control the angle of the cut.

Cool, I wasn't sure if he used that for the bases as well as the 1/2'' hill pieces. Looks like another trip to the Home Depot!