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Hello everyone, and I hope you'll all be kind on one of my first posts on these forums. I've only been in the hobby for a few months, and I've been coveting my own table since I started. I contemplated the 'realms of battle' boards, but after playing on them frequently at GW stores, I'm not really a fan. Models slip and slide all over the elevated areas, and for the price tag I figured I could get something better AND cheaper. After extensive googling of 'wargaming table', I found several guides that I would combine to make my table. So, thanks to Russ' Workbench post, and a

Miniwargaming video on building a table.

Before we continue, here is the finished product:
Cost: ~ $100 US


If you're still curious after seeing the finished project, I'll start with the shopping list by store:

Home Depot
Bucket - $2.50
Cheap Brush - $1.00
Slightly Nicer Paint Brushes - $5.00
2 Tray Liners - $1.34
Roller Frame - $1.62
Roller Cover - $2.10
Flat Brown Enamel - $8.98
Playground Sand - $3.38
2 Draw Catches - $2.98
1/2" thick 4x8 MDF (cut into 3 pieces (3 ft, 3 ft, 2 ft) - $30
5 1.5 x 1.5 Pine - $10
OPTIONAL - 4 ft Banquet Table - $38.98

$39.98

Michael's
Gesso - This seems to vary a lot by store etc, but every craft store should have some. I used most of 2 16 oz jars of Black Gesso, white Gesso seemed easier to find, and I don't think there would be any issue using the white stuff. Each jar cost about 9 bucks, so - $18
Bag of Crushed Seashells - Used this instead of talus (small rocks) to texture the board. I liked the flatter look the seashells gave, but the smaller round talus rocks could be

cool too. $4
Tan Acrylic Paint (larger container) - $4
Grey Acrylic Paint (small container) - $1

So, without the banquet table you can get a good chunk of the supplies you need for ~70 at Home Depot. You can get the gesso and paint from michaels for about ~ 30, and then if you want to flock it would be another 25-30. So, depending on how economical you want to be, you could probably do this for under $100!

Stage 1 - Construction

I don't have any pictures of the actual construction, and my roommate did most of the actual woodworking. He used a circular saw and a cordless drill for powertools, and a handful of screws and some woodglue for consumables. The basic approach was to frame the two pieces of 3x4 MDF with the smaller pine squares. You can pretty much choose any wood you want to frame it with, the pieces we chose were plentiful and cheap at our local Home Depot. If you want a lighter weight board, you could use thinner bracing pieces. We chose MDF over plywood for the surface because it looked sturdier, much straighter and was smooth on both sides. The price was pretty comparable, and we didn't mind a little extra weight. If you want something lighter, plywood should work too.

The outside edges of each 3x4 MDF board was framed with the smaller pine boards. Remember to slightly inset the two framing pieces that will be where the two surface halves meet. It doesn't have to be inset much, but you would prefer them inset slightly as opposed to hindering your board sitting flush. We also put 1 frame piece in the middle, mostly to have another surface for the board to sit on, not just the outside frame. We offset this middle framing board so that it would sit as close to the table edge as possible. If you know what tanle you'll be putting your board on, you can measure out where you want the middle supports to go. The closer to the edge of your table and the edge of the board, the sturdier the whole thing will feel when sitting on the surface.

Underneath shot of the constructed tabletop sitting on the banquet table.


Stage 2 - Texturing the Surface
It seems most people use PVA glue + sand, let it dry for a day, shake excess sand off, and then reapply a layer of watery glue on top of everything and let it dry again. That
just seemed cumbersome, and so when I saw the guide that described using Gesso (material used for basing/priming canvas) to brush on a mixture of sand and rock I wanted to give
it a try. This was my first attempt at it, and I learned a few things I would do differently the next time. If you want to go for a more uniform look, the sand/pva glue approach
will certainly work as well, but I liked the simplicity and the end product.

Also note, I used the extra 2x4 piece of MDF as a testing board for everything I did. You can use it to see if you like your texture, and when you get all the way done, it can
just be used as a leaf to make your board 4x8 if you want.

The Gesso has a kind of jelly like consistency, definitely thicker than paint. I started by emptying the contents of 1 of the 16 oz jars into a bucket, a lot of cupfuls of sand, and a liberal dousing of seashells. I also filled the mostly empty gesso container with water, shook it around, and then poured that water into the bucket. I think
adding a little water to the mix helps. After stirring it up, and testing out the consistency on the test board, I applied it to one of the framed MDF halves using the crappy brush I got
(this brush will be pretty destroyed when you are done). I then opened up the second jar, mixed in the sand/seashells, and applied to the second half of MDF, and the rest of the
test board. I really gooped it on in some spots intentionally to create some slight ridges and other raised areas. The only thing I would do differently next time is to
try to apply it with a roller. I'm not sure how it would work, but the paint brush lines are REALLY obvious in certain parts, and it comes through the base coat and drybrushing.
I imagine if you are careful, and have a couple of different brushes you don't mind ruining, you could avoid some of the issues with the brush strokes. {just had an
idea, if you just dumped the gesso texture mix onto the board directly, you could probably spread it around with a roller. The roller still might soak up a lot of the gesso, but it could
work).

I let this dry overnight, especially since some of the bigger goopier areas took forever. You could probably start painting it after 4-5 hours of drying if you really wanted to.

Close up of the surface pretty soon after application


Both halves covered and drying


Side view


Stage 3 - Base Coating
This is where the roller materials and the enamel comes in. After letting the texture dry overnight, you're ready to add your basecoat. I used an enamel paint in flat brown, and
this step will seriously cement your seashells onto the board. After JUST the gesso step, i could easily flake off seashells if I tried. After the enamel dried, I think i would
need a chisel to pop one off.

I didn't want to get a roller tray, and since I knew I was doing a small surface, I bought a couple of the cheap tray liners. Watch out though, it will seep through to the
other side, so put a piece of cardboard underneath it, and throw it away ASAP. Apply roller to paint, and then apply roller to the board. I painted the edges as well, so make sure
you have a drop cloth down, or something else to catch any paint splatter.





Stage 4 - Drybrushing

The enamel took overnight to dry, I could have probably pushed it, but it was still a little tacky when I went to bed. Drybrushing with the bigger brushes can be hard, and
I found that I got the best results when there was almost no paint on the brush, and I used really quick brush strokes over just the surface. I also screwed up a lot, and there were definitely big sections that had way too much paint. Don't worry, if you get spots that look a little odd, just cover 'em up with flock in the final stage.

I started by drybrushing some grey acrylic onto some of the rock formations, and the goopier areas from the texturing phase. I didn't do all the rocks, I just
highlighted some sections. I then took a tan arylic, and drybrushed over EVERYTHING, as lightly as possible. It actually takes a deceptive amount of time, because you'll
constantly have to put paint back on your brush, and then remove the majority of it via a paper towel. It does dry pretty much right away though, so you can go right on to the
next stage.



Stage 5 - Flocking

You can go as big or as small as you want here, I went with kind of a basic bunch of grass patches made with 2 flocking colors. I went to the local train/hobby store and picked up 2
bottles of flock: green and harvest yellow. Each jug cost about 12.50, so roughly $25 for the flock. I also picked up a bottle of Scenic Cement, which is apparently a watered
down version of artistic matte medium. It works really well for attaching the flock, and wasn't particularly expensive (you can also put it in a spray bottle for ease of
application).

I mixed up about a half and half ratio of the 2 colors of flock in a different container, and then just painted on a random pattern with a smaller brush. I dumped a LOT of flock
on top and then moved on to the next. By the time I had done the entire board, I had to remix several times, and had used about half of each jar.

You can see the flock heaped on top of the grass patches.


I let it dry for several hours, and then put a sock over the hose of a vacuum cleaner, and pulled the excess flock off. So far, it appears to be pretty stable!

Anyway, I'm experimenting with gluing some smaller talus rocks I also found at the train store around the grassy parts, and I might try adding another layer of flock on to some of the spots, but in general it's setup and ready to go!

Nice!

Awesome tutorial, thanks for sharing!

I'll be reading this... frequently.

Brotip: Petsmart/Petco/ a petstore that sells reptiles has fantastic (though slightly expensive, but not as much as GW stuff) "terrain." Even stuff for fishtanks (there's a snazzy cliff/wall that I bought that works great as LOS blocking terrain).

Never had my own board, looks like in the next coming weeks I will!