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A buddy and I have decided to build game tables. I am building mine close to the directions on GWs home page.  We are both at the stage of covering the table top, He plans to use glue and  sand to cover his, then paint it. What is the best way to get a nice looking table top.. I dont want to screw it up at this stage..

Wood glue and sand works fine. Make sure the table is in a garage, basement, or some other work room before you start this. And make sure you've got a tarp under the table before putting down the sand because the sand will get everywhere and the tarp will let you catch the sand and store it for later. Let the sand dry for at least 12-24 hours before you start painting.

One of my friends likes to cover the whole table in a few inches deep of sand. He claims the extra sand on top helps the bottom layer get pressed down and stick better but who knows if he's right.


SteveW

Are you going for a 40k style look, broken ground, etx, or more of a forest/grassland look?

The paint and sand works fine, but if you want a grassy look, Woodland Scenics makes a really nice grass mat that can be cut and glued down for a really nice surface.

don't just use one type of basing material. combine sand with gras, or if you're planning on a dessert or something use rock formations to get a little more variety. otherwise it will get pretty boring.

I plan to go with a grassy generic look... Then later on make 16x16 modular pieces for my 40k to set on top of this.

I heard that you should mix water with the glue is this true?? if so what is the mix ratio? I plan to put the glue on with a foam brush ..is there an easier way??

Woodland stuff looks nice but on the expensive side...but like the idea of mixing sand and flock to keep from looking boring.

The only issue with grass mats and flock is that they have a tendency to shed, and I've even encountered a few which can transfer dye (at the 2001 Baltimore GT, no less).  Which can be a bit annoying when you get get flock on your models or clothes, or when the heels of your hand turns green because you leaned on the table.

IME the method SteveW described is common and effective.  The tabletop winds up durable and attractive. 

You can thin the glue a little with water if needed to make it flow and cover the table more smoothly.  If you do so, just do it enough to allow you to smoothly cover the surface.  Don't water it down too much.  A foam brush should work fine for brushing it on.   Woodland Scenics also sells these sprayers for spraying a thinned water/glue mixture over terrain, which prevents you from pushing the sand around with your brush after it's down but before the glue sets.  Those work well, IME.

Mixing flock in with the sand as you glue it down could actually add a little more depth and interest to the surface texture. Painting over it should attach it more solidly and help avoid the problems above, though it obviously won't look the same as the flock on a model's base if you do this. 

Go for a nice smoothly sanded top and paint it black or ocean blue. Then you can use it for space or wet-navy games, and when you want to play on dry land, roll out a grass mat.

an alternative to white glue is house paint if you have some lying around. I just mixed playsand into a gallon of offtint i got for 5$ at the local home depot and it worked very well. I got a brown offtint so that i had a base to work with, then used a couple of spraypaint cans to define where i wanted to put the grass, and glued it down.

That's an excellent idea. Basically adding texture to the paint in the first place. House paint should have the durability you need so you're not always breaking off bits of sand, ja?

I would do a few layers. Take white or Wood glue and put a thick coat on and pour on the sand and let dry. Then take watered down glue and paint it on top to lock it in. Or you could get a spray bottle and use it that way. Also let dry.

Adding sand to paint is a great idea.. What ratio would you guys suggest of sand to paint..?? And how hard is it to mix up...?? I dont want a large clump of sand in the bottom of my paint can..

 

 

to be honest i did it by eye. I had a gallon tub of paint, probably 2/3s full, and i added probably enough to bring it to 7/8s full (so not quite to the top) Stirring it is a bit of a chore, not too bad though, and the bonus is that it stays fairly well mixed. This stuff spreads a little like stucco, and it's tough as nails once it dries.

and if you thin it out a bit, it becomes a great way to seal larger pieces of terrain that's made out of foam before you spray it. I've done some foamcore buildings with it, and some hills an it's been great.

I find the best thing to do is get a big tub of PVA builders glue from a hardware store, mix it with a little water in a large bucket and then paint the whole wood table surface with a large decorating paint brush or a wallpaper brush. Then get a big bag of buggie sand from your local pet store and carefully pour the contents out evenly over the table. Leave to stand for a minute then tilt your table to shake off the excess buggie sand.

Its important to use the right kind of sand. If you use builders sand from your hardware store it will go wet and lumpy when mixed with water and PVA glue (as its intended for use in building and concrete etc.), however buggie sand will not go funny if mixed with glue. It retains it coursness and also has nice little lumps of surface texture.

Once this has dried paint the whole thing with some matt wall paint, I got a tin of dulux paint mixed to the same colour as Scortched Brown most places will mix paint xcolours for you if you take a sample. Once thats dried go about dry brushing with citadel paint and add flock and your done!

What would  you guys suggest on glue for gluing terrian down. Should I continue to use wood glue but not deluted?   Example I am wanting to glue GW new Buildings down to modular hardboard pieces.

Can someone compile all of this so that we can add it to the Modelling FAQ?  There's some great stuff in here!

When we built the tables for our store, we used a LOT of flock . The best way we found was to paint undiluted glue onto areas approximately 18" square, then flock, then tap off the excess, then repeat. Leave to dry (anywhere from an hour to over night, depending on the humidity of where you live). After drying, spray a good coat of diluted glue over the top and let dry, THEN spray down with a good thick coat of matte spay varnish. Don't use Citadel's matte, it's WAY too expensive, and doesn't cover enough area. This method gives your board a good hard flocked surface, and prevents excess shedding. ALL flocked boards will eventually shed some with use. If you paint the board a dark or light brown color prior to flocking, this is actually preferred as it gives a realistic variation in color.

How do I cover a table?

Its pretty simple. I buy CNC Workshop's Urban Grounds tabletop tiles for COD.