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Morning lads, long time reader 1st time poster. Thought i would get the ball rolling with a tutorial i made for you all. (Also posted on Heresey, but spreading the love)

Okay so i decided i needed a proper playing field for my Warhammer games and i thought i would take you all on a journey of how i did it.

It was really quite easy and only basic tools knowledge (and safety) is needed.

All up the cost was about $100 AUD

Step 1 - The main ingredients

I headed to Bunnings (mass workshop/tools/everything shop in Aus) and purchased 2x 1800x600mm MDF boards (thickness was about 19mm)

This size works out for the standard 6x4 tables when both MDF are next to each other

I bought 2 for these reasons
1) Easier to fit it in my car if wanting to transport
2) Can have 3 different combinations by turning and flipping



I also purchased 4x 1800 x 40mm planks of wood to brace the board. I did this because people worry about warping, whilst i didnt care, i felt reinforcing the boards made sense for wear and tear

After fixing the supports using screws, this is what i had (x2)


Step 2 - Shaping the board

I then went and purchased some wood glue and PVA glue.
After this, i scavaged my parents house for some pine bark pieces and nabbed some polystyrene from work.

I pencilled onto the board the rough shapes i wanted for my mountains and proceeded to cut the polystyrene with a box cutter (safety warning ). I then stuck on the main ROUGH shape with the wood glue and weighed as much as i could down with random stuff


Step 3 - Filling in those mountains

I bought some plaster filler (see pic) and pasted the gunk into the holes.




Note: This probably was the most tedious part, if i can make a recommendation it would be to not have such big polystyrene gaps. But this just meant a couple of coats were needed

Step 4 - Smooth it out!

This is the only step i didnt have a pic for, but its pretty easy.

Grab an electric sander (you can do it manual with a block...but good luck ). Run it over a few times to smooth out any rough plaster edges.

Note: I sanded, then replastered a few gaps, then resanded again.

Step 5 - Getting your Texture (Beach) on!

Okay this is what makes any good board look that bit extra...the texturing. I used sand from a beach around where i live, however you people not as fortunate can go buy some.

I filled a container with 50% PVA and 50% water and then worked on about 1/5 of the board at a time.
Using a brush, spread the mix, then add the sand. Give it a generous amount and pat it down a little bit.


Leave to dry for overnight and then stand the boards up and let the sand fall off.



Grab a brush and brush off any other sand that isnt stuck.

I then fixed the holes i missed and repeated the process the next day.

Step 6 - Paint time

Okay, i then got some black spraypaint and proceeded to basically undercoat everything. You dont need to make the hole thing jet black, just a nice messy overcoat on the already stuck sand.

The PVA you spread on before will protect the polystyrene from melting.

I then used the following 3 colours (not sure of the names...dark brown, lighter brown, whiteish brown - you get the idea



Below is a pic of 1 half done with a few test drybrushes...also note that i sprayed the mountains on the right 1st, then went over the whole board with a light coat of spray black



Step 7 - Admire your hard work




Step 8 - Grab beer





Step 9 - Future

I have some moonscape on order and plan to make additional deserty terrain which i will prob add to this tutorial.

My missus also came up with the awesome idea of painting tire tracks on the board which i will most likely do as well. Adding to this depending on how much i want to improve it, add static terrain features (dead marines, helmets etc)

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and if you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask

Wow that looks great! love the finished product, what paints did you use for the colours? are they from bunnings as well? I live about 10 minutes from our local superstore and would love to give this a shot! well done!

Love it!

nice guide, finished board looks great!. thanks

Lol the plaster stuff you used was called SPAK filler. Cool board, has lots of 'desert power'....

nerdfest09 wrote:Wow that looks great! love the finished product, what paints did you use for the colours? are they from bunnings as well? I live about 10 minutes from our local superstore and would love to give this a shot! well done!

The paint i used was exterior waterbased texture paint, leaves a rough look (but to be honest, normal paint would do the same). Basically you pick a sample pot of the stuff, go to the counter and they add the colour. Should have colour sample cards right next to the Dulex colour cards in the paint section.

You can use the pic below to help with the colours

Great tutorial I'll have to try it

Absolutely cracking board mate, thanks for sharing. I've really been fancying making one for a while now and this tutorial has probably pushed me over the edge into doing one.

Good guide, but I prefer the board on the right at the end of step 6; looks more deserty.

I think the end product looks like Krieg rather than a desert

did you use blazing orange paint

Great Board, one of my friends made a similar board likes your.

great boards, i play on just some spray painted plywood...
a few thins about the filler you used: a) its name sounds very orky to me for some reason, B) it says "sands easily" and you covered it with....sand, and C) i forgot what c was...lol

Just because I saw this in another thread, I thought it worth posting here. This is an example of a modular style desert board. It hasn't got quite as fine detail as the one presented in the OP, but it is a very nice table nonetheless:



No, it's not my table... sadly...

OrionDisciple. wrote:did you use blazing orange paint

Nah no orange, just the 3 tones of brown and black undercoat

jordanis wrote:great boards, i play on just some spray painted plywood...
a few thins about the filler you used: a) its name sounds very orky to me for some reason, B) it says "sands easily" and you covered it with....sand, and C) i forgot what c was...lol

a) Yer Kinda expected an Ork symbol to be printed somewhere on it
b) It did sand easily with a sander, then sanded well with actual sand

Really great tutorial man, definetly using this to make a new board!!!!

Awesome, but fir now I'll skip to step 8.

I need more room for a table.

Question regarding how you use it to play.
Do you just set it up on an old table? Do you play it on the ground? Or do you prop it up with something?
I am wanting to build a table myself and really loved the tutorial you posted. I'm just wondering how you set it up since it is in two pieces, I am thinking of doing mine in three 2ftx4ft pieces so that I can then store it a little easier. Your advise on how to stand it up for a game though would be appreciated.

i put them ontop of a larger table. Eventually im goin to put foldaway legs on it

those are awesome! Now you are left to make the rest of us some

Love this very helpful thank you!

Had my first match on the board yesterday. 3000 Marines vs 1750 CSM + 1250 Black Templars







Abaddon and BlackTemplars unload from LR's (Scary!)


After lol

Wow that looks great!