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Hi all, was hoping for some advice on what materials and steps I need to go through to base a gaming table. So I've had this table for years now and it was previously used for a train set, but it never had any basing on it. So right now it is just a white wooden table. Here's what I have in mind so far in terms of how I am going to do this. Looking for advice if I have any of these steps wrong or what steps I may need to add.

1. Using Probond Elmer's glue I am gonna do my table in quarters probably. After laying that down and spreading it around with an old brush I will put down some black sand (if I can find economical black or very dark grey sand).
2. Let the sand dry, and once all the table quarters are done clean off the excess sand.
3. Spray on some scenic cement to seal it.
4. Since I'm trying to stay economical I am doing an urban terrain theme, which was the reason for the black sand. So instead of base coat, I was planning on just dry-brushing a light grey on top of this and hope to be done after that.

I hope that covers all the materials and steps I need. Also if anyone has any suggestions on where I could get black or dark grey sand for a good deal I'm all ears. Everything else I think I can get at a hardware store.
Thanks for any input!


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Also if anyone has any ideas for where to get either road terrain you roll out or how to make it would also be awesome. I thought GW made some, but I can't seem to find it on their website. Unless they discontinued it...

instead of sand look for charcoal dust. they use it to strip paint and it would probably be easier then getting black sand.

I used textured paint for my table.

I've used sand and glue in the past, but it was just too much effort. Besides, the textured stuff can be tinted to match most colours anyway.

GW did do a roll of road stuff for Cities of Death - I think it's been long discontinued (although it WAS just a roll of 2mm vinyl sheet printed with the line markings. You could buy a metre of (or whatever the minimum length is for you non-metric types) of 2mm pale grey vinyl flooring and cut it into 6" wide strips for probably less money (well, I know us Aussies can, but that's more about what GW charge us for stuff).

Hmm, sounds good. Wasn't aware texture paint existed. I should get out more . I'll look into that. I'm hesitant to use charcoal dust, mainly because I'm afraid of the mess I will undoubtedly make and charcoal in my experience has a habit of getting everywhere. I will keep it in mind though.

If charcoal dust is anything like coal dust then yes, it WILL get everywhere.

As for textured paint, most paint places should have it. Take a small pot of whatever colour you want it matched to with you.

I know Krylon has a line of "Stone" Spray paints.
http://www.krylon.com/products/make_it_stone_textured_paints/
I only vaguely remember my father using one two decades ago, that it wasn't very textured, but it does look really cool. I've considered using it to do cheep bases, and will at some point be making terrain with it.

I actually did give the Krylon sprays a thought since I have seen them before, but since my table is currently in my basement, I can't really ventilate the area well enough to start spraying an entire table down there. I would be high as a kite is seconds and once the furnace kicks on I probably would be on fire. Not a good combination, imho.

There is no reason to buy textured paint just buy black paint sometimes you can get it in the returned area and some sand a cup of sand per pint of paint.
Put the paint in a bucket and add sand to it then paint the board.

I used a latex paint mixed with fine sand for a previous table with fair results. Makes sure you use the sifted fine sand and don't used a good brush. The latex does a pretty good job holding it in. After it dries just to a quick drybrush over it and seal it in. Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to the hardware store today to see what I can see. Hopefully once this is all done I can post pics.

A friend of mine made a great table just by using some spray texture used to paint walls and then painting it a mix of grey, white, and black. looked like a lunar surface and was still flat enough that there was never an issue of models tipping over. he also did a great job of making terrain out of thick cardboard and hot glue. his whole table cost him less then 20 bucks to make and worked like a charm.

sonofruss wrote:There is no reason to buy textured paint just buy black paint sometimes you can get it in the returned area and some sand a cup of sand per pint of paint.
Put the paint in a bucket and add sand to it then paint the board.

+1

Works fine.

Posting my update. I ultimately decided to go with the sand additive and some latex paint. Instead of asking for used sand I decided to go straight for the stuff on the shelf and see how well it worked. All in all I think I spend about $24. Not bad in my books. Here are some pics:

The Before:


The sand and stone mix I used:


The After:





I'm pretty happy with the results. All I need to do now is get a lighter dry-brush of grey on the top and I am done. Thanks again for the help!

Looking good. The walls are a bit distracting but I get why they aren't painted. I would really like to see that table with some terrain on it.

Yeah, not sure what I am going to do about the walls. Maybe if I have any left over grey paint I will go over them later, but for now I need to let the tabletop dry.


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I've been thinking maybe I should just take the walls off assuming they aren't glue on as well as screwed in. It should be an easy task. We shall see though.

I'd leave the walls on, personally . Whether they're structurally necessary or not, they help strengthen the table, will keep models and terrain from falling off, and would help align board sections, if you ever want to build a modular top to go over your flat cityfight setup.

Shouldn't be much trouble at all to paint them up in an unobtrusive gray, especially since you'll likely need some to drybrush the table surface, anyway. A wide paint/putty knife or a roll of masking tape is all you need to get a clean edge between it and the table. With a $5 sponge corner roller or a 2" brush, it should only take you a matter of minutes to throw down each coat.

Point taken. Though if I can get the walls off I might just measure them and buy new pieces of wood and screw those in. That way I can circumvent painting over the old, which really should be replaced after serving for 10+ years.

Admittedly, they do look a bit chewed up, upon closer examination. If you're willing to put in the (by no means overwhelming amount of) money and effort, definitely replace them. I have no attachment to the current boarder, I just happen to think that rails on a gaming table are a definite boon.

Be sure to show us the results, at least, if you don't keep us updated on all of the progress. Best of luck!

Looks good. Thanks for the update.

Another plus for the Border, if you have a nice indoor/outdoor vaccum you could make a litteral Sand Table for Desert variation, then just suck it back out afterwards.