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Good Evening Gents, this afternoon I embark on a wonderful journey. I start building my own gaming table. Looking through the BrB for ideas, I noticed a lack of personalized gaming tables. They only showed pictures of the 2x2 plastic tile set they sell. How lame....

After trip to Lowe's I secured :

8x4 ply board, I already have a nice table in place to hold it.
1 gal Elmer’s glue
50 lb play sand
8x4 Styrofoam sheet everyone raves about

NOW....What to do with those things? That’s where I need you. Could you guys/girls post pics of your gaming table to spark some inspiration in mine. The theme has not been decided, I just know it can’t be plain Jane.

I’m a Nids player. Any ideas?

Most people take the sand and mix it in with the paint and apply the mix directly to the foam. You need to verify the paint won't eat the foam before you start, however.

 Breotan wrote:
Most people take the sand and mix it in with the paint and apply the mix directly to the foam. You need to verify the paint won't eat the foam before you start, however.

My current plan of action was to glue the foam pieces (what terrain I thought looked cool) down on the wood and then apply the glue/sand mixture down. Mixing the paint in really wouldn't be difficult and would prevent an extra step down the road.

household Flat Laytex Wall Paint Works Well ..Need about a quart..Hopefully thats about 1/2inch high density foam ..




Automatically Appended Next Post:
As to Putting terrain onto the table permanently ..I have only done that for static layouts like a model railroad..

it is 1/2 foam, dunno about the high density. I'm thinking of giving each side a bunker or something of the sort. Nothing that would make the table unbalanced or anything. Just unique.

I don't know how large your living accomadations are, but cutting the board in half may make it more managable to set up, take down, etc. I know that my board is comprised of 2 4X3 boards, and its still heavy and unwieldly. Add on a bunch of sand, paint, glue, and you're looking at a significant amount of weight to lug around if you ever decide to relocate.

Also, since you have an extra foot or so on either end, you could forego the foam on the end, and have build up a small felt-lined model storage/graveyard area for each player if you felt so inclined.

Here is a link to my plywood table:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/494890.page
Pros- durable and doesn't shift
Cons- heavy and hard to store

Here is a link to my foam table:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/540949.page
Pros- easy to store and light
Cons- delicate and shifts on smooth surfaces

Each has their uses.

Mine: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/456735.page#5629789
Have since attached magnets/metal strips to the sides to help lock them together.

 Flood wrote:
Mine: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/456735.page#5629789
Have since attached magnets/metal strips to the sides to help lock them together.

I like your table set up. I tried my hand at mixing the glue and sand, and found I added way to much glue and was completely taken aback as to how much MORE sand I had to add so it wouldn't slide off of what I was trying to put it on. A crater....for starts. Here's a picture.

I will be starting my gaming table next week , also 8' by 4'

It needs to be ready in 2 weeks ready for my Appocolypse battle

Will build mine in 2x4 plates with wood surounded foam board
Thinking just a flat board with a river in the middle then i can add scenery if needed then i am not stuck to one design

Any ideas will be really well apperciated

For my gaming board I went and got a 6'x4' piece of chip board (had it cut comes a bit larger) this is a lot lighter than plywood but is more flimsy but at 6x4 it isn't to bad.

I got a 2 sheets of high density insulation (polystyrene) and cut them to size and took some caulking made for adhering polystyrene to plywood and slapped it all over the board and put the foam on top.

I wanted to flock the entire board but I just ended up painting it a nasty green brown colour haha I am just going to buy a gaming mat from woodland scenic and put it on top if I get tired of the colour.

I wanted to put some streams and such in but thought that it would be best to leave it flat for now and make a few modular hills.

We did the lowes thing on both boards too, only we had them cut some plywood into 2x2 because we were afraid of our little girl pulling the squares off somehow.

demonator76 wrote:


Here is a link to my foam table:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/540949.page
Pros- easy to store and light
Cons- delicate and shifts on smooth surfaces

Each has their uses.

Get some of this and some 3M spray adhesive. Spray the mat, stick it to the bottom of you foam. No more sliding around.

http://mobile.walmart.com/m/phoenix;jsessionid=32116C1D23148FF475F1A8D7C3BC3AFA#ip/Performance-W88984-Grip-Mat-Tool-Box-Drawer-Liner-18-In.-X-48-In./21777625

I had the same problem with some tiles I did a couple years ago, and that was about the easiest way to give them some grip and not damage the table top.