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Hey there guys!

I was always fascinated by the amazing forgeworld realm of battle board and stunned by it's cost. (https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-GB/Realm-of-Battle-Industrial-Sector)
So I decided to go ahead and make my own.

As materials I used insulation foam, sand, rocks and plasticcard.
The foam is cut with a wirecutter of a friend of mine.

First, I started with a podest for my imperial statue (the gw one):

I think it came out pretty well, so I thought "why not try and make a whole board?"

The plan is to use my concrete Battlemat as a base and just add the plateaus and sidewalks.








The crater was made by using my trusted GW spray can to melt the foam, then using a hobbyknife to cut it in shape.
I also used plasticcard to cover the topside of the piece to give it the structure I desired. It also helps leveling the surface and keeping it from harm ;-)
Since the original piece is famous for the amount of detail, I tried adding as much as I can.

The sidewalk needs a lot more detailing, but I am currently short of supplies and I am waiting for my shippment to arrive
I am planning to build more of these (2 smaller ones, one in similar size)

Tell me what you think, what you like and what you don't like. What would you add or improve?

Looking good so far, it's a cool idea.

Thanks!

id' like to get some more comments so I can improve whatever is not good enough yet.

Looking great so far pretty earl days for comments or criticism other than I like what you've done with the craters (it's very useful to know how you did them too, thanks!) and can't wait to see more

The quest continues:
I made a second plateau and started coloring everything.
I also added a little more detail around the base.
Still not quite happy with the outcome, looks a bit too clean for my taste. (tips are very welcomed!)

You should be extremely happy with the outcome, that looks fantastic. I'm curious on the cost of it, compared to the FW one?

What did you use for the board on the bottom as well, I don't see that listed with your materials list?

The materials are very cheap.
If you dont take actual working time and the additional effort into account the FW board can't keep up. (ofc its more detailed etc. guess that's what you pay for aswell)


For the base I used MDF sheets from my local hardware store, 2m², 3mm thick for 1,50€. It's so cheap because they offer to cut materials for customers. Most customers only take what they need and leave leftover pieces at the store. They sell those for next to nothing.

The edges of the board are covered in 4mm L-profile plastic pieces. (2.5m for 3€) Those come in 10 25cm pieces. I needed 5m or 20 pieces.
I drilled small holes to represent rivets.
To prevent the MDF from warping, I drilled quite a few wholes into it, hoping that would do the job. (it did) Of course I only drilled wholes where the foam would cover it :-P
I also put some heavy weights on the edges while gluing the foam to the base.

foam: 15€-20€ (don't quite remember, still have enough for 2 more pieces)
plasticcard: 5 sheets for 6,50€ (sized like a piece of printer paper, DIN A4), bought 2, still have plenty left over
I pretty much used half a litre of PVA glue aswell.

The materials for painting etc. are not included in my calculation because I already had them and there is now way I will empty any of my pigments or paintbottles. Let's just say I used 10€ worth of paintsupplies.

Overall that's ~50€ for 3 plateus and 1 base for the imperial statue.
Compared to Forgeworld, thats approximately 1/4th - 1/5th of the cost. It's also more modular and can be used with a gamemat. Also I am having a great time working on it ;-)
The realm of battle board on the other hand is a lot more detailed and tells the story of a battlescared city in the 41st millenium a lot better.

It's true the realm of battle board is really awesome and detailed - but also not nearly as much fun as making your own ^_^

I love what you've done! Those craters are excellent! they look very realistic

I can't offer a whole lot of ideas, except maybe you could do some 'bullet' marks as well? eventually anyway, might want to wait to see where you're putting bits, so they'll make more sense. Like: hits a statue, careens off into X direction sort of thing.

Anyway, awesome work! I shall watch with interest =D