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Awesome progress Tonio! That looks boss!

Glad to see my intro to airbrushing paid off! Looking really good man, can't wait to see what else is coming as you progress!

Another step done: weathering is finished. It's not that clear in the picture, as the light hides a lot of it, but it is in fact different than the previous picture (wip40). I added shadow on the lower horizontal part of all elevations, with black pigment, some brown and black in most dirt piles, and also some on random tiles. I also painted the exterior sides of the board and top of the back walls and columns black, to separate the playing surface from the structure, but I might go back and do a dark gray instead, as I'm not sure if I find it a bit too harsh of a contrast. Seeing it in the light of day tomorrow might help with that decision.

Wip42 - Weathering is done


With that step behind me, the board is almost complete. First, I have to do the wooden frame in the tunnel entrance at the back of the board, to match the other wooden pieces. After that, I have the crystals to paint and add the glow effect around them. It should be done Saturday, as we have a little painting pow wow planned at Fragjuice's place, and I'll be able to use his airbrush for the glows. I also have some accessories to add piecemeal on the board, like shovels and pickaxes. Once those three steps are done, it glueing time for the platforms and other to-remain-loose-pieces, and finally, resin for the river.

Overall, I'll probably be done by next week, as most of those steps should be quick to do. After that, it's play time!!!

Looking awsome!

Excellent, I'm really looking forward to seeing it finished! I think it's going to come together really well.

Nothing big, but as I'm working from home today, I took some time during lunch to paint the mine entrance wooden frame. It's nice as it breaks up the wall of gray of the back walls. Can't wait to do the crystals!

Wip43 - Mine entrance

It's really starting to come together, Tonio. Great work!

Here is a question I have been asking myself for a while, and hearing other opinions on the subject might finally help me take a side:
Should I paint some kind of lines in the river to separate water squares? On this map, I almost never have more than a single tile in width for the river, except at the far back end of the board. I think it's easy to abstract the squares from the adjacent tiles, but I worked so much on the board that I don't have a unbiased opinion.

What's your take on it ? Should lines be added for clarity sake? Should the river be left as it is to preserve the look?

My vote is to leave the look.

I don't see much of a value in adding ugly lines to the water.

As long as the water is only 1 block wide I don't see an issue not adding lines as you can just line it up with the lines on either side of the river.

Lines is better in keeping with the theme but you run a high risk of it going wrong. So unless you have an exact plan and know how it'll go just leave it.

Maybe not a line, but something that represents it. Things like rock formations, nets across the water or something like that, if it's needs any.

The thing that I see though, just looking at that picture above, where are you going to ever look at it and say, "I'm surrounded by water, idk where the lines are?!" Nevar! Why? Because there are always at least two squares of "not-water" whether it's the land or a bridge. It's honestly not a big deal.

Or, get a clear piece of plexiglass that can sit flush with the base level of ground, that has lines off of it. But make it removeable so you can have the table in "game mode" and "display mode"

WhiteRoo wrote:Maybe not a line, but something that represents it. Things like rock formations, nets across the water or something like that, if it's needs any.

That was my first idea, as it would be nicer than just a simple line. Especially with the resin over it. However, I would need to modify the board, then paint it again. Steps I'm not sure I want to take now, as other deadlines are creeping up and I need to finish sooner this project than later. That's why the lines are mentioned, and not actual scenic separations.

Alfndrate wrote:The thing that I see though, just looking at that picture above, where are you going to ever look at it and say, "I'm surrounded by water, idk where the lines are?!" Nevar! Why? Because there are always at least two squares of "not-water" whether it's the land or a bridge. It's honestly not a big deal.

That's my point of view too. If water was a bigger feature of the board, like a small lake or a large swamp, I could see the board needing the lines. But with the actual river, I don't think so.


Thanks for your input guys.

I'm agreeing with Alf.

It's a toss up really. It solely depends and what you are trying to achieve. I'm sure you'll make the right call whatever way you go!

 Cyporiean wrote:
I'm agreeing with Alf.

Alf, copy this quote for posterity and so that you can paste it into future threads.

I'm just gonna sig it.

Got my hand on Fragjuice' airbrush again last night, and I did the glow effect on all the crystals. That was a first for me, and even if it's not perfect, I'm happy with out it turned out. Now, I have to do some work on the crystal themselves, especially those that a close together and got overspray from a wrong colour. I did some tests tonight, but didn't take pictures as I'm not satisfied with the look yet. I also need to do the glow effect on the wooden sections of the board that are near the crystals, namely the back brige and the biggest platform. That's only two of them, but I'll have to do it by hand. The hardest part will be to match the colours from those used with the airbrush.

Wip44 - Glow effect on the crystals


Wip45 - Glow effect close up



I also started work on the props that will be added on the board. The platicard is 1"x1", and will serve as a base for half of the items on there. It will be a movement blocking tile that can be repostionned every game, like the two smaller stalagmites. The other items will be glued directly on the board, near the major crystal zones, as discarded/forgotten tools.

Wip46 - Extras preparation

looks great.

The one thing I was thinking about the board was that it needed a splash of color, and using those crystal glow effects really does the trick.

If you're worried about how the glow effect comes out on the wood, I don't think anyone would judge you if you left them as is.

In either case, great job Tonio!

Looks awesome man

Mate, that looks ace! Those little details are going to finish it off very nicely too. A board to be proud of!

Here are some of the tests I did for the crystals. The other one I did, full colour and white edges, I forgot to take a picture of. The pictures were taken with my phone and might be a bit unclear, so here is a small explanation.
A - individual cell shading, top is light, bottom is dark, edges are white;
B - individual cell shading, middle is light, round gradient toward the darker edges, no specific treatment of the edges;
C - general shading, top is dark, bottom is light, edges are white.

My favourite one in the end is C, the one with a general shading and the dark top. On with the painting.

It may be the color choice, but I like A the most. B looks off, but C looks okay.

C all the way for me, very pretty and it really speaks of crystal to me.

I agree that C is fantastic, A is also Very good, and B doesn't look right to me. The glow on those two is amazing, though!

I went with C in the end. A looks better in the picture than in person, to be honest.


I now am about halfway thought the crystals. I'm done with both the grren and orange ones. It leaves the pink ones, the more numerous, for tonight. Cell picture of the progress.

Wip47 - Crystals halfway done

Very nice! I'm not sure if my phone is taking the edge off the picture or the photograph isn't brilliant but I think the dark bits on the orange gems could go darker? They look more like the pinks than greens in that picture I think.

Still... beautiful work!

 Casey's Law wrote:
Very nice! I'm not sure if my phone is taking the edge off the picture or the photograph isn't brilliant but I think the dark bits on the orange gems could go darker? They look more like the pinks than greens in that picture I think.

Still... beautiful work!

It's not your phone, the problem comes from mine at picture time. Bad ligthning, late at night, not setting up my good camera, etc. The orange crystals go from an almost white to a bright orange peel colour. It could go darker, but In person, it does look fine.