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My plan was to use 1'x1' MDF tiles to make terrain for my gaming board. I'd cover them with terrain (ruins, tanks, barricades, and such), put PVA glue down and then sand. Prime them black, dry brys different shades of grey, paint the terrain, and seal it with two coats of flat clear coat. Unfortunately I can not get the MDF cut into precise 1'x1' pieces. But I can get 1/4" birch plywood cut into the correct size tiles I need.

My question is will the birch plywood be able to handle it? I'm afraid that it won't last very long or might warp. What do you guys think about this? I did by a 1'x1' piece and covered it with PVA glue and its drying right now. Thank you in advance.

Why wouldnt it?

The main benefit of MDF over plywood is it is cheap. Modern plywoods have fewer problems with warping and delaminating than MDF has problems with edge chipping and swelling. I use birch plywood as a substrate for laser cutting quite often, and use it else where a lot (everthing from bookshelvs to bases for mounting foam to for carving.

The only thing that has to be dealt with are the edges, which with the exposed plys can oook a bit rough depending on the grade of plywood and the quality of the saw used to cut it. Filo and sand, much like you do MDF before painting it (though there it is seal than sand).

Thank you. Thats all I needed to hear.


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I have another question. What glue should I use to glue plastic ruins and buildings to the plywood? Crazy glue or PVA Glue? Some of these buildings/ruins are big and I want them to stay.

For a 1x1 sized base you might want to consider using a VCT tile frm the DIY store. These kinds of tiles can be had for $0.60. They are nice and flat and will not warp at all when painted/ glued. They also have a nice weight to them on the table. You can cut them down to different sizes easily if you like with a utility knife.

Here is a picture of a vehicle crater I made out of one. The broken up edges of the crater are pieces of tile broken up randomly.

Loborocket wrote:
For a 1x1 sized base you might want to consider using a VCT tile frm the DIY store. These kinds of tiles can be had for $0.60. They are nice and flat and will not warp at all when painted/ glued. They also have a nice weight to them on the table. You can cut them down to different sizes easily if you like with a utility knife.

Here is a picture of a vehicle crater I made out of one. The broken up edges of the crater are pieces of tile broken up randomly.

LOL. I wish I knew about this 3 hours ago. I just dropped $45 on the plywood.

But, does anyone know what glue I should use to attach plastic buildings to plywood? PVA glue, crazy glue, wood glue?

Sorry I was too slow to respond. I came to the VCT tiles because I was looking for something sturdy but thin. These tiles fill the bill quite nice. The price is a plus too. The last one I picked up the guy just gave it to me because he did not feel like doing a price lookup.

If you have not done anything to the plywood yet you can take it back and pick up a VCT tile.

If the idea is for the plywood to be a modular board, i wouldn't glue anything other than very flat terrain to it. Otherwise it won't be very easy to store and if its going to sit out all the time you might as well just make it a single board.

Another thing you might consider is covering the plywood in some sort of hard foam. Doesn't have to be thick. This might give you a better surface than straight wood.

Otherwise, I would paint the wood with some sort of latex paint before you put the final terrain surface. It will protect the wood and give you a better surface to glue stuff to. Wood can be greedy and absorb lots of your glue if its not been painted over.

A simple texture can go a long way as well. Mix up some kitty litter* with the final layer of paint. It will give a slightly roughened surface similar to gravel and small rocks. You can then add flock over it for grassy zones.

*you may or may not grind it up first depending on him big it is. Something similar to large sand will do nicely. I would say use sand, but Kitty Litter is normally cheaper.


I have 4 2x4 table sections made of hard insulation foam thats been attached to heavy duty plywood. The foam has then been coated in a latex paint and had flocking and some roads put on it. They are heavy but they store real nice. You could use thinner foam if you wanted.

I already bought and cut the wood. So no luck returning it. I have the place to store the modular pieces that have terrain on them. I picked up a 10 pound bag of sand for $2.50.

So I should get a can of latex paint and paint each board before I use any glue on it? I thought glue didn't stick to paint? I'll go pick up a can tomorrow.

Thanks for all of the help.

You can warp almost anything if you want to...it is a question of how you put it together...even vinyl tiles.

The key is knowing why things warp and how to prevent it. At 1/4" thick, remember what you do to the front, you need to do to the back. If you seal the front, seal the back. Paint the front, paint the back. Most water based coatings shrink as the water evaporates, and this will act like a bow string pulling up the edges. Ideally, you want to paint front and back at roughly the same time in order to allow both coats to cure evenly and pull against each other.

Once that is done, gluing things to it is pretty straight forward. PVA for a lot of the standard materials, for plastic though...I actually prefer to either mix up a bit of epoxy or use a contact cement. If I have a lot to do, Ill use the construction adhesives for some things as well. They can be messy, but with care they provide a very solid bond between a whole lot of material types and the price is hard to beat.

Regarding the glue/paint issue. Sort of. Glue to wood is better than glue to paint. However paint to wood sticks a lot better than paint to plastic, metal or resin. One of the issues with gluing painted miniatures together is the paint really doesnt bond well to the miniature. The glue will rip it right off. However, paint soaks into the pores of the wood and holds on really well. Most the time it is fine to paint first, though if you know what you are doing to it, you can glue it up first than paint.

I think it would be pretty hard to warp a VCT tile no matter what you throw at/on it.