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I have tons and tons of hardboard to get through, and quite a lot of cheap junk for terrain.

I hate warping, its my number one pet peeve in the hobby.

If I hit the board with a coat of pva on the 'wrong' side before I start, I take it that when I glue down the sand on the 'right' side it should stay flat?

What if I hit it with a cheap spray first on both sides? will that protect it from warping?

I dont know if their is a 100% answer for warping, but you need to seal the edges as well.

i think a spray varnish would work best. you can also kinda prevent it by gluing multiple sheets of material on top to kinda bolster it.

The last terrain pieces I messed around with 1 out of 5 warped. I usedbasic cardboard, though it was quite thin, then but a layer of spackle on it. and wait until it dried before doing anything else.

Try painting both sides of the boards

steve2112 wrote:
Try painting both sides of the boards

I was going to say exactly this. I paint both sides before I even start mounting/gluing stuff onto it.

I used pressed wood for my boards. Never warped or get damaged and cheap as hell. I spent 8$ on some pressed wood 8 by 8 foot 1 and a half inch think.

Can you elaborate the "hardboard?" I've heard that term used to reference HDF (high density fiberboard), MDF (medium density fiberboard), compressed cardboard, OSB (oriented strand board), and more.

I'd love to throw my hat into the ring (of advice, that is), but I treat wood/resin materials differently than pure wood or compressed paper. Some warping issues are caused by moisture penetration and resultant expansion of the base material. Others are caused by the inward pull of drying adhesives/materials placed on top of the base.