Monday, February 4, 2008

Terrain Tiles / Modules / Squares - Update - 4 Feb 2008

I finally finished a 6 x 4 table of tiles. Here it is.

There is a lot I learned along the way:

* Even though I grabbed the finest flock I could find, the moisture in the air and the repeated sprinkling over wet paint means a lot of it groups together. A few minutes in the kitchen food blender separates it all back out.

* A thick layer of paint works well for adhering flock to.

* A pre-layer of paint is needed as the tiles are brown and the hills are white and the 1 layer of green can show this inconsistency.

* Painted the sides of the tiles is needed.

* A flat playing surface is needed







Now to work on my fields, trees and built up areas. Stay tuned!

Also stay tuned for my new terrain shop. During this process I have had 3 requests to purchase tiles from readers and at 1st I was not interested in selling such as I didn't think they were that good but friends have convinced me otherwise. So, with a few sample tiles to be created and the process to be nutted out, a shop will be linked in soon. I know others can make these tiles just as well and that there is tutorials on this site for such but for those who do not wish to make their own, they will be able to purchase them. And the tutorials will stay up for those who wish to make their own.

Thanks also to the great comments and feedback and suggestions given along the way. I hope I have inspired some to have a go at their own terrain instead of settling on a cotton cloth.

See you all soon.

5 comments:

rpardo said...

Hi
A great job. I only has a little advice: Be sure that the cork tiles are well dried. On the contrary, with the time they will be contracted so the final tiles will bend
Rafa

Dave Gamer said...

Dave - Someone was asking about making micro-armor terrain boards over on TMP so I plugged your site. My local store has the 40% off coupons again so I bought another set of cork tiles. My original set (the one's I complained about warping with the tile glue I used) seem to have straighted out (maybe you have to let such glue dry for several days - dunno) so I'm going to have another go this time with white PVC glue. I've also changed my mind about using brown (or tan) as the base. I've been mounting up some 90mm (yes, 90mm) Papo and Schleich figures for skirmish gaming and I went with olive drab paint with static grass on top. This way if any of the grass wears off you still have green underneath. I also did the same with painting and flocking my Heroscape hex tiles (as per the Melee\Wizards Terrain site at http://www.meleewizards.com/terrain.htm ). So I'm gonna go with olive drab base (Krylon Camoflage Olive Green Flat) and use white glue (Modge-Podge Matt which is thick white glue in a jar and has a matt finish instead of gloss - I'll paint the glue on with a brush). If, as rafa said, that the tiles might warp due to moisture variations, I'm thinking of painting glue on the underside of the tiles - maybe even flock them as fields on one side and roads/forest/waterways on the other. Hopefully by gluing both side the warp-age will cancel each other out.

Anonymous said...

That was me! Fantastic site, great tutorials as well. The boards look fantastic. I asked over on TMP and I'll ask here as well - what sort of cork tileing are you guys using and do you get them from a specific place? I've seen the small packs of 3-4 sheets at my local craft store but I imagine there's a more efficient way to get them in bulk. Thanks!

Larry said...

Really nice David. Looking forward to seeing your other terrain work.

BTW, how are the paper mini armies coming along?

Larry

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great comments guys.

rpardo said...
"Be sure that the cork tiles are well dried."
The tiles have no problem with warping. I only use a little bit of paint and then add the flock. When all is dry I add a layer of hairspray. It never get wet enough to bow. Plus they are always resting on a flat surface.

Dave Gamer said...
"Dave - Someone was asking about making micro-armor terrain boards over on TMP so I plugged your site."
Yeah I saw that. Thanks a lot. I also added my bit in to that thread as well.

Dave Gamer said...
"so I'm going to have another go this time with white PVC glue."
Yeah I always use PVA glue for mine.

Anonymous said...
"what sort of cork tileing are you guys using and do you get them from a specific place?"
I get a set of 6 from Bunnings which is similar to your Home Depot for $11 AUD. They are 300 x 300 x 6mm. They are made by Astin Sinclair in China.

Larry said...
"how are the paper mini armies coming along?"
Very well. I have finished a full division of French Infantry with the new artwork and size and the new basing. I plan to set them up on the new terrain boards for a photo session and see whether I like the 6 stands per battalion look or the 12 stands per battalion look. Then it will be full steam ahead.