Sunday 28 October 2018

You still building this bloody thing!!!?

Ok, last post for the tabletop build. The rest of the build can be seen here in part 2 & part 1.

The next item I had to work on was the burnt out forest. This was achieved by procuring some gardening gone wrong old tree branches that were dried out. I just broke them off and drilled a hole up their guts so that I could pin them to the board. I then scattered a whole bunch of chinese tea leaves over the ground around them and sealed them in place with a few coats of watered down PVA. Once dry I black bombed the entire area and then selectively hit it with white highlights. It took age to find good images of burnt out forests. Coming from Australia I've seen my fair share of them up close, but terrain is not real life. In my search online for a burnt out forest I only came across one....on the entire internets I could only find ONE decent picture! Unreal huh? Anyway, it turned out great I think.

I also added some lichen shrubs around the board too. These were a necessary inclusion as there were quite a few wide open spaces that would have a) made the board a little boring, but more importantly they would have b) limited the strategic opportunities during play. Making mad dashes across no- mans-land (real or in imaginary games) almost always ends in death. I think the board looks a whole lot better for it anyway.

Once I received the doors in the mail I could set about finishing it off. These were from Brian Roes' "Trash Bash Bits" line and they worked a treat. I also had some miscasts that were generously donated to me by my mate Curtis from Ramshackle Games....a few jerry cans and doors. Once all these items were in place and seamlessly integrated into the board, ala more poo paper, I could begin painting the board up to its final stage.

I applied various washes and highlights to the ground area's and then spent an inordinate amount of time painting in all the details on the buildings and other terrain features. I felt like it made the board come alive. Kinda like when you paint a miniature, where the mini doesn't really look right until you've dotted the eyes. But in this case it had like a gazillion eyes!

After all the real work had been done to the board then came a bit of cosmetic work that would make a big difference to the overall appearance. And that was covering up the cardboard edging. I was wondering for quite a while how I was going to tackle this issue. Some of the ones that I briefly entertained were to just paint it black, or apply plastic sheets or kitchen laminate to it, or even line it with thin wood slats.....and a few others that I can't quite remember. But with all if these, bar paint, I would have ended up with sharp edges on the corners, something that I wanted to avoid. I ended up stumbling upon a better idea while out shopping with my wife. She was looking at material for knitting and making a tablecloth in a wholesale market. That's where I spied some heavy duty, almost denim like, fabric. I took a punt and bought a couple of metres of the stuff. It ticked all the boxes; cheap, black, durable, no sharp edges......and did I mention that it was cheap as well?

I made the pretend smoke coming out of the defence laser by first inserting a basic scaffold of plastic coat hangers into the building. I then hot glued fine steel wool onto it and gave it a similar treatment as I did to the burnt out forest. It looks a little too much like Don King IMO, but it'll do.

I made the "Papa's Place" sign as per Rob Hawkins great tutorial. Actually, if you look at his tutorial carefully and compare it against mine you can see that I cut a lot of corners. I used copper wire for mine and painted it all once I had it fully assembled. I'm pretty happy with how it came out all the same :)

One of the unexpected jobs that I created for myself when I built this thing was the storage issue. At first I was going to build a frame above the stairwell to store it, but then I realised that I'd almost definitely damage it at some stage whilst bringing it to & from to my sons' room. So I made a leaning shelf out of an old bookshelf from work. I then fixed that to the top of my sons bookshelf. Job's a good'n.




I've only taken a couple all encompassing shots of the table, as I think it'll probably be more interesting, and more fun, to see close up shots of the different elements of the table in action. All beit BS posed shots :p































My son approves :)


So, I can now call this project done. Onto the next board.......like fuck!!!

I'm glad I've now got a real board to play my pretend battles on. It's been a long time coming and I've learnt quite a few lessons along the way that will help inform how I construct the next board I make when I eventually move back home.

Cheers :)


28 comments:

  1. That looks great. It's come together really well. It really suits the Rogue Trader models, too. I used the same tutorial when I was painting the sign on my post-apocalyptic bar! Great work.

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    1. Thanks Toby, I'm really pleased you like it. And yeah, that tutorial really made the whole process of creating the neon sign a whole lot easier.

      I've played a few games on it already and it's providing lots of tactical opportunities. I'm well pleased with it.

      Cheers mate :)

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  2. Father of the Year! Great job on this board Papa!

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    1. Woah there Sean, I'm just a gamer that's built a board to play games on. The father of the year title should only be bestowed upon me when I've managed to con my son into paint up all the minis that I can't be arsed to ;p

      Glad you like the board Sean, it's fun to play on.

      Cheers :)

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  3. Wonderful table. I like things to be modular and changeable, but my terrain will never have this level of detail.

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    1. Yeah, I do to, but I can't stand the division lines with modular boards and I don't have a lot of shelf space to store heaps of terrain. This seemed like a good compromise ;)

      The detail is not really there, just heaps of texture and washes....that's the trick.

      Cheers Skully :)

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  4. That's a damn glorious piece of art. I love the attention to detail, you can see some eye candy wherever you look at. Wonderful!!

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    1. Hey Suber,

      Thanks a lot mate. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I've had a blast playing the few games that I have on it. It's "fun" taking down from my homemade storage shelf too :DDDD

      Cheers :)

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  5. That's a fantastic piece of wall art as well as a great table for games. Amazing work.

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    1. Shucks Very, that's mighty kind of you to say. Maybe I can convince my wife to mount it above or bed head? :)

      Cheers.

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  6. Replies
    1. I know right. It only took an age to complete.

      Cheers MMMEEECCCCCCC

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  7. Fantastic work, would love to play on that board.

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    1. Merijn, if your ever over this way drop me a line. Would love to get a game in with you!

      Cheers mate :)

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  8. Congratulations! It looks great!

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    1. I'm happy it's done. It's something I've wanted for ages and it's lots of fun to game on too!

      Thanks Andrew :)

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  9. That is a fantastic board. I hope I get to play on it one day.

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    1. Wow! That'd be awesome Major! I can picture one of your mega spaceships cruising down the hallway of my home, landing in my sons' room and all mayhem ensues :)

      Thailand is only a short trip away from the US.....it must be, surely! Anyway, whenever your over in this part of the world get in touch, would love to do pretend battles with you :)

      Cheers mate.

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  10. awesome stuff!
    I'd love to play on that table. We were talking briefly during BOYL in 2017. I'll be in Bangkok in December for a few days, so maybe there's a little chance that we could roll some dice? :)))

    Tytus

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    1. Fuck yeah!!!!! Sure man, drop me a line and we'll get a game in :)))))

      If your on FB I'll try and find you so we can coordinate.

      Cheers Tytus :)

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  11. This is the most Rogue Trader table ever, and I mean nothing but praise by saying this! It is stacked full of fun details and uses everyday and household objects to create the most inspiring and unique battlefield. Very well done on your wonderful creation!

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    1. You've got some pretty fancy pants creations too.....your Helsreach dwellings in particular come to mind. I'm happy that you think so highly of my table mate, means a lot, truly. You've made me blush ;)

      Cheers mate :)

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  12. Tremendous work, and it really evokes a RT ascetic. Fixed terrain is a bit less variable (since it is fixed!) but it is always better looking, and this piece really proves it.

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    1. Totally agree with your opinion about fixed terrain boards. It's an either/or decision in the end. I tried to make the most versatile board I could with fixed terrain....I think it worked out ok.

      Cheers man :)

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  13. Finally! taking pictures on that table should be impressive! The only thing you need is a background image for that terrain, but this is definitely an excellent job! I'm working on a modular table, but when i finish it i will make something similar!

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    1. Thanks Zeta :)

      Making a backdrop for the table sounds like a great idea, but I can't be bothered :p

      I hope when you make your board you take plenty of pics. Would love to see it when it's done.

      Cheers :)

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