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Building a Modular Gaming Table - Part 3 - Material and layer structure


Finaly, before I start building anything here are my last considerations about the project. 

Foundation

As the foundation for my landscape I choose wood tiles that I let cut in the hardware store. That‘s easy and cheap and they are very precise. The wood is 6 mm thick (or high if you want) and if I can get it I use pine wood because it is very resistant against water.

Height

I add a little bit height to the tiles with a frame of 10mm wood so that I can create ponds, ditches, sand pits and rivers/sea that lie a bit lower than the rest of the landscape. So the height of a ‚flat‘ tile is: Ground 6 mm plus 10 mm = 16 mm. 

Volume

The volume in or on the tiles will be build be gluing layers of cardboard (from cartons) on each other and then cover them with filler. I use a wood filler (MOLTO) that is expensive but becomes very hard when dried. It does nearly not shrink - that would not be helpful if you use it with wood - and so it will not warp the boards or anything else. And you can form natural surfaces simply by tapping your fingers on it.



Diagram of the structure: (1) Ground plate 6mm (2) wooden frame 10mm (3) cardboard for volume (4) the grass (5) water (6) filler and litter. The dotted line shows the ‚flat‘ ground level. 

Flock, Grass and Litter

Will be made with standard material from railroad modelling. That means I can get it quick and in every quantity I need. This prevents me from constantly wasting money and time on experiments that go to the bin. I also don‘t want to be depend on self made flock that I can‘t reproduce in the same color for a second time. In the end the stuff isn't that expensive. 

Water

First I thought I would use resin water, but I will simply paint all bigger water surfaces. That's cheaper and can always be reproduced. But I will use resin for small ponds and lakes.

Roads

Dirt roads or cobblestone streets? Normally the scenario or ‚world‘ would define what looks right. I think I will do both and add modern roads later.

The roads will be a little bit higher than the normal ground. Today we often don‘t recognize it anymore, but roads normally are build on terrain that lies above the other ground. Most very old roads were built on the highest ground our ancestors could find. And they also build their houses there to protect them from flooding.

Woods and bigger plants

Will NOT be mounted on the tiles. A friend did that, his boards were wonderful little artworks but it ended in horrible storage problems. Trees, bushes, rocks and so on will be loose pieces so that they can be moved around.


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