Making a Hexboard (or die trying!) +Terrain!

[Attackmack]

So I had planned on getting started around next weekend but the opportunity came to get the materials yesterday so today, when the worst hangover had passed, i got to it =)

I dont know how to embed images into the posts on this forum so they are attached below.
I have finished the 4 bases for the board, all according to Mr Ableman33s excellent design.
On two of them (so far) ive also glued a sheet of 30mm "styrofoam", I will do the same on the other two, i ran out of glue and now the stores are all closed!

Theres also an image where i tested making hexlines in the "styro" with a soldering iron. Its just a test but I think it will look nice in the end! Will have to be careful not to dip the soldering iron to far tho since that makes the lines too wide.

Also, the "styrofoam" I could get isnt actually styrofoam, but a different kind of isolation plastic. I dont know its name in english but its composed of tightly packed small pebbles which makes it hard to cut, sand or in any way reform since these pebbels come loose and goes everywhere.
A hotwire tool of some sort is absolutey essential for this. I will be able to finish the base hex board without it tho, but for future terrain making ill have to get my hands on a hotwire cutter.


Anyways, the project is started at least, and hopefully ill finish it! But all to common for me to begin something and then let it fade into oblivion. Time will tell but im its a start at least =)

[john blackwell]

It looks like you're off to a great start.  I like the idea of building on uniform platforms.  Have you considered using a pencil to outline where to cut the hex lines? 

Just a question.  I'm very interested to see how this project turns out.

Happy hunting!
JB

[Attackmack]

Yeah I draw the hexgrid with a pencil before burning it in
Gonna take some time tho, I dont have a template for the hexgrids!

[Attackmack]

So ive spent most of the day trying to draw the hexgrid onto the board.
In theory its rather simple, make some measurements, draw some lines and everything should add up, right?
Well i had a go several times, trial and error, and had issues where the hedgrid became warped and distorted due to bad measurements =(

Finally I found a way of doing it that nullifed much of the potential errors and got it completed.
Now, its not perfect, some hexes are a bit out of shape and some size varieties. But overall I think it looks okay and since the solderlines that will mark the hexgrid when finished wont be perfectly straight (intentionally) I think the deviations will be even less noticable when the board is finished.
Damn, my back hurts after hours leaning over the board tho =)

I will try and get this first board mostely finished, somewhat of a trial board, so I can get a glimpse of the end result and if there is any need to change my approach.

There will be an issue aligning more then two of these together for a bigger board without having some oddly shaped hexes between the two, but the measurements originate from one long and one short side so I will at least be able to align two of these with little to no "weirdness".
And as of now, I cant imagine getting a game together that required a bigger board so this will have to do for now.
Dont know if ill get some soldering done tonight or later this week but ill keep this thread updated!


Tip:
Great music to play while working on this is the Terran Soundtrack from Starcraft2! Give u that sic-fi meets cowboys feel which I absolutely love!

[john blackwell]

Cool!  I think having a layout like that will make it easier to line up consecutive boards.  Minor imperfections will give you places to put terrain 'easter-eggs' and eye candy without interfering with mech placement.

This is coming along so well.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

JB

[Attackmack]

I couldnt keep away from burning/soldering the grid into the board =)

The lines turned a bit wider then I had wished for, and some hexes went really out of shape but i solved that by burning them into shape. This will give some hexes a bit wider lines and less area but thats okay with me.
Another thing I keep telling myself is that asymmetry is fine as long as the hexpattern is clear and there never is any question which side a mech is facing etc.

Next step is putting some drywall filler on the sides to even out deviations, and then sanding the edges to get everything smooth.

I havent decided exactly how to texture/paint the board yet, ill have to read up on some technuiqes first.
Im likely not to be painting anything until next weekend tho, earliest, so this week will probably be lacking updates.


Pick is with flash for some effect =)

[Legion]

Looks like the lines turned out really nicely!  You'll definitely want to seal that board really well, but it looks good so far.

[Attackmack]

Looks like the lines turned out really nicely!  You'll definitely want to seal that board really well, but it looks good so far.

Yeah im gonna need to find a good quality sealer that turns hard  since the foam im using is a bit too soft by itself. But after painting, possible flocking and sealer it should be hard enough!

Speaking of paint, i had time to do just a very quick trial. I only have a limited number of paints right now so this is not the colours i will be using for the final but only to see how drybrushing would turn out on this material.
And in a stroke of luck, i realise how glad I am to be using this kind of foam since it automatically gives a stonelike texture to the surface!
On the bottom hex you can also see how I made some test to recreate the broken surface texture of my inspiration picture, quickly made by just drawing lines with a razorknife and then adding a black varnish to it.

Personally im very pleased with the result, and im expecting the real board to turn out much better as I put some effort into it later on!
Now I just need to find out what colors I need for a good looking board =) And Im still debating if Im to add flocking to small parts of the board/random edges/hexes. But with the texture this board gets by itself I might rule it out altogether tho.


Im also adding another picture! I know that ordinary spraypaints eats away at foammaterials but I didnt know how much so I wanted to find out! Turns out it would totally ruin the board so basecoating will be done by hand =)
Good to know though, I can see some use for it on later terrain pieces!

[agen2]

Nice and good luck! O0

[john blackwell]

You know, that painted / dissolved terrain would make for some incredible 'rough' ground. You would only need to find a way to delineate hexes, but the way it randomly sculpts the ground would be nigh impossible to hand-make.

JB

[Attackmack]

You know, that painted / dissolved terrain would make for some incredible 'rough' ground. You would only need to find a way to delineate hexes, but the way it randomly sculpts the ground would be nigh impossible to hand-make.

JB

Thats a good idea, I might try that on a piece later on. Maybe if first painting the hexes with a clear coat or a thick color, something the spray wont penetrate, it should make the hexes untouched but the surrounding terrain "melted". If that does work, ill facepalm myself hard enough for everyone to hear :)


On another note, i found an old car battery charger i build some years ago. Its still functional but I got a newer charger so this will instead make a fine foamcutter!

Ive ripped out the excess electronics and hooked everything up to a dimmer and a thin guitar wire and it works great! I can even reuse the box for it and fit the dimmer to it.
Sadly though, the only dimmer I had laying around is a transistor dimmer so it doesnt work well to control an iron core transformer, i actually think i mightve broken it already :)
Ill check around work tomorrow, see if I find a suitable dimmer and then I need to make a decent table.

Pics to come when i got it finished.

[Attackmack]

Replaced the dimmer with the correct model and now it works great!

Got hold of the handle for an old/broken radio and it makes a perfect handle for fine cutting by hand.
I placed quickconnectors on the wires from the transformer so later it will be quick and easy to change between tools used, when ive build a cutting board for bigger pieces =)

Im currently putting the filler on the sides of the board which will be followed by sanding and possibly more filler so not much to show from the board right now.

[Attackmack]

One issue with me is that whenever I get an idea, something I wanna do, I wanna do it immediately and I can become very creative to do so.
It also tends to make me more or less addicted to whatever it is I have taken upon myself at that moment.

Right now its no doubt Battletech, or more specific the hexboard and its terrain.
So as I had gotten the foamcutter working, and had alot of spare foam to cut with it, I couldnt stop myself from experimenting with making terrain.

So I made this piece tonight. Im very happy with it to be honest, turned out much better then i could have imagined.
I wanted it to give the impression that the ground had been pushed upwards, possibly due to violent convulsions in the ground as the planet is stressed by the increasing gravitational turbulense casused by the dying star it orbits.
At the same time I wanted that ground to appear melted, almost like solidified lava streams, but more shallow.
I tried to make it seem like theres small veins of glass or some form of crystalified rock.
Also, I have yet not figured out how to paint the hexboard so the hexes on the terrain piece is currenly only black, since they will be the same as the board.

Personally, I dont think i managed to capture any of the things I mentioned above, it looks more like something HR Geiger would cook up.
BUT, i think it looks really good, will still fit onto the hex board, and it only took a couple of hours to make from start to finish including drying times for the paint. =)

[john blackwell]

It's well done.  I'm impressed.  Keep at it!

JB

[Kret69]

Show me more! :)

[Kret69]

Thats a good idea, I might try that on a piece later on. Maybe if first painting the hexes with a clear coat or a thick color, something the spray wont penetrate, it should make the hexes untouched but the surrounding terrain "melted". If that does work, ill facepalm myself hard enough for everyone to hear :)

Use a PVC glue (Elmer's Glue in US?) to delineate hex borders only, wait for it to dry, than spray.

Once melting is done, You can tear away the hex grid or leave it to be even more elevated, but then You need to cover it with some kind of vegetation/rocks.

As for music, try "Homeworld" Soundtrack for more peaceful parts ;)

Apologies for doubleposting.

[Attackmack]

Ive finished the terrainpiece, and made the hex surface more of a desert look then my original plans.
Some reasons for this is that the tan/lightbrown color is a really nice contrast to the overall dark look of everything else. Its also very easy to do, and required only a few steps and a small number of colors.
Now, i wont want a pure desert map since forests/trees would seem out of place, so im still thinking about this more of a scorched landscape style, but this deciding on this rather simple style will keep me going and my work on the board itself wont stall.

I might add some small details like flocking here and there, stones, rubble and burnt grass and bushes but that is to come later, the board first!

I need to sand and fill a little bit more to rid the sides of the worst oddities, then itll be ready for base coating. I need to buy some more colors and brushes aswell. And aside from that ill be continuing work on some more terrain.

[Attackmack]

Two more pictures, one with the mandatory posing mechs =)

[Kret69]

I like it.

Leave it blackish, preferably even slightly glossy here and there - will give the feeling of pushed up obsidian-like rock formations and will still allow to make an area around forest- or even jungle-like.

What about areas with more vegetation? Flocking? With machine or manually?

[Attackmack]

I like it.

Leave it blackish, preferably even slightly glossy here and there - will give the feeling of pushed up obsidian-like rock formations and will still allow to make an area around forest- or even jungle-like.

What about areas with more vegetation? Flocking? With machine or manually?

Dont you think the board will be to dark and somewhat boring if i make the hexes and everything black/dark?
Im a bit unsure but all advice and tips are warmly welcome.
Im home from work today, sick, but even though the headache is killing me im trying some ideas on tree making =)

When it comes to vegetation i will make it look dying and withered and some will be burned.
Trees will mostely be only charcoaled branches, as will bushes with the occational groving veggi darkbrown or the like.
Im planning to make heavy woods feature the standard 2level high trees and light woods to feature shorter, around lvl1 trees.
This way I can still cramp as many trees as possible in wooded hexes, and the sight of a mech rising above the treeline is just so awesome!

Ive thought about flocking, areas or at least terrainpieces featuring more living scenery. I havent read up on this yet though but im guessing theres a tonne of tutorials on every possible design =)

[Kret69]

Of course it definitely needs breaking up with something more vivid, green vegetation would be the best.

Maybe try some on some lvl1s elements at first?

A small spring of water would also break the pattern.

[john blackwell]

I agree.  Vegetation or loose gravel along the hex edges will develop the look while not interfering with where mechs stand.

It's coming along great!
JB

[Attackmack]

Of course it definitely needs breaking up with something more vivid, green vegetation would be the best.

Maybe try some on some lvl1s elements at first?

A small spring of water would also break the pattern.

Yeah man, im planning on doing lots of terrain later on, though I'm gonna be sparse with open water since the planet is undergoing such violent breaking down, but I was planning on doing a ravine.
And you just gave me an idea, the ravine might have cracked open where a river used to run!

I do like the idea of the upper surface being burnt to ash and charcoal, and as you said the hills are outbreaks of molten rock and lava quickly pushed to the open and then quickly cooled to an obsidian-like glass.
BUT, the contrast of the lighter desertish hexes against the dark grey is really appealing to me.

Im in a bind here, dunno what to do =/

Ive carved out some more terrain pieces, just ordinary hills as the one ive already shown, but both these and the board itself is now in need of black primer so any future work on them must wait until some other day.

So in the meantime ive made some tried creating trees. Ive read several tutorials and guides and thought of an idea that will be extremely cheap and, it turns out, doesnt look too shabby even when done quickly.

Basically, I take a bit of electric wire, the one used inside pipes in walls and such, and if removing the insulation of one individual wire, it consists of 7 very thin individual copperthreads. Then I twist these in a treelike formation, as described in basically every tutorial i can find on trees =)
As foilage ive used small pieces from a sponge.

I think if i put at least a little more effort into it they could look better.
Ill probably be prefrabricating a bunch of these, and even if it turns out I wont use them at all its no harm done.

Tips and ideas are very welcome, you guys are great.
But main question now, hexes....tan or black =/

[john blackwell]

With trees . . . wouldn't tan go more with the vegetation?  I think of black rock more like Mordor - bleak and devoid of anything living.  IMO

Any thoughts of how to show light vs. heavy woods?

JB

[Attackmack]

Heres the finished terrainpiece, ive added trees, a bit of vegetation and some loose rubble.
I know there is much that could be done differently and better, and there are details I choose to not put alot of time into because if I start putting in too much effort and too much attention to details I will run the risk of never finishing the board.
So I choose to take a few shortcuts to keep the project moving on.

Anyways, heres the piece with two wood hexes, both light.

On how im planning to differ light and heavy:
is simply shorter more thin trees on light hexes, and taller, thicker trees on heavy.
Maybe put only pinetrees on heavy and other trees on light, in which case ive misplaced one pinetree on this piece, but thats okay.

[john blackwell]

oooooh, that is nice.  I love how it looks.  I like the idea of Lt vs. Hv woods.  I think the more difference you can make the easier it will be for visitors to operate on your board with terrain confidence.

Bravo!
JB

[Kret69]

You could also put more trees on the sides of hexes denoting heavy woods, and only some in angles of the light ones.

I myself am also thinking about making a terrain hexes with thick woods that could be replaced with Mech if needed, like buildings.

The colours and the general idea are great. I think pine trees should be use with caution - these half dead trees look more in place. And realistic.

[Attackmack]

You could also put more trees on the sides of hexes denoting heavy woods, and only some in angles of the light ones.

I myself am also thinking about making a terrain hexes with thick woods that could be replaced with Mech if needed, like buildings.

The colours and the general idea are great. I think pine trees should be use with caution - these half dead trees look more in place. And realistic.

yeah your right about the pine trees not fitting in with the theme but their pros is that they can be made large without taking up so much space.
If i make these half dead ashlike trees as big i need to make them distinct from the rest, they take up so much room its hard to place the mech there =) They look fantastic when bigger though!

Another option would be using basically the same style trees but different in colour.
These light ones are now a green/greyish color, but im thinking the lights, being the smaller younger trees, could maybe me a more vivid green, being "more alive" and the "heavy" be more greyish instead.

Or just use pinetrees...

[Kret69]

That's a good idea.

Pine trees can also be painted to look dying.  I remember some trees "dying" (loosing leafs) immediately after they came in contact with ammonia cloud.

Maybe something in that direction? Leave pine trees since they fit Your workflow and idea, but paint them (randomy) in different shades of rotten green (olive), brown, even up to orange as here:

[Attackmack]

Thats fantastic!
And the ammonia cloud is great stuff! I mean, since the planet this board is to represent is undergoing major catastrophic climatic events its not unfitting that great deals of gasses and elements being releases.

Something I forgot all along is that the actual basehex could also be used to represent light or heavy.
If light woods use the same hex surface as the normal terrain, and the heavy woods is covered with green/brown flocking and vegetation then theres never a question what kind of cover it is!
Together with the pinetrees it will be clear as day when overlooking the board.

Thanks for some great advice you guys, it feels like the concept is coming together nicely!
And ive figured out most of the things needed to complete the board so now its just a matter of getting everything needed (colours and such) and investing the time needed.