"suggestions for creating a nice land/sea wargame board?" Topic
10 Posts
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gameboards | 23 Aug 2014 8:15 a.m. PST |
hello I am making a wargame board for naval and land battles, and could use some expert advice on how to best simulate the surface of the sea I am using a large sheet of thin clear plexiglass to represent the ocean's surface the scale is one inch to two and a half miles the thin plexiglass sheet must remain as translucent as possible, so the player can see the submarine positions, not to mention the detailed underwater mountains, banks, canyons, ect… how would you simulate the light blue color without ruining the visibility of the underwater terrain? I was thinking along the lines of some kind of translucent blue paint but my local crafts shop doesnt seem to have anything like this do you have any other suggestions? being a bit of a perfectionist myself, I abhor the idea of any kind of seams visible on my game boards. the suface of the sea must be flawless, seamless, hopefully rippled blue thanks in advance for any good suggestions Joshua |
raylev3 | 23 Aug 2014 8:24 a.m. PST |
you may not need to paint the glass…in model railroaders paint the riverbeds the colors they want and then cover it with a clear covering. The riverbed cover shows through. In your case, and I'm assuming there will be some space under the Plexiglas, the affect may be close enough to do the same. I've also seen rippled Plexiglas which may also give you that additional affect. |
gameboards | 23 Aug 2014 8:40 a.m. PST |
thanks, Raylev3 yes, I am leaning in that direction as well the layers of thin cardboard which will become the undersea terrain will be richly painted in many shades of blue however I was thinking that the effect would be even more dramatic if the plexiglass was also slightly blue so I am hoping someone knows a good idea if not, I will be doing just what you said, and leaving the plexi unpainted cheers |
Jeff Ewing | 23 Aug 2014 9:09 a.m. PST |
You should be able to pick up a "gel" -- a colored sheet of cellophane essentially -- to put over your plexiglass. I know gift-wrapping stores carry it in a lot of different shades. Failing this, I'd think about mixing some blue into some clear acrylic and then rolling that on with a foam roller. This might even leave some texture that would create a wave effect. Just try it out on a scrap first! |
gameboards | 23 Aug 2014 9:26 a.m. PST |
thank you kind sir for your most excellent suggestion I never thought of that! there are literally dozens of gift-wrapping shops in this wanton materialistic neighborhood and I am certain that one of them at least will carry such an item may your wargame boards and miniatures ever shine with dazzling accuracy, unblinking brightness and an almost magical sheen! |
Lion in the Stars | 23 Aug 2014 10:18 a.m. PST |
IMO, the better solution for a sea board is to get a 4x8 sheet of plywood, paint it blue, drybrush a mix of blue and white, then lightly drybrush pure white over the board. If you do it right, the dark 'rings' of the plywood will raise up a little and those will be the only places that catch the drybrushing. If you MUST have a glossy surface, I'd buy a quart of bar-top resin. As a beneficial side effect, bar-top resin is hard, scratch-resistant, and waterproof. Once that's dry, then you can flip the board over and apply whatever your usual ground cover is to the not-blue side. |
gameboards | 24 Aug 2014 8:26 p.m. PST |
thanks but it must be transparent or else why would I go through all the trouble of two or three months of making all these damned undersea canyons out of freaking thin cardboard? have located a store which sells blue cellophane wrapping wrap will send out recon mission next week |
Lion in the Stars | 24 Aug 2014 10:28 p.m. PST |
Ah, hadn't realized you'd already done all the underwater terrain. In that case, I'd suggest that cellophane wrapping stuff. You don't want to use a textured piece of plexiglass or acrylic, as your ships won't sit flat. However, you can put some wrinkles into cellophane if you gently warm it, crumple it into a ball, wrap that ball with a few rubber bands to hold it, and then stuff that ball into a pocket. For as much as you want to use, I don't think it will fit in your jeans pocket, but you could put it in a pillowcase and run the dryer on low for an hour or so. Make sure you do that with a small test piece first, I'm vaguely remembering what an article in FineScale Modeler said about making excellent model-ship photos. The best results were from getting some velvet and putting that under some plastic wrap, as that would let the waterline model sink slightly into the 'water'. But the cellophane-over-velvet wouldn't let you see the underwater terrain. |
gameboards | 25 Aug 2014 7:52 a.m. PST |
thanks mate, those are some intriguing ideas I am about to go out to buy a large roll of blue cellophane wrapping warp its only two dollars! maybe Ill just buy two and try out this crumpling idea of yours if I dont like its result I can just go with laying it flat under the plexi sheet. note that the blue cellophane will be UNDER the plexi sheet, glued to it with dots of superglue all around the edges. if I put the cellophane on top of the sheet of plexi, then it will develop tearing and scratches as a result of the fierce battles of ships which this thing will hopefully endure thanks for all the ideas guys cheers |
gameboards | 26 Aug 2014 4:23 p.m. PST |
the plastic blue sheet is the perfect size for this plexi sheet its going to work great! now all I need is a sheet of fine cardboard 58 inches long while waiting, I am making a soviet amphibious landing force a rogov, a ropuchka, and a pair of alligators as well as a newish norwegian frigate so they will be ready to play once the wargame board is done |
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