Hex Terrain Boards - Part 1
Just started a new project, building on my experience with EVA foam mats. My intention is to create a modular terrain system that supports a 70 mm hexagon grid and both the grid and the edges between boards are not immediately noticable.
The first step is to define the modular pieces and the various terrain configurations on each. I've ended up with about 20 boards, each around 50 cm x 50 cm, that would provide a 4 x 3 game board (12 tiles) covering 2.0 m x 1.4 m. Each board is hexagonal in shape with 7 hexagons from edge to edge. The hexagonal boards can be rotated to give 3 different orientations.
I've started a test hexagon tile. I've finally decided that grey is the best base colour. I've used green previously but the grey gives a way more realistic look.
This test tile has a river and various static grass applications. I've still to decided on how to mark the hexagons on the tile in a suitably subtle way. I think I will just mark the centre of each hex by dry brushing the static grass with a brown.
Because the tile is reasonably flexible, I'm hoping that when the tiles are placed together I can form a tight border around them to close any gaps between tiles. Initial tests look favourable as the EVA has about a 1 mm give in it. I've also created a hexagon tile template which has allowed me to exacto cut each tile to less than mm accuracy. I cut each edge with a slight inward angle to minimise any chance of gaps between tiles. At this stage I have cut out 27 tiles from 27 gym mat tiles I got at Target for $3 each.
I'm using a tacky white glue for the static grass, which seems to be a little more flexible than straight PVA.
The rivers are formed using a hand router to a depth of 4 mm.
The first step is to define the modular pieces and the various terrain configurations on each. I've ended up with about 20 boards, each around 50 cm x 50 cm, that would provide a 4 x 3 game board (12 tiles) covering 2.0 m x 1.4 m. Each board is hexagonal in shape with 7 hexagons from edge to edge. The hexagonal boards can be rotated to give 3 different orientations.
I've started a test hexagon tile. I've finally decided that grey is the best base colour. I've used green previously but the grey gives a way more realistic look.
This test tile has a river and various static grass applications. I've still to decided on how to mark the hexagons on the tile in a suitably subtle way. I think I will just mark the centre of each hex by dry brushing the static grass with a brown.
Because the tile is reasonably flexible, I'm hoping that when the tiles are placed together I can form a tight border around them to close any gaps between tiles. Initial tests look favourable as the EVA has about a 1 mm give in it. I've also created a hexagon tile template which has allowed me to exacto cut each tile to less than mm accuracy. I cut each edge with a slight inward angle to minimise any chance of gaps between tiles. At this stage I have cut out 27 tiles from 27 gym mat tiles I got at Target for $3 each.
I'm using a tacky white glue for the static grass, which seems to be a little more flexible than straight PVA.
The rivers are formed using a hand router to a depth of 4 mm.
Comments
Post a Comment