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Emberbreeze |
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Post subject: How to make your own game board
 Posted: Jul 31, 2005 - 03:50 AM
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Joined: Feb 19, 2004
Posts: 323
Status: Offline
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For the Albion Coast Cup this year I have made a custom Bloodbowl pitch to give away as a prize. A few people have asked how I did it, so here is how.
Ok, to start with here are some of the things you will need. Spray Mount, PVA Glue, Ruler (preferable metal), Set square or right angle, Pencil, Craft knife with spare blades, Cutting mat.
And of course you will need some art work to put on the board. This is based on one from the Lord of the Boards web site. Printing will cost anything from £15 to £30!!!
Lastly you will need some card and backing matterial. The best card is called 'press board'. It is made up of layers of card pressed together, it should cost less than £1, I got mine from Hobbycraft. The backing matterial I used is called 'Buckram' it is the stuff used to cover hardback books. I found some on ebay for about £7 for a large sheet. If you can't get some use black artists paper/card it wont be as resistant to wear or the odd splash of water, but it looks good.
First thing is you need to know how big the board needs to be for your art work. I cut out the artwork on 3 sides (not the top as there was no clear edge) and got a measurement for the width and height.
Next you need to cut the board, but NOT to the same width as the artwork. You need to allow 3-5mm extra on all sides of the board. Then you need to subtract an amount to allow for the board to have a hinge in the middle. This depends on how thick your card, backing matterial and artwork are, measure them and add a few mm to be safe. I used a 7mm gap for the hinge. you don't need to allow for the hinge on the height, just add the border.
Artwork width + 10mm - 7mm
Artwork Height + 10mm
Cut the board exactly into two and then tape them back together allowing the gap for the hinge. If you lay the artwork back on now you should be able to see if you have messed things up, or if you have a nice boarder all around.
This just shows what it looks like from the other side. I used masking tape although bookbinders tape would be much stronger.
Check it folds ok. It should have lots of extra room to allow for the artwork and backing matterial.
If you are making a 4 fold board then you might want to add this stage. I'm not sure if it is nessesary, and it probably caused some problems when I came to fold the final board, but this is what I did. Add some tape allong the side of the board which will be folded back (check out a bloodbowl pitch if you don't understand)
I've skipped a few pictures here (forgot to take them  ) and this is the most important stage..
Using lots of newspaper to stop it going everywhere, cover the back of the board in lots of spary mount, concentrating in the areas around the folds and where the cut will be.
Then stick the backing matterial to the card making sure you don't leave any bubbles etc. Then put lots of heavy books all over it and wait for a few hours for the glue to set solid.
Next cut the backing matterial around the board so it leaves about 2cm all around the card.
For the next bit I'll refer to the forum where I got the info here
That should help you make nice neat corners.
Quickly check the board still folds ok, if it does then you can mount the art work onto the board using spary mount. Spray the back of the artwork making sure you get the edges, then very carefully line it up on the board, make sure it is stick properly and weight down with books again for a few hours.
Fold it again, you might need some force the first couple of times. Then weight it down in the folded position for a while until you are happy it folds easily. Watch out for the artwork coming away from the board the 1st time you fold it, some caution is needed.
You can stop here if you want but the single fold board is still quite big. So if you want a 4 fold you have to do something scary! you have to cut the board in half!!! well no quite half, more like 3/4.
Find the middle of the board and with a steady hand cut through the board from the artwork side. On one side (the on with the tape you added earlier, if you used it) you only want to go part way through, leaving the last layer of the press board intact. on the other side you want to go all the way through.
Now with a knife on hand to clean up bits you might have missed fold the board backwards. once you have that done, you can try and fold it up like the regular board. The backing matterial takes alot of the wear around the cuts which is what the tape is for, but Buckram is very tough and should be fine.
I hope that allows you to make a folding board it you feel the urge. This is a gerneric board making technique, I just applied it to my Bloodbowl pitch  |
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Torpor |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 31, 2005 - 03:57 AM
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Joined: Mar 18, 2003
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Posts: 157
Location: Undisclosed
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Very nice job Ben. Good step by step photos. Not sure I will be in a position to win the board, but am looking forward to seeing it in person.  |
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Helping other players' ratings since 2004...
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