The Fur of the Bear that Bit You II: Finished DIY Gaming Mat

It's finally finished. I'm a little embarrassed that such a simple project took this long, but the important thing is that my gaming mat made from teddy bear fur (wip post here) is finished and ready for action.

The most grueling part of this process is trimming down the fur. Even ordering the shortest pile, I found that the fur was too thick to be able to place miniatures on reliably, especially when I factored in the extra stiffness that paint would give the fur.

The solution? Yup, go at it with a pair of scissors. If you feel like throwing an extra $15 at the project, you could invest in a pair of clippers—but that's just not where I was at. Furthermore, I found that the scissor treatment gave a rather uneven 'tufty' finish that appealed to my idea of what a matted, unkempt field should look like. And for all the tedium, I found that four evenings working at it for about a half-hour each while I watched a t.v. show saw the job done. I would recommend wearing a mitten or similar on you scissor-hand to prevent discomfort.

I took a couple of WIP pics of this stage, above and below. It's a little hard to make out, but in the image above, the trimmed section is at the bottom. In the one below, it's to the right. If you look very carefully, you might make out the difference in the fur's texture. Untrimmed, it's very smooth, trimmed, it's rough and wavy.

Unfortunately during the painting stage, I temporarily lost my camera. Luckily, however, the process is literally as easy as taking some very thin acrylics (like, skim milk consistency) and rubbing them all over the fur one patch at a time with your hands. (I used rubber gloves, but don't let me tell you what to do.)

I used a selection of three dullish greens, some brown and some yellow. I'd splash on one or two colors and then run through it with my hands until it was spread through the fur. If it needed more variation or there were portions without color, I'd splash in some different colors and repeat until I was satisfied. Once I'd covered the whole mat in this manner, I hung it up to dry.

Above is the finished, folded mat. There's no beating this thing for portability: It's light, packs small, and does not wrinkle or curl.

Here it is laid out. I put a couple of small plates face down on the table to serve as low hills.

Here's what it looks like with some scenery on. Of course, once I had it dressed up, I couldn't resist taking down my collection and organizing a little scene...

A desperate coalition defend the standing stones from dwimmer-beasts

The odds seem insurmountable.

The lines converge. Ruin is nigh.

Evil Majickers raise reinforcement from the barrows.

The doomed defence looks to be overwhelmed...

...but for the horse-thegns of the north who ride upon the wing!

The dwimmer-beasts falter...

...the horses scream...

...the hill trembles....

...and something watches from the barrows.

Got something to say? Tell it to the turf.

DIY Perfect-Bound Notebooks

I've been making a concious effort of late to diversify this nerdy little blog of mine to encompass more of my hobbies beyond the collecting and painting of weird homunculi. One such hobby that I've been getting my teeth into lately is book binding.

The method I'm going to show you today, perfect-binding, is an excellent method for beginners because it is stitchless, and therefore does not require a lot of specialized materials like waxed thread, linen tapes, or a book binding jig. In fact, all it requires is your paper, some pva glue or book binding paste (easily made using cake flour and water), your cover stock, and something to clamp it all together.

What follows is a basic perfect-binding tutorial, demonstrated with a set of notebooks I made for my favorite ladyperson as a Saturnalia gift. If you find this interesting, there are myriad further tutorials to explore all over the internet. This one in particular is charmingly nerdy.

Makeshift pressing assembly and a needle file for scoring 

The first step is to assemble your text block. I made mine straight from packages of filler paper. I used two packages of graph paper divided into four text blocks, and three packages of regular line paper arranged into three text blocks. I made sure that the holes in the paper were on the right side of the block, opposite the spine, so they could be trimmed away later.

Above, you can see the first text block squared off and clamped into place. Eventually, I plan on building myself a basic (very basic) binding press, but for now I just made do with some scrap plywood and some clamps.

Once it's clamped in, it's a good idea to score the spine of the book with either an xacto knife or a file. This promotes a stronger bond with the glue. Apply the glue in thin coats using an old brush. I find that two or three coats is sufficient.

The first four glued text blocks

While waiting for the glue to dry, I prepared my covers. These were made using artist's vellum. I trimmed each sheet to the width of the final notebook, then taped the strip of waste paper accross the middle of each cover as a mask. Then, using an old toothbrush and some extra W&N ink mixes I had sitting around from my last painting project, I generously flicked a different color of ink on each cover. Once the ink was dry, I removed the mask to reveal a striking white stripe, perfect for writing down the class that the notebook is used for.

Covers in progress on my capacious workshop table.

Gluing on the covers can be a little tricky. Start by lining the cover up with your text block so that it's front edge lies just beyond your final trim width. Crease it so that it wraps around the spine, and then unfold the cover so it lies open. Apply a final layer of glue to the spine and then refold the cover. I like to use a bone folder or the back of a spoon to press the cover tightly along the spine. Refold the final crease and clamp the whole thing back in your press assembly. Once clamped, I go over the spine several more times with the spoon/bone folder to make sure that it adheres along its entire length. When satisfied, leave in the press until completely dry.

Untrimmed notebooks with covers applied

The final step is to trim your notebook to the final desired size. To do this, bookbinders use a very specialized tool called a binding plow, which is a sharp blade used in conjuntion with a guide on a finishing press to make an evenly trimmed edge on a finished book. These are very expensive and even DIY variations on the tool can get quite involved. Luckily, a passable alternative is to use a heavy-duty metal ruler or carpenter's square as a guide (clamped in place for greater stability) and a nice, sharp exacto blade.

Clamp your metal guide so that the edge matches precisely with your final trim size. Keeping your exacto blade flush with the guide, run it down the length of the book under very light pressure—don't use much more than the weight of your hand here, or else you will risk the edge becoming uneven. Light pressure and a sharp blade should be enough to cut through 1-3 sheets per pass. Because of this, the trimming process can be very tedious (though I actually find it pretty relaxing). Stick with it. The reward for your patience is a miraculously smooth edge.

The final notebooks, at home on my favorite ladyperson's favorite bookshelf

Any questions about this process? Leave a comment and I'll see if I can address it in a follow-up tutorial, wherein I will be binding my printout of the Labyrinth Lord rulebook.

The Fur of the Bear that Bit You

Though I have now made two different homemade battlemats that entirely satisfy my wargaming needs, yet whenever I see even the hint of a new article on the subject, I'm on it like fur on a teddy bear. Or off of a teddy bear, as the case may be.

In fact, it turns out that the stuff is an excellent, inexpensive material for making grass wargaming surfaces that are even more durable, portable, hugable, and storable than the canvas versions I have previously dealt with. 

Apparently this was a secret to exactly no one except for me. Historical wargamers have been doing this for stuffed dog's years. Some of the better examples that I've found (which is to say that they're stunning) are here and, especially, here (make sure to browse through the articles, as this guy has done several mats and each one is better than the last. Inspired, I made my way to this (admittedly kind of creepy) craft website to purchase a couple of yards of neutral colored, short-pile, synthetic bear fur.

So here's a test piece for your delectation. Above is after a rough trimming with scissors to rough up the fur a bit and to make it easier for minis to stand. Below is after I haphazardly smeared some thinned out greens and yellows in. 

I was so pleased with the results that I immediately measured and cut out a 4' square to get started on... 

...and then promptly moved apartments and forgot about the project for a while. But now I'm (quite more than) settled in, and this project is at the top of the list. Stay tuned for the detailed results of my experimentations.

...Should you post a comment in the meantime? Does a teddy bear shit in the closet?

Orbital Shipyards: Scratchbuilt Spaceship Minis

...or a start at them, anyway.

At some point early this year, I played my first game of Full Thrust with CSW (I don't think there was ever an AAR for that particular game, but you can read a report from a 2011 game here), which inspired me to figure out how to cobble together some DIY starships and sundry. Below are my first attempts. My goal is to scratchbuild a couple of 'master' designs from which I can cast a fleet in resin.

The above would the upper and lower halves of a space station, made out of the caps taken from Dean's half and half bottles.

Pen ends look a lot like exhaust ports to me for some reason. And I have to find something to do with these cigarette lighters now that I no longer smoke.

That guy on the left above is a toothbrush cover, but looks to me like it could one day be some kind of civilian freighter. Getting the basic shapes down is fun and easy... the part I'm struggling with is the small level detail that will really sell the illusion that these things are spacecraft rather than just junk drawer objects.

More on these as construction develops. The fleet will be completed on schedule...everything is proceeding as I have forseen...

DIY Display Board Pt. I

Sometime this past summer, I finally got around to making a magnetic display board.

The base is a pineboard plaque from Michael's. These things are cheap, ubiquitous, and perfect if, like me, you don't want to bother cutting recesses in the display board for your model's bases.

I used washers to mark out where I wanted the bases of my figures to land, then, using masking tape to mark the proper depth on a drill bit, I drilled holes for magnets. The magnets I have are pretty small, so I need to have two per base to hold metal figures. Amateur tip: bigger magnets would only require one per base, and would be easier to get flush with the surface of the board.

I added sand for texture, then primed the sucker...

...then threw it in a box and forgot about it until now.

Maybe you'll get to see the finished version sometime soon. In the meantime, why not start a comment, then throw it into the box below only to forget about it? Eh?

DIY Grass Flock: an Updated Tutorial

So a while ago I posted a tutorial on how to make your own DIY static grass. Well, technically it's grass flock; I don't believe it would do the whole magical-static-grass-stand-uppy-thing if you were to use an applicator. (Though it might. I haven't tested it because I don't own one of those doohickeys).

Since making that tutorial, I've stumbled across a few ways to make the process of cutting and dyeing the flock a little easier. So I thought I'd put them in the form of a mini-tutorial/update here.

The first discovery I made is the above-pictured fine mesh strainer. But first an explanation: in my previous tutorial, I recommended dyeing the Jute (gardener's twine) with watered down paint before cutting it up. I've changed my mind on that, though. For one thing, dyeing with pigmented paints can make the twine tougher to cut, because the acrylic binder stiffens the fibers and causes them to stick together.

So now I would recommend cutting the twine first. You will still have the problem of the fibers tangling together, which the process of pre-dyeing was originally meant to eliminate, but the half-hour of chopping up twine with a pair of scissors will be much easier on your hand.

And getting rid of those tangled fibers is where the strainer comes in. Dump the chopped up jute into the strainer basket and shake it around over a plate or some other collecting surface. The shortest fibers will fall through onto the plate, leaving the snarls of tangle-causing larger fibers in the basket.

From here you have a choice: you can either dye the cut flock before applying it to your terrain piece, or you can dye it after you've glued the grass down.

In either case, you'll want to use the second innovation: a watered down non-pigmented coloring medium. Something like say, I don't know, Winsor & Newton acrylic ink. Because the stuff does not have pigment, it also does not have binder. It therefore will not cause your grass to clump when dry the way regular acrylics do.

Whether or not the flock clumps, though, it still really helps to have a way to apply it evenly. That's where that strainer and plate setup comes back again. I put my terrain piece on the plate with PVA glue in the areas that I want the grass to stick, and I shook it through the strainer again. This layered down grass in a nice, even blanket. I then allowed it to dry before turning the piece upside down, tapping off all the extra, and brushing away any stubborn fibers with a clean, dry brush.

Now, if you dyed the grass beforehand, you're done! If not, now is the time to apply some color.

As you can see above, I decided to go with applying the uncolored brown flock and then dying it on the piece. To do the actual dyeing, I just mixed up and watered down a couple of shades of green and greenish-yellows, and then used an eye dropper to drop them in random patterns on the piece. It took a while to dry, but came out looking pretty nice.

Here's a nice teaser shot of the in-progress howes and barrows. I'll have the finished pictures for you to grock on next time. For the nonce, why not filter your thoughts through a fine mesh strainer into the comments box. Coat it in a lovely, soft layer of thought-colored flocking. Leave the tangles and knots in your head.

Dice Pillars & Awards

A couple of items of business. First, here's a pic of the painted dice pillars. I posted the WIP shots a while back. I got (took) the idea from King's Minis.

Second, I've been Liebstered again since Asslessman kindly nominated me. Three times in fact.

Now since the whole Liebster process, while fun, is rather tiring, I've decided that instead of filling out three separate new Liebster posts I'm just going to go through the questions offered and answer the most interesting ones, while shouting out to those bloggers who nominated me. Short and sweet. How's that sound?

First up is the estimable Randroid of the excellent Drinkin' and Modelin' blog. Not only does he make great beer recommendations, but he is also like at least seven types of fun to game with. We met at the Chaos Cup 2013, and man was that game a blast. Even though he trounced me.

Next is the nomination of Barks from Wargaming With Barks. We are both newcomers to each other's blogs, so I look forward to exploring your awesome blog further!

And finally is Sean, from Sean's Wargames Corner. He's been a follower for a long time here with many kind words and interesting things to contribute. Cheers, Sean!

Here are the questions I felt like answering:

1. If you could change one thing about the wargaming hobby, what would it be? I guess I'd try and change the culture of competitive games in pre-packaged gaming worlds. For me, this hobby is most fun when you aren't just playing a game with someone, but you are actively experiencing the workings of their imaginiation in the act of creation...and contributing, also, with your own. I don't mean any disrespect for people who like those established kind of games though. After all, that's how I started. It's your hobby, and so long as you enjoy it then that's cool.
2. What is best in life? Stories, I think. Even though I can be pretty crap at making them, I always love hearing them. Couple that with jokes and mild intoxicants and I think you'd be pretty close to the best. (Barks and I quite agree on this point, it turns out.)
3. What miniature are you most proud of having painted? This is almost always the last miniature that I painted. Unless that one came out crap. Then it's the one before that. (Just wait until Friday. You'll see one I'm quite proud of.)
4. Why is a raven like a writing desk? They both croak disturbing things to me while I'm drifting off to sleep, and they both steal the shiny objects from around my room.
5. Or Sean suggests as a less perplexing question: If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Either a secoya (for the view) or a mangrove (for the fish nibbling at my gnarly toes).

Hope you enjoyed that. Thanks to all you gents for the awards. I really appreciate that you appreciate what I do here.

Stadium Renovation Pt. III

Welcome to the final installment of my DIY whiteboard Bloodbowl pitch tutorial.

Do you think there are enough searchable keywords in there? Here are a few more: it's also custom, and scratchbuilt, and cheap.

But here's the best part, and the one thing that sets my board apart from any that I've seen: this sucker hangs.

So here's what I did to finish off the board. I went to the hardware store and got some rubber feet, the kind you might put on some furniture to keep it from scratching the floor. Find the ones with the shortest screws, since they'll be going straight through the whiteboard frame and you don't want them to come out the other side.

These feet have a couple of nice benefits:

• First, they prevent the board from scratching the table - almost as if they were designed to do so...
• Second, they fasten from one side of the frame, through the whiteboard layer, and into the other side of the frame, greatly increasing the soldity of the whole.
• Third, they give you a convenient place to attach some picture hanging wire, which, if you like to sculpt, you probably have around.

I attached the bottom two feet first, mostly to make sure it would work properly. If you're smart, you'll drill some pilot holes...I didn't, and fortunately nothing went wrong.

Then, before drilling the top two feet on, I twisted the ends of the picture wire into loops that I then set the screw through, resulting in a solid mount for hanging.

Does this look crooked to you?

All that was left was to bang a picture hook into the nearest wall stud, then step back and admire. Now your pitch can hang on the wall like the piece of art that it (almost, kind of) is.

I hope you've enjoyed this long-awaited tutorial. (Long-awaited by me...I suffer no delusions as to how many readers have actually been holding their breath for this.) Here are the links to part I and part II.

Let me know what you think. I'm happy to answer any and all questions about the resources, logistics, and procedures around this project.

Just mount your question or comment into the box below while being, of course, exceptionally careful not to scratch the floor beneath...

Stadium Renovation Pt. II

Sorry for the brief, self-imposed media-blackout that was last week for me. The demands of leading a double life as the secret ambassador to an invisible but omnipresent extra-terrestrial eldritch menace means that, necessarily, I occasionally have to cede my hobby time to 'work...'

But I refuse to bore you any further with witterings on office life. If you've been following the REAL adventure, you'll know that I was halfway through showing you how to make your own customized, DIY Blood Bowl pitch out of a whiteboard.

Since last time, I finished painting the end zones and score tracks, as well as the Reserve, K.O., and Dead & Injured boxes. 

I was nervous about this stage at first, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy with a little patience. Just don't load the brush too much, since that can cause the paint to flow unevenly, and keep a clear idea of what you're trying to do, and you'll be fine.

When it comes time to start the lettering, I recommend writing out what you are trying to paint on a piece of paper that you can keep handy while you work. This will help prevent mishaps like forgetting the 'C' in 'Touchdown' and having to go back and make corrections.

Once all of the lines & letters were on, it was time to add the static grass. I found that a nice way to get an even coating of grass was to run it through a fine mesh strainer. Tapping the strainer with my palm caused the grass to sprinkle down in a nice blanket. (The strainer has actually caused me to really refine my static grass method. Hopefully I'll have a new post on that soon.)

Above, you can also see that I added a nice, big, psychadelic eye for a centerfield logo. I'll be the first to admit that it didn't come out very crisp, and that it was perhaps not the strongest thematical choice for the iconography, but something had to go there. For some really stunning examples of this kind of thing, check out Thib-0's range of awesome pitches.

That really puts this sorry effort into perspective...but you have to start somewhere.

And so here's the pitch, all ready for play. Stay tuned next time for the final touch, and what I think really makes this pitch stand out.

Comments are welcom below, but only if you hand-letter them...

Stadium Renovation Pt. I: How to Make a Customized DIY Blood Bowl Pitch

My oh my, has this post been a long time in coming. Way back in 2012, when I first started this blog, one of my very first posts was about how I wanted to make a custom Blood Bowl pitch our of foam board.

A lot has changed in that time. For one thing, I picked up a real Blood Bowl pitch on the cheap. That meant that I didn't need a cheapo DIY solution anymore - if I was to make a custom pitch, I had better make it fancy.

For another thing, I happened to inherit a 2' by 3' whiteboard.

So over the next couple of posts I'm going to show you how I made the first thing out of the second thing. Note, however, that this technique can be used to great effect for skirmish boards as well, as Orlygg so aptly demonstrated here. I do, however, take it one step further, as you will see.

So, materials:

1. A whiteboard or bulletin board. Best if you inherit it, but they can be had for around $30 at an office supply store.
2. Foam Core. I chose this over Orlygg's plasticard because is is cheaper and can be easily carved to achieve squares (or cobbles, or whatever)
3. Some kind of filler. I used woodfiller.
4. A buncha PVA
5. Some sand
6. Craft paints
7. Screw-on rubber feet (optional)
8. Picture hanging wire (optional. If you dabble in sculpting like me then you probably have some around.)
9. Picture hooks. (optional)

So for the first step you'll want to prepare your foam core by stripping all of the paper off of it. Here's an astoundingly easy method for doing so. 

Once that's sorted out, you can smear some PVA onto your board. You don't actually need that much, but coverage is important. I used a scrap of cardboard as a kind of putty knife to get a smooth, even layer.

Lay the foam on there. Lay some books on there too. Some big, heavy ones.

Now let it dry for at least a day. 

Just like basing a mini. Imagine the cavalry figure that would go on that base.

When you come back it'll be time to fill, carve, and texturize the surface of the foam. The first part of that is easy. Just fill in the cracks with your wood filler/spackle/putty.

Next, you want to create the squares on the board. In my opinion, the best custom pitches have squares that are carved or cut into the surface rather than drawn or marked on. I find that more markings cause greater visual distraction, making it look more like your figures are playing on a board and less like they're playing on a hard-packed stretch of earth and crushed opponents.

So using a carpenter's square and a soft pencil, lightly sketch the grid onto the board. Follow over it with a ballpoint pen, pressing hard and scoring the line two or three times to get a nice deep impression. You'll want to keep using your square even though the lines are marked, because your pen is going to want to wander off course. (You could get really fancy and use an x-acto mitre to cut actual angled grooves like this, but I opted for the far simpler method - though my board is not nearly as impressive as Thib-0's. That guy can really craft.)

Once your grid is down, you can apply the sand. Pretty straight forward really, just watered down PVA and sand. Staple of the hobby. (Okay, I guess you could use coffee grounds or tea leaves if your worried about damaging paint jobs.

My workshop table, as sprawling as ever.

Now your board will look something like the above. You're going to have to walk away again, I'm afraid.

Once it's dry, it's time for paint. I didn't prime mine because I couldn't be bothered to mask the frame. You can do that if you like. Then hit it with a bunch brown craft paints and follow it over with washes of various yellows, greens and dark browns for a nice mottled effect. Finally, you'll probably want to drybrush it. It's a slog, though, so be warned.

Check out my proud coach's headgear top left.

Above you can see the beginning of the endzones and score tracks. Masking tape works okay, but be prepared to do a couple of thin coats (another staple of the hobby) since applying too much at once will result in the paint bleeding under the tape and requiring touch up (which is odious, and a pain).

I'll be back in the next installment with pictures of the painting and flocking process. In the meantime let me know what you think. Note, however, that getting fouled while in the comments box may result in penalty kicks.

Breaking New Ground

Because having one flexible gaming mat just isn't enough. Especially when that mat is sized for a diminutive 2.5 by 3.5 foot dining table...

I now have the luxury of a somewhat bigger table, and even though it's not quite 4 by 4, I figured this time I'd just go for my ideal size. 

Above, the mat-to-be is layed out on the floor of my voluminous primary workshop (bedroom). Here's a pro tip: mark out your dimensions on the back of the mat so it's easy to cut it later.

Here is the mat tied out on the floor of my spacious secondary workshop (living room). Here's an amateur tip: go ahead and slather paste and sand over the carefully marked out dimensions you put on before. That way you'll have something to curse about later.

With the previous mat I was having trouble with the flocking mixture coming off of the mat when it was rolled up. I decided to solve that this time by making the mat without flocking. Instead I opted to flood it with a variety of dilute greens and yellows.

And that's pretty much it. The drawback to going without flock is that it now needs a ton of dry-brushing. But I figure that can be a gradual process. Hopefully I'll get to show you the more-or-less finished version in a battle-report soon!