Build A Gaming Board: part 4

No, I've not gone all George Lucas and started a new series with part 4. This is in fact the legitimate part 4 of a post series that began back in 2013!

That's right! After a four year hiatus, that included a house move, four job changes and a new baby who has grown into a toddler, I have finally made some progress on my gaming board. Hey, I may be laid back but I get there in the end… sometimes.

If you missed the beginning you may want to catch up:

Gaming Board: part 1
Gaming Board: part 2
Gaming Board: part 3

So the board was originally meant to be for my now defunct Dark Crucible ruleset. The frame and foam base have been kicking around attics, spare rooms and garages for ages now, getting more damaged by the year. I've always wanted to go back and finish it but for a long time it seemed very unlikely things would progress at all. With my recent stint at rule writing I've been looking to get a new neoprene gaming mat (as they are a superior solution) but every time I went into the garage I'd see my board looking neglected and very sorry for itself. I decided to just do something about it, so (disguised as part of a household chore) I spent some time knocking things into shape.

I've sanded down the frame ready for some undercoat. There were some sharp edges there so I was keen to get it user friendly. I was also bothered by how high the foam sat above the edge of the frame. My original plan was to carve some wonderful rolling hills into it, but that was a little ambitious as I discovered. I'm going for something a little more reserved this time as an opening effort. I spent a long time trimming several millimetres off the top of the foam to get it closer. Once done it looked pretty rough so I gave that a sanding before pouring lots of pva glue on it to fill a few holes and scattering some larger sand/stones on there.

The plan now it to cover the rest of the board with a combination of red oxide and textured emulsion to get a nice, flexible surface. Once that is complete I can paint it and get on with the flocking!!

We may see this bad boy finished yet!

To be continued...