HowTo: Modular Gaming Table - Part 2

In the last part of this HowTo series, I explained how I build the base for the gaming modules. In this part I will describe how the hills were made and how I prepared the board to get the first layer of the structure paint.

I suggest you listen to this song while reading the next part:

Step 2 - Run to the hills:

After building the base for the next steps, it's time to build some hills. Therefore we took four of the six modules and put them together and started scetching a rough layout for the hills on paper. Important at this point is that you will need four hill parts which should fit together at their sides. The idea is to be able to position the modules as you like. With the shown layout it is possible to make one big hill in the centre, two "half" hills, for single hills at the edges or a combination of the two. So be sure to take your time and don't rush it. We used a ruler and measured the edges to get a perfect fitting.

Sketches of the hill parts on paper

If you are satisfied with the size and the form of your hill(s) it's time to get your cutter and the Styrodur/Styrofoam and transfer the sketch onto the foam. If everything is transfered cut the hill out of your foamboard. Be careful while doing this, we had the problem that the knife lost its sharpness in the middle of the cutting and after that it was a real horror to cut. After that you should end with a big hill which you then cut into the four sketched parts. If you are unsure where to cut, just check again with your ruler. This part is really important! If your are sloppy here, you won't get a good fitting in the end.

The hill prepared for cutting into four parts

If you are done, take your four modules and some toothpicks. Position the single hill parts at the edges of your modules and glue them together. Use the toothpicks to stabilize the connection between modul and hill. If you only glue the parts together, the glue will loose some volume while drying and it is possible that the hills will slide. Here you see the importance of the clean work in the steps above. If you screwed up there, you won't get a good fitting here. After everything was glued I used some cardboard at the edges of the hills to protect the edges of the hills from damages while transporting or storing the modules.

Unfortunatley I have no picture of this last step but I hope you can follow this last step in your imagination.

This is it for this part, I hope you enjoyed it. If so feel free to leave a comment.

So long,
Paradox0n


P.S.: If you missed one of the parts, here is just a short linklist to every part of this series:
Modular Gaming Table - Part 1
Modular Gaming Table - Part 2
Modular Gaming Table - Part 3
Modular Gaming Table - Part 4