The Place For Model Terrain.


Home -> Projects -> Boards -> Small Gaming Table

Small Gaming Table

by Charles Traylor

<table>

<tr>

<td></td>

<td>Charlie made this gaming table to take modular sections for

his Mordheim games. This is how he did it:</td>

</tr>

</table>

<strong>Materials</strong> 

# Sheet of 4X4 foot 3/4 inch. (20 mm) Plywood.<br />

# One pair of folding table Legs.<br />

# One sheet of 4X4 foam board or insulation Foam.<br />

# White glue (PVA)

# Sand and light gravel.<br />

# Optional saw dust or Manufactured Flocking materials in as many

colors as you can find.<br />

# 16 feet of quarter round.<br />

# Finishing nails.<br />

# A foam Knife. A razor knife or even a bead knife will do.<br />

# A cheese cutter type body working plane. A wood workers plane

will do.<br />

# A miter saw. Even a hacksaw will serve in a pinch.<br />

# A hammer.<br />

# A small drill will help but it is a option.

<strong>Method</strong>

The first step will be to attach the folding legs to the bottom of

the plywood sheet as per the instructions that come with the legs. I

used 3/4 inch ply wood so that a table frame would not be necessary.

The small drill will come in handy making a pilot hole for the

hardware that comes with the folding legs. Try them out at this point

and make any adjustments that might be necessary. This step will vary

according to the brand of folding legs you use. I went looking for

card table legs but settled on a brand that was on sale.

 The next step will be to cut and attach the quarter round to

the top of the tables edge. This is where the miter saw will come in

handy to make nice clean joints. Of course you could skip this step.

However, the point of the folding legs is to make transporting and

storage easy. If you do not chose to use the quarter round edge the

soft edges of the foam board will be damaged during storage and

handling.

Now fit the foam to the top of the game table. If you use a 4X4

foot sheet this is just a quick trim up with the foam knife or razor.

If you use scrap like I did this will be a little more work.

Now comes the fun part. Place your scenery collection on the table

play with it until you are satisfied with your plain. Add any detail

you like. If you choose to cut a river bed into the foam do so now. If

you use blue board or some other brand of extruded foam, draw any

cobble stones walk ways or road ways on to the board with a ball point

pen. I was going to add hills to the board. However, I decided that

the table would be more versatile if I did not glue them down.

The next step is to glue down the foam. I used Liquid Nails but

white glue will work fine. When the glue is dry take the plane and

bevel the foam to the quarter round. This will help cut down on

damaging the soft foam table edges. Now it is time to base coat the

table surface.

 

<table>

<tr>

<td></td>

<td>I used earth colored gray latex house paint and a power

sprayer. A house paint brush will do fine.Sift some fine sand to

the wet surface. It will stick well enough for this stage. Thin

down some glue. Now paint walk ways and path ways on to the

board. Sift some sand and small grave on to the walk ways and

path ways. Make your river bed by panting the edges of the river

bank with glue and adding sand and gravel.</td>

</tr>

</table>

You can go back and repeat this step until you are satisfied with the

way the table looks. When the glue is dry paint and dry brush the

table. Then flock the table to match your terrain collection.