I assume this is the right board for this as it relates to UHU, but is primarily game based...
So, I'm creating my own board game with a cloth board. I'm using a large piece of woven linen covered in Flexible Caulk to give a base texture and weight to the cloth. There is to be two islands for play, made using flocks, static grasses and gravels. I'm having a massive issues trying to figure out a way of making water to surround the islands. I've tried looking at videos for some examples, but all the ones I've found are for solid base/wooden/styrofoam boards ala Warhammer and other wargames. Anyone have any ideas how I can create a realistic water effect that is flexible enough to be on a cloth board and rolled up like a treasure map? Maybe clear acrylic silicone over blue/green paint or something?
Picture is of the original template I made from paper to make the cloth board.
Yeah the way they do it for stuff like wargaming is with eopoxy resin and blue dye.
If you want something that folds up you're not going to get a "realistic" looking water effect- The best you can probably do is getting some form of gel (the sort of thing they use for lighting colour filters perhaps?) and putting some sort of wave pattern underneath it, and maybe painting/dyeing a gradient so that the colour gets deeper the further out the water gets.
I'm not sure what you need it to be realistic for though lad- It's a board game, the entire point is that you use your imagination. I'd just be using some blue felt if I was you. Out of curiosity, how do you intend to attach the flock/gravel etc?
There's a reason no-one else does cloth boards like that. You can't add flock, grasses and gravels to something you fold up like a cloth, bending glued surfaces breaks the glue and it'll all fall off. You could do something like this pictured, using inks and dyes to draw a map - that could even end up looking quite cool if you did stylised it like a fantasy map, as seen in LoTR and Warcraft 2 loading screens.
That said, while the solid ground will come off right away, you absolutely can do some really nice looking water by using layers of liquid latex mixed with inks, although you'll need to find a way to seal it (a thin top layer or silicone perhaps?) or else it starts to gather dust and crap and look horribly yellowed in a matter of months. I'd start with an opaque base then build a number of blues on top of that. Experiment first obviously. A hair-dryer will help you dry the successive layers faster than the air. I'm not sure what technique would work best to make waves but I'm certain it can be done.
So far I've used spray mounts/adhesives and PVA glue, and to my surprise its working. I've rolled the board up multiple times and some gravel has fallen off, the grass a tiny bit, but the flock seems to be holding fast. The spray adhesive is a bit shit with grass, but the pva works pretty sweet and seems to be holding.
I spoke to a guy on a craft website and he mentioned using Liquitex Gel Medium using a similar technique to what >>20001 said, blue and green on the base, then blue tinted Liquitex in layers with dry brushed white acrylic paint on the wave crests.
I will figure this out! and it WILL look amazing and it will work.......
>>20006 That would be possible with a series of hinged boards that unfold. Not even all that mechanically complex (unless you wanted the rotating bits which would be bastards to get right), it would just require very precise cutting and lots of grease.
Here's a highly technical diagram of how a simple travel chessboard could be done like that. Not so different from a pop-up book.
hey guys, update on the game. I've made loads of progress since making this thread. I've made a blog for the building process, check it out if you want.
>>20340 Too much to post here m8, here's the link to the blog covering everything I've done so far. (excluding most of the cards as I'm working on them right now.
>>20342 It looks really nice, well done lad. My only gripe is that the cards don't seem to match the theme of the rest of the game. Totally understandable though, it'd take a fucking load of work to have lovely fantasy illustrations.
>>20343 Yeah I know what you mean, I was trying to stay away from the classic fantasy illustrations and put in a bit of my own comic booky style. Let it stand out on its own. But then the miniatures are classic fantasy......
Need to learn to sculpt, that way I can make characters and the boss from scratch in my own style.
Thanks ladm8, put alot of time and effort into this, lots of all nighters.
It looks good, though you've rather buggered your anonymity on here by giving yourself an artist credit on the cards. Still, your wizard wears purple and is clearly clutching a mug of tea, so there's that...