Building a Wargaming Table - How Long does It Take & How Much does it Cost?
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- Опубліковано 20 гру 2023
- I build a 6x4 foot scenic gaming table for Miniature Wargaming. A WW1 inspired scenery yet suitable for many other games. I talk about my techniques, inspiration and some of the pitfalls of a large project like this. How Long does it take and how much does it cost?
The First Video in this series: • Building an Epic sceni...
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#miniaturewargaming #warhammer #tabletopgaming #52miniatures
#wargaming #miniaturewargaming #crafting #tabletopgaming
Mentioned & seen in the video:
Acrylic Paste: sostrenegrene.com/se/produkte...
Sand: www.modellersworld.eu/shop/mo...
Trench System: www.myminifactory.com/object/...
Bunkers: www.myminifactory.com/object/...
Craters: www.myminifactory.com/object/...
Music by me - 52miniatures Alex - Ігри
![Metallic Red Warhammer Terminators [speedpaint]](/img/n.gif)
My son, David watched his first 52 Miniatures video. His comment: "Dad, this guy is pretty cool". He was particularly tickled by your sense of humor. We then watched (repeat for me) your earlier Building a Wargaming Table episodes. And then it was back to the worktable to paint miniatures together. All in all, a great day. Thank you Alex!
I’m glad David enjoyed the videos. And even better that you are painting together 👋
That is awesome, I have rewatched a couple with my son as well. He is 12, we are designing a game together.
This video is equal parts instructional and philosophical ❤ "We like to collect things, but ultimately their purpose is to be used" for some reason that hit me.
I discovered your channel through MWG Dave this year, and I am very happy for that. Love your work, and I appreciate how different it feels from other hobby videos I see.
Can't wait to see what you make in 2024
I’m glad to hear Dave sent you over. Welcome to the channel. I tend to verbally wander a lot, I’m glad it is appreciated
It's low-brow mumblings...it's more annoying that inspiring. It's pretentious and fake. Its unfortunate because the production vaule of the videos otherwise are excellent.
@@IngoGarza to each their own! I disagree, but that's ok. This is all about playing with tiny pieces of plastic and metal after all ;)
I really love you style. It’s so refreshing to watch a youtuber who is more willing to make something more down to earth than the “bombastic entertainment” style stuff that owns the internet these days.
Thank you T! I appreciate it. I know what you mean and I'm glad to be doing something I'd enjoy watch myself (if I wasn't in it)
Kan bara hålla med. Så skönt att inte behöva höra någon skrika att han måste vara klar igår.
Man, I groaned so hard when you reminded us that that was only half of the board. So much careful, thoughtful detail and it is only the halfway point for this stage? I hope that it goes smoothly!
Thanks for the well wishing. It probably won't go smoothly but I'm sure it'll be fun :)
Another source of fine sand, is Hamster/Chinchilla bathing sand or fiiine aquarium sand. Kiddies play box sand at DIY stores will also add to the stash for long lasting supply.
Good tips! Thanks 🙏
I think building your own board is a dream goal every hobbyist dreams of. It’s inspiring to see you build yours. When I get settled in a house of my own I’ll build a board and enjoy the whole process with a priceless end result. Keep the great work!
Thanks Cronos, I appreciate it
Greetings from your german viewer ;-) I build my own board (with far less detail then you are going for) in about one year, so i can tell the hours and hours you have already dumped into this. I know it seems like an endless chore, but in the end it is worth it :)
2nd German here.
3rd German
Hello German viewers! :) And thank you GP, personally I thinks it’s very difficult UA-cam material. Spending days on end doing small hardly visible things..
@@bergindianeroffiziell I lived in Bamberg for a few years does that count ?
Is this a thing now?
4th German XD
Love your videos and builds. Your "rambles" really do add a lot to what you've done, you always make seriously good points. Thanks, and see you next year!!!
I appreciate that!
Agreed. Love the rambles! Full of humor and wisdom.
Im hooked onto this series, I hope to continue to see it grow!
Great! It shall continue :)
Had to thumbs up around the 5 minute mark for the bandage on your finger. The true mark of a crafter/builder. Thank you for sharing your process!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Alex, you’re a GENIUS. THANK YOU for taking so much time on this. I LOVE how you’re doing different techniques for the same things, like varying the rock textures by doing bark, plaster, etc. Even someone who has been doing terrain for a while like me can find something new to try out. It’s inspiring as always. I love your videos so much and am honored to be a Patron! Happy Holidays, friend. ❤
Thank you humbly Magnus! I’m glad to hear there’s some things to take away from my rambling :)
Brilliant, really like watching the progress. Love the reinvestment of all the stuff you have accumulated that is going unused,,,,,and Ice Cream sticks! Thanks for sharing this Alex!
Thanks! 🙏 As always. It feels kind of good to have a build to use all the stuff lying around on.
Adding pigment to plaster is an excellent way of getting around chipping. I have used this techinque a few times using cement colourant. For the bricks on a railway bridge I used a red one with Linka molds. Gave a lovely red brick effect. No need to paint just add some weathering and you are done. The colourant comes in tins and goes a long, long way.
Also dental plaster or the type used to repair statues is really tough in comparison to the standard one.
Yes, it felt like a natural thing to do. I’ve a few chipped model railway dioramas and it looks a bit sad
Looking great, cant wait to see it painted!
The details are adding so much! I particularly love the little boat hull!!! 😆
What a great couple of videos! another tip on the textures: you can also use wire brushes of various sizes and wire gauges to gently scrub the xps foam to get interesting natural textures and keep the weight down if you don't want to add weight with sand and glue.
Good tip Z, thanks!
I make a paste with cheap craft paint and dried tea leaves. So I watch your videos and drink tea so I can make my texture. Works great on 3D printed terrain.
Amazing work!. Since you've mentioned the 3d prints being brittle: a tip i've heard is to prime the modells imediatly after curing. Since curing is done with uv light, and the sun is a massive uv lamp, it simply over-cures. If you prime them however, the paint will protect the resin and prevent it being so easily damaged. (that is, if you are using a resin printer with uv curing)
Hey! I believe that the resin should be cured to its intended “hardness”. But there are durable resins around, I haven’t gotten there yet though. In this case it’s just very thin prints, not meant to withstand use on a game table and I wanted to secure everything with something durable like wood.
I am so excited for a future painting vlog of this. Very nice board!
I’m looking forward to painting it too!
Was not expecting an explanation of the fetish nature of the money-commodity form and said annihilation of space by time in a video about game tables, well done!
Thank you! I’m working on my thesis in space time contunumumum
Great video thanks for letting us join you in this endeavour, have a happy Christmas and can't wait to sed how the other half of the board turns out.
You're minutely close to the board most days Alex, so this may sound silly.
I think I'm beginning to see the finished board emerging and establishing itself to the wargamer's eye and it looks very good indeed
When you're assembling a large object/project by beavering away at the minutae there's a point where it suddenly jumps out at you as a cohesive result and when that happens you're going to love the jump.
It's great work Alex and as is your way, you're thinking as you go and then articulating the lessons learned for the viewers.
My wife plastercasts fake stones to paint small pics on and then give as gifts, some crack as they dry/cure, no idea why but I grab them to break apart in my hands and use on bases, that shattered look with a smooth contrasting exterior part really works well for ruins. Your plaster rocks are the same, snap them into pieces and noone will recognise the duplication.
When I make my own castings I've a block of plasticine that I shape wells into but then cover in foil before pouring the plaster. As you've seen, foil basically textures itself and then makes the plaster bits really easy to remove. often I leave the foil on them and just use an automotive metal/plastic primer to ensure the paint sticks and doesn't flake off.
Thanks for the tips Phil! Yesterday I coated this half of the board with black paint and decoupage glue - all of a sudden it looked like a landscape!
@@52Miniatures Now I can't wait to see that!
Another great video, the board is coming along! Looks amazing!
Thanks Brian!
This is a lot of fun to watch. Your process and motivations are very interesting
First it starts with the little perfectionist devil on your shoulder….. and when it ends up in your paintbrush, soak it in liquid spirit… and then… well, coming from the Bob Ross School you know the drill…. ❤❤❤ I frankly love this video Alex, I like how you embrace your perfectionist devil! and I like how you don’t skip over the lengthy tasks. Somehow, watching you work and talk is like a sort of meditation. I wonder if there will ever be space for a CABIN and a BIG TREE somewhere in this tabletop turned almost-into-diorama-scene ✍️🎨
Thank you Simon, I appreciate it. Maybe not a tree house… but I’m trying to figure out how to convert one of the bunkers into a two story structure 🤷🏼♂️
Great video series. I love this style and thus priject very much. Keep it up and Happy holidays to you too!
Nice episode, Alex! Happy Holidays to you and yours. The table is progressing nicely, your explanation of required time and material expenditure is sober and informative. Hooray for the new year and more content!
Thanks Scott! Indeed! Looking forward to next year
I've been working on throw terrain for a while. It takes a good amount of time and cash money. But I love it.
I enjoy as usual the mature reflexion, mixed with some childish joy and comittment. Great job, and fantastic achievement already.
Please do continue and finish this project!
Thanks K! Definitely finishing this one! Already working on the other half now :)
@@52Miniatures Hurray. Well, take also time to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with your family! ^^
A deeply contemplative episode. I really enjoyed the pace and detail of your video. I am so excited to learn from your projects as well as simply revel in the joy of seeing a job well done, done well
Hi Alex, your work is astonishing, and seems to be very funny, may I just give you a small advice? When you use a cutter like that take out the less blade you can, or at least the less you need, you'll avoid to get the blade broken, or worse, a bad cut on your fingers, that blades are like razors. Have nice Christmas days
Thanks T, and thanks for the tip. I've broken many a blade, but there is actually some thought behind it. When I know I just need shorter cuts I do as you recommended, but I also sometime try and cut with a curve, do get different shapes in the terrain. And so I use the long blade on purpose, trying to bend it without snapping it :)
This is turning out so great! Massive amounts of inspiration!
Thanks Mike!
This build is epic! Looking forward to seeing this one with grass and paint applied.
Great stuff, love what's coming together on the board so far, looking forward to the other half and eventually the entire board.
Me too! Already started on the second half of the board.
Just FYI: Modeling paste is usually acrylic binder + marble dust and is very similar to Vallejo Modeling putty. It is excellent to use how you are using it. I've been hobbying when almost everything was DIY so it's always odd to me when people spend a lot of money on hobby products that are just marked up art products. Well, not odd. If you don't know about it, and vallejo makes a product, then it's good that they've done so to introduce it to more hobbyists. However, i'll still be buying buckets of Liquitex product and saving my money.
Especially for larger projects. I appreciate supporting my local game store but I also need to pay my rent :)
@@52Miniatures I don't know the margins on minis vs. texture paste but I'd always rather spend more on minis.
It does look like fun. Alas for me time/space/physical limitation I couldn’t do this. I learned 3D design and sculpting to make my table a bit at the time. Your table looks absolutely amazing. It would be something I would truly love doing. Thank you for sharing and making this. It’s therapeutic to watch and listen. I wish there more videos like that. I feel I watched them all lol.
Thanks S, I appreciate it
Just started a small Trench Board build. I think I am going to have to step my game up a lot. Amazing Build Good Sir! PS. if you can't get or afford Rock Moulds, for a one off you can use scrunched up tin foil as moulds.
That’s a good tip 👍 Thank you
THIS IS GOING TO LOOK EPIC !!
Thanks Man!
I have been making mine in tiles using Cork topped yoga mats and making texture paste with coffee grounds and kids magic sand. Starting to be really happy with it
I'm really happy to have stumbled upon your channel, and look forward to seeing this project's progression throughout 2024! Happy New Year!
Thanks P!
Another great video! I’m mentally preparing myself to make some large terrain for the first time and this kind of perspective is invaluable!
I’m glad to hear it. I wish you a safe table build journey
wow, awesome stuff👍
It looks like it will be worth the effort!
Thank you dearly Martin!
That is looking so cool! Congrats on the video production and happy holidays! Looking forward to seeing the completed piece.
Happy Holidays! I enjoyed watching this. A well made video indeed, and a lot of helpful information included. Especially for those like myself that are about to take on a similar project.
I’m glad to hear it J. happy Hollidays
Just stumbled across this video this evening and quite enjoyed your style!
Glad to hear it B, welcome.
it's a lot of work like any big project we set out to do. but it's going to be great so gotta keep on keepin' on.
or as my old man would have said....
ain't nothing to it but to do it.
inspiring work Alex, thanks again for sharing
Just caught up on these, and looking forward to the nextyepisode!
Me too :) Thanks Nb
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for posting your videos 😊
Happy new year!
Very intresting project to follow. You're doing great work on that talbe, can't wait to se it finish.
Thank you H! I appreciate it
Fantastic work Alex!
Thanks a lot!
This table is seriously impressive. Good on you, Mr. 52 aka "Alex" 🤣
Thanks E!
I love your work and videos . Great work .
Thank you.
Happy holly days.
Thank you Simon I appreciate it. Happy Hollidays
13:43 in my experience the texture pastes from AK/Vallejo and such do cost ~10 euro, but I think they are 200-250 instead of 100ml.
Love your vids. They're nice and chill, good to watch when I want something down to earth.
I would love to make a hobby table one day, though I couldn't commit to making the terrain entombed into the table. It's looking real good tho.
Glad you like them!
Greetings from Arizona! Happy holidays friend. I’m a new sub, I find your pragmatic approach to hobby crafts very interesting and helpful. I really have enjoyed the videos on your table! They have been a delight! Best wishes to you and best of luck to the project! Look forward to the end result!
Glad to hear it Sozank, I appreciate it and welcome to the channel.
A pretty big part of my problem is having a place to store these things. I think maybe a modular arrangement would help but volume remains a challenge.
A material that might be considered is coffee grounds and tea leaves. I've been able to get them free from coffee shops (mainly to use in the garden) by asking at the counter but be prepared to haul large, bulky, and heavy trash bags as well as doing a little bit of sorting (not as bad when it's sourced from the back.) The material can also go into composting if you want/need to get rid of it too. You'll need to sterilize and dry them much like the bark mentioned in the video but I'd also consider sealing it. To that end, mixing it into a texture paste will probably work well and you can, to some degree, sort the grounds between coffee grounds and espresso for the level of coarseness. Coffee usually will still be held together somewhat by their filters and espresso being compressed into a puck.
(edited for grammar)
Good tips thank you! The bark bits definitely need sealing. I’ve painted on one layer of black paint and “mod podge” to start with but will continue to add various sealants along the way.
This would not be a 52 miniatures project if there weren't Textures on Textures on Textures. I also struggle with the zooming in/out one has to do on even a small painting project and then realising theres bits that just aren't painted/done and feeling your heart sinking. Also the thoughtful narrative/instructive points too.
Yeah. Balancing the details and the “moving forward” is tricky. I just realized I need some more elevation going in the other half of the board…. So now I’m scratch building a two story bunker 🤷🏼♂️
@@52Miniatures as one does. Only having single storey bunkers on one's gaming table can just seem plebby
@@jamiem9490 discrimination almost
I was not prepared for when you said theres still a whole other untouched half to finish.
I see the holes and pits on the sandbags and my mind immediately jumps to wanting to paint streaks of sand leaking out. Id get way too lost in the weeds of too much detail, i dont know how you manage to restrain yourself and keep focus. Really looking forward to the continued journey.
I’m trying very hard! 😅
This is so wildly impressive
Thank you humbly
You can add water to the texture pastes and it brings it back to what it originally was.
It’s looking good 😊
This board is going to be awesome!!! ❤😊❤
Thanks Cerise! I hope so!
@@52Miniatures you are welcome 🤗
I have faith 😊
Even without the "razzle dazzle", I think you're my favorite hobby channel.
Been working on a project like this myself.... taking a loooooot of time. But it will be worth it. Thanks for inspiring me to put more static elements in my project. I wanted something originally to have more modular parts but... its too much of a headache and i feel your methodology of having a more coherent and cohesive board is allowing me to regain my sanity. Even if I am as meticulous as you are about these things!
Cheers Alex!!
Going modular indeed creates a lot of other “problems” in terms of of layout possibilities. There’s more options when setting up but while creating a lot of thought can go into how all the elements interact. It’s nice to just settle on one setting and accepting that.
Loved it all! Keep it up!
Thank you! Will do!
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
Thanks for sharing your journey
Thank you Mark 👍
I'm about to build my first 2'*2' "tiles", two of them!
Right on!
Taking shape nicely, look forward to the next update. All the details and time is well spent, admitedly its always nicer if it doesnt take as long but it rarely happens that way. I have one of those shoulder demons too, I could buy a textured roller for my bases and in a second have squished miliput paved perfection but noo.. like a complete fool I pave my bases one hand cut piece at a time, my miniature bases look much better for it.
Hah! Thanks Ellesse. I use the rollers… but then I go in and fix the shape of all the cobbles with a sculpting tool
Truly inspired by your level of detail.
Thanks! I appreciate it
Epic build mate
Thanks!
looking awesome cant wait to see the final result
You and me both!
@@52Miniaturesmerry Christmas buddy, can I ask what type of lighting , lens and camera do you use? I'm new to filming my miniature painting currently I'm using gvm 560as with my camera currently.
@@canopychondros I use BlackMagic cameras and a variety of lenses, mainly Xeen Cf
It looks amazing! There's no doubt the diorama side of things is amazing, but how much did you consider playability before deciding on layout and adding those tons of details? Afterall, in many wargames you need space for big units etc. Personally I'd love to try my hand at a board like this one day, but I'd be afraid to spend hours upon hours on something that in the end just isn't that playable. Would love to hear your thoughts on this in the next video as it a important dilemma, I think
Hey! I agree. There has been some thought put into it. I talk about that a bit in the first video. if you haven’t checked that out I can recommend it :)
@@52Miniatures Of course I’ve already seen that one 😇 But it’s been a while so maybe I forgot if that topic was covered there
This all looks amazing. But I do have a practical question: Once having built a fixed table like this, how many times can you play on it before the battles start to feel too much the same? Do you have space to store several of these so that you can switch them for variety?
Thanks Robert, I talk quite a bit about that in the first video of the series. I don't know if you've watched that?
Yeah, that was the advice from Bill Making Stuff at the beginning of the first video of the series, Robert. Alex made the wooden table frame but isn’t gluing down the foam sections so that he CAN replace them with other sections in the future for modularity.
@@52Miniatures Apologies, no. My feed tossed me this one at random. I will go have a look.
gray rocks are much smarter than white rocks... good thinkin! This is coming along!!! I'm really liking all of them little details, keep goin keep goin! (and happy holidays to you too!)
I did feel particular pleased abut that little trick :) Thanks Brent, Happy Holidays!
Thanks for make a video. Big fan of the Chanel
Thank you Jason!
The board looks amazing already! I’m just worried that you’ll find it lacking in larger ruins, which have become so essential for a fun 40K game, if that’s what you’re planning on playing on it. I’d say you need some large line of sight blockers, or it’s going to devolve into a Turkey-shoot for one player really fast.
Indeed, says something about the game as well though ;) There are some sight blockers not added but probably not enough. I kind of want to be able to play on a board that is not dependent of "ruins" to work well. But as you say, I don't intend to play much 40k on this so I should be a little more okay. Anyway - Instead I've built trenches and bunkers. Inverted sight blockers in a way. There is going to be a large sunken ship as well, and a modular corner of the board for ruins if one wishes. But yeah, for 40k it's probably not exceptional but I don't really play 40k much.
@@52Miniatures Fair enough. Really looking forward to seeing you paint it up. Lycka till!
"Ah, now to take a break from my job, where I've grown tired of talking about estimating software project timelines and sit down for a nice relaxing UA-cam video"
Hah! The journey of this board is littered with the bones of project timeline estimators.
@@52Miniatures ahaha that ending shot of the "other half of the board" really captured that feeling quite nicely
I built a very simple board (a few and walkways along a main road on a mars style world) in about a week. Been planning a bigger one ever since lol
It’s a lot of fun right? :)
The Department of Individual snow crystals? sounds like a real chill time....
I'll see myself out.
Hah!
How about foot prints in that mud in the trenches?
Great work and very entertaining.
Great idea! Thanks :)!
Like it. Happy Holydays.
Happy Hollidays!
Thanks!
Thanks a lot Jason!
i like the series
Great to hear, I appreciate it
Hi, new viewer here. If i understood correctly from the first video about the board you are located in sweeden, right? I live in denmark and have had a hard time finding xps plates, that are not glue onto gipps plates or quiet alot more expensive than what you said.
i want to ask what brand of xps you have and what shop you bought from?
I dont know the specific brand, I bought it from a “Beijer” but any Swedish large hardware store would have xps. Maybe take a day trip over to Malmö? Other hardware stores are Bauhaus (maybe you can buy it in Germany if you are closer to that border) or Bygmax. Check the web for just xps and it should show up. I don’t think the brand matters much.
I recently did the foil ball trick. Maybe I have the hands of a princess; but that got quite painful after about hour 2.
The hobby makes us strong! :)
Shame it wasn’t 52 Videos 🤪
Merry Christmas Norseman 😜
Merry Christmas!
I envy people living in countries where housing is huge and allows having tables at home. We play exclisivly at stores.
Me too! I have no idea where to put this…
Go jul!
God Jul!
Ugh, the moment you reminded us all that your work was only on HALF the board physically affected me.The wind went right out of my sails on your behalf, but also, it is a teeny bit uplifting to have a second half upon which to refine and iterate on your crafting strategies, no?
I have indeed saved a few challenges to keep me going. I’m not looking forward to doing all that paste again however
When will you upload the next episode?
The most recent was building a lighthouse for the table 👍
15:00 😂that is no good! Your other shoulder needs some kind of balancing out!
I think for applying a wash, a pressure washer might be a good idea 😂. How much does a gallon of agrax earth shade cost ?
On a serious note has anyone ever thought about using wood stain diluted with mineral spirits as a cheap "wash" for such big projects ?
Oil washes are “practically free” if ones already bought the oil paint for other projects. I’m a little concerned about drying times though on this big a project.
@@52Miniatures you are correct. A little oil goes along way. I think no matter what on a project that big and the amounts of liquid you'll be laying down. I'd say 24 to 48 hours minimum for ground cover being glued. As for the wash. Mineral spirits are a quick evaporator and the amount of oil paint used is small. 12 to 24 hrs I would think should suffice. Any air movement you can produce would speed up the process. Box fans oscillating fans maybe also increase the room temp a few degrees. Use a space heater if necessary.
I don’t know if I could handle a more alluring dress, it could distract from table!
I'll make sure to dress down!
What will happen to the channel after you reach the 52 miniatures goal?
I believe that must have happened a long time ago and I’m still here :)
I have noticed that you use dollars when you cite prices. I am curious, do you have more viewers from the US compared to the countries that use the euro?
Most my viewers are from the uk. But we can’t be talking pounds 😂 Second place is US. But I don’t really think about it much. The dollar is close to 10 times the value of the Swedish krona, so it’s an easy equation
It took like 2 years but my board was only like $20 bucks in total (I got a lot of it for free due to events)
Balancing time and money :) Immglad to hear you got it built!
Spoiler, it's taken me about 30yrs to make a gaming table... still haven't got there yet!
Hah! There you go. I'll try and get through mine a bit faster.
[ok]...you'll need the map to be a grid...from here each little tiny square or triangle if you prefer, must be(come), a world somehow...you'll also need a custom deck of cards for all the bulls*** & a rule book...from here, s*** will generally get crazy...literally, from top to bottom...players will begin to demand a custom bong into their seat and etc....
I would bet a fair amount of cookies that your other shoulder is inhabited by a sarcastic little creature with a lot of wit and mischief, which is wispering in your ear about all the ways you could use possible imperfections to your adventage... or at least for a well polished joke in your videos ^^
Hah! I was wondering where that voice was coming from
Considering that 40k is clearly a mockery of religion; heresy is encouraged!
Don't forget that Yahweh rested on the seventh day (???) and then flooded and killed virtually everything because He didn't like it anymore. So, there must be an analogy there too :)
Cool build!
I do try and let the heretic out on occasion :) Thanks A!