There are some pluses and minus's to using EPS over matte board
+'s Include:
- Very easy to cut and shape
-Easy to score in battle damage
- Very light weight - which is important for terrain that needs to be transported
-'s include
- Very fragile - even with a coat of primer mixed with glue these pieces will be delicate and participation game terrain needs to be durable to withstand transport and over eager gamers
- Hard to mark out cut point without marring the texture
- Hard to cut against the grain precisely - windows are a bit on the uneven side
There will be a use for both materials but if I was forced to pick one it would be matte board
Given the planed table size will be 10x5 feet, I'll need a lot of hexes - in fact I'll need exactly 450. With the blank hex inventory running low it was time to make some more.
Making hexes is really easy with the jig - cut a 4.75" x 4" wide block, make 4 passes on the jig and presto a hex is borne
It took about an hour to cut out all these which should keep me in business for a few days
I've use the EPS extensively over the last 38 or so years, and offer the following thoughts:
ReplyDeleteI find that marking it with light dashed lines with either a Sharpie ultra fine point permanent marker or a cheap Papermate ball point pen works best. The method is to simply touch the foam with the tip, rather than press it into the foam with the force that you might usually use while writing. You get a lighter mark that doesn't penetrate the surface of the foam. I tend to just mark the corners for doors and windows.
I mention the Papermate pen as their non-gel ink tends not to bleed through paint like Bic and most others do.
If the foam is tearing, your blade is past its useful point for foam, it has tiny nicks in it. Hold your knife at an angle while cutting, less vertical to extend the useful life of the blade and or reduce snags. I buy blades in boxes of 100, which helps lower the cost per blade significantly.
To help protect the foam, "paint" a coat or two of artist's acrylic paste (use softer pastes on smaller scales) on the bare foam after construction and before paint. This still stays rubbery when dry (and is thus a little forgiving during impact), but helps protect the from from puncture and breakage. I have buildings that have survived years (my oldest date to 1988) of Friday night games and dozens of conventions (literally 100s of uses), and would consider it roughly as durable as my matte board buildings overall with different issues existing for each, but with foam much more flexible artistically and much faster to work with. If ink bleeds through the paste, hit the model with a light dusting of Testor's dullcoat to seal in the ink.
Acrylic artist's matte medium (I prefer Liquitex) works very nicely as a glue with the EPS foam. Pieces can be pinned with straight pins while drying. I find that one-step or light-weight spackle is good with filling small blemishes in the foam as well.
Your buildings look wonderful, really impressive work. Your hex cutting method is vary impressive as well.
There is nothing quite as daunting as trying to fill an entire table with hexes. Long ago I cut a entire 5'x9' table's worth of hexes out of homosote. I swore I would never do it again, but foam hexes and jigs are making me rethink that. You are doing great work. What about using a combining the foam and the matte board as a single piece? Foam on the outside for carving, matte board on the inside to add durability.
ReplyDeleteLooking great so far!
ReplyDeleteAside from the wonderful advice from irishserb above, I believe there are also specific foam hardening products that somehow penetrate and harden the surface of the foam.
Also, do you find cutting the hexes to be meditative? Or is that the fumes that have you drift into another state? ;)
re: my previous comment about surface treatment E.G. hot wire foam factory foam coat.
ReplyDeleteAlso David Neat has some commentary about using Styrofoam which may be helpful.
Looking good Miles. 450 hexes?! I shake my head but I know you and your mega projects so I know you will do it with aplomb.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. Replies below
ReplyDeleteCurt: I suspect you now know what will be my terrain contributions for the next Painting Challenge!
Irishserb: use a sharpie! I am an idiot for not thinking about that - I'm chucking at myself as I type this. I do plan on priming all of the foam structures with a 50/50 mix of black paing and matt medium which will help. I've also learned to bring a repair kit to the convention to fix the unavoidable issues that crop up.
Lasgun: thanks for the link - that was a very helpful article
Heisler: Making the jig is pretty easy once you get the angles set properly. The trickiest part is making sure the foam is cut into 4" wide strips. if your off there the hexes just aren't usable (except to use a stock for hills). Hexes out of Homasote - your are a brave man!