Necromunda Gaming Board Build

[Underhive Tyrant]

Hey folks,

I’m brand new to Necromunda (and this forum) but really like making terrain and scenery. I’ve got this idea in my head to build a custom gaming board, that packs away for easy storage. I’ll share pictures of the build as I go, and I could use some advice from experienced players.

A little about me - I got into 40k when I was around 13 (second edition), played for a couple of years but gave it up when my friends moved on. Just as original Necromunda was introduced. Nearly 30 years later, and I finally came back to the hobby. I’ve been invited to play Necromunda with friends, really looking forward to that. Love the way the game has so much terrain and scenery, really inspired me to try and create a configurable gaming board system with a lot of modular terrain.

I wanted a series of strong but light modular sections. For two main reasons, firstly because I don’t want to have to store a full 3’ x 3’ board (and I might want to upgrade to 4’ x 4’ some day). Secondly I want a strong base so it doesn’t flex the terrain too much.

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 23, 2022

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 23, 2022

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 23, 2022

I went with 400mm x 400mm as that’s the sizes the hardware store sells. So we’re not quite 3’ x 3‘ but I can expand in future. 6mm MDF top and bottom with 21mm x 25mm strip for the frame.

Turned out square enough, happy with that. I’m thinking magnets to hold them together.

Should be a fun build, I’m interested to see where this goes!

 

[Ben_S]

I might want to upgrade to 4’ x 4’ some day.... I went with 400mm x 400mm as that’s the sizes the hardware store sells. So we’re not quite 3’ x 3‘ but I can expand in future.

It's like they want you to make a 3x3 tile for a 4' board...

 

[Mr. M]

This looks like the start of a great project! I love scratch-built terrain and can't wait to see how your board progresses!!! There are several members on this site who have made DIY Necromunda boards, so if you need inspiration or advice, you've got some good resources here.

 

[MedMos]

Welcome, and looking forward to what you come up with. Lots of great inspiration around here, and always room for another builder.

 

[Underhive Tyrant]

Thanks all, really appreciate the feedback. I just found this site as I've got back into the hobby, and I feel like maybe I can give something back for all the great resources it has. So many great ideas and pictures of various builds, and fantastic paint jobs and terrain.

I did actually consider buying enough for a 4' x 4' board - of course that's what the hardware store did, they ripped down an 8' x 4' sheet into 8 parts. For just the wood you see in the first picture, two boxes of screws and some gorilla glue - £90 from BnQ here in the UK. Crazy. So 5 more tiles, to make 4' x 4' would be another... £112.5. That's GW pricing...

So on to the first bit of advice please - scale. 50mm tiles fit nicely on to a 400mm x 400xx board. If I make the decision up front that every bit of terrain will be scratch built, and doesn't have to match up to Zone Mortalis/Sector Mechanicus - that's ok right? nothing else I'm missing in the rules or anywhere else that means I can't scale around a 50mm square tile?

I started with these tiles from this very talentent creator on Cults3D - https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/yet-another-floor-tiles-pack

Printed at 122% as advised, and they come out at 61mm square:

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 24, 2022

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 24, 2022

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 24, 2022

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 24, 2022

These have a great steampunk look to them, very reminiscent of Victorian era engineering with all the exposed rivets.

I did however also buy the Outpost Origins set from The Dragons Rest: https://dragons.rest/collections/all/products/outpost-origins-walkways

If I'm making all my own terrian, I like the fact that this single creator's stuff all fits together in the same style.

So - any reason I can't base the board on 50mm x 50mm tiles?

 

[Ben_S]

If you're painting a whole board, then I'd suggest looking at cheaper paints rather than using ones designed for models.

 

[Underhive Tyrant]

Yes indeed. I was just thinking that MDF absorbs paint like crazy, so cheap rattle can (or even brush on) primer would certainly be the first thing to save a bit of money. Need to figure out where to get a decent cheap black primer from.

I still haven’t settled on a paint scheme yet. That one in the picture is just my own idea, but I really like the is guys work:

 

[spafe]

Hey mate, this looks crazy promising!

If you are in the UK, a trip to B&M, the works, or similar is well worth it. They have cheap paints that have a really good pigment content for like £3 quid each or so for 300ml tubes. I've been using a burnt umbra, a sepia and few others, probably about 15 quids worth of paints in total and it has done my 3x3 board, with plenty left for when I expand it to 4x4.

With regards to rattle cans, I've been using halfords black primer (one my 2nd can now, but its the most heavily used one as I want a solid base coat), then a camo dark brown and a rust red (also a primer), both from halfords as well, which are still on the first can with plenty remaining. finally I use a dark silver rattle can over that lightly. This I've picked up from Wilkos, also a great shop for some cheap paint, but they are do coloured rattlecans, for about 2/3rds of the price of halfords/ 1/2 the price of gw. Great for terrain, although possibly a bit thick to use on actual models.

Hope that helps mate. Will be watching with great interest.

 

[Ben_S]

I mostly use rattle cans from Poundland. The most recent grey primer was a bit dodgy, but I've never had any real issues before then - and it'd probably do for terrain anyway. The black is fine too, though it's not a primer. Only problem I've had with that is a satin finish.

 

[spafe]

I was just thinking that MDF absorbs paint like crazy

Ah, and one other thing I've been doing for my MDF (and everything really), is to give it a modgepodge coat before I spray it in order to seal it all and protect it from warping/adsorbing as I use a lot of washes etc over my terrain.

I've found buying some tile grout and mixing that in with hte modgepodge also gives a nice rough texture to everyhting as well, and adds some more strength to the pieces

 

[Underhive Tyrant]

Ah there’s a B&M just down the road from me. Didn’t realise they sold paint. Thanks! Appreciate all the advice.

 

[spafe]

yeah, its in the kids craft section in the one near me. they dont always have the widest choice of colours, but I found 3 browns, a dark blue and a black which worked well for me.

 

[Mr. M]

I don't have or plan to use any of the official SM terrain, but I don't think you'll go wrong using the 50x50mm scale for your tiles. This translates to about 2x2 inches. I've seen boards on here that used the Hirst Arts tile molds, and those are either 1x1 inches or 1.5x15 inches. They looked great! I used 3x3 inch tiles (mainly because it meant making fewer of them) to cover 12x12 inch board sections. These also look fine (to me at least). I actually made a test piece using 2x2 inch tiles, and thought it made the board look too busy.

As for paint, I'll pile on with @spafe and @Ben_S - definitely get some cheap craft paints! I use Apple Barrel and Craftsmart (sold at Walmart & Michaels). They're just about the cheapest acrylics one can find, and they work wonderfully on terrain. For washes, I picked up some burnt umber oil paint and white spirit - I think this does better for "old industrial grime" than the crafting-standard acrylic black washes.

 

[Underhive Tyrant]

I don't have or plan to use any of the official SM terrain, but I don't think you'll go wrong using the 50x50mm scale for your tiles. This translates to about 2x2 inches. I've seen boards on here that used the Hirst Arts tile molds, and those are either 1x1 inches or 1.5x15 inches. They looked great! I used 3x3 inch tiles (mainly because it meant making fewer of them) to cover 12x12 inch board sections. These also look fine (to me at least). I actually made a test piece using 2x2 inch tiles, and thought it made the board look too busy.

As for paint, I'll pile on with @spafe and @Ben_S - definitely get some cheap craft paints! I use Apple Barrel and Craftsmart (sold at Walmart & Michaels). They're just about the cheapest acrylics one can find, and they work wonderfully on terrain. For washes, I picked up some burnt umber oil paint and white spirit - I think this does better for "old industrial grime" than the crafting-standard acrylic black washes.

Excellent - thanks Mate. Appreciate the advice.

 

[daveh]

The Works sell cheap large tubes of basic water paint colours cheaply , they have been fine for the terrain ive painted

 

[Punktaku]

House paint samples are great for scenery. They come in all the colors you can imagine and last for ages. Plus the plastic paint pots make good storage tanks and building materials when they’re empty.

 

[Underhive Tyrant]

50mm squares with two of the Outpost Origins tiles. I tired a resin print (the one on the left). Detail is wonderful but it’s not going to flex well. Tough resin is so expensive, and the whole thing is just too messy for mass production.

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 23, 2022

4 gaming board sections, 8 x 8 matrix of 50mm tiles. That’s 256 tiles to print

 

[Punktaku]

@Draconic cast (as in using molds) over 300 bulkheads when he made his modular tile boards…. Do your tiles need to be that size? What if you made them twice the size? Or maybe made some of the more “bland” ones twice the size and used the more intricate ones as spacers between them larger tiles?

 

[Underhive Tyrant]

So that’s a good link into the next part of the build. I want to start thinking about how I can attach a sizeable bit of scenery to the base board. Try to engineer a way that the scenery stays where I put it.

One nice thing about ABS printing is that I can embed some M3 nuts inside it. Then I can gently screw in the bigger terrain.

The second idea I’m playing with is using a 1mm pin system in the corners of each tile. The scenery doesn’t have to take any stresses other than it’s own weight. I just want it to stay where I put it.

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• Underhive Tyrant
• May 24, 2022

I did play with the idea of embedding blind nuts into the surface, but I figure I’ve got unlimited space above the board to play with, and I can always disguise the fittings.

 

[MusingWarboss]

I was just thinking that MDF absorbs paint like crazy, so cheap rattle can (or even brush on) primer would certainly be the first thing to save a bit of money.

It can do, I’ve used rattle cans on the thinner MDF and had no issues (4mm is it??)

For thicker baseboard MDF you really need to use a generous sealer. Watered down PVA painted over the whole thing will do a decent job.

Don’t just do one side as you’ll encourage warping, even with bracing beams.

Another good fun sealant is wall filler, again watered down, and painted on. Gives a nice paintable finish. Or do both! Mix PVA, filler and water into a brushable mixture and cover the whole lot. You may find that you need two coats depending on the thirst of the MDF.