Tiles made easy

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Malifaux – Having cast a box full of cobblestone tiles I needed to find a way to mount them to something. My goal is to have 12"x12" sections that will create the downtown area. By keeping the buildings on this type grid I can insure the board doesn't get stale and will be easy to store.

My first thought was to use MDF board like I do for other buildings on a similar style. The issue with using MDF for myself is cutting it to the right dimensions. Not having easy access to a table saw is part of the issue. It seems that now matter how many times I measure and square of the MDF still doesn't match up exactly right.

Searching around for other options I found these. Using 12"x12" cork that is pre-cut makes mounting the floor tiles easy. My plan is to mount all the base tiles and then build up from there. Once the tiles are glued to each other and the cork they become very durable. The other bonus to using cork tiles is the protection offered to the surface you're setting them on. They also have a better grip so the terrain won't slide around or shift during a game.

A cast of thousands

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Malifaux – After giving away my Downtown Malifaux board as a prize in the last tournament, I have some room to add a new board to my collection. This board inspired me to pick up some Hirst Arts molds and give casting a shot. The nice thing about casting pieces for terrain is the ability to repeat elements quickly and easily. The down side is that casting is neither quick nor easy. It takes much patience to get it right and the dry time eats up much of the process.

Having ordered my molds I looked for a local distributor of dental plaster. There are several types available, Merlin's Magic being the most popular. After reading the data sheets for the product I found a local distributor that sells the generic version for about 50% of the cost. Being a wholesaler they charged a slight few to sell a small order (2 bags) but in the end I wound up with 50 lbs. of plaster for about $30 less than it would cost to order the 25 lbs. of the brand name from a website.

The next thing to pick up were casting supplies. I went to Garden Ridge, kind of a Big Lots for homewares and found some cheap Rubbermaid bowls, spatulas and measuring cups. I "borrowed" some of my wife's kitchen supplies when I was experimenting with Polystone, and she wasn't happy. So getting dedicated casting supplies makes for less angry glares, and allows me to keep them in my workstation.