The Loose Association of Wargamers

Zenbadger wrote: ↑Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:46 pm Thinking of having a look at this set of 3mm MDF tiles for generic desert-ish terrain, using the expansions to add in bits specific to ancients, 15mm sci-fi and 40K.

I had high hopes for the potential of these but having seen them, i'm not sure if they justify the extra expense over plain MDF or extruded Poly. squares? I was hoping that they'd be multilayered to allow for genuine, negative terrain features but I don't think they are I'll be keen to see what you think once you've investigated them.

My concern would be 3mms bowing once textured etc. However it does give me an idea for doing it in 6mm with 3mm river, sunken bits etc....

FreddBloggs wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:56 pm My concern would be 3mms bowing once textured etc. However it does give me an idea for doing it in 6mm with 3mm river, sunken bits etc....

When you can get Extruded Poly. (Blue foam) 10mm thick in ready cut 1 foot squares, i'm not sure thin MDF is the way to go. You're right it might warp (although the irrgular shape and an all over prime might help stop that). My first attempts at sculpted terrain used 6mm MDF and expanded polystyrene sheets and they warped like a flat banana.

I’ve found if you seal mdf with paint it won’t warp

Jeremy wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:44 pm I’ve found if you seal mdf with paint it won’t warp

There's no guarantee. That is one way to attempt to minimise warping. I've watched quite a few videos from professional model makers on this! I am that sad!! The best ways to mitigate the warping are to seal it (as you say), use irregular shapes with no sharp corners and to avoid shapes which are significantly longer than broad. Using high 'grab' glues or even cheap glues that shrink on drying will obviously pull the board one way too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsEhb0uGTt8

10mm foam sounds good. I have looked at various foamy materials, but that would work for me.

200mm square in 3mm mdf has more flex that you think to start with, 6mm is pretty solidly rigid at that size, 10mm is even better but then you start to have weight issues.

The storage place has an impact as well (I’ve found ). Don’t store them in a garage.

A trombone cleaner. £5 from Steiner music. What a bargain.

I saw them at the past few shows. Just didn’t seem worth it, there are far better basing materials out there