DIY Dystopian Wars Water Board: "The motion in the ocean"

Hey, wait a minute...what are you going to play Dystopian Wars/Naval game on? Let me show you! Cross-posted from my post at  www.sistersofbattle.org.

I am going to give you a rundown/inspiration to make your own water table for any Naval battles system. Here is a picture of the table with my Empire of the Blazing Sun fleet from Spartan Game’s Dystopian Wars.



Shopping List Estimated Total Cost ~$70

    6 ft x 4 ft of 1/2 thick MDF board
    2 shades of cheap blue acrylic paint
    roll of paper towels
    a paint roller and an old sponge
    32 oz of Pour-able Epoxy Resin
    A container to mix the resin (note: the resin will ruin this container)

All of these materials can be found at hardware store. If go to a big box store, you can even convince somebody to cut the board into three equal sized panels. The most expensive item is the resin and to get enough for a 6×4 table, it will run you roughly $32. The resin is the key ingredient to the table, so you don’t want to skimp here. Also, I suggest getting 1/2 thickness MDF board, to avoid warping from the resin and to prevent the gameboard from being bumped off a table.

First, pick a place that the boards can sit undisturbed overnight, while the resin dries. Second, lay down some tarp/plastic/newspaper to work on because this could get messy. Next, find something to prop up the panels off the ground. I used several buckets to accomplish this. I suggest doing this indoors because random debris, i.e. leaves, bugs, and etc. could get stuck in the resin while it is drying.

Now, apply your basecoat on the board with the paint roller. Allow time for the basecoat to dry. Next, to achieve a ocean-like effect, take an old sponge and stipple another shade of blue over your basecoat. You could add more colors, but I stuck with 2 to keep it simple. The resin box looks like the picture below.

The instructions are pretty simple. One exception to the instructions is to use an old brush to apply the resin instead of pouring it. My reason for this is that we want the resin to bead up in sections across the board, and pouring will cause the resin to pool up. After you apply the resin, use paper towels to gently stipple across the board to create a ocean-like wave effect. Do this softly in order to avoid creating air bubbles in the resin. Afterwards, the board will need to sit overnight. Warning, it will be ridiculously sticky and any little thing will stick to it.

Congratulations, ya salty dawgs. You now have your very own sea gameboard.

 Class dismissed.