Dust Tactics Battlefield Desert Board

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brydeemer

New member
WIP: Dust Tactics Battlefield Desert Board

Hello everyone,

I just joined the forums today and I'm excited to be here.

I recently received a big box full of kickstarter stuff from Dust Tactics. It's all Operation Babylon. I don't have a Dust board yet, so I'm making one with a desert theme.

I'm doing a 4' x 8' board.

I started out by carving a gateway. There will be wall on either side of it. The gateway is just simple styrofoam.



After looking at a bunch of photos I thought this could look a lot better by carving some relief details around the entrance:


I then gave the piece a light coat of spackle to give it texture:



And here's a pic just to show the scale:



I have started on some of the hills and such. I'll post pics of that tonight when I get back home.

Thanks for letting me share,

Bryan
 
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brydeemer

New member
Made some more progress.

I cleaned out the extra spackle around the relief, and then carefully gave it a light coat, just to cover up the styrofoam pattern:



I also got a coat of spackle on the first of my terrain pieces:



And I did a trial coating of one of my base pieces. I did a mix of PVA, paint, water, and sand. I'm pretty pleased with the result. There are a few spots that need a little more, but I'll hit that with a second coat. It's also quite yellow. I plan on doing a number of layers of paint, so I'm not too worried about it.





And in case anyone is curious, here's a shot of my painting station where I do all my miniature work:

 
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brydeemer

New member
I've made some more progress over the last couple of days.

I started the weathering of the gate:



And I formed the road down the middle of the table. I used spackle and and popsicle stick to make the tire tracks:


 
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brydeemer

New member
I built the hills. I may add some more small peaks and such just to break up the large flat surfaces on top.


Here's the general layout of the table:









And here's the camo on my Ludwig before weathering:



 
Quiarcus

Quiarcus

New member
Pretty damn awesome looking project so far - I love these alternate WW2 mechs and am tempted to pick one up. What's the quality of the plastic like on them? I have some other FFG models (Descent 2nd) and I find that to be pretty poor, very soft and with lots of flash.
 
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brydeemer

New member
The Dust minis were not made by Fantasy Flight. Dust has their own studio in Hong Kong where they make all their miniatures. They come assembled and primered.

I find the quality to be pretty darn good, especially considering the price point. My recommendation would be to try a small set and judge for yourself. Since Fantasy Flight no longer holds the license, they are blowing out their remaining stock, so you might be able to find a set for cheap.
 
Quiarcus

Quiarcus

New member
Hmm, didn't know that. Well, I'll have a look and see if I can pick something up. How's the board coming along?
 
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brydeemer

New member
Board is coming along nicely. I got the whole thing painted today. I still need to dry brush, but at least the main color and texture is there.



 
Quiarcus

Quiarcus

New member
That is looking pretty good at the moment - what kind of sand did you use? Do you have any plans for additional place-able terrain pieces?
 
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Dscreet

New member
Coming along nicely. Ludwig looks great. Did You use a spacer on two popsicles to get a uniform track pattern on the road? Looks slightly haphazard on the pics.
 
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brydeemer

New member
Quiarcus said:
That is looking pretty good at the moment - what kind of sand did you use? Do you have any plans for additional place-able terrain pieces?
Click to expand...

I used ordinary play sand from Home Depot. Nothing special.

I will be adding some wall to the gate area, as well as some tank traps, barb wire, and an ammo dump.
 
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brydeemer

New member
Dscreet said:
Coming along nicely. Ludwig looks great. Did You use a spacer on two popsicles to get a uniform track pattern on the road? Looks slightly haphazard on the pics.
Click to expand...

No, I just free handed the whole thing. I tend to be too symmetrical so I forced myself to break the mold. If enough trucks, cars, and motorcycles eventually the road will look somewhat uneven. I was worried it would be too regular.
 
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brydeemer

New member
Yesterday my daughter and I made a palm tree. I originally wanted about 10 of these on the table, but this one tree took hours to make. I might end up with about three.


 
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brydeemer

New member
I've definitely made some progress on the overall board. I still have quite a bit of weathering to do on the hills and main board, as well as making more scenery and props, such as tank traps, ammo dumps, etc.









 
Quiarcus

Quiarcus

New member
Looking good so far; love the house especially and that palm tree! Wish I had the space to make myself a board.
 
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