Lava Board V: Finished!

The Lava board is finished and ready for gaming! It took a few hours a day over the course of three weeks. Most of the time spent was gathering materials and changing the layout (I accidentally glued the wrong pieces down lmao). If I were to make this again, with what I've learned, it would probably take only a week with a majority of the time waiting for the caulking to cure.

This is the first bit of dry brushing. I used a bottle of gray rather than mixing black and white. I find it easier since you have the same exact color every time. I used a 3" brush over the surface areas and a 1 1/2" brush on the edges and lava channel.

A lot more dry brushing. After going over the surface and edges a few more times I added a little off white (bleached bone) to the mix and started dry brushing around the lava area. When the paint was nearly dried up I pressed firmly along the edges to exaggerate the shape of the cuts.

The board from a different angle. Here you can see the edging a little better. Notice the glow on the bridges? The terrain pieces were scrap from the lava areas. I'm planning to make more dynamic pieces later. Somebody asked about the wood bridge; it's actually for something else but it will do for now until I make a more appropriate one lol.

There you have it. A cheap and easy to make lava gaming board. Again I'd like to thank the original author for the inspiration. Had it not been for his great post I probably would have made a very basic board. I'm glad I took the time to make this and I can't wait to play test it!

A few things I'd like to add to his idea

• The foam doesn't like to bond to adhesives. Be sure to prime it before bonding it.
• Once the board is finished use a clear coat to seal it. This will help prevent wear-and-tear.
  
• Blending the colors will add to the detail.
  
• When painting try to paint like objects at the same time. I made the mistake of skipping a section and it was difficult to match it later.
• Each 2x4 section used about 1 canister of adhesive and acrylic caulking for the lava. I recommend having 1 of each per section you make.
  
• The biggest cost was the latex paint; it cost $22 at Home Depot. If you can get it cheaper this will cut your cost.
  
• Subscribe to my blog! :P
  

From here I'm going to start building the area terrain and some taller sections. For the middle area I'm thinking of a making a floating Tzeentch fortress :)

If you decide to make your own I hope you found this tutorial helpful. :)