So, as I alluded to on the Backlog Blog I have been working on special construction project. As we near the “finishing stuff off” phase I thought I’d throw a few photos out there of the story so far.
Recent internet browsing led me to happen across a gentleman in Europe who was selling something he called a “Field ‘O Box”. Essentially a bloodbowl pitch that is enclosed in a wooden box, which shuts up for easy transport. It looks amazing, but he’s selling them for 400 Euro! Probably worth it if you have the money, but I don’t… So I’m making my own.
A few others have made similar projects and so after some googling and scribbling on paper, I finally settled on my own design using Sketch-Up to make myself a cutting plan. Armed with this I headed to The Home Depot for supplies. I won’t put the exhaustive list up here but essentially:
- One 2′ x 4′ x 1/2″ sheet of good quality plywood for the base
- Three 4′ x 2 1/2″ Oak hobby boards for the sides
- Two 2′ x 2′ x 1″ foam boards for the pitch
- Brass screws, wood glue, 2 brass hinges, 2 latches and 1 handle.
Right now, the first coat of varnish is drying on the box, and the PVA / sand are drying on the pitch pieces. All I need to do now is plan the dugouts and turn / reroll trackers. I’ll have time to do that as the varnish needs a couple of days to cure after the second coat. Although this isn’t yet finished I’ve already identified a few ways I could have done this better. I should have used piano hinges instead of smaller ones and this one have made it easier to get the box to close straight. I don’t think my cuts are miles off but the box isn’t quite square. Also, I don’t think I needed the screws. The Gorilla glue is really strong, and it’s spoiled the look slightly. Finally I wish I had used real hard wood on the whole box instead of the plywod for the base and Oak the sides. Sanding and staining the wood really shows up the different in quality and I think using something like cherry or walnut would could make for a truly beautiful piece of wood work. Maybe if someone buys the first one off me I’ll use the proceeds for v2.0
Exiled from Albion 
Update: Looks like despite slathering the foamboard in PVA, the texture spray paint I bought still ate it for breakfast. Back to the drawing board on the pitch – looks like I’ll be using MDF supports on some brakets for that, instead of the foam! OOops
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I like this – I have an idea for something for my bloodbowl play. Thanks!
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Cheers for the magnet suggestion for fixing the board down. That was genius and solves several problems I had.
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