I love Xwing and I'm really loving Armada. The challenge I've been having is the space that's required to play. The 180pt variant was manageable, but a full 300pt game played properly was just not possible. So, I got the crazy idea to just make my own table top. I ask permission to invest in the materials from my wife like any wise husband should do. I get the nod, so off to Lowe's I go.

My materials list is as follows:

(3) 24" x 48" Aspen 3/4" panels

(2) 8 foot 2" x 3"s

(1) 8 foot 1" x 2"

(1) half gallon of black interior primer

(1) half gallon of polyurethane

I already had the chop saw, power drill and nails and screws to assemble it as well as the paints necessary to do the detail work.

My plan was to make a frame that fits on a standard 72" x 30" folding table that you can buy almost anywhere. Then to build a frame on the 3 panels in such a way that they would fit snug on top of the frame on the table. It was important for me to be able to disassemble the table and store it away or even transport it in a small SUV.

So, here are some shots of the process I went through and the final product. I started it on Saturday afternoon and the polyurethane coats finished curing last night.

Looks very nice, and well made.

Well done, sir!

Is it sturdy?

It actually is very sturdy. We tested it out last night by putting quite a bit of weight on it in different areas and it held up just fine. And the panels fit very snug inside the frame so it doesn't scoot or rattle at all. I ran into a little bit of an engineering flaw when I built the frame. I left too much of the panels on each side hanging over which meant if you put any weight on the ends of the table, it could pop those panels out. So, I built blocks to slide under each wing to stabilize those. It was a very effective fix, though not very elegant. Lesson learned for the next table I build...

I had mocked it up in 3D. Here's a screenshot of how its made:

The transparent orange sections are the panels, the opaque orange sections are attached to the underside of the panels. They fit snuggly inside the base frame (in black) which sits snuggly on the table (white).

I'd love a tutorial on how you painted it. Thats some nice work.

Very nice, but I probably would have used a generic table-top and used a playmat for the surface.

Great work! Really inspiring. I especially love the star detail.

Fabulous paint-job.

I'd love a tutorial on how you painted it. Thats some nice work.

I used a large round artist's brush and roughly dry brushed dark blue in areas on the board. Then, I just built it up, using slightly lighter and lighter shades of blue. Then I went back over dry brushing black to add a little more definitions to parts of the nebula shapes. For the stars, I used silver metallic acrylic paint and flicked it on with a toothbrush. Finally, I hand painted some larger stars in silver, then added some of the even larger blue and orange ones. Then I sealed it up with polyurethane. The painting process took about 4 hours or so to get all the detail in.

Very nice, but I probably would have used a generic table-top and used a playmat for the surface.

Yeah, I think that would have been smarter. But, I'm an artist and I love to paint. I couldn't resist a 24 square foot blank canvas. =)

But, I'm an artist and I love to paint. I couldn't resist a 24 square foot blank canvas. =)

If I could paint like you do, I wouldn't be able to either.

You could of done black felt, and plywood for cheaper... But it wouldn't look nearly as nice as what you did.

It actually is very sturdy. We tested it out last night by putting quite a bit of weight on it in different areas and it held up just fine. And the panels fit very snug inside the frame so it doesn't scoot or rattle at all. I ran into a little bit of an engineering flaw when I built the frame. I left too much of the panels on each side hanging over which meant if you put any weight on the ends of the table, it could pop those panels out. So, I built blocks to slide under each wing to stabilize those. It was a very effective fix, though not very elegant. Lesson learned for the next table I build...

Lol, you made my day.

I hope you both enjoyed "testing it out"!

It actually is very sturdy. We tested it out last night by putting quite a bit of weight on it in different areas and it held up just fine. And the panels fit very snug inside the frame so it doesn't scoot or rattle at all. I ran into a little bit of an engineering flaw when I built the frame. I left too much of the panels on each side hanging over which meant if you put any weight on the ends of the table, it could pop those panels out. So, I built blocks to slide under each wing to stabilize those. It was a very effective fix, though not very elegant. Lesson learned for the next table I build...

Lol, you made my day.

I hope you both enjoyed "testing it out"!

We didn't test it out *like that*....