Have started a table build for x-wing... Will take some time to complete, but figured progress shots and comments would keep me motivated.

Before anyone says anything about playing on an uneven surface, I intend to use glass-cast to level out the entire thing, only the turbo laser towers will stick up, and even those will be set up with magnets to remove.

Whole think will be painted, mounted to a plywood base. Play surface will be 6'x3' with 6" lip on each long side for cards. May add an incredible dice tower, but haven't decided if I want to spend the kind of cash it would require.

Thoughts, comments, and questions are welcome.

Looks incredible! Are you going to keep the 3d printed tiles separated so you can break down the whole thing and transport? Looks like the towers are off the a-wing bandai kit. You should look into the battlefield in a box space station lasers!

Are you planning on selling any of the 3d printed tiles? I'd definitely be interested in picking some up for my own table!

I'm not 3d printing them at all.

Good eye on the towers, all of these are silicon molded from the Bandai kit bases (towers included). I have considered breaking the table into sections, but that will leave a very visible gap in the clear epoxy when completed.

Pretty sure that selling them would be problematic due to the fact that they are molded from a licensed product, but I am considering doing a couple 2'x2' tables as one offs and seeing if anyone is interested (as in not trying to make any real money from it).

The turbo laser towers in the battlefield in a box are lovely, but they don't seem to be scaled well in my opinion. There are a lot of differing sources on the size of the towers, so I ultimately decided to use this shot as a reference. The Bandai towers are just about right for my tastes (will happily concede that there are varying sources and opinions on this).

Looks amazing so far! Won't the final thing weigh a ton, though? I did a gaming board with about 2cm resin x 60 x 60, and that weighs a decent amount, and your casts look like they'll need more than that depth.

1 minute ago, petrol blue said:

Looks amazing so far! Won't the final thing weigh a ton, though? I did a gaming board with about 2cm resin x 60 x 60, and that weighs a decent amount, and your casts look like they'll need more than that depth.

Isn't going to be lite. I'm planning on mounting the tiles to plywood, mounted to a 2'x4' frame (although I have a cousin that welds quite well, so...?) and then mounting all of that to steel legs.

Well, you won't have to worry about knocking the table, at least!

That is awesome. Really cool work, as I am just learning how to paint and model, etc. Just all around bad a**-ery

16 hours ago, MonkeyPaste said:

I'm not 3d printing them at all.

Good eye on the towers, all of these are silicon molded from the Bandai kit bases (towers included). I have considered breaking the table into sections, but that will leave a very visible gap in the clear epoxy when completed.

Pretty sure that selling them would be problematic due to the fact that they are molded from a licensed product, but I am considering doing a couple 2'x2' tables as one offs and seeing if anyone is interested (as in not trying to make any real money from it).

The turbo laser towers in the battlefield in a box are lovely, but they don't seem to be scaled well in my opinion. There are a lot of differing sources on the size of the towers, so I ultimately decided to use this shot as a reference. The Bandai towers are just about right for my tastes (will happily concede that there are varying sources and opinions on this).

Wow! Man with that color and the lines on the tiles it looks just like a 3d print. I was thinking about picking up a few kits to augment my 6 space station laser kits, but I might just wait if you ever do plan on putting these out. Great idea pulling the cast from the bandai kit!

Would buying a sheet of clear acrylic in the dimensions of the table, that you can lay down on the tiles work? And be lighter and be less expensive? You could probably add a step cut into your frame so that the sheet rests on a lip (if that makes sense).

You could also see if glass would work too. The kind that's used for coffee tables or glass tables.

Personally, my concern would be both the weight of the cast glass and bubbles.

15 minutes ago, Force Majeure said:

Would buying a sheet of clear acrylic in the dimensions of the table, that you can lay down on the tiles work? And be lighter and be less expensive? You could probably add a step cut into your frame so that the sheet rests on a lip (if that makes sense).

You could also see if glass would work too. The kind that's used for coffee tables or glass tables.

Personally, my concern would be both the weight of the cast glass and bubbles.

Yeah, I have considered that, but ruled it out for various reasons. The clear epoxy I am looking at using has a very low viscosity, and is considered self degassing. It has a long cure time so I can work the bubbles out with a tool without worrying about the material curing before I am able, and it is UV resistant (some epoxy will yellow with exposure to sunlight). None of that will change the weight issue... I will try it out on a smaller scale before making a decision either way.

Well, I am really interested to see the progress on this project.

Good luck, and I'm sure it will come out great!

Some signifigant progress has been made, but unfortunately the latex molds have more or less burnt out (no longer providing clean pulls). I will hide the dozen or so bad pulls, and doubt anyone will notice, but hat depends on how they look painted. It is not an insignificant cost for the latex (around 200.00 for enough to make a full set, but I should be able to pick it up soon.

Until then enjoy the current state... A little over 6 square feet. The intent is to get to 18 square feet (3x6), but I will get there soon enough.








If you are interested in seeing how well these can turn out google search x-wing buzzing the tower for some very nicely painted tiles with a B-Wing for scale.

Imo, a piece of actual glass would work best. I would strategically place the tower tiles to be the support.

The amount of cast resin required would be astronomical an extraordinarily difficult to get bubble free. You would need the variety with near zero shrinkage and non-yellowing, which is considerably harder to work with (and more expensive). Plus the refraction on that thickness would be quite severe.

Glass is also incredibly scratch resistant.

The refraction is a concern and I am honestly still evaluating my options... Unfortunately glass is very low in my list of acceptable solutions due to the fact that I have 3 young children in the home (sooner or later one will stand and jump on it). I am considering Plexiglas as an alternative (have found a company that will provide 48x96 inch sheet anywhere from quarter to half inch thick), but ultimately wanted the towers to protrude above the playing field.

The tower tiles look like the tallest pieces, so could you rest the plexi across these and put the actual towers on top of that? Effectively sandwiching the plexi between the tiles and the towers

That should work pretty effectively. Build the towers to whatever height you want, countersink the bolts to hold the plexi, and use rare earth magnets to attach the rotating parts, you've got your gun towers - and you can remove them if they're getting in the way.

You'd need to make sure that the towers themselves are made of tough material or have some sort of internal support though.

I am sorry for the VERY slow progress... I have sold my house, and we are waiting for the new one to be built. Fortunately I will actually have a workspace in the new home and progress should pick up tremendously after I am able to get settled in.

Since I haven't been able to post much of anything I will add this.

I have just purchased a Star Destroyer Bridge to be converted into a dice tower, it is fairly close to scale (given that the actual Star Destroyer would be somewhere in the 9-12 foot range if built). Meaning that the minis will look close to right next to it. I will be magnetizing the panel at the top of the neck and building a base for it so that the dice get dumped out at the front onto a felt pad with a lip to prevent loss of dice.

Here is the model that I purchased (just the bridge section), it sits at 2 feet across.

A ISD command bridge die tower.. SWEET.

On 8/17/2018 at 8:35 PM, MonkeyPaste said:

I have just purchased a Star Destroyer Bridge to be converted into a dice tower,

Amazing !

Where you find it ?

There is a gentleman on Ebay that sells them (he is the guy that made the model to begin with). Just look for Star Destroyer Bridge.