I'm uk based and could not justify the price to import one of the usa mat. I contacted a sign making company and got a nasa image printed up on some pretty thick pvc. I'm very happy with the outcome thought I would share.

Decided not to include the name of the print company as i'm not sure on the forum rules.

Looks pretty sick!!! enjoy!!

Wow thats excellent looking I got a star felt thingy and it looks pretty cool

You can name companies.

In that case, if anyone else fancys doing the same the company I used was http://www.supersizeprint.co.uk/ the product is a pvc banner(make sure you get one without eyelets). I pulled the image from http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/

I assume you can find a company in america to do the same.

It cost me £17 for a 3x3

I think the go-to company here in the states for online printing like this is bannersonthecheap.com. I have no personal experience but they seem to be very highly recommended on BGG. There are other places who do higher end stuff with varying results.

That is pretty slick. What are the dimensions?

I picked up a 40" x 60" black area rug to use for a mat myself. With some luck, I'll be able to paint a simple star pattern on it.

WOW ziggy thank you for that resource they are very nice and very well priced. Any staples can do the same thing but they want 96 bucks for a 4x4 and the site you gave me wants 35 for a 4x8 !!!

Hi kierto

Can you tell me what size (file size and Resalution) you sent to the copany.

If you could can you send me the same file?

I asked them if they could use the same file you used but they said they could only do that it you e-mail them to say its out for your file to be used by another person. me Richard hehehe

I have found one i like but still need to know witch Resalituon you used on your one so that if i do go for 2 banners i will do the one i picked and your one .

I am also asking them to do them both on a 4x4 size. most game i know are 3x3 but i want to try bigger games

Reply sent. I can only just fit a 3 x 3 on my table else I would of gone bigger, some of the images on the hubble site are amazing think I might have to order some more soon ;D.

Now ive just got to find some lava rock and build some asteroids.

kierto said:

I was thinking the same thing. might do a few big ish asteroids with minning station/platforms or a Com's station.

Will have to ask my mate at the club as he dose some good work.

If you do any i would like to see photos of them too.

I have no orded a play mat 4x4 as we play on 6x4 tables at the gaming club.

+ 4x4 means i can have some bigger games.

do you know what size/scale the asteroids would need to be .

i was thinking 2 small 5 medium size and 2 larger.

1 with the mining station on and 1 with a hidden bace on (a few poles, 1 od 2 tiny buildings and one 2 fac's of the asteroid have flat metal doors to say the base is incide the asteroid)

just need to work out the scale/size's

Not been able to find a box of lava rock. So untill I find that its on hold

Have you tried a lawn and garden or hardware store? These places sometimes will even let you pick up lose bits off the ground (saves the employees from having to sweep 'em up).

Outstanding!

Could you tell me what category on the hubble website the picture you used is in mate? Had a quick nosy through but you seem to have hit the nail on the head with your choice and it's pretty much perfect without being too busy IMOH.

What file size did you send them btw?

Appreciate any info

Cheers!

Nazull said:

Check out this auction on ebay for some asteroids.

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll

Most Wal-marts and Home depots will carry bags of the lava rocks in the spring for bbq's I bought mine for $5 and its huge if your really stuck lemme know I'll send ya some I got a ton for $5.

I think a friend of mine wants to make some for me.

he like makeing stuff like this.

I guess he will use a small block of polostyrin or something like that and hack and rip it to random rock shapes that he can then paint and add tiny minning stations on to or even a hidden rebel outbost/basce

Was tons of the stuff round in the summer. Im uk based so ill just have to keep my eyes peeled. I can get it on eBay but the postage is a little steep.

I started looking into the process - do they automatically crop out the border and caption data and just use the main starfield image - or do you have to do that first before sending the file off to them?

Take a look at the higher res images alot of them dont have a boarder or caption. If you go for one with a border/caption you will need to edit them out yourself.

Cool thanks - I had tried getting local banner places to do one, but they were quoting about £30 to do one - this way means I can get another ship too for the same price.

Thanks for the advice