Sired's Map project - Updated- 4/16 - files available see first post

Im not talking about a digital Map, but a real one. I consider myself very artistically minded so I think I could do it without it looking too bad. What materials would I need, how much time would it take? I wanna do a global map from about 1920.

I have been playing around with different configurations for a custom table and wanted to note some things I’ve landed on that I really like. A main one thing is having the map mounted so that it can slide around as needed on top of a bigger playing area. My table is 65” x 95” in total with a 5.5” arm rest around the outside and the middle is a recessed neoprene surface. I have the OOB Global map mounted on 1/2” rigid foam with a 1/2” aluminum frame around it. This allows the map to slide up close to whoever’s turn it is, but then be in the middle so both players can roll dice In front of them without disturbing the map and in easy view of the other player. (Plus we like lots of room to roll the bones). This ability to adjust the surface along with a standing height, makes it comfortable for long uses because you can move around more and don’t feel as tied down.
Things I’ve learned and changed from original design - I originally used too big of a frame for the map and mounted it on too high of a foam block (you can see these pictures at the bottom) - it made it hard to see the other player’s dice and the big frame took up too much real estate. My global map is mounted on much thinner foam (the framing is bad, you can see if you look closely) but I also used much thinner aluminum angle for the frame. This gives just enough grip when needing to move the map around (I use furniture slides on the bottom, which glide very nicely on the neoprene) but doesn’t make the whole thing too bulky. Having it an inch or so off the surface keeps the dice off, but isn’t so heigh that you can’t see the other player’s dice rolls. When playing other versions (such as Zombies) the board is much smaller, but it can easily swap in and out on the same table since it can move around where ever it is needed or be pushed aside.
I originally made it normal table height, but found long reaches while sitting were harder and it just felt cramped. Standing height with a bar stool is a great way to have the best of both worlds.
The 5.5” rim around the table itself gives you a nice arm rest that doesn’t interfere with the gaming surface. I’m playing with how to best add some cushion to this part - open to suggestions. Sometimes I just lay a piece of leftover neoprene on it.
Dice bounce nice on the neoprene and stay off the floor. It also feels nice and has enough give to allow things to slide but be picked up easily. Wouldn’t definitely go with neoprene again as a surface covering.
I made the drawers open to the inside of the table so you can stay hunched over the action while accessing and stowing stuff away. 50/50 on whether I would keep this if I were to do it again. If I were doing it again, I might try to build customer drawers form scratch using actual drawer glides, but that was beyond my ability when I first did this, so I just used clear plexiglass boxes with aluminum pulls mounted on them. It’s nice having them clear, and I was happy with how the pulls came out, but without glides they can be a little fussy sliding in and out of their slots.
I originally designed the table so that I could put a cover surface back on top when not in use, but find I don’t really ever do that, so if I were to do it again, I might not mess with that part (I never even finished staining those as you can see in the pictures).
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@siredblood:

@IWillNeverGrowUp:

That angled divider in the UK box is going to be a pain to use I think.
I always find corners in deeper boxes like this to be difficult (at least they are in mine), especially as they get tighter like those angles.

Its been game tested! I added so many units to each country (well not China) you will never need to empty anything. I was UK last weekend, never saw the bottom of the box :) If one was in the corner, you can always use a sub to get it out haha.

I wasn’t fond of the angle idea, but it best fit the units with those bombers.

Well, if you never get to the bottom that would be alright. I just pictured trying to pick them out of there and it hurt my fingers thinking about it. lol

@AlphaKappa:

I’ve been looking for a control tower for air bases.  Good luck with your molds!  Hope that comes out well.

Thanks! Ill be sure to post them, as well as offer them if anyone would be interested. I moved here (CA) from WA awhile back, I knew where to get all that casting stuff, ive looked here, cant seem to find anywhere locally… ordering online is murder, shipping jugs of liquid… in addition, not sure what im getting. I may end up using fiberglass resin, something this small, should be fine… just takes long to cure and I gotta make a grip, unlike the casting resins, takes like 30 seconds.

Try placing them in the northern Canadian territories, Alaska, and the northern Soviet Union. These are large territories that see little action in the game, so it’s justifiable to create blowup boxes in them, probably 8 or more.

@dazzaman77
Can you email me at trisdin@younggrasshopper.org

So very true. When I first started painting my aircraft I had to include decal roundels for the players to distinguish the pieces from one another. My naval units are painted mostly with a color scheme for playability except for the capital ships like the Carriers and popular Battleships. All of them have a decal or flag to show which nation they belong too. I actually replaced the OOB British Cruisers because I thought they looked too close in size with the destroyers. I ended up replacing with some ships I found on Shapeways. The biggest problem I had with naval units is that they can exist in the same seazone with enemy pieces unlike land territories. Because of this I decided to keep the subs, destroyers, cruisers and non unique battleships following a color scheme. There are so many colors in the spectrum though we should be able to come up with a solution that will make them look more historical yet keep the pattern or color scheme for the nation. I really would love to paint all the ships historically and maybe I will revisit them again someday. Every time I go back and repaint my pieces I seem to get better at it. Or at least I think I do, hehe.

@jluna1273:

Toblerone77,

Question for you: how did you get the “CUSTOMIZER” tab on your profile?

Marc has your answer pretty much there. The link kind of shows why, what, when ,where and who made this happen.

There are people here a lot better than me on a lot of subjects involving customization and HRs/game ideas, and I was surprised I even received it.

“Customizer” covers a lot and I’m sure in time others will be awarded this badge. For myself I nominated a few who really showed they were doing a lot for the game. Most notably “Most Holy” and “alllworkandnoclay” they both paint and Most Holy is the host of Dicestruction podcast. This to my knowledge is the only podcast which features Axis & Allies exclusively. These guys were just a couple whom I nominated. I asked a few people to move allworkandnoclay’s thread to customizations to help all those who paint and customize their units as a tool.

The credit for much of this goes to YoungGrasshopper who suggested the badge for Der Kuenstler initially, whom I also nominated for his war room and his HR work.