Posts made by 2Huskies

Hi Jeff,

I suggest you look at the pinned forum for Tjoek’s A&A Anniversary OOB map file. There are several versions already available and more versions coming. You can download each png file and view them on your computer and decide which one is your favorite. They are very high resolution scans and can easily scale up to be 28 by 51 inches. My map is approximately 35 by 68 inches and looks great! You will find pictures of my map on page 6 of that forum. Nowhere Man had his printed at the normal 24 by 46 inch size on scrim vinyl, an outdoor banner material. It cost him about $60 I believe.

Here is the link to that forum with the file download locations. Feel free to read through the forum posts and you will find a wealth of information!  :-)

https://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=41446.0

Haha my friend has a table that can accommodate this map size! We just played Global 1940, which is a 32" by 70" map out of box, so this Anniversary map will fit just fine! We are excited to try Anniversary Edition for the first time and are especially excited for the increased size of the territories!

Below is a close-up picture of the Italian borders from my version of Tjoek’s map file.  The borders are a slightly darker brown, which makes them more pronounced and visible against the background color of the territories.

Again, if anyone is interested in this version, please reply.  Tjoek has my png file and can make it available if others are interested.  Regardless, I look forward to reading your comments on what you think!

Thanks,
2Huskies

Below is a close-up picture of the Russian borders being changes to a Soviet Communist red.  My camera doesn’t make them appear as red as they are in person.  These borders are more visible against the background color of the territories, and they still fit the theme of the game.

Below is a picture of my alternate map displaying Europe and the Eastern front so that you can see what both the Italian borders and Soviet Communist borders look like.

Thank you Tjoek for all the hard work and time you put on the A&A Anniversary Edition Map!

I had my map printed on scrim vinyl at 1.5 times the size, and it came out absolutely amazing!  My map measures approximately 35 inches wide by 68 inches long!  It also has about a 5/8 inch white border.  Below is a comparison shot of the original map with the three boards and my printed map.  You will see some slight distortion in the corners of my map in this picture, but that is not present on the actual print.  It is a result of having to use a wide angle lense to capture the entire photo of my map sprawled across my Queen size bed!

With Tjoek’s permission, I worked with a friend to make a couple changes to the original OOB map file that he has available to the community.  The changes are:

• The Russian borders have had the color changed to a Soviet Communist red.  This allowed them to be more visible while still fitting the theme of the game.
• The Italian borders are a slightly darker brown in order to make them more pronounced.

If anyone is interested, Tjoek has my png file and can add it to his original post as another alternative version to print.  I will post some close up pictures as well, and I look forward to hearing what you guys think!

@Nowhere:

Saw this information when I looked it up… they are definately one-in-the-same…

Scrim vinyl is the most common substrate for printing outdoor banners. Scrim vinyl is a polyethylene substrate, reinforced with polyester cording. This internal cording is what gives it strength and durability to withstand damaging winds and weather conditions. The smooth surface makes it a great contender for displaying graphics and text. If you pair scrim vinyl with  solvent-based inkjet printing; you will get a sharp, color saturate set of graphics that will last. The solvent-based inks will actually become encapsulated into the substrate, creating essentially a tatoo within the fibers of the vinyl. The colors are vivid, and the inks do not fade to sunlight; and last even longer when laminated. The embedded ink image, with its permanence, can potentially outlast the surface of the scrim vinyl! This substrate can sustain between three to seven years of wind and weather, depending upon its abuse levels and if its been laminated. Longevity is the name of this game if you are looking for a solution will likely last beyond the original purpose of the signage!

I have 1941, 1942, Global and now Anniversary maps all printed in this material… I can attest it lasts with a lot of play and lies flat. I’ve heard really great things about show-floor, but its hard to break away from something thats been working for our group for so long.

Haha I found that same information about scrim vinyl when I was researching it! I am glad it is working out so well for you. I am excited to see how mine turns out as this will be my first map print ever! Also, thanks for sharing the link for your storage solution. That poster tube looks really nice!

@Nowhere:

Okay… per request, here’s pictures of Tjoek’s AA50 OOB map file, printed up…

Details:
For various reasons, I went ahead and printed the map at the same size as the original board map (which is 24"x46")… but now I have a one-piece map that I can roll up, and I won’t have anywarpage or “three-pieces-sliding-around” issues.

I took it to the local Fed-X Print Shop, they recommended Outdoor Banner Vinyl (I asked for measurements, official name and thickness in mm… they looked blankly at me and said “it’s called outdoor banner vinyl, that’s what’s on your receipt”… and indeed it is… so not sure what else to call it other than "outdoor banner vinyl from Fed-X print shop).

Hey Nowhere Man,
This is very encouraging! The colors in your picture actually look better on the printed vinyl than colors of the original board! Thank you Tjoek for this fine work!

My needs are almost identical to yours Nowhere Man. I don’t plan on doing anything fancy such as lamination either. I also just want a nice, clean rollup mat that is completely seamless. I will have my board increased 1.5x in each direction, and I’ll be sure to post pictures as well. That should make it roughly 3 ft by 6 ft.

The “Outdoor Banner Vinyl” could very well be called Scrim Vinyl, which is what my local print facility recommended to me. It is supposed to withstand wind, rain, sunlight fade, and other harsh weather conditions (might as well throw tornadoes into the mix :-D ….).  I think they recommended you the right choice.  I’m just hoping it is the same material as I was recommended in case others here would like to request the same thing.

Finally, your second set of pictures with the pieces on it look EPIC! Thanks for sharing! I cannot wait to get mine printed up!

@Tjoek:

@2Huskies:

If you are interested, I can provide you my personal version for you to include as another option in your Dropbox.

I’m definitely curious to see what your friend did. And if I like it I might include it in future versions. I will PM you my email address.

Sounds great Tjoek! I’ll pass it your way! Let me know what you think.

@Tjoek:

@2Huskies:

Hi Tjoek,
By chance are you planning to do any work as far as enhancing the border colors in the Soviet territories to make them stand out more, which was part of my original request earlier in this thread? If not, I know someone who may be able to help me with his Photoshop software, but I’ll have him wait for the new file at this point. I look forward to seeing the new file and your new enhancements!

Sorry I forgot about your message when the thread went into the quality / resolution discussion. With the colour and contrast corrections I’m currently working on I believe the borders should be more visible so please let me know how the file looks when it’s finished later this week.

Hey Tjoek,

So earlier on I passed your original map file to my friend who enhanced the Soviet and German borders to make them stand out more. Then, when your new file came out, he did them again along with Italy. Your new file definitely was much nicer in its color balance, even for the borders. Thanks again for the work you did. My personal version just has them stand out a bit more, and the Soviet borders colored deep red.

If you are interested, I can provide you my personal version for you to include as another option in your Dropbox. I told my friend I would at least see if you were interested in the work he did already in case you wanted to include this alternate option for people to download. Perhaps it would save you some time than if having to do it yourself if this request is made by others.

I haven’t actually printed the map file yet as I am waiting to see how Young Grasshopper’s map turns out first. Please let me know if you want to take a look at this alternate version for possible inclusion in your maps versions. If not, it doesn’t bother me.  :)

Thanks again for all the work you are doing on this map and on the Global 1940 2nd Edition map!

Sounds great YG! I’m looking forward to seeing how your map turns out!

@Young:

@robert:

whats a 46x24 map cost if you don’t mind me asking

Well, my print shop recently increased my prices which I wasn’t happy about… but they’ve told me they are locked in now. I getting the 46X24 printed on adhesive vinyl with a cold lamination to reduce scratches, than they will mount it on styrene which will give it durability and allow it to lay flat… after taxes it comes to $148.89 (Cnd).

Hi YG, with the cold lamination step, are you still able to roll up the vinyl mat and have it still lay out flat? I need a portable solution for when I print my map. If not, how durable will a map printed on vinyl be without the cold lamination step during play and also rolling it up for transport and storage? I will find out the material that is available for me to print on where I am at. The person printing my map told me it was a high quality waterproof vinyl material (I can’t remember the exact name of it), but she told me it will last. Thank you.

@Tjoek:

That should be no problem, but please wait a few more days for a new file to be released as I’m doing some rework on the colours and brightness of the map. As well as some other small changes that YG asked me to do.

Hi Tjoek,
By chance are you planning to do any work as far as enhancing the border colors in the Soviet territories to make them stand out more, which was part of my original request earlier in this thread? If not, I know someone who may be able to help me with his Photoshop software, but I’ll have him wait for the new file at this point. I look forward to seeing the new file and your new enhancements!

I’ve never printed a game map before, but I am excited to start doing this, starting with Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition. With this file, if printed on vinyl at about 3 ft by 6 ft there anything I should know or processes I should take to get a clean, clear print?

Hi Tjoek,

I really like your file for Axis & Allies Anniversary edition. I missed out on this version of the game when it was originally released almost 10 years ago. I just picked up the rereleased version of the 50th Anniversary Edition and am excited to use your file for a seamless printed map!

I do want to ask about the possibility of what would hopefully be a small enhancement and time commitment. Would you be able to make the borders a bit more pronounced, especially in the Eastern Front and most of the northern Asia region that Soviet Russia holds? I am finding that I am having difficulty seeing the borders on the actual map that comes with the game. I don’t know if it would look best to widen them, darken them, or lighten them, but it would be most appreciated if you have the time to look into the best way of doing this!

I didn’t have as much trouble with my hard copy of the Global 1940 boards that came with the Europe 1940 and Pacific 1940 games, so I was surprised that I had difficulty distinguishing the borders on the Anniversary map.

Also, I look forward to printing your 2nd Edition Global 1940 map from your other thread when it is completed and posted. I looked through the before/after pictures you posted, and your work is absolutely amazing! Thank you for your contributions you have already made and are making ongoing!