I haven't been using my ground tiles for that long, and so far, I have no issues with the ink rubbing off. But somebody who prints out their own business cards told me he sprays them with a matt varnish to seal in the ink. Just a single pass, a light dusting he said (not a back and forth several times). He doesn't use more than one quick pass coat either (I asked if he did several light coats).

Does anyone do this? I searched for a thread on this and didn't find one, and there is no mention of this being needed or even helpful in the assmebly guides I've read.

This same guy told me that if he doesn't have any varnish around, he uses VO5 Hairspray. Said it worked wonders. Not all hairsprays work the same, but there was something about the VO5 that did the trick.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Steve

I've not used hairspray or varnish, but memories back to my elementary school days recall using hairspray as a sealant so that might work.

What I've been experimenting with is covering the tiles with clear contact paper to protect the tiles. The contact paper works well enough if you think you may want to draw on the tiles, or if you want to protect the surface form any liquid accidents, but to be honest, the contact paper really mutes the colours.

The guy told me that hairspray did a great job of sealing without muting the colors or placing a reflective coating ont he card.

He demonstrated how effective it was by popping the op on a can of soda and letting the initial spray of fizz hit the card (which he held overhead). He then wiped the card off with a kleenex, and the ink didn't run or blotch.

I was impressed by this handy hobby tip, but kept wondering if I really needed to do that to my ground tiles. Will it yellow, or become sticky over time, or actually attact dust, etc. A business card (kept in a wallet) isn'tt he same thing as a 7x7 tile used for gaming.

Steve

True, but consider for a moment how easy it is to re-create a damabed tile (I'm talking about simepl ground tiles here, not complex construction jobs like the PCON outflow tile, or the CWU Gatehouse)

When I was into wargaming I used Krylon satin finish acrylic spray on the boards, any game aids, and counters. It wore better than matte spray but didn't glare like gloss and in many cases had less glare than the original game pieces. It pretty much kept my games looking new. It now seems more difficult to find but its what I would consider using on cardstock models both for its durability and because it seems to add a little more depth to color textures than did matte spray.

The thing that makes me a little nervous about spray painting cardstock is tha oppotunity to warpage that might be introduced if you spray too much on. But I may just be being paranoid. It seems like a really good idea. Give it a try and let us know your findings.

Well, I'm considering giving it a test on a half-dozen tiles, just to see if it makes a difference. But I'm hesitant for a number of reasons. Yeah, I could make more tiles (ground tiles are easy) if something goes wrong.

My concern is, do people generally do this, or not. If not, they must have a compelling reason not to. Either there's an increased chance of warpage, or it yellows, or get's sticky, or ...

Like I said, with all the posts in all these forums, I didn't find one that said people used a sealing spray of any kind, and THAT'S what makes me hesitate. I'd happily skip this extra step (time and money) if it's just not warranted.

Steve

I saw a post before about using puzzle spray as a finish for masterboards but other than that I have never seen anything along those lines. I don't thing most people use any kind of finishing agent and it is most likly because the ground tiles are so easy to replace that they don't see the need.

I can't find the thread where someone mentioned using the puzzle spray anymore but I can remember the pictures that where added, it was a huge masterboard for the SkullCove set (or a island/sea setting) made by basically making several masterboards and taping them together so they folded up when not in use. I am sure someone on the forums will remember the thread and elaborate further (or better yet post a link).

If memory serves me the person who had made the board had an accident and some water was spilt on it when he was still constructing it, another member suggested the puzzle saver.

Richard

Actually yeah i have used matte spray, and even a glossy spray not on any WWG stuff but one some of Mel's models.

I put a layer on the Gyrfalcon and it helped to give it some rigidity, as well as sealing it and in the case of the glossy, a kind of metal sheen to the model as well (why i used the glossy). I took a test model and really layered it on thick and didn't do much of anything to the model, as in warping, so a simple pass should do nothing to it.

You know, actually I think once upon a time I did use matte spray finish.

When I first started, I printed some WWG stuff (DungeonsWorks, I think) on a laser printer at work. When I assembled it, the ink really coated my fingers, so I sprayed some matte finish on it (the same stuff I had for minis). I don't recall it warping at all. I'll have to doublecheck that tonight.

SeattleGamer, i know what you mean i think if you REALLY layer it on, if you use an inkjet, it will make the ink to run a bit (yeah, i pushed it to the point of how much do i have to do to ruin a model as well).

But for what i did you have to aplly enough to soak the thing with the spray (to the point of it pooling up on the model surface), a few light coats, first let dry to get it a bit sealed, and then you can get close to letting it pool on the surface with little to no effect (assuming your seal coat was even )

And to boot it gives a nice hard surface, i have done most of my stuff with gloss because i was looking to replicte metal a but better, so can't say for sure if it works 100% with matte.

Robby - No offense, but how can I trust anything you say? Every time I read your posts I see your picture, and that is NOT a face to trust

GK - Gloss does seal better than Matt, it';s why so many people use it to seal their minis, and then the put on a coat of matt or flat after to try and take away the shine. I don't have any gloss in the house, and I'd be more worried about overhead glare from lights.

It won't take much to set up a bunch of tiles and give them a light dusting. If an easy, single coat protects them better from a spilled drink or soda pop fizz then it's probably worth it. But if it takes lots of coats to add only a small bit of protection, then it's not worth it. Ground tiles are the easiest to do, and I do have problems here having good weather days so I can spray outside.

And if Robby, who has been doing this a lot longer than me, "thinks" that he used to spray on varnish, then it means he stopped for some reason, and I'm guessing that reason is that it doesn't make much of a difference either way (so might as well skip the expense and time step).

Oh, for the record, I am using an inkjet. Perhaps it's different for laser.

So you know too, i also am using an Inkjet, was worried about the ink running (which is why i pushed it to see how much i could layer on before it got to running). From what i remember, if it gets to moist you can get a bit of bleeding, but, a few lighter coats take care of that, with the same results (at least for Gloss can't say for matt i only started to use Matte recentlt for some things i didn't want a sheen on). I bought the gloss for some Ice Terrain i made i wanted a sheen and just used what i had left over, and also wanted a sheen on that as well so it worked out but i haven't used matte that much so not 100% sure if it will work or not. the gloss does, if you have more experince with the different finishes use your best judgment. (or heck test it on 1, isn't becuase this stuff is relativly wasy to reproduce one the the reasons we like it, so if you ruin a bit, make a new one)

GK - Yep! One of the reasons we like this stuff is specifically because if it gets crunched or damaged in some way, we can make it again.

I've never had a use for gloss which is why I don't have any. If I were doing this for science (or to post a pdf of some sort) I would go buy some gloss, and then do this experiment with gloss and matt, with coats varying from 1 to 3, and spill a cup of water on each one and note the impact. Take pictures, and write the whole thing up.

But I doubt anyone cares about that. I'll just do a sample using matt and see if it makes a difference.

Weather is looking good, so perhaps I can do this today.

Almost sounds like someone is watching too much MythBusters to me.

pelthar i guess you never saw my early posts about different glues, not quit that bad, but i had fun with it.

Nah! I'm just thorough when it comes to testing (too many years in the software business).

But now that you mentioned it (MythBusters), I was disheartened to find out that the big finale to Jaws was all hollywood. An oxygen tank which has been shot becomes a torpedo, but doesn't blow up!

And I was dis-heartned to notice a ring on Kari's left hand...sigh...

Protecting Ground Tiles From Moisture
A Scientific Study

Question: (1) Should ground tiles be sprayed with a sealant of any type in order to protect them from liquids spilled upon? Will a sealant have any positive or negative effects? Is it worth the effort.

Components: Three ground tiles (3-Way Intersection Tile from Streets of Mayhem set) were used for this experiment. Ground tiles were printed on an HP Photosmart 2610xi inkjet printer and mounted to black-on-black foamcore using spray adhesive. They were allowed to cure for over a week prior to the test.

Setup: Three ground tiles were used for this experiment.

#1 - Was left untreated.
#2 - Was sprayed with a single medium coat of Aqua Net Super Hold ($3 for 14 oz).
#3 - Was sprayed with a single medium coat of Citadel Matt Varnish ($8 for 11 oz).

* A medium coat is defined as multiple passes over the tile top to bottom, then bottom to top. Total spraying time @ 10 seconds per tile.

Spray Results: Untreated tile was smooth as glass. The tile treated with Aqua Net was still quite smooth, but was slightly rougher than the untreated tile. The tile treated with Matt Varnish was noticably rougher.

Water Test: Each tile was placed in the kitchen sink, where one cup (8 oz) of water was poured upon it. The tile was then removed from teh sink and patted dry with a towel. The tile was completely covered with water top to bottom for a few seconds during the test.

Water Results: All three tiles warped immediately (crowning) with the bottom shrinking more than the top. The untreated tile warped more than the two treated tiles. The untreated tile had noticable running of some colors (the gray of the concrete). The tile treated with Aqua Net became slightly lighter in overall tone - this was only noticable when the two tiles were placed side by side.

Overall Findings: Other than a very slight lightening of color, there was no difference between the tile protected with Aqua Net and the tile protected with Matt Varnish. At $3 for 14 oz verus $8 for 11 oz the clear winner is Aqua Net. It protected the tile from ink run as well as the varnish did, and for a lot less money. It had no unpleasant smell and dried quicker than the varnish.

However, is it worth the time and expense to spray on any sort of protective coating? Based on these results, I would say - NO.

All three tiles warped. As inexpensive as it is to replace an occasional damaged tile, I don't think it's worth spraying on any coating if you still have to deal with warped tiles after an accident. Better to replace the tile with a new one that lays flat (and slap around that so-called friend who spilled his drink).

End of Study.

Recount!

I'd like to see a study that tests spills, not submersion.

Here is a possible setup for the test:

Same as has been described above (btw, brilliantly done SeatttelGamer!), but the test is to pour 1/4 cup of liquid...water, coke, beer, whatever. The liquid should be allowed to sit unmolested...er...undisturbed for about 15 seconds to simulate the scramble to find a towel.

This might simulate real-game experience, but I will leave it to you SG to do the test your way since you have done it so brillinatly already.

-Pel

What about a coating to prevent unwanted in-laws (really unwanted) from bumbeling through the closet and tearing everthing up?

Richard

That would require a coating on transparent aluminum, and that will not happen until Kirk and Spock come to save the whales! Hee hee