Ok well I'm kinda new to cardstock building and am looking to see what is a good starter set in the fantasy realm?

I have built cardstock models before but they were TSR and WOTC products. ( Nowhere near as complicated or beautiful.)

So yeah basically just some advice on what I should start with as far as sets.I really liked the villageworks set and it didnt look to hard but I wanted to check here first as after reading some of your posts you guys seem like the diehard cardstockers I needed to hear from.


Before I forget here is what I have for materials so please let me know if I need anything else.

Inkjet printer capable of printing on cardstock.
Inkjet refill kits ( I got about 5 bottles of each color and black )
X-acto knife ( I got a wood sculpting kit that had one of these with like 15 kinds of blades.)
Cardstock ( Maybe 450 sheets??? )
Clear rollon glue
Elmers glue
Glue stick
Scotch tape
Cutting mat
Scissors

Thats it for what I have for building.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me, I appreciate it.

If you want to start out with simple and easy models for fatasy sets I would suggest picking up Villiage Works and Gothic Realms to start with as that gives you the basics of a fantasy campaign to begin with. When you feel a little more confident you can pick up Castworks Ultimate (and you can get Castle works clasic once denny puts it back on the catalloge for a fairly easy castle set) and Mini chiunk/chunky dungeons (depending on the scale you prefer to use, personally love the way it looks but the Pro master board is my least favorite basing method).

The Harbor master could serve some specific places with in your game (as well as some mre of the fantasy sets that are supposed to be coming out soon...ish) but like CWU is a bit more complex than viliages and GR.

Both interior sets would also be a good place to start as well as they are fairly easy sets but for a campaign you would most likely get more early game miles out of GR and VW

So to sumerise (from easiest and most useful early on to more complex)
Villiageworsk
Gothic Realms
Interior Works
Catleworks Clasic
MiniChunk
Castle Works Ultimate
Harbor Master

Richard

Village works would be a good place to start.
You said you built cardstock models before so you
should not have any problems .
Besides Denny and crew provide excellent instructions, so no worries.
Make sure to post some pictures of your builds when you get them finished.
And before I forget, welcome to the fold.

While I have not yet started out printing anything that I just purchased also being new to cardstock modeling. I saw a thread on the TMP wesite about sending the sheets to a printer (Kinkos in the US), the price listed was something along the lines of $1.73 a sheet.

Just yesterday I was in Office Depot and they said color sheets are only .89 cents and it would only be .05 cents more for 110 lb paper which makes that cost about .94 cents per page.

I doubt my cheap Dell printer will do that great a job so I am considering using Office Depot as you can bring the docs into the store or upload them thru the internet and have them printed at the store of your choice.

Also another option is working LATE one night at work and using the color laser printer we have at work!

Welcome to the crack, er I mean hobby.

Get rid of the Elmers and only use low water glues. There's a glue thread, the ones recommended work great.

If you get the Village Works set, get the Pubs and Inns as well so you can have interiors to your buildings.

You should also have some stacks of books and wax paper so you can make your walls as flat as possible. When I do my walls, I put them between books with wax paper (so the books don't get stuck if glue leaks out) and leave them for 2 days. Slows down the process, but you get fantastic builds with little to no-warpage.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

CCotD'

Hi, Ograx! Welcome aboard.

Another essential tool is a metal ruler. You'll use it to make straight cuts with your knife. Try to get the kind with the thin cork backing, so it won't slip.

and markers for Edging!

Lucky Me, I already have one of those rulers.


Thanks for the tips guys, I am going to start with the inns set.

I will post some pics after I make something half decent.

I'm in the middle of Canada and we just had a record blizzard and everyones snowed in so I got lots of time today


NO WORK!!!!!

You'll find this elsewhere, but the steps to get the best results are:

1) Print your piece
2) Score/Reverse Score
3) Cut out piece
4) Edge from the white side of the paper
5) Glue together
6) Touch up any edging you might have missed or got exposed due to gluing slightly off.

Just a quick note on Villageworks, if you decide to purchase it as well. Most of the later sets have both the interior and exterior of buildings (Castleworks, most of the Mayhem line, Mars Station, etc). Village Works is one of the early sets that is exterior-only (ArenaWorks, as well). Its still a great set, and its pretty easy to add interiors if you want them, especially if you buy Pubs & Inns - just make sure you don't glue the roofs down - but it is something you should be aware of when comparing earlier/later products.

Good advice Robby, I guess it all depends on your skill level.

My first build was VW and I opted to glue the first storey, second story and roof together on all buildings as it helped make the buildings look better (I guess my corners weren't too square in the early days).

This has effectively precluded me from going back and adding interiors to my old models. Having built many CWU houses now, I feel pretty confident about bashing VW and IW : P&I together to form some very special houses. However, it does mean starting my VW buildings from scratch (probably for the best).

When I also get around to adding Himmelveil Harbormaster and the Watchtower to my village, my gamers will hardly recognise it.

Ah, what plans I have. If only I had the time

Frank

I expect the best way to solve that issue would be to substitute another temporary fastener for Velcro - and use one that lies perfectly flat by default.

I have used magnetic backing for miniature bases before - mainly for storage and transport protection. At the time (1998) , a sheet of 8.5 x 11 flexible magnet was about $20 CDN in the the hobby store. That sounds like a lot, but even at that price it is competitive with the cost of velcro purchased at Staples if you make your squares about .5" for the magnet. It should otherwise be applied in the same manner as the velcro squares for the current Pro Masterboard - but you only have to put the nagnet on the model = not on the board. One bonus is that it makes the model a little heavier - sort of a ready made hotglued penny and velcro - all in one.

Obviously I have only tried this with minis and not 3d models on the tabletop. But I have 100% confidence that it will work.

I'm sure given the industrial use for flexible promotional magnets, the actual wholesale cost of flexible magnet is far - far less than $20 a sheet. An internet source should locate this material for much less than that I should think.

The total area provided by a 4 foot long, 2 inch wide Velcro tape is about the same as an 8.5"x 11" inch sheet of flexible magnet..

You don't want to use too much magnet though or it's quite hard to get off. .5' - certainly no larger than .75" squares - and you are good. I suppose that caution varies in accordance with the strength of the magnet. The stuff I had was very strong with one inch squares applied. Too strong perhaps.

I expect some experimentation with brands and magnet size will find the right balance between stickiness, cost and difficulty in removing.

It is also a great protector for transporting your models. Put a metal sheet in the bottom of you plastic bin. Those things aren't going anywhere.

Use a very thin steel sheet with a cork backing applied to it for your masterboard. This is also competitive in cost to a foam core board at Staples, though a little more to add the cork. I would prefer cork as it is less easily dented than foam core when accidentally compressed by the elbows of players. Alterntively, there are magnetic easel presentation boards available for a more expensive but ready made solution

Anyways- if lying flat and model alignment is the issue - that material is in every respect as useful as velcro for the purpose we intend it for - and it should fix your problem. There is no question that it is much easier to slide and align something using a magnet than with velcro.

Even a quickie search for flexible magnet yields the following hits:

30 meter roll (meters!) of self adhesive 3/4" wide flexible magnet is $35.00 a roll.

That's 100 feet. 1600 3/4" magnetic squares worth. Unless you have a BOATLOAD of models, that is more than you will ever use. Because unlike velcro - the magnet only goes on the models - not the Masterboard.

http://www.rochestermagnet.com/catalog. ... prevnext=1

I'm looking to use magnetic bases, was thinking of using magnetic paint (the sort mixed with iron filings so magnets will stick to it) on a board. That way don't need any sheet metal, just some paint and a board.

Will let you know how it goes.

I have considered getting magnets. I thought about simply placing a small square (about 1" x 1") under each peice and then I could juse drop em into play when ready. But to make use of this idea I would need a decent sized sheet of metal that was thin and flexible (so I can rolll it up) as my space is limited. The paint idea is interesting though I may have to check it out.
I have been thinking of some other alternatives but as of yet I have nothing concrete.

Richard

I'm currently using a magnetic 24"x36" dry-erase board ($14 at my local Sam's Club) for my 'masterboard' with .5" magnetic strip (found 25' roll for $6 at my local A.C. Moore Craft Store) cut into .5" squares. I can get ~600 squares out of that roll. Those 600 will adhere about 150 terrain pieces (one glued on each corner for most, on 1" square I only use one, on larger I add a central one for extra stick). Rather than rely on the self-adhesive it comes with, I've found you have to use superglue to ensure that the magnets stick to your foam core.

I'll have to look around an Office supply store next time I'm there to look for metallic sheet with cork under it. Is it used for something else in the office? Any idea what category/section of the store it might be under?

I was actually about to try painting the magnetic paint onto a black foam core fold-out display (36"x48"), but I'm worried about warping from the paint.

Oh, and if you do have an A.C. Moore near you, go to their website and sign up to be on their mailing list. You'll get a 40% off coupon every week. It's great for cutting the cost of things like the magnetic paint. I actually found a 24"x36" sheet of thin magnet in a big tube roll for $20 at AC Moore. That 40% off coupon really helped with it too.

As a new user I confess I have seen references to the PRO Master Board, but do not know anything about it. Nor do I know anything about BIAT? That was referenced a few posts back.

I have the mayhem sets and any info would be helpfull.
Thanks

The Pro Masterboard involves taking a standard sheet of foam core and gluing small squares of Velcro fasteners to it in a grid like pattern. The tiles and builds from the set are then placed on a second piece of foam board that is cut to the exact size of the model. These small sections have the reverse side of the Velcro fastener glued to them so that they can be "stuck" to the master board below. This allows the dungeon to be pre-built in it entirety and you only need place a section down on the game table as the players enter the room.

Richard

The ProMasterboard technique was only fully explained in the instructions that came with ChunkyDungeons and MiniChunk kits (see for the complete list of WWG products and their instructions/tiles supported).

I hope that at some point Denny decides to offer up those instructions as a free download, because the instructions have lots of nice piccys which show how it all comes together nicely.

And it's not just a useful idea for dungeon builds either. I use the Pro format for my Mayhem builds. Because all of the ground tiles are 7" square, I don't need to have a velcro patch every 1". My ground tiles have a patch in each corner, and my board has patches at the 1 & 7" marks, and again at the 8 & 14" marks, and again at the 9 & 21" marks (my base boards are 2x4' pegboard - I like the weight of wood rather than foamcore panels for my base).

Tiles adhear great, alignment is a little tricky to get right, but the tiles nestle close enough that it's not a factor when there are occasionally small gaps (all of my base tiles are mounted to black foamcore, and I spraypainted my base pegboard black as well before mounting the velcro).

Holds everything in place nicely.

I can see why this would be a great thing to use for dungeons, where you want the layout to "unfold" as the party explores, but that would require having the whole base covered with 1" velcro.

Steve

Conversely, if you love velcro...Here's another interesting velcro product:

Settle Fabric sells a 51"x82" sheet of 3mm neoprene backed velcro. Color ? It's all black.

The intent of this thing, I guess, is for using it to make custom wearable gear and what not. Not sure. Anyways, the whole thing rolls up so you have a synthetic rubber backed light 4x7 velcro pad.

http://www.seattlefabrics.com/neoprene. ... 20Neoprene

It's $165.00, so it's not cheap. Then again - for a massive sheet of rubber backed velcro, that's not a BAD price either. If you figure out the cost of gluing down 1200 velcro squares on two sheets of foam core, it's pricier, but not out of this world more expensive. The savings in time is huge too, I suppose.

I don't see any piccys showing the stuff though Steel Wind. Am I missing them or are they not there anywhere?

No pics - just a description near as I can see. You can order a sample for $2.00.

Presumably, the company is close to you. Drop by their shop, take some pics and let us all know what it looks like

Looks like they sell a "nude" version as well. This is presumably see through neoprene - like see through straps on a bra? Same deal. Sounds like they want to charge more for it though.

Anywyas, in theory you could lie the see throuh velcro pad down over an existing Megamat and poof - instant grid reference for your velcro mat. Handy.

If you wanted a variable color background, it would also serve. Put colored bristleboard or whatever underneath.

I am making inquiries now.

Far cheaper than their neoprene is something called Veltex Display Fabric. This is used to mount on boards for display purposes, where you can place things on the board at trade shows and such. The material is supposed to be the loop portion of velcro, so any item with a hook on it should stick. Perhaps this fabric can be afixed to my base board, and then I'd hae a full sheet of velcro loop! This stuff is 60" wide and can be purchased by the yard for $15. My gaming board is 4' x4' so for about $25 I would have a large enough sheet to cover the whole thing.

I will report back if anything interesting comes of it!