Isn't matteboard kinda soft though? It's been a while since I used it, but I remember it as being rather thick but soft and fairly easy to cut. Perfect for making niceley beveled borders for framing, but probably not the best for giving strength to paper models. Or for making gameboards, for that matter. I'd think that a gameboard made from matteboard would fold pretty rapidly.

The material I used for some of the old WotC foldup models seemed a lot denser than matteboard. Found it in the local art store, but I can't remember what it was called. Posterboard? Came in both cold pressed and hot pressed varieties, with a nice white surface finish on one side. A bit hard to work with (you typically have to go over a cut several times to cut all the way through), but it resulted in models that will probably last years.

Dunno, maybe I'm just remembering matte board wrong, but it seems like there's a few very different varieties of heavy cardstock out there...

Yes, gameboards are made from matboard, one side is covered in a protective backing for protection from liquids, and abrasive surfaces. It also added protection from bending too easily, hence the extra durability. The backing is a tape like guaze that is similiar to Duct tape, only wider and longer. The other side is covered in glossy print to show of the fancy game art. I forget what the exact process, or materials used to reinforce the exterior backing. However, the interior core is made from matboard, it just hides there in the middle .

Would you know where I would be able to obtain a black matte tape I could use to wrap up the board?

Here is an interesting site:

and this one:

and to get really off topic:

If you want to take an easier way out, here's a link from off one of JackhammerJohn's links, for a "one stop shop for all of your board and card game prototyping needs": http://bgdf.com/catalog/

Among other things, they sell a blank 20x20" quad folding game board for $3.25

That's looks too good to be true. I wonder how it would hold up as a Masterboard? Anyone? Anyone?

Well,
I scanned all the out of print expansions for Talisman from a friend a few years ago, and I'm finally deciding to put it together. With your help, I figured out the best tools to work with:

Matt board, black duct tape, sharp blades, a good ruler and spray mount.


After printing the board section onto 11x17 glossy paper(Im so glad I have a Canon i9900), I cut it out, then the matt board.


After that, I carefully cut up the duct tape, and laid it on the edges of the board.


Lastly, I spraymount the cut print onto the board and viola! It looks pretty good too, and matches the thickness of the main game board perfectly.

Preferrably, I would have used a black masking tape, but Lowes didn't carry it, but I found suppliers online, yet it would have taken days to receive. I also considered coloring the masking tape with permanent marker and then applying it to the board, but on the test piece I was using, the marker rubbed off a bit onto my fingers. It actually looks really nice otherwise, because it doesn't have that duct gloss look. For those who might consider this, I'de suggest ordering black masking tape if possible, as it doesn't have the shine. But the black duct tape works well if you can't get ahold of it. I think the board might also look nice if you wanted to mummify it by buying the 2" wide black masking tape and wrapping it.


Here's the test piece, as you see the duct tape has a bit of a shine, while the masking keeps a matte look to it all. The the only reason I'de go for the real black masking tape(not just coloring it black) versus the duct is that it doesn't have that gloss.

They reprinted the 3rd Edition game last year as a limited release. Should be available on Ebay, etc. But none of the expansions were re-released(what a shame), which is why I scanned up my friend's expansions(I know, shame on me). It was kind of stupid too, because two of the characters tha the rerelase came with have special abilities that can't be used unless the expansions are in play.

For those interested, here's the final results(Just completed the last board segments now)



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