I'm building a new geek board tomorrow; just a bog standard 4'x6' for playing good old Eric Armageddon (he's a lovely bloke...) on.

I'm using a thin chip board (the type with a sort of smooth 'waxed' surface on one side and a rough textured surface on the other, rough surface facing up) and want to add a layer on top of that similar to the texture I have on a lot of my bases using Piedra Pomez 'Coarse Pumice' but that's expensive and I can't afford to coat a whole board that way!

I've previously used plaster of paris but found that it chips very easily so am in search of an alternative: any ideas?

Yours,
R>

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Cheap and cheerful would be textured exterior paint. I used it on the base boards I made for Epic-UK.

Not too rough but enough to give you the feel of texture. To rough and it hurts hands and forearms

I only got test pots as I wasn't doing full boards so no idea how much paint you'd need.

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The most hardwearing table I've created was covered in white glue and two layers of fine sand, painted and drybrushed with cheap green acryllics and covered in a heavily diluted layer of marine epoxy (!)

It's cheap, it's incredible robust, and it looks just as great as your drybrushing skills can make it.

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PVA and covered in sand? Used that a lot on terrain pieces. Might need to sieve out any larger spots.
I have also seen people use silicon filler (the stuff you squeeze around baths and sinks to fill gaps) and spread that out. It is very flexible and I have seen people use it on mats/cloth to give them some texture and then they can still be rolled up.

Yeah; it's basically concrete; surprisingly enough, it's really tough stuff =P

I've still got some of the first pieces of terrain I made by cutting out shapes in foam, convering them in glue and sand and painting them. 20 years and an amazing amount of abuse later, they're still holding up, even though they've been recoated a couple times.

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I shall research this exterior paint that Mephiston speaks of!

Going to avoid just plain old PVA and sand as that will give too uniformed a texture. Pictures of the beggining tomorrow hopefully!

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Instead of just putting sand onto pva you can mix it through to make a textured paste of your own and add coloured paint at the same time.

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I used a very coarse textured wall paint once. Very bad, you could almost hurt yourself, never mind chipping the minis.

Not a texture per se, I am well chuffed with the zuzzy mat. Smells a little funny and costs a bit, plus whacky logistics, but if you can manage, go for it.

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Nitpicks Knapsack (Scratchbuilding and 3D designing and printing and painting)

I'm currently basing terrain with sand mixed with crushed walnut husks (aka Woodland Scenics Medium Ballast, though you can get similar product for cheaper at pet stores). I'm accenting with zeolite granuals (fish filter medium) and aquarium gravel. I agree that sand alone is no good for larger surfaces.

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SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.

You could also try mixing PVA into your polyfilla (other brands available) with some sang/gravel etc - on my terrain bases it's bomb proof.

What i would say is : are you describing 4mm hardboard? If so, you might find the flex will crack almost anything. If you go masonry paint you might get away with something silicon, otherwise i not sure... Could frame up the backs with 2x1" ?

What blip says is spot on regarding the hardboard. Over the years I've built well over 20 gaming boards for a very popular/unpopular gaming company and various others, and if you are using thin hardboard I would build a frame for longevity. Also, the pva/filler mix is spot on with addition of sand. This can be built up in thin layers to create rough raised areas. Once its set, a mixture of masonry paint and diluted pva can be applied to further seal and texture.

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Also, cat litter (gravel one) mixed with pva is good. The pva soaks into it and forms an elastic film. A second diluted coat of pva once dried will strengthen it.

i used this on the 40k sized ruin bases. Even survived the moulding process without falling apart.

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Battlescene Designs - Building Better Worlds (in miniature)

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mix sawdust into paint for a nice textured look!

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used and dried coffee grounds are excellent base texture too.

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My shifting projects

Interesting I will have to try this for a board I've been working on. Sounds like an easy way of doing it.