Cutting Hexagons from XPS Foam - The Building Blocks of Custom Hex Maps
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- čas přidán 16. 07. 2024
- Cutting Hexes from Foam, the step by step guide to cutting out hexes out of XPS foam to be used in the creation of maps and play surfaces for games such as Battletech, Gloomhaven, OGRE, and more.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:47 Hexagon Terminology
2:33 My Method on Sizing Hexes
4:22 The Tools I Use
7:39 Making the 52mm Cuts
12:23 Making the 45mm Cuts
14:04 Making the 60 Degree Cuts
22:48 Final Thoughts
I've played games for a long time and one of my favorite games is that of Battletech. However the one thing that always frustrated me is the lack of a large number of different maps, and when maps were available the fact that everything was a flat 2D scale. So I decided to take up the challenge of building my own custom maps using hexagons that I cut from XPS foam using a hot wire cutting device, in this case a Proxxon Thermocut. The process is fairly straight forward but it took me a decent amount of iteration to get it as accurate and simple as I have today so I wanted to make this video to share my process with the community.
Like the music that I used in the video? The music I acquired from Epidemic Sound. If you want to give them a try and help the channel, use the following referral link: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
#Crafting #Battletech #Proxxon - Jak na to + styl
Alternative: print out a sized paper template of hexes, then use the hotwire to cut the exterior shape of the desired terrain formation, then lightly trace the interior hex segments with a hobby knife directly on the paper. Voila!
I just use a hex shaped paper punch. I have a 1.5", 1", 7/8 and 3/4. I paint cereal/frozen pizza boxes with sponge technique. So like a dark grey base, light oversponge, random flicks of black or secondary color softened/blended in. I make a lighter stock and darker one, probably do three pizza boxes of each at a time. Let dry, punch out about 70 hexes per pizza box, light tone in 7/8, dark in 1' (or light in 1" dark in 1.5") and glue the light in the middle of dark, eyeballing.
Once I have a stack of a few hundred hexes I just glue them all onto corrugated cardboard or XPS sheets. Either make a large, flat, square hex map or 7 hex tiles, 14 hex double tiles, or custom shape tiles. Let dry, cut the excess cardboard away. Easy. I can make 30+ 7h tiles in a day. I stack them on a flat map if I want height. Obviously they're not as tall as 1" xps but they communicate the concept.
Always fascinated by terrain building, regardless of whether it fits into my own preferences; never know when you'll find techniques that can help you think up things you can create for your own games. Looking forward to more in this series.
I'm glad you enjoyed! Let me know if you had any questions.
@@hexedcrafting4621 can i ask what thickness of foam you use
I will be buying the equipment you are using and following your guidelines for my own terrain. Good stuff!
Glad to be of help! :D
Thank you for this tutorial! I’ve always wanted a simple(ish) way to make hexes for TTRPG / Wargaming stuff and this is exactly what I was looking for! Great stuff!
Thank you for sharing your ideas. I would like to share an alternative method that does not require waste and may help you produce more uniform hexagons :
Try dividing your hexagons into (3) parts : (1) rectangle and (2) triangles. The smaller pieces can be more easily cut to the correct size, then assembled in a more uniform shape. If rectangles and triangles are each cut from strips, then the only waste would be an end-strip that could be used with another board. Cutting a blank, then removing (4) triangles, wastes approximately 1/4 of the blank, and therefore approximately 1/4 of your board. However, if you cut strips in (2) different widths that match the short length (width of one side) and the long-length (the two triangles at either side of the rectangle), then you will have no waste, since the end-strip might be used in the future. Using (3) blanks increases your manufacturing time to that necessary to accurately cut each blank, but the overall uniformity of the finished hex will be higher since the triangles will share matching angles. There are other benefits that will come to mind in the context of purchasing, manufacturing, quality control, storage, assembly, and end product. Glue is probably the easiest method of assembly.
The little triangles. Lay them on their long edge and arrange in a circle. Affix to a base of your preference. Use a filler material to form and shape craters.
Dang I never recognized the potential of the speedsquare, very nice move.
The speed square fix is a good idea.
Thanks! I really wish I had a full sized fence that was modular, where you could increase the height as needed... hrmm, there is an idea...
Cool video! But, much simpler math can be used! Say you want a face of 2" for your hex. Draw a 4" circle, then draw a 2" line from a point on the circle, to the next point. If you connect them all, you should have a hex with 2" faces. Same works for metric as well. ;)
I'm looking at making a display board for an army that happens to be on bases that have a hex design. However the hexes are more like 2cm on long diagonal. I'm probably going to score most into the board, but still want a heap of tiles that can be broken/stacked/scattered as well - f you were going to do these as little 2cm versions, would you make 1 long hexagonal stick first then cut each tile off with the hot wire?
Love this guide, just started with building and thinking about proxxon. Only concern is the dust/fumes when working with XPS. Do you use any kind of protection while cutting that many items?
Keep the little triangle off-cuts as they can be used to square up the map.
I bet if you were to glue the short faces of your cut off pieces together, then cut some rectangles to fit between the 45mm sides, you could glue them all together and have even more hexagons. And with the seems where the pieces are glued together, it would probably look like cobblestone. Though I know, cobblestone doesn't really fit in with Battletech.
A new hexagon can be made from a rectangle and two (wasted) triagles on each (long) side.
Can I contact a witch about hexes?
I've expected simple geometric solution with circles for perfect hexes...
Man. It feels like there ought to be a more efficient process for such a simple shape.
Instead of cutting the 2” tall blanks, cut a 6” or 8” inch long “column” into the hexagonal shape. Then slice the “column” into 2” sections.
WOW SO EASY! All I need to do is buy hundreds of dollars of large tools I don't have money or room for.
my friends this is not for any casual like me. It seems to make a simple board game Im going to have to buy overpriced hexigons :/
That seems to be the most difficult awkward way to make hexes that i have seen. I do perfect hexes using nothing but a craft knife and a metal ruler.. Im puzzled this seemed to be the most inefficient use of time.
Lol. Yea i was thinking this seems like a lot of work, and that i could essentially get the same results with a small extendo-blade box cutting knife from the dollar store and a ruler. I imagine id cut strips to the desired width, (35mm i think?) Then just cut out the triangles, then separate the hexes. For my terrain purposes it wouldnt need to be ultra precise. Id be adding trees and other stuff anyways. How would you do it?
@@MaxSabbath666 I simply start off making squares and using my MDF hex template cut the corners away. In a nutshell. Any small discrepancy can be sanded in seconds. Takes a minute or so for each hex
Thanks for the tutorial; two dimensional terrain is gross.
You are out of your mind.
Buy $3000 worth of tools, and you can cut some sweet $2 foam terrain!
Not even $250 in tools.
$25 for an 8x4 sheet of foam, proxxon cutter I got for $100, hot glue gun $10, calipers $20, bag of hot glue sticks $3, $10 for craft paints, flock cost $9 for a big shaker bottle, speed square $5, mod podge $5. So less then $200. Have 10 times that in just battletech miniatures let alone buildings and scatter terrain.
Aaarrggghh metric system. Maybe the guy narrating doesn’t know we don’t use metric in the U.S.