DIY Terrain: Modular Roads for Superhero/Zombie Games

Check out how I use Fat Dragon's Paper Terrain to create these modular boards. I'm using them for Crisis Protocol so increased their size to match the scale.
Patreon: / gaminggeekgiveaway
Fat Dragon Games Paper Files: www.fatdragongames.com/fdgfile...
Razor (one of many options): www.amazon.com/Utility-Retrac...
Ruler: www.amazon.com/Officemate-Cla...
Elmer's Glue Sticks: www.amazon.com/dp/B00ATJLLC8/...
Cutting Mat: www.amazon.com/Dahle-Vantage-...
Black Foam Board (Don't need this many but this is the size and brand I got at Walmart): www.amazon.com/Elmers-Board-M...

[@WispNL]

Late to the party, but since nobody mentioned it: if you want your layer choices to persist in the file, you need to change the default layer state in each layer's properties. This is in Acrobat Pro - not sure if the free Acrobat Reader also offers this option, though.

[@michaeladams6154]

Fantastic tile set! The varied different combinations of city blocks you assembled at the end looked great

[@paulkarlik1390]

This is amazing! I would love to be able to do this for zombicide

[@rking1106]

Thank you so much for this video, this type of terrain is exactly what I've been looking for.

[@wouterw.2945]

Great tutorial, I like the way these turned out and it requires a lot less tools than these DIY ones.

[@sriv1965sriv]

Phenomenal tutorial! I will definitely do this! Looking forward to seeing the tutorial on how to do the buildings.

[@briannearon4066]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing your build techniques. Looking forward to more of your builds.

[@styxxrivers7576]

Fantastic. I love that you layered the sidewalks.

[@TheBrushWizard]

Just printed these out today, after debating on the project for awhile. Looking forward to seeing it all on the table. Thanks for the run down!

[@gaminggeek241]

Hope it goes well!

[@JohnWise-vg3zj]

That is a great idea for making the sidewalks raised. It makes the whole city area look more realistic. I have printed these out and put on foamcore, but never made them raised like you did. This is awesome. I now have a weekend project redoing my sidewalks.

[@justina5173]

Awesome tutorial, made several pieces! Other than the corners being a pain in the butt to cut on the foamcore, overall a pretty simple project. The raised sidewalks was a great idea!

[@justinvasquez1152]

So... How did you work it in Word? I tried a sample snip and insert into a word page and made it 8 across. It just bleeds off the page. I couldn't move the picture to correct it. Drove me insane, I cannot figure out how you did it. Please advise as I really want to do this. One Justin to another, Help a brotha out!

[@neoGAMER316]

This is a great idea. I'm a beginner with miniature games and I did this for my Batman miniature game. Helped me a lot. Thanks!

[@egarvue]

Great video! Thank you, I'm always looking for inexpensive, quick building terrain. Liked and subscribed!

[@gaminggeek241]

Thanks! Glad it helps!

[@jacobhope6164]

Wow! Simple and beautiful, like the black cocktail dress of modern city street terrain. Well done sir! Thanks for the tutorial.

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad it was helpful!

[@harmonyinclarity]

this is a really awesome, helpful tutorial. this is gonna make my games so much better than with just a mat. thanks!

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad it is helpful! Make sure to watch the followup video with the building options.

[@reagan_helms]

Fantastic video! Thanks for putting it together.

[@shawnp601]

Thank you so much for this. I’m primarily a mini painter but was drawn to marvel CP because of the awesome mini’s! I was struggling to find a solution for making a terrain map for the game and this seems to be a perfect approach!

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad it is helpful! Good luck making your board!

[@jamesblaine5517]

I love the idea of the raised roads for this, wish I would have thought to do that to the Heroclix board I made 6 years ago. Might have to rebuild my board hopefully I still have the files I got from Wold Works somewhere.

[@thegamethemovie9605]

Same!

[@JohnnyLeyenda]

Dude! Can I just say thank you so much! I followed this video and ended up making my own as well. Board is now ready but I'm following up with the Buildings.

[@gaminggeek241]

Awesome! Glad it was helpful! Hope you get some good games of Crisis Protocol in!

[@darkaiel]

Just got a kickstarter in for a great cyberpunk game and came back to this video. What a great resource!

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad to be a resource!

[@brazila]

Very cool man, thanks so much, excited to copy this!

[@robsonribeiro7552]

Great solution, exactly what I'm looking for! Thx!

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad this was helpful!

[@badgerwijohnson4081]

Can't wait to build this!

[@robertspears8301]

Very nice. I did something similar in the past using the now defunct WorldWorks Games sets, though I like FatDragon, too. One extra step that you could consider is to cut an additional strip of the concrete texture and cover the exposed raw edge of the foamcore.

[@gaminggeek241]

Yeah, I actually thought about painting the edges grey but decided to move the project forward. Maybe I'll come back after I get all the buildings done and do the curbs with strips.

[@brianv7581]

Great idea, Awesome content as always.

[@semperatis]

Brilliant idea,that's thinking outside the box.

[@PixelPusher0102]

Late to the Crisis Protocol game, but thank you!! this is simply brilliant.

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad it helps! Good luck!

[@mikey_vengenz]

You gave me a few ideas with this tutorial!

[@brunoduchesne6663]

Nice video. Thank you very much. I use Mat Varnish in spray can insted of Mod Podge to protect the tiles. Mod Podge on foam board warp the paper.

[@justinvasquez1152]

what kind of spray, wouldn't that warp it or eat the foam?

[@brunoduchesne6663]

I used Mat Varnish from Army Painter only on the paper after being glued with glue stick. No warping.

[@millsvalleycrafts]

If your board warps, give the other side a coat and it should flatten back out.

[@chalkboy8]

I like the way you raised the sidewalks! I use artist canvas panels to glue the paper terrain on top of it with Mod Podge. The canvases come in precut sizes (including 8 x 8). You don't have to cut the foam and it won't warp like the foam does.

[@gaminggeek241]

That's a great idea! Do you cover the entire print with Mod Podge? Doesn't that wrinkle the sheet?

[@chalkboy8]

@@gaminggeek241 I do both sides of the sheet. I'll podge the top after it dries to the canvas. I also podge paper terrain before i cut it out. It strengthens piece and gives it a little texture. Mod Podge changed my life.

[@gaminggeek241]

@@chalkboy8 Wow, that makes them almost indestructible! I'll have to try it with my next project. Thanks for sharing!

[@chalkboy8]

@@gaminggeek241 here are some vids I made there is some wrinkling but you'll be able to eliminate them when you do this project kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5jYn3eom75kpLM kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqXRqX9prdhng8U You can take this message off if you want., Thanks!!!

[@andywilliams2956]

Excellent idea 👍

[@jasonstatham5879]

I know my local Dollarama has 10"X10" MDF tiles. I might have to look at something like this with those. I've also seen someone use the stick down tiles and EVA foam sheets to make city tiles. Even put the EVA through a laser engraver to do crack details and manhole covers.

[@tinaprice4948]

Looks amazing!

[@gregorycook3550]

Very cool! I love this idea and def cheaper.

[@Elemental_Entity]

Thank you so much. Just reinstalled acrobat, the layer adjust is on the opposite side than yours, but works great!

[@gaminggeek241]

Glad you got it figured out! Yes, the layer button was on the right side of the free version and looked a little different.

[@Valkier_Kato]

I'm having a terrible time with Acrobat. Do you know if there is ANY other free program that will let me edit the layers and export them?

[@TheGrungy1]

Looks good.

[@MrCasper1271]

This is an awesome idea thabk you for the inspiration!!

[@NapGod]

this is really great tyvm!

[@jerric1228]

I was excited to make a custom crew in core space based on guardians of the galaxy but they won’t look right alongside standard minis, but in most cases the terrain will look ok.

[@Morbious666]

Looks great. Good job =)

[@essay19711]

Thanks for sharing, just seen in FB group! 👍

[@Rinhammer]

Thats frigg'n awesome!

[@OmegaLittleBob]

This is very cool!

[@christophhintze7917]

To scale a print in Reader; use a calculator and divide the size you want by the actual size, this will give you the percentage to print. If you are using a printing service vs. printing yourself, get a free PDF printer from the internet and print to a PDF. This will give you , your re-scaled map segments.

[@KentuckyFriedGamers]

Fat Dragon stuff is awesome

[@gwrulzmylife]

Great video!

[@nittneylion84]

Thinking about adding (embedding) magnets to edges to keep tiles from moving

[@gaminggeek241]

That's a good idea--the trick will be figuring the polarity so that all configurations could work.

[@andreweckford6319]

@@gaminggeek241 Yep... 2 on each edge, left always North, right always South and you should be set.

[@TheDarkOne508]

Print, then print to file set it at pdf. Or use a program like pdf factory pro

[@MarkusWeird]

Excellent !

[@Luigiwarrior]

Just found your channel! This is absolutely fantastic! Quick question, as a newbie to Miniature games, where did you get the buildings? Are they 3D printed?

[@gaminggeek241]

They are a combination of 3D prints, 2D prints, and purchased for O Scale train terrain. It's all in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4bbZYKDYqaXbdU

[@lonelymonkpg]

Brilliant!

[@williamjohnson4497]

Nice. A good build anyone can do. I think in adobe, after you modify you can choose print then choose print as pdf and select the page you prepared. It should save as seperate pdf with your choices.

[@gaminggeek241]

Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. I should have thought of that! Thanks for posting!

[@roberthaddon5069]

Yep. Came here to say “Print to PDF” should do it, but William said it already. Some PDF apps also have a “flatten” option, either by itself or as part of the save operation, that will do the same.

[@MavChi76]

Fantastic video. Did you use normal paper or higher?

[@gaminggeek241]

I used the normal paper that was in the color copy machine at Office Depot, which seems higher quality than the paper in the black and white machines. It has somewhat of a semi gloss finish to it (or that could be in the ink). You could use cardstock if you wanted to but it wasn't necessary for me.

[@JakeDogg-RIP]

Very good!

[@chasertalk]

thanks so much for this guide! I tweaked the images to be 9 inch square and then had the images printed out on ledger paper - I was too OCD not to get a 3 foot square.

[@gaminggeek241]

How did you get 9" prints? I felt confined to an 8.5" x 11" standard size paper.

[@chasertalk]

​@@gaminggeek241Office Max can print on ledger size paper which is 11 x 17 inches. It was printed at one of their regional facilities and then shipped to me but I don't think it upped the cost much.

[@gaminggeek241]

@@chasertalk Wish I would have known that! Oh well, live and learn. Glad you got your perfect 3' square!

[@Scubasgamecorner]

That's a great idea...do you still have the files you used to send to them? wink wink :)

[@heirsolo08]

Awesome! But which are the files in Fat Dragon? I only see buildings in Modern section.

[@ricardobarreras6280]

Hi @Gamingeek! Any chance you can do an update video with the proper 9" size squares for a 3' x 3' mat? I saw someone mention below that they did it but it may as well have been in Latin because I did not comprehend their explanation. REALLY want to try this but have never tried anything like this before and do not really know where to start. Thanks in advance!

[@gaminggeek241]

Sorry, I can't do an update video because I am sticking with my 8" tiles but it sounds like you can size the tiles to be 9" and have a printing service use larger format paper (here in the US, it is 11x17 apparently, although that is a lot of wasted paper if you are taking up only a 9x9). If you go into Word, Publisher, or most of your word processing programs, you have the option of resizing the standard size of the paper to 11x17 (try googling "resizing paper in Word"). Or, even simpler, you can print through Acrobat Reader and select Page Setup at the bottom left corner and click the drop-down menu for Size (you have to experiment with what percentage to print at with this option to get 9" squares). If that doesn't make sense, email me at [e-mail] and I can set up a video call and show you.

[@greglott4977]

Great stuff! Did you say how many of each that you printed?

[@gaminggeek241]

I didn't keep track but what you can do is draw out a layout and then see how many of each piece you need. I'm not home right now so can't count out the pieces for you.

[@Frostolo1981]

Great great tutorial. Can I ask what scale are your die cast vehicles?

[@gaminggeek241]

I think it is 1 : 43. I go into more detail in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4bbZYKDYqaXbdU

[@akillys0586]

Would you be able to scale these to 9x9? You could then use four and it would be 36 inches

[@njh113]

Thank you for this terrific terrain tutorial! Have you had any issues with these tiles moving during game play?

[@gaminggeek241]

No, not really, but that might be because I have 3D printed terrain on them. If you have issues, you can lay down those drawer liners that have some grip to them.

[@njh113]

@@gaminggeek241 great idea! Thanks for your reply!

[@justinvasquez1152]

So... How did you work it in Word? I tried a sample snip and insert into a word page and made it 8 across. It just bleeds off the page. I couldn't move the picture to correct it. Drove me insane, I cannot figure out how you did it. Please advise as I really want to do this

[@Jathom]

I know it's bee a few months, but if you're still trying to fix this, it sounds like you need to adjust the margins on the paper. Because Word is a word processor and not like, say, Publisher, its area is constrained by the margins that the paper has set. Turn those off or reduce them and more stuff fits on the page.

[@JasonSouthwell75]

Got 24 tiles done over the holiday!

[@gaminggeek241]

Great job! What kind of buildings are you opting to do?

[@JasonSouthwell75]

Gaminggeek I have printed the police station from Corvus so far. Still don’t have the game yet. Not going overboard on terrain until I realize how much gameplay it will get here first. Will be my first miniatures game. Been enjoying the champions card game mostly.

[@Raph_Raconte]

Hello, great work !!! but I have question, how do you do for having a terrain 36" x 36" with tiles 8" x 8" ?

[@gaminggeek241]

I don't--I make my board a little larger as a 40"x40".

[@seanpatrickkinney9593]

Very awesome video - I have a table that is 5 foot by 3 foot. Am curious if I would run into any problems or issues doing these in 6" squares instead of 8"?

[@gaminggeek241]

No, that isn't a problem at all. With your table, you will be able to field a 6x10 grid with 6" squares.

[@seanpatrickkinney9593]

@@gaminggeek241 did a small set at 6" and a set at 9" - the 9" seems to scale better with the terrain / vehicles from the core box. Still have not settled on either yet though

[@seanpatrickkinney9593]

Ended up going with a set at 7.2" and a set at 9". Going to set out both this weekend! Thank you for such an awesome video

[@wayner396]

Wow, that's genius

[@billchristo7894]

That’s fantastic. Can the tiles be made to 12x12? Or would the digital files give one a big problem?

[@gaminggeek241]

12x12 is definitely an option--the reason why I went with smaller was so it would fit the standard 8.5 x 11" paper here in the US.

[@jeffc4757]

@@gaminggeek241 So I want to do 12"x12" as I got some nice precut 1/4" MDF sheets and some real thick card stock for the side walks. But worried about just up-scaling the files, as the scale of the roads would be off. So I may try stitching some together in the gimp or something. Also, FYI to people worried about layers not being supported, PDF Studio Viewer is free, for windows, mac, and linux, and it supports the layers. Remove the layers you don't want, print to virtual pdf printer and good to go.

[@Can_O_Cheese]

Just picked up the pack and Mc Dooms from Fat Dragon yesterday, was only $5 for both.

[@gaminggeek241]

That's an awesome price!

[@carlosmucha3669]

Awesome tutorial! Can you please tell me what kind of paper you use for print the streets? Regular white copy paper? Cardstock? Glossy paper?

[@gaminggeek241]

I used 110lb cardstock from Walmart: tinyurl.com/46zj8pdn

[@gaminggeek241]

Matte photo paper should be fine--as long as it isn't glossy, you will be okay.

[@Nosferatuklown]

Working on this project now - making sure I've got my list down as you posted but with the correct Layer Names within Adobe, you did 14 "Straight Streets"/16 "Pavements"/4 "Street L Corner"/4 "Street T Corner"/2 "Street X Corner"/1 "Tile 1" (from McDoom's)/ 1 "Tile 2" (from McDoom's)/1 "Tile 3" (from McDoom's)/ 1 "Tile 4" (from McDoom's) correct?...the major questioning I have and the reason I ask is that seems like a lot of "Pavement" tiles versus what I see in your video. Thank you for your help.

[@gaminggeek241]

Yeah, I have a lot more than necessary thinking I would do larger scale battles but you don't really need it. Just do a layout on paper and print those instead. Also, I double sided the tiles so that pavements were glued onto the backs of the roads.

[@jenserikaugustinussen3833]

I live in Denmark, where we don't carry that brand, what would be the generic name for those foam boards? (what material are they made out of)

[@gaminggeek241]

It is called "foam core board" with some kind of styrofoam sandwiched between two sheets of paper. If you can't find it in an art store, try calling an architecture firm since they use it to make models of buildings.

[@stephanegrimard2687]

I like it

[@Spacetech3000]

I know its been awhile since u made this, but hows the foam holding up?

[@RhettEldred]

The Fat Dragon pack seems to only have the grid versions. Any idea where we can get the non-grid versions?

[@gaminggeek241]

If you open the file up in Adobe PDF reader, you can open up the layers and hide that layer with the grid. You can actually pick and choose which layers you want to appear before printing.

[@ep9691]

Can you tell me the resolution of the file you got from Fat Dragon Games? Just need to make sure if I change the scale to 9x9 squares the image printer will be sharp and not lose sharpness

[@gaminggeek241]

The image is large enough that scaling it up won't be a problem, especially just one inch bigger than where I printed at.

[@brainchildroom]

Awesome! I'm using this idea for my MCP battle mat :) May I know the scale of the car modes are you using?

[@gaminggeek241]

If you watch my follow up video, I disclose that the cars I bought from Hobby Lobby did not have the scale printed on them. But as long as you get it close, it doesn't matter too much: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4bbZYKDYqaXbdU

[@brainchildroom]

@@gaminggeek241 Great! That's very helpful. Thank you.

[@darioriviezzo2332]

i'm a little bit confused on the dimensions of the tiles... if i want to make a 3x3 terrain, how many tiles do i need?

[@gaminggeek241]

So the tiles I made are 8"x8" due to paper size. So you would need 4.5 tiles to get to 36". You can do slightly smaller than 3' with 16 tiles or go slightly larger with 25 tiles. Or, if you print out the tiles at 9x9", you only need four to get to 36" (16 total).

[@nickmaroney2536]

Question. You said they need to be 8" wide, what are they length ways? Is it a perfect square? Sorry to ask

[@gaminggeek241]

Yes, perfect square. You can make it any size you want but I made 8" because that was the size of my paper to print.

[@ClassicLes]

I love this idea, but i'm struggling with the measurements atm, (I'm used to CM instead of Inches and Feet) I noticed when setting a sample for Marvel Crisis Protocol I found using 5x5 tiles was the exact playmat for the Objective cards. But that could be because I fumbled on the measurements.

[@gaminggeek241]

Each of the tiles is 23 cm wide--hope that helps!

[@ClassicLes]

@@gaminggeek241 Thank you very much! I tried 20,32 cm today and that seemed allright, but i'm going to try 23 cm tomorrow! (and hope the marges in Word are not becoming a big issue.

[@ncravo4180]

@@ClassicLes 23cm is 9 inches. 8 inches is 20,32cm. I thought the tiles were scaled up to 8 inches?

[@Scubasgamecorner]

this is such a great idea, Roughly how much did it cost you total ...files, foam board etc....

[@gaminggeek241]

Hmmm, I don't remember exactly but possibly 4 boards of foam core for about $3.50 each and then the color copies--maybe a little less than $50? I'm guessing here.

[@Scubasgamecorner]

Gaminggeek Ok, Thank you... love the modularity of this board

[@ngkenneth8236]

may I ask what material you use for building Mac's doom? Foam Board as usual?

[@gaminggeek241]

No, it's just printed on 110 lb cardstock. Check out my followup video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4bbZYKDYqaXbdU

[@ThePsychoKillers]

Nice Dragon King in the back... Did you paint that yourself?

[@gaminggeek241]

Thanks! Yes, I painted up the bosses and a lot of different kinds of survivors.

[@ThePsychoKillers]

@@gaminggeek241 I haven't even painted any bosses. They are so large I really don't have the room. All my bosses and expansions are still sealed in their boxes, including the dragon king. I really need to get back into the game. Waiting for my Gamblers chest to arrive next year (Hopefully) and that is gonna be a lot of painting. Either way, keep up the great work. you make it look so easy. I painted one of the cars that came with Crisis protocol and took me 4hrs. lol

[@Shoppeross]

This is great! I want to make these! You said that game is 40mm but I want to use it for The Walking Dead at 32mm. Is the standard 7” square size the correct scale or does it still need to be scaled up?

[@gaminggeek241]

The standard 7" square will work with 32 mm. But if you have a 3D printer, wait until my video drops on March 8 to see another cool option that would work for Walking Dead.

[@Shoppeross]

@@gaminggeek241 I do have a 3D printer, just need to replace the fans. Thank you for replying! Looking forward to your next video.

[@Monjeman]

How many and what kind of distribution would you recommend... as in how many corners, "parks", straight lanes, intersecions shouls I make for a decent project? (SOrry if you mentioned it and missed it on the vid...)

[@gaminggeek241]

That is dependent on what kind of layout you like and how many buildings you want to put on the board. At minimum, you should have two corners, two T-junctions, one 4-way, six straights, and six no-streets. Start with that and add from there.

[@Monjeman]

@@gaminggeek241 thank you very much

[@matthewsworld3127]

If The Modular Roads Are for Superheroes/Zombie Games, Can it be a Diorama for Godzilla, Kong and other Kaiju Figures?

[@gaminggeek241]

Sure, although the scale of the Kaiju would have to be three feet tall!

[@seanpatrickkinney9593]

What type of paper/card stock did you use for the fat dragon buildings?

[@gaminggeek241]

110lb cardstock that I bought from Walmart.

[@earleallen3799]

How wide are your sidewalks? I want the road to be 6" wide but 1" sidewalks seem skinny looking when I print out my roads Great video TIA....

[@gaminggeek241]

The sidewalks are almost 1.5" wide including the curb and without the curb, have 1-1/8" squares. The road is only 5" wide so you would need to scale everything up.

[@ratrod67]

Acrobat reader is subscription based I think right? Just wanting to make sure I'm looking at the right thing.

[@gaminggeek241]

No, Acrobat Reader is a free download. Click here but make sure to uncheck the Optional Offers: get.adobe.com/reader/?promoid=KSWLH

[@ratrod67]

@@gaminggeek241 Thank you!!!

[@mikeallen3901]

How did you cut yours so perfectly? Mine have gaps and are crooked. I feel I’ve wasted so much already. :(

[@gaminggeek241]

Instead of trying to cut in one pass, it's better to do multiple shallow cuts. Also, having a sharp knife helps.

[@mikeallen3901]

@@gaminggeek241 I already do that, but still not cutting well.

[@lorddraconum]

How are your tiles holding up? I am thinking of building a table.

[@gaminggeek241]

Holding up well. They slide around easily so throw down a non-skid mat on your table for these to sit on and you'll be great.

[@lorddraconum]

@@gaminggeek241 I will have to look into that. I am just making some at the moment. Though have to pick up more supplies i think.

[@maverick171083]

what kind of paper did you use?

[@anthonyparenti1370]

Did you print the graphics on regular printer paper or cardstock?

[@gaminggeek241]

110 lb cardstock.

[@anthonyparenti1370]

@@gaminggeek241 thanks!

[@antonioalcantaramartinez1916]

Sorry to ask but what kind of psper is that? Dont seem like regular

[@gaminggeek241]

I'm not sure--it was the paper that was in the printer at my local Office Max where I copied off the prints. It looks a little shiny so maybe it is more the laser ink they use than the paper?

[@albertfajarito1]

What paper is used for printing?

[@gaminggeek241]

Regular copy paper.

[@duncanwalden7867]

Where did you get the terrain?

[@gaminggeek241]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4bbZYKDYqaXbdU

[@jenserikaugustinussen3833]

Also, what quality paper did you use?

[@gaminggeek241]

It is just regular copy paper that was in the copy machine at the store.

[@jenserikaugustinussen3833]

Thanks :) I was wondering wether or not to buy glossy photo paper

[@Nick_Whiskey]

thats so fucking smart

[@TrezonasReptiles]

Can I pay you to make me a set and ship them to me?

[@scottlidstone1902]

Having 5 people over... ah the good old days.

[@rodrick6538]

Bitchin…