Scenic and Magnetic Movement Trays Part 1

Building scenic magnetic movement trays for Midgard using 3D printed bases, flexible steel sheets, and Vallejo mud texture—a practical tutorial on the whole process.

Transcript

Today we’re jumping right into building movement trays. I’m using 3D printed bases, but you can use plasticard sheets instead—way cheaper and more cost effective. I’m finishing up my 3D printing journey, so I just used up the resin I had left in the tank to print these. They’re for Midgard, 160 by 120 millimeters.

Flexible Steel, Not Magnets

Important distinction: the trays themselves aren’t magnetic. This is flexible steel, not magnetic sheet. We keep magnets in the figure bases instead. So the bases on the figures are magnetic and stick to the steel in the movement trays. My butcher has a magnet on the bottom, and it sticks right to the steel. This just keeps bases attached during gameplay.

Cutting and Fitting

I laid out the steel sheets to figure out the best layout, trying to avoid cutting as much as possible. For cutting, I fold the sheet on the line, crease it with the razor knife, then pull straight back from the shoulder—same motion as drawing a straight line on paper. No ruler needed.

I’m keeping the steel slightly short of the tray edges. A figure isn’t going to be right at the edge anyway, so the steel will grab any figure on top of it. Doesn’t need to be perfect.

Beveling the Edges

After sanding the tray edges and painting them black with Mr. Surfacer, I bevel the steel edges unevenly with a flexible razor knife. When I put mud material on top, I don’t want hard edges—I want a gradual lift up. Even with the bevel, magnets still stick fine. We’re not losing any magnetic strength.

The uneven beveling is actually better since we’re covering everything in terrain compound. The less uniform, the more organic it’ll look when it’s all covered in mud texture.

Applying Vallejo Mud

Late night in the kitchen applying Vallejo mud texture paste. You can’t really see where the magnetic strip is once the mud goes on, which is the whole point. Unfortunately this stuff takes forever to dry—four-hour cure time minimum, and some trays were still wet the next morning.

This is going to have to be a part two video. See you tomorrow where we actually finish these up.