@ Camarodragon and KnightShift:

The mats look great, but I am wondering how playable the vinyl surface is. Do ships move around easily if bumped, etc. I've played on an "official" FFG tournament map from the World Championships (thanks, hothie!), and found it to be very "slick" and susceptible to easily moving the ship bases unintentionally. I know I am not alone in this observation. A simple felt mat is much better in this regard, like those made by Monday Knight Productions, or made from simple craft felt. I'm curious if the vinyl from bannersonthecheap.com and other sources, such as Gale Force 9, provide a grippy surface to help mitigate the human error that is a part of this game.

TL;DR Do the ships slide around on these?

Well, they're available from the store I work for:

Deep Space - https://www.scifigenre.com/itemDetail.aspx?nItemID=132678&sid=01S1YRSV12UH1N1

"Space Station" (Death Star) - https://www.scifigenre.com/itemDetail.aspx?nItemID=132679&sid=01S1YRSV12UH1N1

I may get a Corvette just for the image!  My 7 year old would love it

Here is the board my brother and I made. We used 1/4 inch 2x2 pre cut boards. They were pretty warped so we used some flush mount picture hangers to help interlock them and get them to level out. We then just used a gray primer, which we left a 6 inch boarder for cards and tokens for use on a smaller table (supports itself) or for larger games. We then used black spray paint, some white tempura paint flicked on with a toothbrush, and then sealed it with a clear coat. I think it turned out well and so does every one else that has played on it. For some reasons pictures make it look a lot more glare happy then it is.

Does anyone know when the GF9 asteroids are going to be released?

Looks great Hujoe, how I want to make my board when I get time/money

The stars look great! I like the density of them, has a very 'star wars' feel to it.

i have tried foam board ( initially was good, then warped and didn't transport well), now I use a piece of 3x3 felt.  

As far as 'grippiness' of the GF9 mats, they are pretty good.

Hujoe Bigs said:

Very cool, I espcially like your method of getting the star field by flicking with a toothbrush.  If the glare ever becomes an issue it can easily be fixed with a coat of flat clear coat.  I think I will practice and then use the toothbrush technique on my neoprene when it arrives.  I also like your method of 2'x2' tiles wich make for easy transport and a stable playing surface.  Thank you for sharing!

Cheers

[quote]Does anyone know when the GF9 asteroids are going to be released?[/quote]

You can make your own fairly easily. I got some lavarock from the garden center, drilled holes for the stems and glued them in place. Attach bases and you're done. I made a whole boxful for SFB, and I plan to use them for X-wing by placing them on top of the asteroid counters.

I thank every one for the complements. From what I can gather, people are looking for decent boards for this game and there aren't a lot of options. So i am wondering what would you all be willing to pay for a decent board? My brother and I have been tossing around ideas for this and it would be quite possible to produce these in a bigger quantity at decent turn around. All the boards would have a unique pattern seeing as it is individually painted and the boarders could be done in a different style or color. Seeing as this board was a prototype we know what to do and could make them look much nicer now and much more sturdy (this thing has already survived over 20 car trips), so any ideas?

Edit: We also noticed that the pattern reflects almost identically to the movement range rulers.

Right-Titan,

Where did you get the flight stands you used for the asteroids?

RogueMorgan

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I started mine today. I got some thin plywood squares and 1x2 for the frame. My dad has a pretty well-equipped shop, so this gave me a chance to play with some of his toys.

I came up wil a different idea for holding the together - magnets. I drilled out som holes in the sides of the frame deep enough to countersink some 1" magnets I got from Hobby Lobby. Two on each of the adjoining sides will hold them in place (I hope). I'm waiting for the epoxy to set now, then I'll test it out. Then we just have to paint the starfield and play!

Gaming board 3x3' 1/2" sheeting. 40x40" felt layed over rough side for traction. Stapled under with a manual staple gun. Use dentist/hobby picks or a toothpick with cheapo walmart acrylic paints, white gloss. Dot repeatedly as desired. Bright stars to background luminaries. Turn slightly to side for galaxy effects. Reds, yellows and blues can break up the color. Don't like to overdoe it with the nebulae effects. I feel it creates too much confusion with all the markers. Nice and clean 70's starfield. And the felt gives traction to the key components.

Asteroids:

Hobby/craft store picked up some styrofoam eggs. Different sizes in bag. Molded with fingers first to desired shape. used fingers, brushes, handles or anything to create crater/pocks. Can accentuate by shaping the outer crater effects. Good dusty black primer- 2 light coats. Cheapo walmart acrylics. Dark brown and then light. Try to drybrush cause you want those shadows. any styrofoam that does come thru can pass as mineral and ice so its visually appealling.

Bases are precut wood(almost balsa) circle package. Get 2 packs. 1 1/2" washers. 1/8" wood craft sticks/skewers. Drill center holes in cicles. Glue washers to base for weight. Glue stands into holes. Make sure you get an idea about which asteroid is attaching to which base and stand for cicumference and height. Coat black primer. Skewer then glue asteroid. Finish base with star details with a pick. Use extra circles and I painted them red to replace the asteroids when overlap or ship placement becomes an issue. Yay!