I continue to niggle away at ochmir as a background project.

What I want is a board, and two sets of pieces: one for two handed and one for three handed play.

I've decided that the simplest way to make a reasonably durable board is using fabric - calico or a light canvas would be best, since it would retain the permanent marker I will use to lay out the board.

The pieces have always given me trouble, though. My efforts at cutting them out of card were unsatisfactory: the counters had no heft, which matters when you have hundreds of pieces on a board which are easily disturbed by a sleeve or a breath of wind.

Then the other week I had an idea: mosaic tile. These two hexagonal pieces are 1" unglazed porcelain mosaic tiles. The tiles come in a 12x12 sheet held together by a mesh backing.

The boring bit is peeling the tiles off the mesh, scraping off the glue with a knife, then buffing the sticky residue off with a towel. Fortunately, the adhesive used is softened by water, so I soaked portions of the sheet in a container overnight. It's still a boring job. I will probably investigate sourcing the mosaic before it is made into sheets if I decide to make any more of these.

The porcelain hexes are lovely. They are a pleasing weight and feel good in the hand. And because they are unglazed, they hold paint well.

I have stripped one sheet of tiles so far to give me 144 tiles towards the two-handed set. I have another half sheet to work on for the remaining 72, then I can spray them all with blue paint on one side, do the necessary markings, and varnish them.

Then I just need to fins someone to play.

Posted by Dunx at May 31, 2007 06:48 AM