The Data Sphere Project – Systema Table

Recently we received a big surprise from our friends of Systema! They showed an amazing table design on their Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. It was a elevated city area, with planters, bridges, lots of doors, and lots of buildings.

Pretty amazing, right? Systema was kind enough to send us a platform like this, to create some piece of art for future battle reports. Seeing the potential of this project, we asked Systema to allow us to turn the table into a series about the project for our readers. They said ‘yes’, and here we are. At the first entry of Systema’s Table.

We’re going to show the progress of the table, and we’ll also talk about tips and tricks for taking on such a project.
Remember that all the big and beautiful tables shown at some events, those are accomplished by professionals and hobbyist alike. They are big projects, but most are accomplished by regular gamers such as you and me. 😉 We’ll dive into this project in order to show you not just a crisp end result, but also the stages in between, in a way to show you that it can be done.

Some details of the table. It’s a piece of art on its own, and we’re gonna make it even better! 😉

Set up
Today we’ll talk about the first steps.
The plates of MDF constructions got delivered to me already constructed. Luckily nothing was damaged, but I can not show you how we went on to construct these elevated tiles. We’ll take it as a craftsman’s secret than! 😉 Systema knows how to make these, like Coca Cola knows their own recipe.

When they got in the mail in a big package, first thing I did was check if everything was there and if I needed to repair anything.
Luckily everything was looking to be A-OK!

4 big elevations to create a large platform on a 120cm by 120cm table. The tiles were looking ok, but they weren’t very stable. The construction is hollow on the inside, so you couldn’t really shove them around, as the sides could break off if you did.

How to make a table stable and strong?
For a table to become strong and stable, you need to work with a good foundation. I went to the local D.I.Y. store, where I bought 2 plates of 12mm thick MDF, and let someone saw these in four tiles of 61 by 61cm since I wasn’t really sure whether the Systema constructions were sized in inches or centimeters. Better safe than sorry, right!? 😉

122 centimeters is 48.0315 inches, which makes the four tiles of 61 centimeters large enough for a 4×4 feet table.

Systema’s table is 60×60, so I have a bit of a bumper along all sides of the table. Not bad actually, and I doubt you’ll notice the 1 cm (somewhere around 0.4 inch) during play. Still, this bumper is something to keep in mind later on. I need to work with it.

I went with 12mm as it was the first thickness that wasn’t flexible as a 1.22 meter slab of MDF. Knowing that they would be cut in halves, I knew the 12mm thickness was stable enough to work with. It wouldn’t bend easily, was heavy enough to not flip over if you’d lean down on it and was thick enough not to break if you pick it up for transport.

Transport is something to keep in mind too. Are you going to travel with this table, or will it be a piece in your basement? If you need to transport it a lot, you’d better cut it down into manageable sized parts. You could go for a 4-tile construction, but I’ve seen a 9-tile construction work well enough as well. If you’re not going to drive the table around, you could as well use two tiles.

I plan to use this table for future battle reports, and to showcase during tournaments or conventions in my country. This will be a travel table, so breaking the table down in manageable parts was a good call.

Glueing
The Systema tiles were glued on their MDF tiles with regular PVA glue. I like the combination of PVA and MDF. The fibers of MDF seem to soak the PVA glue and every MDF thing becomes a super-sturdy construction.
PVA is the white ‘woodglue’ that you can buy in many craft stores. Nothing special. I even think that stuff is edible, as I’ve seen it being used by small children as well.

Since the tiles were already constructed, some were a little bit.. wonky and bend. The MDF tile underneath them pulls them straight again, but in order to have them stick, I need to put something heavy on top of it.

When glued on a tile like this, the Systema tiles are very very sturdy and can take a hit with ease. I know.. one of them was glued wrongly in its place, and I spend about 10 minutes trying to get it unstuck from its MDF-tile. You know how that goes, you realize your mistake when the glue is all dried up and stuck.

Next up: priming MDF!