At present, stock bases do slide around readily, but he has plans to make it be a more slip resistant surface.

Very nice!  A friend and I have been working on the concept of space board also:  The surface will be plexiglass with airbrushed effects.  Several tiny diameter holes will be then drilled in surface for installation of fiber optic lighting kit.  The fiber optic kit will be set up with an alternating color change pattern, so the effect on the board will be gradually color changing stars.  We already use small rotating bases under our half-hemisphere planets so that they have a rotational visual effect.  Don't expect to see the final product anytime too soon!

He posted these pics on other forums and all people want to know is how they can make their own, but he hasn't replied to any post.

if you want to keep it secret then it's fine, but at least say it. I really wanted to make one for my little bro.

@ Rage, I made mine primarily so my little boy could play vs. me on.  He's only six and has beaten me twice!  I call it luck, though Obi-Wan might disagree.

I used 20mm thick MDF board to start with cut to 4x4', it's a gaming table I've had for a while. 

Simple version: Get a string of battery operated LEDs from Ebay or similar, I mangaed to get 40 for about £5 but a few more won't hurt.  Spread them out and mark out the positions.  Drill small holes (0.5-1.5mm) from the top (playing) surface of the table all the way through.  Then drill holes the diameter of the LED bulbs about half way through the table from the other side.  Paint the surface black adding white dots and other space details to taste.  Pop in LEDs, switch on and then play.  Easy as toast.  There is a link to my original idea in the first post I think, if not just search for my posts, I'm not massively active so there won't be much history to wade through.

R2-EQ's table is more refined than mine as I was kind of making it up as I went along.

Good luck and have fun.

@ Rage. Wow, what's ur problem? U really picked an appropriate alias. Learn some manners.

To everyone else thanks for the kind words. It was my pleasure to share the table with you and I hope it was inspiring.

As far as it having a slippery surface R5Don4 is right. It's sealed in a gloss varnish to protect the paint, and I need to recoat with a softer matt I have in mind. Hopefully that will lessen the problem.

For those interested in how it was made, Nalydd explained the trickiest part about drilling the LED holes.

The table itself is constructed of a 3/4 mdf wood slab. On the back of that is a mitred picture frame also of 3/4 mdf. A hardboard backing is nailed to the picture frame which covers all the wiring. You can pretty much figure out how to build it by looking at the posted photos. It's not too difficult, but you should have some basic carpentry skills. You'll need a table saw to do a good job though. The nebula was hand and spray painted.

The build was fairly labour intensive, especially cleaning out and checking all the little LED holes! MDF also soaks up lots of paint. All told the materials cost was not cheap. I was surprised how much they added up to. At least the LEDs are reasonable if you buy them from China through eBay. I looked locally and they can get very expensive.

I'm planning on building another table because the current one is pretty heavy, weighing almost 35 lbs! I think I can improve the finish look of it and lessen the weight. I'm also thinking of having some purple nebulas to spice up the playing surface :)

I wonder how you could make one with a moving starfield?   like this …http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQA4EqiFhtE

You might try spraying the surface with an aerosol rubber coating. That would make it pretty non-skid. I believe you can get it from a hobby or craft store.

The rubber wouldn't work, it would be an uneven surface. Worst case scenario a light sanding of the varnish might do the trick. I'll get back to it later as I just got my wave 2 ships and want to repaint 2 a-wings :)

It should work. The aerosol spray makes for a very thin coating. It's not like pouring a layer of rubber on the table. Think a coat of paint.

Gullwind said:

Ok that sounds interesting. Next time in at the Depot I'll keep an eye out for a can of it.

Can you tell me what battery you used to connect the LEDs? And how did you do it?

i have a few battery holders, LEDs, and wire already tried it put them together but I fried a few bulbs already

thanks

Rage, you'll be best off getting something like this if you can:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BATTERY-OPERATED-40-Warm-WHITE-LED-FAIRY-LIGHTS-Xmas-PARTY-WEDDING-Portable-/181042088310?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Night_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item2a26f30976

AWESOME TABLE!!