Upgrade your board game tokens and improve the look, feel and durability. I think this will be especially useful for those who want to upgrade games like Quacks of Quedlinburg or other games where you draw tokens out of a bag. This can be a stand-alone upgrade but for me this is just the first steps to take your tokens to the next level as you will see in part 2. I will show you step by step how to colour the edges of your tokens and then how to spray them more durable and waterproof.
Here are some useful links where I found inspiration. Perfect if you want to learn more and read the experiences from others in the community who have tried the same thing.
Varnish edges for Quacks of Quedlinburg:
boardgamegeek.com/thread/2356...
How to deluxeify your tokens:
boardgamegeek.com/thread/2974...
Discussion of varnish your tokens on reddit:
/ varnish_on_cardboard
_________________________________________________________________________
If you want to buy the things I used here are some affiliate links.
It will not cost you anything extra but you will support me by using these links when you buy these products. A great way to show your support if you like what I do.
Amazon USA
Posca Pens:
amzn.to/3TRCHJy
Sharpies:
amzn.to/3Jiriha
Bead Board (aka Pegboard):
www.amazon.com/Beads-Boards-P...
Gloss Varnish:
www.amazon.com/Liquitex-39500...
Mod Podge:
www.amazon.com/dp/B003W0XR8M?...
Amazon Sweden
Posca Pens:
amzn.to/3VURjL5
Sharpies:
www.amazon.se/Sharpie-2065404...
Please note, this craft is not intended for unsupervised children as it involves sharp knives.
Timecodes
0:00 Intro
0:50 Preparation
1:10 Choose Your Pens
2:22 Colour Token Edges
3:46 Varnish Tokens
6:46 Durability Test
8:20 Outro
#worldofboardcraft #boardgameupgrades #boardgameaccessories #boardgames
I agree…… great video but you should try sanding the edges off over cutting with knife. It’s safer and is significantly faster 👍🏼😁
Great idea! Thank you for the advice. Will definitely try that 👌
Highly recommend getting some 220+ grit sanding sticks, like the kind used for doing nails because they are cheap in bulk. If you buy sandpaper, turn it into a sanding stick by attaching it to a nice flat surface, otherwise you tend to sand off your art.
@@torymiddlebrooks That’s very smart! Thank you for sharing. Appreciate it
After "I will never spend more than 80 bucks on a board game" and "I will never sleeve my cards" the next seal is broken... Amazing video! I looking forward to new videos and looking throug your existing ones. :)
Haha yes the addiction is a slippery slope 😅 Thanks you and welcome to the community! :D
the level of commitment to the jokes is unparalleled 👏
One of my favorite comments, thank you so much! Made my day :)
After spraying gloss and other paints, turn the can upside down and spray into the air. This clears the nozzle. You only need a 1 or 2 second spray to clear it.
Thanks for highlighting this. Learned it too late, but now I know!
Wow. What an amazing amount of effort into not only this project, but also the little humorous shot and editing is great. Please keep it up!
Thank you for noticing all the effort we put into our videos! We appreciate your appreciation ☺️ The quality of videos that we want to produce takes a lot of time to edit together, but we will do our best to release videos as quickly as possible :) stay tuned!
Hilarious way of presenting useful information! I once joke about sleeving tokens, but this is more practical.
Haha, your comment made me laugh :) why didn't i think about that! Sleeving tokens is so much easier! Thanks for your kind feedback :)
Really informative video! Thanks! One tip for you to prevent clogging of the spray can nozzle. When you are finished spraying, turn the can upside down and spray until you hear/see just gas coming out instead of varnish. This way the cap will be cleaned.
Very useful to know! Thanks 🙏🙏 Will definitely do that next time.
Dig the "Six Clubs" Sharpie! Always good to have an easy reveal to make someone smile :)
Nice! Didn't think anyone would notice, but you passed the test 👏
Finally someone who's got a guide for sealing tokens and compares modge podge vs varnish
Appreciate your comment. Glad I could help 🙂
So glad this video was recommended to me. Looks like I'll be hunting down Posca pens in the very near future. Subscribed!
Thank you so much for your kind comment! Welcome to the community :)
Great video! I'd add that you really should wear a respirator when using spray varnish as it's extremely harmful to inhale. You can also get brush on varnish if you aren't able to access or use sprays.
And in the instance of quacks and arkham lcg I'd actually reccomend buying coin capsules for them. Protects them fully, adds a nice bit of weight and they clink in a satisfying way in the bag. Much quicker to do than painting and spraying them all too.
Great points! Thanks for highlighting this important issue. I will be more responsible next time. A comparison video between the two upgrades might appear in the not to distant future.. :D But I totally agree with you that coin capsules will be the better option for the majority of people because it's the easier and quicker option :)
Glad I got this in my recommended. Looking forward to part 2!
Glad to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to let us know.
Excellent advice and walthrough, with a sprinkling humor to keep things interesting. Great video!
Thanks for the feedback! Glad we are doing something right 😃
Not a necessary step, but it does just look so nice and improve the aesthetic of your game and little pointless things like that bring me joy 😊 I have coloured the edges of many tokens, but I haven't got around to varnishing them. I was looking at different options from varnishing, laminating or even clear UV nail resin. I should really get around to it. Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable video, looking forward to part 2, carry on being awesome and take care 🙂
Thank you! It brings us joy aswell ☺️ In part two we will explore different options, like Resin and Dimensional Magic, so hopefully you'll find that video useful also! Thank you so much for your kind comment 😊
Great video... informative and hilarious
Thank you! Appreciate it!
If you're wanting to have a non-glossy finish, is best to still use gloss varnish for the earlier coats. The non-glossy varnishes work by cracking a bit as they dry, whereas the glossy ones are a continuous layer. So start with the glossy varnish and just use a single coat of non-glossy at the end if you want.
Thanks! That's a great tip, thanks for sharing 🙌
Great video/idea. If you are going to use that much varnish, you might consider a cheap airbrush, a battery compressor for nail polish, and some floor wax (look up pledge/future). When the nozzle gets clogged, you can use rubbing alcohol to fix it (which can also remove permanent marker stains off tokens and sometimes even fabric if done fast enough). You'd get a lifetime supply of varnish (enough for miniature painting too) and it makes the thinnest coats. Also, because floor wax will have a leveling agent, the coats should be smooth as butter.
Instant subscribe! I currently make inserts for each of my games and have now started making inserts for my FRIEND'S games because its so fun, this is a next step up. Cheers from BC Canada!
Wow, I love the commitment! We are planning on making inserts in the future. If you have any tips and tricks that you would like to share, we would appreciate it. Cheers from Sweden!
i kinda had the same idea but with resin, i also looked into heat transfer paper for pictures on wooden tokens. for now my upgrades are inserts with 3d printer and coin capsules for round tokens. Cant wait to see what you come up with and try things out before i mess them up :)
Oh! Then I think you will like part 2 😉 Need to look up heat transfer paper. Sounds very interesting. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a 3d printer in the future. Endless possibilities! Glad you liked it 👍
Amazing, can't wait to start doing it , unfortunately I'll have to research different brands, Posca here in Brazil costs about 8 dollars each (more than a day's work, under minimum wage) I found some Steadlers for under a dollar hopefully they will do the job. Thanks a lot for the video, already subscribed and can't wait for part 2. All the Best!
There is definitely a lot of pens that works for this. I looked up Steadlers and it sounds promising. Wish you good luck! Thank you! Glad you liked it ☺️
Acrylic paints work well as well, and are usually easier to wipe off even than the Posca pens. The only downside is that the cheaper ones are often also quite transparent so you may have to lay down a layer of white first before painting lighter colours like reds and yellows, so colour-matching isn't so simple.
Excelent tutorial!
Thank you! 🙌
5:10 always use a mask. You don’t want to inhale that. Was coughing for days.
You're right! Thank you for the responsible and good advice. 🫡
wooop subbed, great idea !!!
Welcome! 🥳
Great video and wonderful editing!!
Thank you so much! Nice to see a familiar face 😃
Great video! I’ve been pondering getting the BGG tokens for Quacks for a long time but they’re so expensive with shipping, import cost and taxes… Will definitely consider varnishing the original ones instead. Looking forward to part 2! Subscribed!
Thank you, and welcome to our channel! I'm glad to be able to offer an alternative. You might also find part 2 useful.
My 2 cents: - contrasting borders can look great - resin works great, can create domes (did not try it)
I like the contrasting colour idea! Very interesting. If you like resin, then I think you might like Part 2.. ;) Thanks for your input!
Super cool🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘 Thanks
You are super cool! 😎👊 Thank you!
Now i want a board game that i like enough to be motivated enough to do all that.
Hope you find your one true board game love soon so you can have a romantic bath together 💞
Amazing Video :) Can't wait for Part 2... i am curious for alternatives to Mod Podge's "Dimensional Magic"
Hey, thanks for watching! Spoiler spoiler: I might talk about Dimensional Magic in Part 2 ;)
Good video!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it 😊
Love the vid! Do you think this would work for larger tiles? Like shuffled map tiles?
Yes I think so, but keep in mind that the varnish makes the surface smooth and kind of slippery, so if you are placing different components on your tiles they could easily slide around. So if you're going to do it I would start with one coat. Let me know if you try it because I'm also curious. We might test this out in the future :)
Thank you for your great video. What is the name of the plastic plate with the points to put the tokens on? where to find it in stores? Thank you for help
He called it a "peg board" but that is a very bad choice for Americans. "Peg board" for us is usually a wooden board with holes. You use wooden or metal pegs and hooks inserted into those holes to hang things. For larger objects, I use caltrops/pyramids, but that spike board stuff would be SO useful.
Sorry for the confusion. It seems like they also can be called Bead Boards. After some research I found them on Amazon (see link in the description). Hope this helps.
Thank you :)
Loved the video, just one quick question mod podge is just wood glue or pva?
If I understand it correctly, Mod Podge is a form of pva glue with added ingredients. What I've heard is that it will stay clear while Elmer's Glue, for example, might yellow over time because of a slight change in the formula even though it has some pva in it.
3:19 LOL! You might need to lay off the fiber!
Yeah, the cardboard fiber was a bit intense... 😅
Great video. Could you provide a link or name of the peg board you used when spraying please? Seatching for peg board just returns the board you can put on walls to hang things from. Cheers.
Sorry for the confusion. After some research I found them on Amazon (see link in the description). It seems like they also can be called Bead Boards. Hope this helps.
@@WorldOfBoardCraft Got them - Thanks 🙂
really cool tip, thanks for sharing! btw what game is that on your table?
Many of the tokens shown were from either Aeons End (a drckbuilder) or Massive Darkness 2 (a dungeon crawler). There were some others mixed in but those were the games mainly represented. Hope that helped.
@@yipyipyipi awesome, thanks!
kzhead.info/sun/drGOlJd9npaGe4U/bejne.html (time 3:42) Flamecraft kzhead.info/sun/drGOlJd9npaGe4U/bejne.html (time 4:26) Massive Darkness 2 kzhead.info/sun/drGOlJd9npaGe4U/bejne.html (time 2:39-2:56) Aeon's End
Well spotted @yipyipyipi Extra points for you! 🥳
My current go-to moves for cardboard tokens are: 1) ink markers for the edges rather than paint markers (admittedly never thought of that). 2) Nail polish Strengthening Top coat to do all surfaces. 3) If the cardboard has a large flat surface, I spray paint. I suspect this at best covers superficial scratches, but am certain it has next to no durability. I have resin, but I don't have a level surface.
Interesting technique! Thanks for sharing your experiences :)
I remember bringing each new boardgame to work in order to sharpie the edges years ago. Some people feel it is worth it, some people don't, but I won't tell someone who thinks it is worth it.
Cool! Yeah I agree, it's not a upgrade for everyone.
@@WorldOfBoardCraft Wow, I didn't finish my sentence. I think I was writing that just as the video ended and it went to the next one in my playlist. "Some people feel it is worth it, some people don't, but I won't tell someone who thinks it is worth it that they shouldn't bother." Basically - there are a bunch of people who are going to see this video who didn't know that this was a thing, look at your results (and they do look good) and say "Wow, this is amazing. I will totally enjoy spending the time doing this and appreciate the end result." I will also say - seeing your stuff is making me wonder if I should start doing it again.
I see! Thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to clarify. I'm glad if I inspired you to start again 😌
Fun video! Do you have a link for the peg board
Sorry for the confusion. It seems like they also can be called Bead Boards. After some research I found them on Amazon (see link in the description). Hope this helps.
Just get the bgg tokens. They are much heavier, sound great, and look better.
I'm totally with you! I know that this upgrade isn't for everyone, so it's great that that product exists for those who want to buy it instead. But in the cases that this product doesn't exist, or for those who want to do the work themselves, this is another alternative :)
@@WorldOfBoardCraft Not to mention the cost of sending the BGG tokens across the Atlantic to Europe is ridiculous, this is really only a cost-effective option for Americans!
maybe you can try laminating of the tockens, laminator machines are cheap
It's our mission to answer these very important questions. 🫡 We might actually try that. For science!
how do you only have 882 subscribers?
Thank you! That's very kind of you. We can't imagine how we even have 882 subscribers!? 🤯
Man those tokens in the toilet should have been all wood type haha
Haha, you are right! Missed opportunity 😅
Do you find that the varnish leaves the tokens sticky at all? I tried Mod Podge and they’re sticky…
Sorry to hear that. Not after I left them to cure for a day. Maybe it could be a solution to varnish your tokens on top of the Mod Podge? Hope this works! 🤞
Where is part 2?
Any comment on airbrushing varnishes?
Haven't tried it, unfortunately. I'm curious about the result, though. Let me know if you try it 🙂
What is Estetic?
Sorry about that. English isn't my first language. Misspelling happens
Esthetic.
Thank you! Fixed 👍
Can literally just use dice lol
As a life counter it's perfect! But I'm hesitant to swap out all of my tokens for dice 🤔