This Great Arena is 28" square and at its highest point 14". It is made of Styrofoam, balsa wood, and matboard. The main part of the arena was constructed from a piece of Styrofoam I found at a construction site. Any model builder will tell you that the best place to find stuff is at construction sites. The stands are all Styrofoam put together in layers. The emperor's box was made from balsa wood, which can be found at any hobby shop. I used a large sheet of matboard from a local frame shop, for the base of the arena. The standards are made from cloth with the symbol painted on. I built a bridge out of balsa wood and also a small platform to give "terrain" in the arena. As you can see from the pictures, the bridge is a bit weak. I broke some slats during transport. But it's fun. I require dex checks from people to cross the holes in the bridge. It turned the last battle I played in it. It rides 4" from the floor of the arena and any that fall take 3d8 damage.
First, I used a base coat of black spray paint on the arena. The spray paint eats away at the Styrofoam and creates texture. A few people suggested that it might have been better to used an old soddering iron or getting a cheap one, and melting grooves in the Styrofoam before I paint it. With the aid of a couple of friends, we painted the stone pattern on the arena. We used a very heavy dry brush on the gray. With a lighted dry brush of white on the edge of each stone to add highlights. We finished it with black in the grooves.
The arena contains tons of little spikes lining the interior wall of the arena. These were made by grinding dowels to a point in a pencil sharpener and then cutting them off. It is a bit of a stab hazard but it adds spice to the arena. The dragon statue was created through the doodling of a friend of mine. He was playing with a chunk of Styrofoam and a razorblade and we found that it looked like a dragon's head. The rest was carved by me and glued into place.
Here's a few helpful tips. Hot glue works good because it dries quick, but be careful. Use hot glue only on Styrofoam that is heavy and dense. The glue will melt right through the thin stuff. It is best to test it out before you start with your best pieces. Do not use superglue or the like. It too eats right through. Be creative. It's your arena. Have fun. If you are out of ideas, think of the arenas of the Romans and Greeks. Don't get discouraged. It takes a lot of time. Yours does not need to be as big as this one. In fact, I usually have four or five battles going in the arena at the same time and we still don't use the whole thing.
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