In my quest to build a model battle arena for my Busou Shinkis, I’ve now finished getting the

In my quest to build a model battle arena for my Busou Shinkis, I’ve now finished getting the parts cut at a nearby company with laser cutting machine for hire (thanks Bristol Design Forge!).

I’ve used a combination of 3mm laser-grade plywood and 5mm white acrylic for the parts. If you’re lasercutting plywood, I’d definitely recommend checking the material for any warping and using fixings to keep it as flat as possible on the bed of the machine. I’d also recommend setting up the cutting order so that any engraving is done first, then internal cuts (i.e. holes in parts) and then finally external cuts. This is so that if the material is slightly warped, it’s less likely to interfere with the position of later cuts as parts are cut out and drop onto the bed.

As you can see from the photos, there are loads of parts but luckily they all fit snuggly together. The next step is to get the plywood painted up, so I’d better get to it!