Custom Game Markers
I liked the idea of Modcubes but had concluded they cost a bit more than I felt was worth it for an accessory.
On a recent visit to Michael’s (an art and craft store here in the USA) I noticed these wooden cubes and thought they would make a basis for making some markers. About $2 for the bag of 6.
I designed markers in Inkscape, printed them out and cut them out with scissors. [Download Inkscape SVG] [Download PDF for print]
![[Download Inkscape SVG]](cube_markers.svg){kind=link}
I glued the wrappers onto the cubes with white glue. At this point I realised that my printouts were slightly large for the cubes. If I was doing it again I would shrink the image a bit when printing. But I’m always pressed for time these days so I carried on.
Since the paper was a bit big I overlapped the edges and used a knife to trim them. This worked better on some edges than others, where the paper tore.
So I used a black marker to colour over the exposed spots of paper or wood.
Given how torn the edges got, I ended up with some ragged black areas. Rather than give up, I painted in gunmetal and burnt sienna for a distressed metal look.
Then I sprayed with sealer. Hint: BluTack for sticking things to a stick while spray painting.
Compared to Modcubes, my cubes are:
- Cheaper, but takes more effort to make.
- Not customizable after initial design.
- Distinct colours and designs to make it easier to find the marker you want.
If you’re interested in how I decided what markers to put on the cubes, my notes are here (Google Doc – feel free to comment). It may become clear that my current army is Harlequins…