GeBoom workshop at the Rhinetoppers

This post is also available in: Deutsch (German)

Gerard Boom and shiftinglands.com

Gerard Boom (GeBoom) is a passionate terrain crafter. He has been building tabletop-scale terrain from XPS foam for a number of years. He developed his own techniques, studied the material and invented a host of auxiliary tools for the Proxxon Thermocut. He shares his knowledge in workshops, his tools and many other small parts for terrain construction can be bought in his shop at shiftinglands.com. It’s worth taking a look there. You can also buy the range in various German tabletop shops.

The Rhinetoppers

The Rhinertoppers (RT) are a tabletop community that comes together to play tournaments, to craft terrain and paint minis. They are located in the Koblenz area, but also have members from more distant regions. Recently an unofficial outpost in Cologne. 🙂
Tabletop community – So a bunch of nerds and geeks, adult men who like to play with self-made dolls in self-made dollhouses – so normal people like you and me.
Of course they all have their quirks too. Some don’t talk, some always talk, one drinks tea instead of coffee, another doesn’t drink at all. One even had a girlfriend! Crazy world.

In the beginning was the chat

Blackmail aka Daniel from the RT asked in Discord if people still want to take part in the GeBoom workshop. I always wanted to do the workshop. Above all, to get to know this person Gerard Boom. I only knew him – like most of us – from various YouTubes.
I contacted blackmail. The workshop should take place near Koblenz. OK that’s fine. So booked right away.
There was also a WhatsApp group and a thread in the RT forum to exchange more information and discuss things. This also worked very well. Kudos to RT at this point.

Supervised hot wire cutting for two days

The day of the workshop had finally come. Right at the beginning you learn a styrodur / XPS foam secret that GeBoom demonstrates and explains.

As a gift, everyone received a simple set of stencils for windows. In addition, the “Template Set” from shiftinglands.com is available to every participant. With this set GeBoom introduces the participants in the processing of Styrodur / XPS foam. Everyone has a small sheet of about 7 x 12 cm to repeat and understand the exercise shown. In principle, it is about the use of stencils, rulers, pencils and craft scalpels. Sounds trivial, but you get tips that many did not know before.
This introduction was it already. No further frontal instruction, but hot wire cutting supervised by GeBoom. From now on, everyone should simply build what they want. GeBoom is always at your side with advice and action. Takes care of everyone, gives tips and help with all projects.
There are a lot of Proxxon hot wire cutters available, plus the complete range of tools and parts from GeBooms Shop. Also the newest “Stairway Tool” (also available in the shop now) will be demonstrated and can already be bought in the workshop, which I also did;) You can use it to cut stairs and spiral stairs in various designs from a single piece of XPS foam. Really very practical.

The presence and the direct exchange with GeBoom is something completely different than just watching his videos. In addition, the group dynamics that create a high level of fun and are very motivating. The participants built very good buildings in two days.

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I myself actually did very little and at all I did not achieve the creativity and quality of the other participants. Absolutely OK for me. I especially wanted to get to know this person Gerard Boom, whom I only knew from various videos from Tabletop Basement and others.
Gerard is a really cool guy 🙂 He is “one of us”. Of course, he has many anecdotes to tell from the scene. Feeling 150 years of model terrain building hides some “secret” stories. It is fun to listen to him when he shares some of theses stories.

In between, Gerard takes time and time to demonstrate special techniques with the Proxxon. e.g. freehand cutting. (Caution! Satire!)

Of course it wasn’t like that 🙂 In fact, Gerard has a large repertoire of techniques. He cannot show all in one workshop. But whenever he sees what the participants are building or questions are asked, he picks up a suitable technique and demonstrates it.

One hundred percent recommendable

The workshop is worth it! Everyone who crafts with XPS foam or wants to do, should visit this workshop once. You learn an incredible amount in these two days. The common ground creates a group dynamic that drives you forward. I will definitely book a workshop again.
There are also vague plans at GeBoom to offer workshops outside of Europe, in the United States and Canada. I can only recommend you there … Get ready. 🙂

This post is also available in: Deutsch (German)