Dry Erase Globe
I just sort of thought of a great idea I'm sure that many other cartographers must have had at some point. I want to make a world map, but I feel I need a real globe object to help me imagine what some of the maps would look like. The biggest reason for this is that I want to have a lot of activity near the poles of a world as well as equator activity. I did a search online for world globes and found that they actually make dry erase globes. What a great idea I thought, except that all the globes I have found seem to have Earth geography already on them. Has anyone ever done any extensive searching for what I guess might be a dry erase globe that has no markings on it or one that was found to be easy to use for fantasy cartography?
oops, nevermind I found an old post here
http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...-A-Blank-Globe
Last edited by Sam Conifer; 01-14-2011 at 02:08 AM.
Just to add to the comments there: You can buy bowling balls on ebay very cheaply (although with the weight the postage might be hellish) - best to see if you can find a local seller - I would guess in the US you wouldn't have much of a problem given the popularity of the sport. Just polyfilla in the holes and overpaint it....make sure it's one of the lighter balls!
When you buy a custom bowling ball, don't they drill the holes to fit your fingers/hand?
Have a search on google for "Stability balls". Weird I know but I think this would be a close match.
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The simplest way to make poles is to draw your equatorial and polar stuff in two separate portions, by using a projection converter to move the poles to the equator.
I've made a tutorial for this, though the theme is more of "how to fix your poles", but the same basic principles are applicable to actually designing the poles as well.
http://naeddyr.deviantart.com/art/Av...2F120991&qo=11
If you're thinking about tectonics type stuff (where the plates don't just magically ignore the poles), then a globe would be better, yes.
I once drew a world map on one of those inflatable balls you can find in almost any store with a toys section (Wal-Mart in my case). It took a bit of searching, but I did manage to find one that had a very subtle swirly decoration in a light color that I could easily draw on with a marker. That would be similar to the stability ball, but you'd get a better choice of sizes. It can take some time to find one with a reasonable color, though.Originally Posted by Redrobes
Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
http://www.bryanray.name
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