I try my hand at a fur mat added pic of second mat, this one green & more basic

[Menelduir]

Hi all

I had been thinking about getting into the fur battlefield mat revolution for some time but never seemed to find the time, go figure! However I recently cleared off one of my gaming tables, and found myself with a clear table top, a real novelty. So before I started setting up the table for the next game, I somehow became inspired to try out fur mat construction.

I did not use teddy bear fur, instead I used a fur throw blanket as the base. Everything that I have read about teddy bear fur is that it sheds, a lot. This blanket does not shed, at all, it also has a finished sewn edge, so is a very sturdy construction. A potential downside, might be the fact that it is not very tall fur, and not very wispy, but is quite dense. However everything I have seen about teddy bear mats is the requirement to shave them down a lot, so in my case I did not have to shave that much, but my mat does not have tall grass. 

I leave it to you to decide how successful this first attempt has been. The intent was to create a grassland area for a Congo game. I kind of like how it all turned out, but I do suspect it should be more yellow, or tan.

What do others think?

More pictures and more info on how I made this can be found via this link

https://menelduirspainting.blogspot.com/

Thank you

[Elk101]

I think that looks very good, the shorter length of pile seems to have been an advantage they way you have done the mat.

[OSHIROmodels]

That’s come out fine 

[Sunjester]

That looks excellent!

[carlos marighela]

Agreed, that looks excellent!

[Hammers]

Very pretty.

[SteveBurt]

Looks nice. The grass colour is fine; I would give those tracks a wash with a reddish brown to get that African Laterite soil look.

[Bloggard]

can't say I've noticed much shedding from my bodging about with teddy-bear fur, but what you've done looks fantastic.

[Marine0846]

Well done.
I would not be to worried about tall grass.
Hard to get figures to stand up in it.

[Menelduir]

Thank you for the comments, much appreciated!

I did plan to do a wash, just did not get to it.
My thoughts on the tall grass too, looks like it can be tough to place figures. Even this short grass has issues, but all my figures are based on washers, so they do have extra weight to help them stand up.

I have now done a second mat, a lot less work involved in this one, I found a nice textures blanket, that sprayed up really nice with Army Painter green skin paint. Unlike the first mat this one could not be combed or brushed. I decided not to cut in paths or open areas, so it really is just a $4.00 4' x 5' green battle mat that can drape over hills to create a more 3D effect.

The last three pictures show the mat before the paint was applied, and as it started to be applied (contrast) It really was a green blanket to start, but very light green.
 
Again more pics here:

https://menelduirspainting.blogspot.com/

[Marine0846]

I like the new mat.
Well done.

[carlos marighela]

Actually that middle picture, I presume it's the unmodified unpainted mat, would be good for semi-arid areas or even winter fields.