Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Gonzo100100 on 08 January 2022, 02:26:13 PM
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I heard many wonderful things about Killing Fields Terrain mats but since it is impossible to get one of those, I am set on doing one of my own. Unfortunately, so far, I have a failed attempt behind me.
In the UK when I went into a fabric store generally, they have 2 kinds of fur a cheaper version and a premium one. I bought 2m of a cheaper kind. What happened to be the biggest mistake – with a pattern.
First it was impossible to cut with an electric clipper that I ordered from Amazon for about £20 so I committed all day to cut it with scissors then because there was a pattern, I had to use very thick paint to get rid of it. So, the fur/hear is very stiff because of all the paint what is something I don’t welcome. I am not happy of that mat. I want to start over. Buy a proper one colour fur, premium if necessary. Also, I found out I need a dog grooming clipper to cut such a fur.
I wanted to ask here for advice, any advice really but specifically before I order a dog clipper for over £20 can someone confirm that it should work while human hair clippers are not good enough? Or I just got some horrible material and that’s why I couldn’t use the clipper on it?
Also, did anyone used better quality fur for terrain building? Is there a better effect over the cheap one?
Finally, I’ll visit a local fabric store again but I wonder what do you think of something like this off the Amazon? Is it a good material for making battle mat?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-Faux-Throw-Blanket-Grey/dp/B01L26C2N8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1RLABZ6D69U5G&keywords=faux%2Bfur&qid=1641650052&sprefix=flux%2Bfur%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExUUNENlIwUUJWVEwyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzIyMzc1MUE5SFFUWFo2VlRTUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODY4NzUxRUU4NE5CSUFRRDI5JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasics-Faux-Throw-Blanket-Grey/dp/B01L26C2N8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1RLABZ6D69U5G&keywords=faux%2Bfur&qid=1641650052&sprefix=flux%2Bfur%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-1-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExUUNENlIwUUJWVEwyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzIyMzc1MUE5SFFUWFo2VlRTUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODY4NzUxRUU4NE5CSUFRRDI5JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1)
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Greetings Gonzo, I have some experience but not quite the whole mat.
- I bought my Teddy skin from a professional online Teddy hunters website. The selection is better and I ended up with some perfect wheat/crop fields for 15mm and 6mm. In my case I managed to buy discounted ends of rolls and bits in the sale and easily have enough field to cover most of a 8x4. IIRC my fur is alpaca and something else (I want to say mohair but I’m not sure) and is very fine but I guess you’re playing in 28mm so may need something grander.
- When I looked into trimming and cutting (and did some practice work) even good human clippers will not work very well unless you’re really lucky. If you have a dog and associated groomer I’d ask them (groomer not the dog, unless your dog is artsy) if I could try with their oldest redundant/about to be replaced pair but the logic sounds right although as you say you may just have difficult material (I have a very good friend who’s our groomer as my dog is big, bright white and loves mud).
-When it comes to painting my research suggested you’d probably do better off dying the material (Dylon is excellent) more than actual paint and that if you are using paint it has to be applied in thin coats and combed carefully whilst drying to stop clumping.
When I was investigating making a whole mat (before I bought some Cigar box ones) I found a couple of blogs with very good guides or how to’s. I’lll wrack my brains and see if I can find a link. Apologies for not actually solving any of your problems but I think the points you’ve raised should be common with others and hopefully someone more useful will chip in. Good luck
BALM
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Hello BALM, as the last time, your reply is very helpful, so thank you.
Unfortunately, I have no dog since my childhood dog and companion passed away about 10 years ago, he was 19. However, recently I am considering to get a new one so, maybe the dog clipper I just ordered from Amazon will get some use in the future… For now, I really hope it will be enough for my current project.
As I was browsing the internet after some teddy bear fur mat guides, I went across an old club website where pictures are not displayed anymore and among those broken images, I saw a little guide how to do a fur mat invented by a, so called, terrain genius. On the bottom, there was a detail section with information where to buy the fur and that it is called Wolf. What’s funny, I live 10min drive from that store so, I went there. Unfortunately, the place is not in business anymore what proved my journey to be in vain. Anyway, I saw a wolf fabric on Amazon, 2m for £40 and I ordered it. It should arrive in about 10 days.
As for the dying, you are the first who tells me about it. The guides I went across, they all were saying about acrylic paint, to give thin coats. In my last attempt, the fur I had was with a dark pattern, I didn’t think it will become such a problem but to remove it I had to apply a lot of paint and that didn’t work well at all because the fibers/hair clogged horribly. A little bag of Dylon is inexpensive so I may get some to experiment with it.
If you’ll remember the links to those blogs, you mentioned it will be awesome. Thanks.
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I fully recommend you getting a new dog and shaving it into new and amusing shapes - being snow white I’m always tempted to decorate mine or at least give her expressive eyebrows (she’s big enough I could rent out a side as a billboard). This is not true or right. Dogs are precious and should be treasured…..and have a racing stripe.
Acrylic will work but has to be thin (airbrush thin) and then also best airbrushed on. I’d imagine having a hairdryer and comb to dry and separate the fibres between thin coats should work with a bit of practice. I investigated Dylon when I was looking at this and it has always seemed like a suitable solution the only problem being the often stark vibrancy of the colour choice (obviously manageable with thought/practice/dilution/research). I didn’t get to use it, though I may in the near future, but can’t see why it wouldn’t work and always struck me as an ignored option (the credit truly goes to my craft ninja wife as it was her suggestion when I was badgering her with my ramblings about hobby - she also knows where all the fabric shops are locally).
I’ve seen some very good attempts with fleece blankets with varieties of pile length and density from a well known bed and fabric products store in the U.K. (and my CB mat is a dense fleece pile) so don’t just think actual Teddy bear fabric but the equivalents can be cheaper, more available and more effective.
I will keep looking for you (insomnia is a useful thing if looked at in the right way). I look forward to seeing your attempts. A good mat is a game changer (they were for me).
BALM
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Quick update re: dye and acrylic. My teddy bear fur isn’t synthetic (it was supposed to be expensive I just got lucky) but a lot of the cheaper variants are. According to my random research some people have had (great) success with dyes but predominantly on natural materials that will absorb it; as many synthetics tend to be impenetrable (so a test patch would be advised). Acrylic paint was originally designed for use on materials due to its small particle size and ability to penetrate materials (why it can be hard to get off clothes/carpets) so a thin/dilute spray still seems the best easiest/cheapest/course….
Here’s a link to Tactical Painters guide (you may have seen it) a very prolific, talented and helpful hobbyist http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2020/06/teddy-bear-fur-terrain.html (http://thetacticalpainter.blogspot.com/2020/06/teddy-bear-fur-terrain.html) he’s uses household emulsion paint watered down.
This bloggear has a good guide too http://spudnick080.blogspot.com/2015/11/making-teddy-bear-fur-terrain-mat-my.html (http://spudnick080.blogspot.com/2015/11/making-teddy-bear-fur-terrain-mat-my.html)
BALM
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Recently, I chanced upon a beige-coloured, short pile fur fabric bath rug at the local Walmart. At only 18" x 28" it would be too small to cover a table, but could be cut up into fields. Apparently, Walmart does not have a store presence in the UK, but does have some ownership stake in ASDA. Thus, perhaps you might find similarly useful home furnishings?
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Thank you for the links, I had a chance before to read the entry from the first link but the second one is new.
I’ll show you what I ordered:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N1K40Y8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N1K40Y8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1)
The material is acrylic and I found out it is made from synthetic polyacrylonitrile polymer it should arrive 18th of January. It looks nice but if it will be good to work with remains to be seen.
The dog clipper arrived and I tested it on scraps I have and It WORKS, that’s a good sign. When the last time I began to work on my failed project I described in previous posts, I cut it with scissors, after almost whole day of cutting 2m I thought my thumb will fall off.
@WuZhuiQiu
I hope I won’t be in need of buying yet another 2m of fur. Anyway, whenever I go to Ikea, ASDA, Lidl, a Poundland – this one is like a candy shop for a child, etc. Since I joined the hobby, I am on the lookout to buy everyday use objects completely not for their intended purpose, just in hope I’ll use them for some terrain. I am sure it’s a common disposition here.
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I actually have done the mat shortly after my last post, so sorry for the delay but here it is.
Below there are few images from SAGA games using the mat. The last image is of a sample of different kind of faux fur which I like more so I bought the right amount to make yet another mat but I’ll do it in the future.
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Gosh, that looks so good and realistic - I must get round to getting my teddy fur into something similar. I am still worried about cutting, trimming and colouring this material.
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That was a saga (see what I did there) but the end result looks great!
Does it work well for slotta based figures or is it better with ones on coins or similar heavy bases?
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@Golgotha
I feel excited to give you this advice as finally I have some experience…
If you want something like mine, I bought this:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MZX51XF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MZX51XF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
It’s called “Wolf” and you definitely will have to trim it because the hair is quite long.
Then I spent a lot of time experimenting with brush, comb and acrylic paint, then with airbrush but finally the best effects were achieved with bright (sometimes almost fluorescent) spray colours (brown, dark green, light – fluorescent green, grey-green, warm yellow, lemon, white). You need to do it right though. I guess it’s easy to make something horrible with those spray cans.
However, if you want to do something like the sample of the last image. It is actually easier.
It is this product: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N3BSI9O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N3BSI9O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Called Berber. I didn’t trim it at all, so the length is just right and the colour is much darker and that makes spraying easier because the paint tends to grab the tops of the hair and the lower parts stay dark brown which makes easy natural effect. The wolf one I’ve done the whole mat I struggled a lot to make lower parts of hair green/ dark green/ brown. So, before I sprayed, I was experimenting a lot as I mentioned before. So, to summarize the dark fur is better and the product I linked (Berber) don’t need to be cut but it is my individual taste.
@fred
The figures from the photos you can see are both metal and plastic. The ones on square 20x20mm bases are plastic, the bases are MDF. The minis on rounded bases are metal, heavy. It almost doesn’t matter. Regardless of their difference in weight and base they behave almost the same (my figures have flat surface on the bottom). 3 times out of 4 the figures stand well. However, ¼ of the time you need to help the figure by gently pushing its base into the fur to keep it straight. It is effortless really but I feel it needs to be mentioned because I understand that there may be players who would prefer no obstacle in placing their figures whatsoever by having a flat mat. I really enjoy the realism so it is no problem for me. Also, when working on the mat I endeavoured to match the colours with the bases of the figures (different kinds of static grass for the most part). Maybe the images don’t include figures with different bases but I have a variety of them within my figures and the mat is universal enough that it blends all the differences.
Edit: The figures from the images were not set for a photo-session. The photographs were taken middle of the game, so no special placement.
Also, would to add that it is my second mat. As I described in previous posts, I ruined my first attempt. The hair was stiff and hard, not good for playing. Here, the result is much, much better.
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Thank you Gonzo think it's time I take the plunge and start experimenting on some offcuts.
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Looks excellent, well worth the time and effort, and should bring you (and your lucky opponents) many happy hours of gaming. Well done.
Andrew
BALM
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Thank you. I am clearly on the side of making rather then gaming side of the hobby. Nevertheless, this mat, all the terrain and figures are so awesome I’d like to play much more often but crushing majority of my friends are like:
- “O WOW, it looks AMAZING! Incredible”.
- “Do you want to play a game?”
- “Nah, it’s not my thing, sorry, but looks awesome.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t grow with the hobby but adopted it on the beginning of the pandemic as something I always wanted to try. Need to find some avid gamer to play with now or I’ll be able to do it only occasionally. xD
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Great job! I'm looking at making my own, but all the faux fur seems really expensive. At $20 to $30 per yard and having an 8 foot table, it's cheaper to buy ready made. I'm in the US, and that nay be part of my problem.
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There is this company I know of - Killing Fields Terrain (I believe from US). They make amazing mats. I wanted to buy one of theirs. Sadly, due to the supply shortages they ceased all shipments, at least temporally. So, being out of satisfying options I had to have a go myself. There is the saying “need is the mother of invention”.
One thing is that I made the size exactly for my needs: 150cm x 200cm I think it’s 5’x6,5’ Their largest is 5’x7’ which is a foot shorter than you need so you would have to make either a special order or make it yourself.
I also was looking for some other grass mat products and I found few decorative mats but they wouldn’t be any good as a gaming mat. I ordered one small sample of such product but although it looked alright, it was very impractical.