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Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: doctor_ocks on June 07, 2013, 06:17:50 AM
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The topic of gaming mats recently popped up on the Song of Blades and Heros group and I was inspired, I'm large part to the mats I've seen here, to make my own.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7416/8975269936_65397d6a52.jpg)
It's it a nice weight to it and lays very flat.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5468/8974077945_f00d8398e9.jpg)
All rolled up.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/8975272830_94879878ba.jpg)
A close up of the surface.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/8975271884_723bfff6db.jpg)
Here the blog post of how I made it for those interested.
Part I: http://mallencreations.blogspot.com/2013/06/new-gaming-mat-part-i.html?m=1
Part II: http://mallencreations.blogspot.com/2013/06/gaming-mat-part-ii.html?m=1
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I followed that discussion with interest. Your results are very good, the mat looks great!
I'm still considering zuzzy mats, but I'm more and more impressed with how people's drop cloth and caulk mats have come out!
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Welcome to the club of self made mat owners.
Wasn't it easy :)
Your's is a real beauty!
Congrats!
GS
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Thank-you for the tutorial.
Do you know if you can add static grass to this type of mat?
Regards
Mick
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Excellent mat, I'm going to have to give it a go!
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I have seen these kind of mats made a few times now and that looks like an excellent example of what can be achieved.
:-*
I may have to give it a go.
8)
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This is becoming increasingly tempting to try. Looks great! :D
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What exactly is a drop cloth? Is it some sort of canvas?
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What exactly is a drop cloth? Is it some sort of canvas?
I believe that a drop cloth is a sheet of canvas that is used to protect floors, etc., while house-painting. I expect that you might find a better definition in a dictionary or through a web search...
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That is fantastic looking mat! I've been looking at doing these for a while and I think yours is the best that I've seen. Which flock did you use - the fine turf or the blended turf?
Bill.
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I believe that a drop cloth is a sheet of canvas that is used to protect floors, etc., while house-painting. I expect that you might find a better definition in a dictionary or through a web search...
That is exactly what it is - a heavy, coarse cotton sheet that is quite absorbent - you use it to protect floors and furniture when painting:
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/9x12-canvas-drop-cloth-8oz/821976
I have seen this sort of thing done with artist's canvas, but the drop cloth canvas is wayy cheaper. I have made an underwater mat using the same technique. My only mistake was to incorporate pebbles and little stones - made the surface bumpy so its slightly hazardous for making miniatures tip over.
For the OP - did you use all 4 tubes of caulking for your mat?
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That is absolutely stunning! It looks fantastic! Have fun on it, and get some pictures while you do.
Jevenkah
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Thanks for that Timbor - we seem to call them Canva Dust Sheets over this side of the pond.
http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating-supplies/treatments-cleaners-protection/protective_covers___clothing/-specificproducttype-dust_sheets/Diall-Medium-Cotton-Dust-Sheets-Pack-of-3-2-6-x-3-7m-each-12599297 (http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating-supplies/treatments-cleaners-protection/protective_covers___clothing/-specificproducttype-dust_sheets/Diall-Medium-Cotton-Dust-Sheets-Pack-of-3-2-6-x-3-7m-each-12599297)
I presume its the same thing. I must try this out over the summer. Inspirational stuff Doctor and simple easy to understand instructions.
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Best I've seen so far! Very nice!
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Thanks for all the kind words guys! I'll attempt to answer the questions individually here.
Do you know if you can add static grass to this type of mat?
Honestly I have no idea. Sorry but I've never used static grass before :( if anyone knows, please let us know! My concern is that it'll lay down once its rolled up. I had thought about added small patches of teddy bear fur as grass tufts and may still do that in the future.
What exactly is a drop cloth? Is it some sort of canvas?
I think you have the right idea now. Yeah it's a cloth that you lay on the floor while painting. I just used that because it was cheap and roughly the same size and was easily located in the paint department. You could also get some canvas from a fabric store.
This is a good time to note something about the fabric. This mat is fairly heavy and does not look very good with hills placed under it. Felt would probably work better if you wanted to have a mat to place hills and stuff under because its a bit more flexible and would conform easier.
Which flock did you use - the fine turf or the blended turf?
Fine terf. I just like working with it.
For the OP - did you use all 4 tubes of caulking for your mat?
Sorry I forgot to mention this! No I only used 2 tubes. I just got a good thin coat of coverage. I thought about using another tube just for some more bumps and undulations but decides to not worry about it this time.
That is absolutely stunning! It looks fantastic! Have fun on it, and get some pictures while you do.
Jevenkah
Thanks and I will!
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Great work :)
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Started working on a Mordor themed mat. The only problem, as you can see, is that I failed to iron the canvas first, thinking that the weight of the material and stretching of the canvas would flatten it out. I was wrong. It seemed to actually accentuate it.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/9208653139_46acb6a3f0.jpg)
I may try to iron it from behind once it dries. If it doesn't work out, it'll be given to my nephews who love to play on my other mat when they come over.
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Other than the creases, it looks great.
Plenty of uses for that, not just Sauron's backyard.
:-*
Lets hope the ironing works.
At the very least you will have very happy nephews.
A win-win situation.
:D
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Other than the creases, it looks great.
Plenty of uses for that, not just Sauron's backyard.
:-*
Lets hope the ironing works.
At the very least you will have very happy nephews.
A win-win situation.
:D
Agreed. I don't currently play any LotR games. Just wanted something that looked barren and destroyed :)
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Mats are the way to go, imo and yours look great! That's a bummer about the creasing. I had fantastic luck making a dark forest mat with black felt, turf and spray matt medium, but have been wanting do do something representing underground. I was wroth to discover they changed the formula of the previously incredibly flexible concrete patch I was going to use and made it extremely brittle and inflexible, so that was out. Then I tried "Elastomeric Patch" as recommended by War Artison and that was even more brittle and completely useless. Given how great War Artisans mats are I think they must have changed the formula on that too. Long story short, though, caulk and sand looks like the option for me. Thanks for the tut.
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Mats are the way to go, imo and yours look great! That's a bummer about the creasing. I had fantastic luck making a dark forest mat with black felt, turf and spray matt medium, but have been wanting do do something representing underground. I was wroth to discover they changed the formula of the previously incredibly flexible concrete patch I was going to use and made it extremely brittle and inflexible, so that was out. Then I tried "Elastomeric Patch" as recommended by War Artison and that was even more brittle and completely useless. Given how great War Artisans mats are I think they must have changed the formula on that too. Long story short, though, caulk and sand looks like the option for me. Thanks for the tut.
I've never used those products before. Sorry they're no longer working for you though. Caulk has worked great for me. Never an issue.
I was able to get most of the big creases out of the new mat by ironing the back of it.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7454/9222763329_b608f0b279.jpg)
I'm gonna skip dry brushing it though as it will make the small creases that are present just pop even more. I do like how rough and rocky it turned out though.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3814/9225605296_e404083e10.jpg)
Sheriff Woody doesn't seem to frightened though :)
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Hmmm... let's say you wanted to add a few extra features for this, like some buried low-profile rocks (i.e. very low-relief rock textures).
What could you get that was flexible enough to be rolled up with the mat, but could be cut into the shape of low-relief rock outcroppings?
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Hmmm... let's say you wanted to add a few extra features for this, like some buried low-profile rocks (i.e. very low-relief rock textures).
What could you get that was flexible enough to be rolled up with the mat, but could be cut into the shape of low-relief rock outcroppings?
My idea is to use caulk. Squirt some out onto some wax paper and shape it however you'd like. Peel it off and glue it on top of the mat before painting.
I haven't tried this yet, but it should work. You'd have to be conscious of how thick you made it as too thick and you'd mess up the curing process.
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That might work. I could even roll a foil ball across them to add rock-like texture.
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Made this river mat this past summer but failed to get it posted up here!
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7348/11316402336_d90f87683e.jpg)
Frankly, the water didn't turn out like I wanted. I used a different brand of clear acrylic for the water which wasn't nearly as glossy and took a while to cure.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2822/11316404936_1382af3012.jpg)
Not too bad but I'm just calling this the prototype :) Excuse the little white dog hairs. My kids and their cousins enjoy playing with this on the floor and my pug enjoys laying on it.
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One of these days I'll get around to trying this out...I know how to do it - just never bothered tryin' :D
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Hot damn, I really should try this some time! Looks a lot better then the plain brown felt I am using right now.
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I followed that discussion with interest. Your results are very good, the mat looks great!
I'm still considering zuzzy mats, but I'm more and more impressed with how people's drop cloth and caulk mats have come out!
Zuzzy is a great mat, I bought the 4x6 and made it into 2 2x2 and a 4x4 mat. That said, i got the street post-apoc mat. If I were interested in grass field, I'd do it this way....
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Aaaarrgghh!! All these mats look great. I want some now.
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Sadly, the only thing that keeps me from trying this is I live in an apartment and don't have access to a garage or even large yard. I've seen a few of these and really love the look of them.
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Sadly, the only thing that keeps me from trying this is I live in an apartment and don't have access to a garage or even large yard. I've seen a few of these and really love the look of them.
Most of us have all been there. You could just lay down a drop cloth (pick up an extra one when you buy the one for the mat ;) ) to catch any mess maybe?
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Sadly, the only thing that keeps me from trying this is I live in an apartment and don't have access to a garage or even large yard. I've seen a few of these and really love the look of them.
For me it's the canvas.I can get it easily and i have access to an entire building of workshops and studios to use, but i can't afford to use the canvas i get on anything other than my actual work.makes me sad every time i cut off a big sheet of it as i always think how nice it'd be to get one of these under my belt.
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I'm going to my parents for a visit and I think I'm going to take a few trips to Home Depot and make use of their garage for a few days before the little lady arrives! VERY excited to bring my SAGA mat back!!
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how hard do you think it would be to make a snow mat this way. Could you use the caulk to represent snow on the board and then add sand in small areas where the snow isnt built up?
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how hard do you think it would be to make a snow mat this way. Could you use the caulk to represent snow on the board and then add sand in small areas where the snow isnt built up?
I picked up a white fleece throw blanket, 5x3. I hit it with some spray, clear and white, and it works great. No need to go crazy with a white mat. Check out the SSS thread on Post Apoc for the mat Silent Invader did for his game.
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how hard do you think it would be to make a snow mat this way. Could you use the caulk to represent snow on the board and then add sand in small areas where the snow isnt built up?
This is going to be my next mat. My plan is to do basically what you said. I think, however, I'll sand the mat like my others but then do another layer of caulk over the top, leaving some areas open to show the ground.
My concern is that it'll look like icecream instead of snow so I gotta do some tests.
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I picked up a white fleece throw blanket, 5x3. I hit it with some spray, clear and white, and it works great. No need to go crazy with a white mat. Check out the SSS thread on Post Apoc for the mat Silent Invader did for his game.
Do you have a link to the mat? Is it in that 60+ page thread?
**edit: found it about page 40. Cool stuff. The stiffness of that mat is a bit disconcerting. How flexible is the one you made?
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I did a few light sprays of gray and white and then clear. But VERY light so i could roll it up easily. You can use an old rag to play around and see what your personal sweet spot is as to 'stiffness' and such. But you really cant get cheaper and easier than the fleece blanket method. I can just pay roads and terrain on top, when they 'sink' in a slight bit, it just looks like a snow drift... :D
Have you seen SI's game? I LOVE the idea of a snow game!
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Lovely mat.
Anyone know what "Caulk" is known as here in Germany?
Translation comes out as Abdichtmasse. Do you think that means the tubes of silikon we use around the edge of a bath or sink?
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You want the paintable acrylic stuff used around doors, windows and masonry. Sometimes it even comes in convenient colours like brown, tan, off-white and green.
Acrylic caulking can be thinned with water, or latex and acrylic paints / household emulsion, or just used straight up.
The silicone stuff used for plumbing is not the caulking you are looking for.
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I'll be back in the states tomorrow for a few weeks and I think this is a nice project for me and my pop.
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The silicone stuff used for plumbing is not the caulking you are looking for.
Correct. However, the silicone stuff is what I used for the water on the river mat. As I said previously though, it's not the same brand I've used in the past and ended up not as glossy as the stuff I used for this piece:
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8248/8497257150_a1b7e3ebf4.jpg)
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So after not being happy with the water on my river mat, I decided to try again - except much larger.
Started with the same 5x5 canvas stretched over my 4x4 board and painted it a mix of blues and greens. I watered it all down pretty heavily to avoid any issues. Note that no caulk was laid down first. This is just paint on the canvas.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/11662602846_819e0fa00b.jpg)
Then I did a very very light sponging of baby blue. Not totally sure why lol but it seemed cool at the time. Sorry for the dark picture but you at least get an idea of the shine.
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/11662604826_1ca22ce9d6.jpg)
And then I applied the crystal clear caulking.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5491/11661831185_e6ab4bd253.jpg)
This is what it currently looks like. I'm really happy with the shine. It's fully cured and is still that glossy. I just haven't cut it off the board yet.
Lessons learned from this mat: this was a huge pain in the ass. Basically I squirted the caulking out and them worked it all together with a spoon to give it some nice motion. I used 4 tubes of caulking and I probably should have use 6. Some of the sections are too shallow and you can see the weave of the canvas. That's frustrating. This was also the most expensive of mats. Those tubes are $8 a piece.
Right now I'm just letting it sit there. My concern is that while it is cured, this stuff always stays a little tacky. Concerned about rolling it up and leaving it for too long.
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That is really cool. Great looking mat indeed!
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Is that a 'paintable' clear gloss caulking? I mean, is it made of the same stuff as the paintable acrylic caulking that would normally be used for a mat?
If so, you might try an acrylic gloss varnish to kill any tackiness after the mat has had a couple of days to fully cure. Obviously you want to do a test piece first.
Right now, that is one very impressive looking surface! It looks WET! :-* :-* :-* I think you are on to something there.
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That is an EXCELLENT water effect. VERY WELL DONE!
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Really cool, all the mats :o
I like your method, it's diferent from what I readed (mostly mixing acrylic caulk with paint, instead of painting it after).
Thanks for sharing. I need a portable gaming mat for my modern warfare projects, it's just perfect.
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Is that a 'paintable' clear gloss caulking? I mean, is it made of the same stuff as the paintable acrylic caulking that would normally be used for a mat?
If so, you might try an acrylic gloss varnish to kill any tackiness after the mat has had a couple of days to fully cure. Obviously you want to do a test piece first.
Right now, that is one very impressive looking surface! It looks WET! :-* :-* :-* I think you are on to something there.
Thanks. I don't believe it is paintable but I'll have to double check. Wouldn't using a gloss varnish make me lose the ability to roll it up? Is thre something that flexible that you know of?
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Thanks everybody. I really appreciate all the kind words. On the last page, I had said a snow mat was my next one but this water mat was too tempting. I gotta go out of town for a few days and I'll get it cut off the board and slap some terrain on it when I get back. I'm making a kind of lake-town-ish terrain for it.
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A good quality varnish should be flexible if it's laid down in a thin coat. But the proof is in the pudding, ain't it? ;D
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A thin layer of clear latex might also solve your tacky problem. Mind, Latex, not latex paint or any other latex based product. When applied thin enough it dries clear. Normally I wouldn't recommend smearing it over fabric but you probably have the right set up for that going on. Pro/con is that pure latex gives a very good grip, chances are you wont be able to slide models over the board.
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Insert Quote
A thin layer of clear latex might also solve your tacky problem. Mind, Latex, not latex paint or any other latex based product. When applied thin enough it dries clear.
Latex I have dry yellow (almost brown) and tacky lol
If you need a very glossy varnish, you could try something called "virtrifying" (vitrifiant in french), wich is acrylic based, sturdy, and really gloss.
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm out of town for at least the weekend. I'll take a look at how tacky it is when I get back. I put the clear on last Saturday so we'll see what a week of drying does for it.