Making a snow Mat

[Jeff965]

Having been inspired by Pat Smiths book pictured below I decided to have a go at making my own Snow Mat. The snow mats out there from various game Mat manufactures are very nice, but I wanted something that had a bit more weight and a 3D look to the texture.
This is how I made mine, I must admit to not slavishly following the instructions in Pats book in the end but I got what I wanted and here's what I did.

1. I placed a piece of calico over my 6'x4' table and I ironed it flat.
2. I pinned the edges of the calico about every 12"
3. I then used some small clamps I got from Amazon to further hold the Mat in place.
4. I put some patches of brown caulk on the Mat and covered these with sand and grit and then painted them a dark brown colour, then left them overnight to dry.
5.I then used my hands suitably adorned in latex gloves to spread builders acrylic caulk all over the calico. (Avoiding the brown patches)
5. I covered the caulk with woodland scenics soft flake snow and rollered this into the caulk using an empty caulk tube.
6. I then dabbed the caulk all over to lift it slightly to give a textured effect.
Here are some photos of the above stages.

[Jeff965]

You'll notice as the caulk dries it pull the edges in slightly, hence the need to pin and clamp.

[Jeff965]

When I came back to the Mat the next day I removed the clamps and pins and shook the Mat off. To my disappointment I noticed that most of the snow had not been held on by the caulk and the Mat looked a little bare in certain areas.
This is where I move away from Pats instructions.
1. I recovered the Mat in builders caulk making sure I spread it out to the edges especially where the clamps had been and right up to the edges of the brown caulk areas.
2. I then dabbed the Mat with a scrunched up carrier bag to lift the reapplied caulk.
I left this to dry over night without pinning or clamping.
3. When I came back to the Mat the next day I noticed the Mat had not shrunk at all but had curled up slightly at the edges.
4.I then covered the Mat with watered down pva adhesive and then sprinkled on another layer of snow and left that for another 24 hours.

[Jeff965]

When I came back the next day I shook the Mat off and this time there was very little loose snow to fall off, the pva had held most of it on and the Mat now looked a lot more like I wanted it to.
1. I then brushed pva over the brown patches and added my winter grass mix.
2. When this was dry I brushed more pva onto the grassed areas and sprinkled on more snow.
3. Finally I sprayed the whole Mat with watered down pva and let the whole thing dry again for another 24 hours.
The pva has sealed in the snow and grass and when I rolled the Mat up and generally kicked it around my shed next to nothing came off it.
I'm pleased with the end result, the table looks rather bare at the moment but when I've added roads hedges walls buildings etc that will change.
I hope you can see the texture of the Mat in the close up photos, if you like what I've done and would like to try it yourself please feel free to ask any questions.
May I also say that Pats book is an excellent read and full of hints and tips for people who want to give winter terrain a go.
Next up, roads 😀

[gamer Mac]

Very effective
Looks great

[OSHIROmodels]

That certainly does the job 

Might have to give it a go soon...

[Romark]

Nice work mate,looks good 

[Dr. Zombie]

I am working up the courage to start at caulk mat myself. I have all the ingredients I just need to find the time (and courage) to get started.

So it is good to see when people do this and everyone seems to get brilliant results for their efforts.

[Silent Invader]

I am working up the courage to start at caulk mat myself. I have all the ingredients I just need to find the time (and courage) to get started.

So it is good to see when people do this and everyone seems to get brilliant results for their efforts.

Me too. 

Excellent thread 

[Dr DeAth]

I made one a while back using caulk, PVA and sand on fleece material. It got a bit 'wavy' in storage but went flat after 48 hours so I tarted it up with some flock for use in my FFoL games:

[Malamute]

Splendid stuff Jeff, it looks great so far.

I can testify to how nice Dr De'Ath's mat is too.

[Elk101]

You knew where the iron was?

 

That's turned out very nice. The hint of grass under the snow does give it the feel of depth that you mentioned. Good stuff mate.

[Hammers]

Great stuff! I'll move this to Tutorials.

[Jeff965]

Thank you all for taking the time to comment and I hope you found the thread useful.
To those of you about to start out on your own mats all I'll say is that it can get messy, and have lots of rubber gloves to hand as you will go through several pairs.
If you want a 6x4 Mat area I'd suggest making a 7x5 Mat as this will allow you to put things underneath it for hills and elevation and it will also sort the problem of the edges slightly curling. Unfortunately for me I didn't have that large a surface to work on, however I may try again in the future and see if I can do the Mat in sections.

I made one a while back using caulk, PVA and sand on fleece material. It got a bit 'wavy' in storage but went flat after 48 hours so I tarted it up with some flock for use in my FFoL games:

Splendid stuff Jeff, it looks great so far.

I can testify to how nice Dr De'Ath's mat is too.

That's a great looking Mat Mark, the surface area is as good as any boards and it's a continuous surface so no lines from the edge of boards are showing. Also the storage required is far less than it is for conventional boards and so was an ideal choice for me.
The only advantage I think to using boards is the fact that you can sculpt terrain onto a board, you won't be able to do that with a Mat I don't think.

You knew where the iron was?

 

That's turned out very nice. The hint of grass under the snow does give it the feel of depth that you mentioned. Good stuff mate.

Ex Army Steve, if you ever want a decent shirt ironing I'm your man , glad you liked the Mat btw 👍

[Dr DeAth]

The only advantage I think to using boards is the fact that you can sculpt terrain onto a board, you won't be able to do that with a Mat I don't think.

That's the main disadvantage, you can't sculpt down.  Hills and other raised items can be made to be placed onto the mat, like the trees and buildings in the photos.