Painting a Old West mat

[Szary]

Inspired by older material by Terrain Tutor I decided to use my 2x2 felt as a test piece for a larger mat later.



Sadly, with all added benefits of using acrylic filler comes also the need to paint it later from the scratch, as it comes just in few general shades. I'm planning to go with some muted dusty, slightly red browns to capture the movie favourite - Arizona. Still, I am afraid to not overdo it and end up with the whole place looking like a scene from Bradbury's Martian Chronicles, especially as it may do some double duty as a generic "arid plain" mat if done right.

So, has anyone painted his own/mat table? Maybe you think you have a good, universal colour on yours? Or maybe you just may have the right suggestions on how to approach it?

Anyway, I would be thankful for any advice.

[Elbows]

I've always been tempted...but then the time/mess/tools/materials...I just end up with another neoprene mat.  I think there is a great "middle ground" colour you can do for mats which is essentially a kind of dry/scrubby green.  My "Steppe" mat from Deep Cut Studios has served me well as an Old West mat, a WW2 mat, a 40K mat, etc...it just suits everything.



So maybe a beige/sandy base with pale to medium green over top?

[SteveBurt]

I did one using felt, painted thickly with sand-coloured emulsion paint, and then added some darker areas and patches of greens round the edges. Looks fine.

[majorsmith]

I bought a Sandy coloured fleece blanket, flicked watered down green paint on it came out nice! And cheap

[Elbows]

Yeah, MajorSmith that looks good - my buddy has a great "beige" fabric mat and it looks great with some speckled paint and just grass and pebbles tossed all over it.

[EZPAINTER]

I bought a Sandy coloured fleece blanket, flicked watered down green paint on it came out nice! And cheap

I thoroghly enjoy this! I think we may do this for our incoming western game. Was this expensive?

[majorsmith]

Under £10 and just used watered down greens I had already got

[SPQR7070]

I bought a Sandy coloured fleece blanket, flicked watered down green paint on it came out nice! And cheap

This is genius. I wish I'd thought of it.

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I made my own using the canvas and acrylic caulking method. It came out ok - you can see it beneath my forces here:

It's about 12 feet long and 8 feet wide. Cost me about $30 and a weekend of work.