Terrain Cloth

[Kingscarbine]

Hi,

I need some advice on how to make a generic terrain cloth. I'm thinking of using fake fur as a basis or some kind of cloth that is flexible enough to cover teatures. The terrain must look as realistic as possible but not too detailed and fiddly.

cheers

[SBRPearce]

My terrain cloths are made from fleece material (the sort light outdoor clothes are made from, not sheep), because the texture is more applicable to a wide range of scales. I laid it out in my backyard (on a patch of ivy that I hated) and randomly dusted it with 3-5 shades of greens and browns, the goal to break up the vast expanse of One Green Shade.

I lay the cloth over hill elevations cut from 1/2" and 3/4" foam, but it's the additional pieces laid atop the cloth that give the layout the looks.

I wish I could make a set of 3d carved-foam modular boards, but storage issues cintinue to prevent that... *sigh*

[Sendak]

Try your local wall covering dealer.


Material

I purchased some 'buff' vinyl roll sheet that has a slightly irregular soil-like front and a slight 'grid' backing. Front and back accept Krylon rattle-can paints.

The the material is 152cm (60 in.) or close by 245cm (96 in.) or close.

The product was designed for wall covering.

Painting

I liked the 'neutral' shade  on this piece that I used for a base. I used Krylon 'camo' spray paints. Scrap card stock came in handy for making spray 'masks' to get that 'irregular' soft edge look.

I lined in some water features with acrylic.

Good features of vinyl roll:

1. no edge flip
2. takes paint well--a matte sealer is a safe bet
3. its tough--for gaming it has to be
4. rolls up and stores in a tube
5. flexible application--the back side is good for either a 'Sea' mat or a 'Star' mat--you choose


Best luck!

[Dr. Kevin Moon III esq.]

I bought the Games Workshop plain green cloth for £15 - it doesn't crease when folded up, its heavy enough to sit nicely on a table.

If you're after a 6ft x 4ft green static grass style cloth I don't think you could make a better one, especially for the cost.

Parkfield miniatures had a nice grass cloth at the overlord show for their vietnam game, they might be worth e-mailing to see how they did it?

[Kingscarbine]

Thanks for the suggestions. I may use acrylic paints as they are more flexible. Does anyone use sand or sawdust to give it a rugged look?

[Gluteus Maximus]

My terrain cloths are made from fleece material (the sort light outdoor clothes are made from, not sheep),

Sheep's fleece terrain would certainly be interesting to see 

The idea of using synthetic fleece material is very intriguing. I assume it's very easy to dry-brush etc and conforms nicely to underlying hill formers, without excessive creasing?

If so, and if it's cheap, it might be worth investing in some.

[SBRPearce]

GM:  All my paint work on these cloths has been with spray cans, so I can't speak to the dry-brushing question. Using corrugated cardboard from work (I get all I want, every day) I made irregular edge masks. Use the "A" side of the cut piece, held about an inch above the cloth, to spray the shadow on one side of a ridge, then use the "B" side to spray the highlight on the other side. Works well.

I wouldn't advise using scattered flock along with the fleece cloth - that doesn't end well in my experience.

For my urban table, I'm hunting for a large piece of concrete-colored vinyl, which will also get a range of faint oversprays in greys and black to better resemble pavement. All the buildings, etc, will be on bases with curb-stone edges, tall enough to look good against my based figures.

[Gluteus Maximus]

GM:  All my paint work on these cloths has been with spray cans, so I can't speak to the dry-brushing question. Using corrugated cardboard from work (I get all I want, every day) I made irregular edge masks. Use the "A" side of the cut piece, held about an inch above the cloth, to spray the shadow on one side of a ridge, then use the "B" side to spray the highlight on the other side. Works well.

Thanks! Even I could do that 

The only possible problem would be getting the correct shades of spray paint to match my figures' bases, but I'll certainly give seriously thought to this idea.

I have any old worn out fleece that I only use for painting the house etc, so I might try dry brushing that to see what happens.

[HannahFKW]

Youl should try out the GW BattleMat
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod2060001&rootCatGameStyle=

I just bought myself one the other day and it is soooo good for storage, and it is literally a field of 'static' grass, really light and portable, and I would say good value for money.
It also looks good once you have built up all the scenery on top as well... One day though I will have a whole proper gaming board

Han.

[6milPhil]

I don't think you should cover teachers with a game cloth, they won't be able to see their classes. 

[Gluteus Maximus]

Youl should try out the GW BattleMat
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod2060001&rootCatGameStyle=

I just bought myself one the other day and it is soooo good for storage, and it is literally a field of 'static' grass, really light and portable, and I would say good value for money.
It also looks good once you have built up all the scenery on top as well... One day though I will have a whole proper gaming board

Han.

They are very good -though not to mention fairly expensive of course - and seem to keep their flocking intact even after serious use. They are a bit monotonous in shade, as is almost inevitable with fully flocked mats and are only 6x4 which is too small for many of the resident megalomaniacs. They are well worth having for temperate climate games though. Happily I got one as a present when they first appeared.

I need desert and parched African/Old West etc terrain though, so that's the sort of thing I'm looking for.

[Dolmot]

Mat O War topic, further comments and pics available by request.

[HannahFKW]

They are very good -though not to mention fairly expensive of course - and seem to keep their flocking intact even after serious use. They are a bit monotonous in shade, as is almost inevitable with fully flocked mats and are only 6x4 which is too small for many of the resident megalomaniacs. They are well worth having for temperate climate games though. Happily I got one as a present when they first appeared.

I need desert and parched African/Old West etc terrain though, so that's the sort of thing I'm looking for.

I hardly see £18.50 for a 6x4 mat as expensive, if you tried making one yourself at that size with that ammount of static grass and fabric you would deffinately be spending more. Particularly as it is so portable/light/easy to store.  

And if you look at a real field from a distance then it will look similar in shade all over, as the GW mat does actually have different shades of grass (light/dark green, brown and redish) you could always drybrush it in certain area's though to add more variation.

Han.

[Gluteus Maximus]

I hardly see £18.50 for a 6x4 mat as expensive, if you tried making one yourself at that size with that ammount of static grass and fabric you would deffinately be spending more. Particularly as it is so portable/light/easy to store.  

And if you look at a real field from a distance then it will look similar in shade all over, as the GW mat does actually have different shades of grass (light/dark green, brown and redish) you could always drybrush it in certain area's though to add more variation.

Han.

"Fairly" expensive and I did also say "well worth having". I wouldn't try and make a flock-covered mat as it wouldn't be practical, but Antenociti (and others) do sell it much cheaper than GW. Certainly feasible price-wise, if not in terms of practicality. Also, if doing it yourself, you can vary the coverage of the grass to give a patchy effect which will help break up the regularity of it.

As to the colour of large areas of real grass, you're perfectly correct and yes the GW mat does have variations in shade, but for some reason miniature grass matting never seems to look "realistic" when used in large unbroken areas. Maybe it's just that GW's flock shades are too uniformly distributed - random patches of browner, yellower flock etc might help it look better. Maybe it's the fact that the underlying terrain of most real grassland is never bowling-green flat or that real grassland has many variations in height and types of grasses/small bushes in it. Apart from lawns (and even in cultivated fields), there are always many minor undulations etc that provide more "texture" and shade. Maybe this is why I really prefer terrain boards, but for practical reasons tend to use mats. Dry-brushing is a good option for making it more realistic, but as a grumpy old git, after buying a mat I would prefer it to be ready for use.

Still, as I said I have one, it's great for doing quick improvised games, I am happy with it and would recommend it for gamers with storage space restrictions. That said, it's not my preferred option 

[Mr Mipps]

I bought the Games Workshop plain green cloth for £15 - it doesn't crease when folded up, its heavy enough to sit nicely on a table.

If you're after a 6ft x 4ft green static grass style cloth I don't think you could make a better one, especially for the cost.

Parkfield miniatures had a nice grass cloth at the overlord show for their vietnam game, they might be worth e-mailing to see how they did it?

There is more information here about how to prepare the teddy bear fur for wargaming

http://thamesvalleywargamers.blogspot.com/2009/09/teddy-bear-fur-gaming-mat-series-of.html