The Fur of the Bear that Bit You II: Finished DIY Gaming Mat

It's finally finished. I'm a little embarrassed that such a simple project took this long, but the important thing is that my gaming mat made from teddy bear fur (wip post here) is finished and ready for action.

The most grueling part of this process is trimming down the fur. Even ordering the shortest pile, I found that the fur was too thick to be able to place miniatures on reliably, especially when I factored in the extra stiffness that paint would give the fur.

The solution? Yup, go at it with a pair of scissors. If you feel like throwing an extra $15 at the project, you could invest in a pair of clippers—but that's just not where I was at. Furthermore, I found that the scissor treatment gave a rather uneven 'tufty' finish that appealed to my idea of what a matted, unkempt field should look like. And for all the tedium, I found that four evenings working at it for about a half-hour each while I watched a t.v. show saw the job done. I would recommend wearing a mitten or similar on you scissor-hand to prevent discomfort.

I took a couple of WIP pics of this stage, above and below. It's a little hard to make out, but in the image above, the trimmed section is at the bottom. In the one below, it's to the right. If you look very carefully, you might make out the difference in the fur's texture. Untrimmed, it's very smooth, trimmed, it's rough and wavy.

Unfortunately during the painting stage, I temporarily lost my camera. Luckily, however, the process is literally as easy as taking some very thin acrylics (like, skim milk consistency) and rubbing them all over the fur one patch at a time with your hands. (I used rubber gloves, but don't let me tell you what to do.)

I used a selection of three dullish greens, some brown and some yellow. I'd splash on one or two colors and then run through it with my hands until it was spread through the fur. If it needed more variation or there were portions without color, I'd splash in some different colors and repeat until I was satisfied. Once I'd covered the whole mat in this manner, I hung it up to dry.

Above is the finished, folded mat. There's no beating this thing for portability: It's light, packs small, and does not wrinkle or curl.

Here it is laid out. I put a couple of small plates face down on the table to serve as low hills.

Here's what it looks like with some scenery on. Of course, once I had it dressed up, I couldn't resist taking down my collection and organizing a little scene...

A desperate coalition defend the standing stones from dwimmer-beasts

The odds seem insurmountable.

The lines converge. Ruin is nigh.

Evil Majickers raise reinforcement from the barrows.

The doomed defence looks to be overwhelmed...

...but for the horse-thegns of the north who ride upon the wing!

The dwimmer-beasts falter...

...the horses scream...

...the hill trembles....

...and something watches from the barrows.

Got something to say? Tell it to the turf.

The Fur of the Bear that Bit You

Though I have now made two different homemade battlemats that entirely satisfy my wargaming needs, yet whenever I see even the hint of a new article on the subject, I'm on it like fur on a teddy bear. Or off of a teddy bear, as the case may be.

In fact, it turns out that the stuff is an excellent, inexpensive material for making grass wargaming surfaces that are even more durable, portable, hugable, and storable than the canvas versions I have previously dealt with. 

Apparently this was a secret to exactly no one except for me. Historical wargamers have been doing this for stuffed dog's years. Some of the better examples that I've found (which is to say that they're stunning) are here and, especially, here (make sure to browse through the articles, as this guy has done several mats and each one is better than the last. Inspired, I made my way to this (admittedly kind of creepy) craft website to purchase a couple of yards of neutral colored, short-pile, synthetic bear fur.

So here's a test piece for your delectation. Above is after a rough trimming with scissors to rough up the fur a bit and to make it easier for minis to stand. Below is after I haphazardly smeared some thinned out greens and yellows in. 

I was so pleased with the results that I immediately measured and cut out a 4' square to get started on... 

...and then promptly moved apartments and forgot about the project for a while. But now I'm (quite more than) settled in, and this project is at the top of the list. Stay tuned for the detailed results of my experimentations.

...Should you post a comment in the meantime? Does a teddy bear shit in the closet?

Breaking New Ground

Because having one flexible gaming mat just isn't enough. Especially when that mat is sized for a diminutive 2.5 by 3.5 foot dining table...

I now have the luxury of a somewhat bigger table, and even though it's not quite 4 by 4, I figured this time I'd just go for my ideal size. 

Above, the mat-to-be is layed out on the floor of my voluminous primary workshop (bedroom). Here's a pro tip: mark out your dimensions on the back of the mat so it's easy to cut it later.

Here is the mat tied out on the floor of my spacious secondary workshop (living room). Here's an amateur tip: go ahead and slather paste and sand over the carefully marked out dimensions you put on before. That way you'll have something to curse about later.

With the previous mat I was having trouble with the flocking mixture coming off of the mat when it was rolled up. I decided to solve that this time by making the mat without flocking. Instead I opted to flood it with a variety of dilute greens and yellows.

And that's pretty much it. The drawback to going without flock is that it now needs a ton of dry-brushing. But I figure that can be a gradual process. Hopefully I'll get to show you the more-or-less finished version in a battle-report soon!

From the Ground Up

There is much to consider when getting into the modeling and miniature gaming hobby. Yes. Much to consider, and even more to build. It is a daunting task. But one must start somewhere.

One is reminded of some old adage.

I am writing this post to share my experience following someone else's great idea. If you would like to see the original tutorial, you can find it here from Sir Tobi of Tobi's Paint Pot. It is worth it, trust me, and by far the greatest resource I was able to find, during months of searching, on the subject of DIY Battle-mats.

That's right, you read me correctly. A realistic, roll-able, DIRT CHEAP method for turning any old table into a gaming table. And for the tiniest fraction of the cost of a commercial model.

Here are the materials:

1. Acrylic paste from the hardware store. The four tubes cost me something like 15 dollars. I got the siliconized variety, cuz I figured it might give extra flex. You might need all four tubes for a full-sized table, but my little 3' by 4' table only needed one.

2. Generic brown craft paint. As cheap as you like, really.

3. Twine or string.

4. Scissors for the twine or string.

5. Flocking and texturing materials.

6. Also, some washers and a pointy nail.

7. And a piece of artists canvas. I was expecting this to be the most expensive part, but to my surprise, the medium weight, unprimed stuff that I got was only five bucks a yard, and for my table a yard was all I needed. 

(8. Newspaper. DO NOT forget to put newspaper under the canvas, just to make sure you don't ruin your dining table.)

Big ol' bucket of grass.

For the flocking materials, I used my usual home-made grass flock (though this project brought out some weaknesses in my method for making said flock, which I need to work on), dried coffee grounds and tea leaves which I had collected, and also a pack of ground foam I got at the art store with the canvas. Four bucks or so.

I should note here as an Amateur Tip that this project can be made or broken on the quality of your flocking materials. If you have passable flock (like mine) you will get a very satisfying result. If you have a range of high-quality materials to mix together, I think the result would be mind-blowing. Balance, as ever, is key.

Here's the point where my method differs from the original: I, unlike Sir Tobi, do not have the luxury of being able to drill holes in a table to use as a stretching rack for the canvas. Because I don't have a dedicated gaming table. It's kind of why I got into this in the first place. But I found a work-around.

In order to secure the canvas to the table while it dries (so that it doesn't shrink and so it stays flat) I first glued some spare washers to the corners of the canvas. I then used my nail to poke a hole through the center of each washer. Like so:

By feeding twine through these holes, I was then able to tie the corners down to the legs of the table. The washers made sure that the canvas didn't rip, and the string just got covered over with the paste mixture and trimmed later.

There. You see?

Next you mix up the acrylic paste, paint, and sand with some water. The proportions are very much by feel. For my table (a little shy of 3' by 4' in either direction) I used the whole large tube of craft paint, but only one tube of acrylic paste, 1-2 cups of sand, and just enough water to make it mix easy. Don't worry if you aren't sure. I think it's pretty hard to mess up.

Mix it all together, stick your hand in, and serve a large dollop onto your canvas. Spread it around until it is evenly coated.

Then it's time to add your flock. I just mixed together all my materials and applied them haphazardly, but I think a more controlled approach would also be possible.

Here's another Amateur Tip: More flock is better. You don't want to get to this point and realize you might be short (like I almost did). Better to err on the side of a fuller, lusher table.

Now leave it to dry for an entire day before shaking off the excess... and when it's done it will look like this:

                                     

At this point I couldn't resist throwing down some terrain and Blood Bowl orcs to see what it would look like. Easily passable:

From the back ground, you can see how embarrassingly out of date this post is.

It wasn't until the next day that I remembered one of the main advantages to this kind of battle mat, which is that you can easily make hills by placing objects under the cloth. Classic!

And that's that. If you want to see how this can be done with even better results, do visit Sir Tobi. His gaming mats are fantastic.

That wraps up today's post. But look for some new painting posts soon, since I also managed to pick up some birthday (okay, Christmas) goodies for myself out of the gaming store bargain bin.