Fleece mats?

[bruce ross]

Has anyone tried using fleece as a battle mat? Being on a limited gaming budget (because I have like 6 other gaming interests…arg!) I thought about making a mat without the mess/hassle of one with acrylic.

I’ve seen a couple sites where people are using fleece, but nothing in detail.

I want a desert mat, but I’m not sure what kind of paints are best to use? Was thinking of using some of that spackled spray paint to add some texture.

What about glue and some sand? Has anyone tried to use glue on fleece? Thinking about this brings me back to the mess/hassle 🙂

Anyways, love to hear any tips/tricks from anyone who has dealt with fleece.

Thanks

[Usagitsuki]

Dunno if it’s the kind of thing you mean, but this one was £12.50 for a 200cm x 150cm. It’s coloured with cheap-ish Galeria acrylics. Paint is watered down, brushed on in patches, then blended in with a comb.

Sengoku 'blog: https://tenkafubu608971038.wordpress.com

[Mike]

@Usagitsuki stop posting, you are making us all look bad!!

😀

[bruce ross]

That looks really good. I think this might be the route I go. I just need to spend some time at the fabric store and what material will work for the desert table I want.

Not sure I want a “fur” looking desert terrain. I’m wondering if that spackle spray paint would stick to the material.

[Usagitsuki]

I like the way the fleece hides the bases. I guess you could find one with shorter fur for desert and you don’t notice the fur effect so much from further away. Depends what you want really. But I think you could get some really good colour blending effects with it. I went for a pretty basic brown and green as I wanted to try and get something close to Japanese battle screens.

Sengoku 'blog: https://tenkafubu608971038.wordpress.com

[Mike]

I have seen people that have taken beard trimmers to the fur, to make it less uniform and even make paths/roads.
Maybe that with some goop would make it less furry?

[Norm S]

Polyester Fleece throws,which are widely available (in the UK at least) seem to have a different texture on each side. To one side you get the wool look and the the other, a shorter, more towel looking nap, which I suspect would work for the desert.

I have used spray paint on a fleece and that left the fleece slightly sticky to itself, so when folded away, it would tend when unfolded to retain light crease marks, so I think the solvent in the can is doing something to the polyester.

The watered down acrylic paint as described above seems the best way to go.

HOWEVER, I know over time that I have spent so much on trying to get cloths or a mat looking right, that it would have been better / cheaper / faster / more satisfying for me in the first instance to have just bought a professionally manufactured Neoprene (mousepad material) mat. Gale Force Nine do some nice ones, which are printed to both sides. There is one with a nice green on one side and a desert brown on the other, with a variation in colour that is visually nice. I paid £63 for mine in the UK for a 6′ x 4′ roll. Their city map is simply superb – again double sided, though the flip side is a sort of yellow green that I am less keen on, but does all add to the variety.

[Nathaniel Weber]

For many of my Vietnam (and other tropical/semi tropical) games, I use a piece of fleece fabric that I dappled with different colored green sprays. Over the years of use, it has developed a wonderful patina of foam foliage bits, lichen pieces, fine gravel, and errant flock from figure basing, and looks quite natural. I have several other mats—fleece or felt—which I have given a similar treatment to, with various spray paints and flock bits, and I love the look and inexpensiveness of them. Occasionally, I find myself browsing different sites for their premium gaming mats and every time, after considerable hmming and hawing, I remember that my mats were dirt cheap by comparison and I, at least, love them.

 

[bruce ross]

If funds were flowing I’d just buy a Cigar Box mat as they look sublime, but I’d rather spend more hobby money on mini’s/bases for those mini’s and other terrain that I just don’t want to make. The mat is where I can save some money.

Think I’m sticking with fleece. I just can’t see how a felt mat (painted) and a neoprene map would allow for the contours needed for wadi’s, hills, etc…

[Norm S]

bruce ross wrote:

Think I’m sticking with fleece. I just can’t see how a felt mat (painted) and a neoprene map would allow for the contours needed for wadi’s, hills, etc…

They won’t, that terrain is best placed on top of the mat.

[telzy amber]

Usagitsuki’s hills look to be under the mat to me. The town, forest, rice paddies/vegetable plots on top

[Gillies Sim]

I looked into a number of fabric options a while back (not progressed with them yet) but I posted up my results here.

Apologies for the shameless sharing of a link to my own blog!

https://nottherivercottage.blogspot.com/

[Noel]

You might be able to buy an inexpensive fleece blanket with a pattern that resembles what you are looking for, to cut down on the amount of work.

[Author]

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