Thanks everyone for joining me for this build. I really enjoyed the outcome for this one, although I had many moments of doubt throughout this. So don't be intimidated by the details or the size of this build, as it's really a lot easier to do than you might think. If you want to see more of this sort of thing, you can check out my original battlemat video here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E5W4FKqRbSs.html
"I don't have that much skill painting things like this" *looks at your DM screens* Yeah... you've got a ton more skill than you give yourself credit for :P. Another great video (I never thought to use water to thin down my mixture).
Thanks James. I surprise myself as much as anyone I think with these things. It's important to always have a go at something new, you never know how it might work out. I appreciate the comment mate.
RFD, checking in on you man! Also, I was interested in the sand battle mat, I've looked at a few on Urbanmatz, but I'm considering making my own, can't make up my mind you. Buy now or build later? Hope you're doing well mate. Peace out.
Thanks for the message Tyler, it's been a tough few months, but I'm doing my best to get out of the funk I'm in. As for your battle mat, after building a few, I'm always going to say build it man! It might sound like a bit of a project, but if you've got a bit of flat concrete (garage for example) that you can take over for about 6 hours (overnight is ideal), you can knock this thing out in a day for under $40AU and have a few materials left over to make more. Painting for table ready can be as simple as you like, and you can always still work on it over time to add details. It takes about 45mins to measure, cut, layout, mix and apply everything, the rest of time is just waiting for it to be dry enough to cut out and move. If you're doing it in the daytime with decent temperatures, it should only take a few hours. If you can easily get materials for it, it's a really quick project. But I guess you have to also WANT to build a mat, or at least need a cheap option. I haven't used a bought mat, but they look way better than I can paint, and I assume they're fairly hardy, so if you have the money, or lack time or space, buying might be the better option. Building it is really satisfying though!! Let me know what you do mate.
I like the mix with water here better than your 20x20 test mat. Are there any concerns about letting it dry above certain temps or very low humidity? I live in one of the dryest counties in the US (average humidity is 6%-8%) where June through September is 100+ degrees F.
Hey Anthony, you should have no issues with this drying, I honestly didn't notice a difference with the water, I did these in the Aussie summer, so it was hot and dry. I leave them overnight before moving them, although I'm not sure if that much time is really necessary. I hope this helps mate.
Can you roll it up? Honestly when I read battlemat I expected you to roll it up at the end, why else go for a mat over let's say a playe or some insulation foam?
These roll up no worries. I have mine stored rolled around a postage tube and stored in the cupboard. They do have a bit of weight to them, so with the larger ones you probably want something to roll them around (such as a cardboard postage tube) so they don't crease over time while stored.
Cheers Ivan. I actually only grabbed this out of the cupboard yesterday and checked it out. It's still holding up really well after all this time. I put up a quick video if you want to see how it's doing after so long. Thanks mate, take care.
I tried this and had a really bad time. the caulk wouldn't mix up at all and started to set as I spreading it. i realised it's because i bought silicone sealant and I needed to get acrylic! :/ another time I guess
Oh man, I'm sorry to hear this, it must have been awful. Silicone Sealant is a shit time even when trying to use it for it's intended purpose! Using acrylic sealant is a holiday compared to trying to do something like this with silicone. I hope you have another go and have a much better time of it mate. It's still a favorite of mine as far as quick and easy projects go. Cheers.
Thanks very much. I'm starting to get a bit more confidence, particularly when it comes to just trying something new and having a go. I think a lot of these larger type projects can just seem way out of reach due to the scale, but once you break them down to their individual elements, you realise there isn't anything too complicated or difficult there. It's the sum of all those little elements that make the projects really work in the end, so you just have to jump in and chip away at it until it's done, and have a little faith that it will all come together eventually. Cheers for the comment mate.
Okay so I finally had a go at making my own. The method was easy to follow though making the colour was a nightmare. My warning to all is don't do what i did and improvise a colour adjustment with food colouring... it leeches onto your hands if it gets the smallest bit wet lol. Other than that, it looks great. Thanks Shawn, this will add so much to our games.
Wonderful! That's great that you got it done. Sorry to hear about your color problems, but thank you for sharing so I know about this for the future haha. Thanks so much for letting me know how the project turned out mate, glad you found the video helpful. Cheers man!
I have been trying to figure out how to make a flexible mat that will not crack easily, and this fits the bill! I have an art background, and my thoughts were going to the painterly products I know, like gesso, and that would definitely not hold up or do the job, but caulking is PERFECT. Thanks for sharing!
Hey there! Does it matter which way you roll these mats up? By this I mean texture on the outside or inside. Also, how do they hold up to cracking? When you're rolling and unrolling does the canvas hold up fine with the acrylic & sand mixture? Thank you! Keep up the awesome videos.
Hey Kevin, it doesn't matter which way you roll them, I have been rolling them with the texture on the inside, and haven't had any issues at all, no cracking or anything so far. For the larger mats, it might be best to roll it around something (like a postage tube or something), as the weight of it can cause it to sit flat, and could cause it to crease. In the short term they are holding up really well, time will tell if this holds up long term and whether or not the acrylic hardens. But 5-6 months on from my first mat and it's still perfectly fine. Thanks mate, I hope this helps in some way. Happy to answer any questions you have if you have a go at this.
@@RFDHobby perfect! Thank you for the prompt reply. We are moving cross country in a couple of months so once my wife and I are settled I am eager to give these mats a go. :)
You wouldn't happen to know the brand of the plastic scraper you're using? Tried to find it on the Bunnings website and I can't find it!! Many thanks for the videos!
The label is long gone off mine, and the brand doesn't appear on it anywhere else. I just had a good long look on the website as well and couldn't seem to find it, there are some other plastic joint knife products there, but not this particular one. I should be heading into Bunnings this week and I'll reply again once I find the brand for you mate. Sorry about that. I'll be in touch though.
@@RFDHobby you sir are a dead set legend! I think I found some that would work, www.bunnings.com.au/kango-3-piece-taping-knife_p0098427 Going to give that a try! And thanks for the response!
great battlemat, just a tiny note here: when you look at nature and you see cracked earth/mud for example, you will notice the driest part is toward the crack, and usually this means the less saturated one, so the darker tones should be the ones between the cracks I guess
Thanks for the comment, I'll definitely keep this in mind in the future, I'm always looking for tips to improve, especially painting tips. Cheers for the comment.
Thanks mate. It's still holding up, I did a quick video on how this thing held up after the fire, it survived even the heat of that event and is still playable today. No cracking or anything, just a bit of curling on an edge that it was resting on for too long, but it was just the way I stored it.
Wow, I might actually like this one more than your first! Especially at the halfway point, it started developing a very Borderlands sort of vibe, would be perfect for something like This is Not a Test.
Only recently got started with 40k after always being interested. Excited to start throwing some terrain together, these videos have given me a lot of inspiration. Cheers brother, great work as usual.
Hi, yeah it is great. I'll try it next week, after i collect the products here in Germany. Thanks for inspiration! Maybe i try to work with shades and biiiig drybrushes Thank you for your content mate! Stay healthy and look forward! Greetings from germany
Sure can. I have this one rolled around a poster tube in the cupboard at the moment. No problems with cracking or anything so far. It's quite flexible.
I have few that I'm hoping the terrain helps a bit. 40k, AoS, Walking Dead All Out War, Star Wars Legion, and even some dnd stuff I'd like to build for some future game. But at the moment, I'm building way more than I'm playing. I really enjoy it though, and not everything I'm building has a place...yet.
@@RFDHobby just so u know I tried a regular piece of canvas from spotlight and it worked well. I used it on a glass table, but didnt seem like there was any bleed through
Good luck mate. Mine are still holding up really well, so they seem to be a really worthwhile little project. Let me know how you go, or if you have any questions. Cheers.
Awesome job mate! Really nice finished look! But how does it do with rolling up at that thickness? When you say it hasn't cracked for you, are you storing it rolled? Would have been great to see a shot of the mat rolling up/stored away. Keen to hear how you store it. Thanks for the great video, with good helpful tips on how to do the details!
Thanks Roland. I store mine rolled up. I use a cardboard postage tube to roll the mat around, and I've had no issues with it at all. I can see rolling several up together being an easy way to store a couple of them. Thank you for watching and commenting mate. Let me know if you have any more questions.
@@RFDHobby Awesome! Cheers for answering. My pleasure seeing your work, it's a great battle mat. Your video tipped tge balance and inspired me to make a few of my own. Cheers mate!
This is definitely on my list to try, going to do more of an urban battlefield look but this video is going to be a massive help. Super clear, easy to follow and a fantastic outcome 👍
Thanks Josh. I have one more of these planned which will also be something a bit more urban, and large sized again, but I want to really plan it out to best fit my terrain on it before I start. Good luck with yours mate, and if you need any advice or help, just let me know. Cheers.
I like your hobby commentary, and tutorials. I recommend you watch a few 'how to light a scene videos' on RU-vid to bring up the quality of your introductions. A pair of inexpensive lamps will do wonders for your production value. Excellent battle mat ideas, thanks for sharing.
Thanks mate. I appreciate the feedback on the lighting, I'm working on upgrades as I go to improve quality. Next up is lighting, as it's one of things that is really difficult to make work without proper gear. Hopefully you'll see some improvements in the next few videos. I appreciate the comment and feedback mate.
Definitely going to have a good at this. You made it look easy as well as instilling confidence. I just happened by this channel and am now a subscriber. -John
Hey John. It is honestly one of the easiest projects on the channel, the difficult part is really just figuring out, and putting on the paint to make it look like you want. Good luck on the project, can't wait to see what you come up with. Take care. - Shawn.
What do you use, is it silicone? Or is it another type of silicone that can be diluted in water, when I see the link to the purchase site it is not clear to me
Cracking build! After watching this one and the last you did I am now way more confident in my ability to actually make one of my own. I may still completely bollocks it up but I will do it more confidently! ;-) Cheers!
Haha, you'll be fine. If you're unsure of anything, just send me a message or jump in my discord channel, happy to help in anyway if I can mate. Thanks again for watching and commenting. Good luck!
Love this mat and your tutorials generally - thanks. I was wondering why you decided against the isopropyl alcohol this time? I tried the mix you used for the road mat and found that to be the best formula I've come across (having made a number of these using various methods over the years).
Thanks Alan. Honestly, I was playing around with this mix for some miniature bases a few weeks back, and decided to experiment with that isopropyl/water element, I found very little difference with using water instead. So for this mat I thought I would give it a whirl. I can't really fault it at all, and I'm not sure I could tell any difference whatsoever in the process or end product. I'm not sure at all what the theoretical advantage of the isopropyl is over water, but I found this mix worked out just as well. Iso isn't cheap here, so it's a win not having to use it for the mat. I'll see if there's any long term difference, but it seems to be working perfectly so far. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how the isopropyl might be of benefit, I'm really curious to know if there's a reason people use it here.
@@RFDHobby Thanks for the reply, Shawn. I've spent a bit of time today trying to track down some information about thinning caulking compound, but found nothing. It seems diluted IPA can be used to thin acrylic paints, but that about all I could see. It looks like good old H2O is the way to go - cheaper for sure! I might go look at the terrain Tutor vids on various caulk techniques at some stage. I'll try water next time and see. In the past i didn't think the caulk and it was hard to get the finish you achieve. Cheers Alan
Nice one! The professional gaming mats are of a quality and detail I can't even come close to matching. But it's nice to have an option that works fine if you can't afford those, or if you're just wanting to make something cool.
Thank you so much for the comment. I've actually just posted about it here... ru-vid.comUgyuBSdKSjqKjic8zD94AaABCQ Let me know if you have any other questions mate. Cheers.
This is awesome i've been looking for something like this!!! Thanx for sharing!!! It would be nice if you can put the material list in the video description :)
Thanks so much mate. I have updated the video description and included links to the products I use to make the mat. These are all listed for Bunnings in Australia (Local national hardware store), although I'm sure you could find same or similar items elsewhere. I hope this helps. Thank you for the comment.
It be cool if it wasn’t rocks or desert but like muddy cratered mounds and like trench’s on the other side so you can spread them out and make it look like a trench system that’s been bombed apart. Can be scattered terrain or lined up somewhat together to look like a trench line?
Absolutely, that's a great idea. I might do something like that in the future. I have one more of these mats planned, but it's a more urban setting. I might have try out this idea at some stage though. Thanks very much for watching and commenting mate.
@@RFDHobby yours welcome and I’m been working on an urban tabletop for awhile but I need to get like 3-4 of those imperial sector kits to finish the bulk of it.
So here's what I really want to know - How are these holding up over time? Are they seeing heavy use? Are they prone to chipping/cracking/flaking? Are you actually storing them rolled up or flat? Do you think these will last months or years or decades?
Thanks for the comment. It's not seeing much use at all unfortunately. It hasn't shown any signs of chipping/cracking or flaking. I'm storing this one rolled up, and it' rolls out just fine. Some of the edges were 'bent' while in storage for a couple of months last time, and these didn't seem to be an issue when I rolled the mat back out. I can only guess as to how long it's really going to last, I'm fairly confident that even with heavy use this mat would be holding up well given how it looks and feels now. I'd give it some years of life in it yet. I hope this helps mate.
@@RFDHobby Yeah, it does. A lifespan of at least a couple of years sounds pretty good to me. Seems like a lot of work for something less durable than that though.
@@ColonelSandersLite You'd be surprised how quickly it comes together. Making the mat and spreading the mix out wouldn't be an hour of work, where the time is really spent is painting it up. I'm way too poor to buy mats too though, although I probably would if I could, and I'm not at all against buying a better quality if you can.
@@RFDHobby Yeah, I figured the painting would be the time consuming part for all but the most basic of mats. Though the lower price tag is certainly nice, I mostly just see a lot of appeal in the combination of customizability and storability. You can probably store a dozen or more of them rolled up in a simple PVC pipe. One for every occaission. As nice as they can be, those big sculpted game tables definitely can't do that.
It rolls up fine. Probably best to roll it around a cardboard postage tube or something similar as it has a bit of weight to it, and I haven't been brave enough to test what happens if I crease it. But rolling is fine.
Stencils would work well here. I considered it for this one, but as I was going for a large section of rock here, I really wanted to avoid any kind of repeating pattern, and I felt like random shapes with darker outlines was going to work out well enough. Thank you for watching and commenting mate.
I tried making an urban battle mat similar to the one you made in the previous video. As an alternative to sand I mixed sawdust in with the acrylic mix as I have plenty of sawdust and no sand. This resulted in a very uneven surface but it may be that I did not spread it properly. As I used cheap acrylic paint from Cheap as Chips the colour that I painted on needed several applications. Possibly the sawdust is soaking everything up but I thought I'd let you know that sawdust "works".
Oh great idea. I hadn't considered that. An uneven surface may not be such a bad thing either. The sawdust would suck up that paint a bit I imagine, but it sounds like you got this working. I might try it out also, as I generate a bit of sawdust myself as well, so it would be great to have a use for it. Thanks for letting me know. Glad it worked out for you!
I haven't yet, I'm pretty sure it would be fine. Might get a little messy if you're rolling the mat up unless the flock is well stuck on there though. Worth a shot.
Pretty kick ass mat there!!! It looks so good! The final air brush of the lava orange that kinda help highlight the cracks was very transformative. Just cant say enough about how inspired I am to do one of these now! Slainte!
Thanks. It really is a big transformation with each small detail added. That's why I encouraged people in the video to just stick with it, you might be just around the corner from taking the mat from ordinary to awesome. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Thank you! Cheers! Starting with the base color close to what you're after in the end makes it a lot easier to get the final effect right. I found trying to paint green grass effects a little tricky on my first battlemat video, so feel free to jump into my discord to share your results or progress, I'd be really keen to see how you go with it. The link is in the video description mate. Best of luck.
Thank you Greg. It really all came together in the end, and was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I appreciate the comment mate.
It looks great! You captured the look of a desolate area and the colors look very realistic. Thanks for sharing this, I always learn from and enjoy watching your tutorials.
well it turned out really good I think ^^ those crevasses really sets some depth, same for the shadows on the stones< maybe with other colors and the same process it can turn into an interesting lava/volcanic terrain, I might try ^^" nice job ^^
Thank you. This one was really a trial for me in a lot of ways, I haven't ever tried to paint something of that size, but I was quite happy with the outcome. I really want to do another couple, of larger size, but it's still a daunting project, all that canvas haha. I appreciate the comment. Take care and all the best.
Thanks so much. It was a bit back and forwards with how I felt about this one throughout the project, but it all worked out in the end. Thanks for watching and commenting mate, I really appreciate it.
Go for it mate. It's really quite a quick and easy project, and you can just paint it up to whatever theme you want. Good luck with it, and if you need any help or advice with the build, just let me know. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Thanks, and fair enough. Unfortunately, buying one is not an option for me, so this is how I get there. I appreciate the comment though mate, and thanks for watching.