Tuesday 27 March 2018

Finishing off a battle mat

A couple of weekends ago I started on making my own battle mat while waiting for the glue to dry on a star fort I was making. The first stage of making the mat can be found here, and briefly describes how I roughly darkened up the light green curtain material with a rough brushing of watered down mid-green and also a green-brown colour mix. At the time I did not think I had got the colour and overall look I wanted.

Battle mat in use
One of the comments suggested using a sponging technique (thanks Norm). After searching through the shed full of paint and painting equipment I found my old natural sponge. So with sponge in hand and a slightly watered down green (a colour I use on my bases before they get flocked) I started sponging. With each sponging gradually building up the desired effect and colour depth I was looking for.

A close up of the sponged effect over the brushed on washes.
With the paint dry it was time to use the battle mat for a WW2 game. The mat being curtain material has a backing which gives it some weight, so it sits quite nicely over books or blocks to make smooth looking hills.

With all the terrain added
After setting up the terrain for a game and standing back to look at the end result. It occurred to me how much some of those early wargaming books (Battle, Introduction to Battlegaming, and Operation Warboard spring to mind) have influenced me with their ideas and chapters on making your own terrain. Because with the exception of trees (only a quarter of the trees are home made) all the other terrain was home made from balsa wood, modelling materials and various purchases from the hardware store. While many of the terrain ideas come from various blogs, those early wargaming authors sowed the seed for much of my approach to wargaming today.


9 comments:

  1. A good mottled effect on the mat. Agree about those 'old' authors I am just 're-appreciating' a 1974 publication at the moment.

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    1. The sponging finished off the look nicely. Thanks for the suggestion. I do enjoy re-reading the odd chapter from these books and looking at the old black and white photos.

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    2. Norm, which OS book has grabbed your interest? Wesencraft's Practical Wargaming, perhaps?

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  2. I like this look.

    I've been planning on attacking mine again with a stippling motion with an old brush but I think I need to check out sponging, never tried it on anything.

    Agreed on the old books! I especially like the spirit of them.

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    1. I originally started with a stippling technique, but it lacked to look I wanted. Possible because I was stippling on material.

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  3. Very good finish- the 'curtain material' sounds ideal- a normal linen sheet would be to light in weight. Well done.

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    1. Thank you I am pleased they way it has all turned out.

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  4. That is a fine looking result. I, too, appreciate the mottled look of the mat. Nice job!

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    1. Thank you. The mottled look from the sponging has made all the difference.

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