How to Make an Awesome RUBBER GAMING MAT for Cheap!

[@kylewarmack2837]

As someone who used this kind of rubber mat on film sets all the time...AND has made a bunch of skirmish mats using canvas drop cloth instead...I am extremely annoyed at myself for not having thought of this. Magnificent results. Definitely going to make one of these next time! Thanks for another great video.

[@msolace580]

depends, canvas should be durable as well. caulk is pretty strong. and cheaper for larger sizes

[@toferkrz946]

​@@msolace580 Problem with this technique with cloth mats is that they can shrink and wrinkle while as the caulking dries.

[@andrewt3768]

Man, I tried to find this stuff at hardware stores in my area and have had no luck so far.

[@kylewarmack2837]

​@@msolace580 No doubt. My canvas mats have lasted okay. But I really like how this one rolls. The canvas ones I've made have to be unrolled well in advance because of how badly they curl.

[@samanthalacroix2687]

@@toferkrz946 Got a fix for that. I have a 4x8 table that I staple the tarp over the edges so when it's dry I can cut it to size. If you don't have a table you can use heavy duty tape on a floor, porch, deck or even a 4x8.

[@Aracore]

I'd love to see you do the grass version, or the town square , or the coast. Having the abiulity to roll your mats up for SAFE storage is a HUGE bonus.

[@HumorloserHofnarr]

Yes, please a grass and city version

[@surisla]

Yes grass , fantasy city and modern city mats please

[@hazed1009]

You know what would be really cool , would be a proper rubberised 3d type mat. Like a rocky coastline or cave type floor with larger rubber rock flooring. Lol imagine rolling out a mat at a game session and half the scatter terrain was MOLDED right onto the mat! 😂 like you flop it accross the table and it has rubberised rocks vegetation and rock pools of water all there ready to go! The admiration(lealousy!lol) of other DMs with their boxes of loose fillers staring in disbelief haha Jeremy could probably pull it off. 😆

[@GarouGames]

Thumbs up for the giggle I got for using wrong varnish!

[@GavinSpiewak]

This is amazing, I have a local game store that opens recently and they don’t have any mats for wargaming. These would be perfect to make and give to the store for players to use

[@ivybarnes]

I've been watching for years, but I've never had my own space that I could use for crafting. We're finally moving to our forever home (after 20 years of military moves), and I get a room! I'm starting slowly, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate your instructions, your values, and the ethos of your channel and work. The attitude with which you approach each creation and creating in general is incredibly refreshing and .... inspiring? I think that's the word. In a world of Golden Demon winners, actual artists (people who majored in art and have that whole talent thing that lets them paint a mini like it's the Sistine Chapel), and people who will review paints / brushes / anything for the most minute nuance of preference - I truly value your "This needs to do a job, do it well, and not cost more than the average car" approach. Thanks so much (I'm going back and watching all the "Set up your work space" videos... We've "made do" for so long, we're so excited to do what we've always wanted!!! Thanks again.)

[@lucasathus]

I think this is the first time I actually get excited by a sponsored ad Those spells look so cool

[@paolodebonis781]

This is amazing! I might consider trying this for one of my Game Mats. Since I was working at Staples, I got crazy discounts on paper, and I used to print my gaming mats on regular paper plus laminate it in plastic. It would cost me around 30 or so dollars CAD per 24x36 mat.

[@bbrigman9382]

Thank you for sharing. I would love to do something like this for a Mars terrain.

[@iPaintSmallThings]

This by far seems like the best way to make a custom rubber battle mat. Really awesome and inspiring!

[@warpdrivedude]

Absolutely brilliant! I love taking things that you wouldn't think would be useful on a gaming table and turning them into cool objects. I never thought about making my own gaming mats. What a cost savings AND a much better mat than anything I could buy. Thanks BMC!

[@Dylan-er9ji]

I ALWAYS love these videos where a whole series of videos just come together to make something big and cool.

[@kyletomey1094]

I literally have a mat drying as we speak! I used a 2x3 old rug with a rubber back that should work just fine! I am super stoked to see how it turns out. It's going to be brown base with green tones to simulate a grassy field. If it turns out nice I'm going to make a rocky/sandy one for ground! Can't wait to give you all the credit!! =)

[@CronosVids]

You’re such a wholesome and genuine person. I’m proud to have backed your kickstarter. Keep on doing the stuff that you like to do!

[@TheSmugglersRoom]

This is very cool, not just the project which was awesome, but seeing the progression you have taken us through with the previous projects that have lead to this. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[@Del_Scorcho]

First, congrats on your Kickstarter. I have been doing something similar with Dynaflex for years but instead of using rubber mats, I have used textured vinyl cloth. It's very durable, thin can also be rolled and stored away. Using rubber mats seem like it might be better though for durability. Thanks for the video.

[@hardcoreish]

Your flexible roads, rivers and gaming mat are so awesome and functional for my table! I would love to see your take on a rubber lava river and or lava-scape mat. Thanks for the constant inspiration, you are pretty much the reason I started terrain crafting!

[@DeusTerribilis]

Love this would love to see you do a couple videos on how to do this as different terrain types. ie. Grassy Field, open water, etc.

[@thelittlestmig3394]

This is beautiful example of construction material use.

[@Gibbtall]

I used your method to make an awesome Bloodbowl pitch the other day. I even added some flocking, came out great!

[@tallifer]

I discovered you yesterday and started my own mat today. Tatooine for Star Wars Legion. Curing now, but so far so good! Thanks!

[@Bigdog5899]

As someone totally new to the diorama train layout world I see some really awesome ideas from black magic craft. Thank you

[@Breaking-Reign]

I love this!! Would absolutely want to incorporate the for my table. But my d&d crew cannot step away from battle grids. Have you ever considered crafting a grid battlemap using this technique? Would love to see it!

[@Its_A_Gundam]

That would be amazing

[@grzegorzkonior5991]

That's a very nice mat! Definitely gonna try this one, have you got any ideas on how to add a 1 inch grid to something like that?

[@TheDrakesandman]

Can't wait to try out this technique to make a frozen tundra mat for my next d&d campain!

[@House-Atreides]

Painters tarp with backing works well also for making battle mats

[@Tgauchsin]

Finally found the mat material. Made one tonight. Worked great!

[@GoDamnWeird]

I've been trying to come up with a road mat for Cyberpunk 2020 having experimented with an 8 piece modular tile set I'm not 100% satisfied with. Adhesive foam and sandpaper on 4mm wooden bases. Works okay but they tend to stick together in storage and they're heavy to transport. This might be the breakthrough I've been waiting for! Fantastic looking result for not much cash outlay? Flexible? Relatively light weight? Oh, YEAH!!! I have to try this out. Wish I could like the video more than once!

[@Varvasaur]

Aww yiss, I've been waiting for the Idols of Torment PDF to drop since I found about the game!

[@viciousyeen6644]

I’ve made some mats from a cloth-mesh thing coated with caulking before but all those mats suffered from warping when stored rolled up. Your solution looks like it isn’t suffering any warping, will try that!

[@littleninja830]

The best and innovative method to accomplish a DIY battle mat. I am so excited to use these series of techniques for my Mordheim table!

[@kylekinnear8878]

You can also use the rubber or eva foam for 3d elements on top of your mat. Ive made a Crisis Protocol mat with raised sidewalks, for example.

[@edevans5991]

According to my experiment this Dynaflex 230 seems to stick pretty well to vinyl flooring. Since I have some scraps that could be cut into 6'x4' mats I think I'll give it a go.

[@samanthalacroix2687]

I am SO glad you can still get Idols of Torment. I missed out on the KS because I did not have a printer at the time and those minis are just too darn good to pass up. I have my eye on a few of them as larger scale statues and just general dioramas. As a DM who's game world has it's heavens and hells all kinds of busted up for different reasons I am highly interested in your lore because there are places just like that in the the aether.

[@capnskustomworks]

Ye can feel the excitement when a project goes excellently!!! That turned out perfect!

[@trikepilot101]

So, I think you probably get a cut from the sales of the neoprene mat and yet you are freely sharing a DIY work around. You are a generous man.

[@aegrisomnia]

I'd really like to see you try to make a grass mat like this. I'm currently brainstorming possible ways to add flocking without it coming off when you roll it up and without compromising the flexibility.

[@eEdselEdsel]

I might try this in white and grey for a Frostgrave mat.

[@janofe2232]

This is very cool - very original approach compared to what Ive seen in other terrain making videos. Looks very fast and effective. Particularly like the weighty look of the mat as it seems to sit really flat

[@mrsupaconducta]

Neat! I was pricing out neoprene sheets but this makes more sense. Hopefully I can find a mat AoS size at the store..

[@majsmith66]

Yep! Another winner. Easily transferable to other terrain types. Great tutorial. Many thanks!

[@justindrodriguez]

Seems like a great material for modular dungeon tiles.

[@comicfan92]

Lol looks like DM Scotty invaded your thumbnail with those superlatives! Awesome stuff

[@Bluecho4]

That's a fantastic mat. And congrats on getting your book done.

[@rogerreed9885]

I want to use a version of this method to make a battle mat for modern cities. This looks like a great base for other miniatures.

[@harkejuice]

I gotta try this to coat foam projects! Great to see these little projects!

[@brockburch6887]

Any chance of you doing one of these as a snow/tundra themed? It would be interesting to see your technique on this, snow flock/paint, or ice lake

[@christophersobczak1101]

This looks great! Curious for followup on the durability after being stored rolled?? 👍

[@jek__]

This is really cool! I love these simplified builds, trying to minimize effort and cost while maximizing usability is always good engineering. And it looks really good! I'd be interested to see how you might go about making something like this with a grid on it And maybe you could make one where the front is stone and the back is grassy! That would really increase the utility of the mat. Probably much more challenging to build though. Regardless of if its front and back or multiple mats, having a grassy one as well would pretty much cover most of the adventuring situations for me, as an underlay. Maybe also a wood one for indoors but thats a lot more work as it's not a random thing you can slap on there

[@MonkeyJedi99]

A grass mat, particularly for your idea of a reversible mat, would be well made with brown/tan caulking and grass flocking, but no tufting or static grass. This is giving me ideas!

[@walt776]

Just FYI for US viewers: The mats in the video are not available at all Home Depot stores. Looks like you can special order it, but don't go running out to your nearest Home Depot before checking online to see if they have it.

[@liamcage7208]

Wow, very cool. I have been thinking of doing something like this ever since I saw your roll up roads videos. Oddly, I want to also go in the opposite direction lately. I want to take a metal whiteboard and give it a neutral colour that won't interfere with its magnetic properties. Lately I have had a need to use magnetic dungeon tiles on a firm board where the tiles can remain in place between gaming sessions. I pick up the whole board and move it and bring it back out next session and don't have to set up the tiles again. If you ever get the inspiration to do something like that I'd be very interested to see your take on it.

[@silviofoj]

Great work, man! And I'm thinking: what if I put some very smooth lines to simulate a grid and use it in my D&D adventures? Thank you so much for sharing!

[@BodyByBenSLC]

You are doing it the right way. You have a hobby product that has games pieces and parts and mats for sale. But you are also offering a very cheap DIY way to play as well. It's way that people can get into it without a huge investment up front. Make a few cheap mats, foams scatter the book and your up and running. Then the hard-core fans will buy all the bits but the casual players don't feel left out. Most people are willing to pay they just don't want to get ripped off and that's what frustrating about gaming now, in game purchases, or new army is really expensive. I don't mind paying $10 for $3 of plastic but $60? Keep doing what your doing and you'll go far.

[@gamesofwarstudio-GWS]

Great hobby tips. Thanks.

[@TheCountSummon]

Hello there, love the look of these mats. I'm not an experienced DIY guy but I tried making one myself and since DAP is not something I can get my hands on, I have tried using wood caulk and something rubber-based. I prefer the wood caulk since the rubber-based caulk doesn't dry well, but both have the problem that after drying I can see the texture of the mat under many parts of it. I am already using nearly double of the DAP you are using in the video and I try to make sure to spread everything as evenly as possible, any idea what could be going wrong or how I could fix it? I would really appreciate any help on the matter!

[@Kahulai1]

This is AWESOME! If you were to do a winter one, any tips or tricks? Do you think it would be best to start with white caulking and then add in some vegetation or something? Or do a brown, add in texture, and then add snow effects to the whole thing?

[@johnmurphy5295]

Love this, just wondered if you have tried this with grid lines for D&D?

[@danielarcaris8965]

I love the mecha varnishes.

[@Gathaeryx]

Looks awesome!! One question though: what would be the best way to add a grid to it? I mostly play RPGs with grid-based combat, and as great as these mats look, having to grab a ruler every turn during combat would make them significantly less useful for me unfortunately..

[@coughsyrup6065]

Print out a grid of your size on a large sheet of paper and neatly cut out all lines going in one direction. Apply neatly over the map and use black or white spray paint depending on the darkness of your mat, give it a couple tests beforehand to see if it goes through the cut out slits well enough though. Make sure you mark on your mat where the lines are so when you turn the paper 90 degrees it will all line up in the end when you spray the second direction of lines. I'd personally just go for the ruler though, since a square is often an inch and that's pretty easy, but i understand wanting to use a grid too though. It will be harder to apply the more uneven your mat surface is of course, so that's something to watch out for too.

[@forouza1]

I think you could do this a couple ways. First, after dropping the caulk down you could take a long piece of twine and stretch it out across the map to imprint a line. Do this across the map to create a grid. Then let the caulk dry. Other option is to let the caulk dry and then go in a lay down twine across the map in a grid fashion. Then spray primer over the entire map. Remove the swing and you'll be left with grid lines in the color of the original caulk (or primer if you spray primer twice in different colors).

[@zramirez5471]

Man I've been trying to figure out a way to do this diy for a couple weeks now!! Great methods, I'm gonna try it out!

[@tylerkinnear2679]

I would love to see how you add interest and texture to a snow theme so it's not just an open white mat.

[@LehaultGaming]

I have an idea that is maybe already done, but having a textured roller compatible with a paint roller handle!

[@fedemotta3]

Nice! I'll have to give this a go sometime in the future. I couldn't help to laugh at your reaction to satin varnishing the mat! LOL!

[@MidwinterMinis]

You're a genius, Jeremy. A big, sexy genius.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Did you just call me fat? 😄

[@SymptomOfDepravity]

Glad the pdf is out, I’ll be grabbing that on payday 😁

[@mikemartin3671]

Great video, enjoyed the music too! Thank you for being such an inspiration in hobbying. Your open and honest presentation and instructions are very accessible to even those of us with questionable skills. I really appreciate the fact that you experiment and openly discuss pros and cons through out the project. Saving is time and money. You're one of a kind! Wishing you success on the launch of your game! Well done sir!

[@williamsamms411]

Love the idea. Has anyone been able to find this rubber matting in the UK for not a ridiculous price? I can only find something similar in massive rolls that are way to expensive. Really want to try making the roads.

[@sadgenius]

As a follow up, any UK viewers found the DAP Dynaflex for a reasonable price, or a UK equivalent? 6 dollars Canadian, or 20 GBP makes this method not exactly budget on our rapidly sinking island...

[@JeffDrennen]

Love to see Jeremy so excited about his kickstarter. I'm so happy for yeah man, keep up the good work.

[@peterrowland2818]

Thank you!!! This was awesome - making a warhammer 40K mat will let you know how it goes… Will also check out the new game - cheers!!

[@timothyyoung2962]

This would be great for This Is Not A Test as a post-apocalyptic mat (using browns) or really go hard into the cobblestone look and use it in Frostgrave for the frozen city (leaving some textured areas to paint up as muddy snow).

[@thomaswilliams5005]

Great project. You make it so easy to follow along and complete these. Thanks

[@AndyJohnson3leftturns]

Empathy on the varnish confusion. I’ve done it enough I put painted letters on the bottle caps. M/matte G/Gloss C/Airbrush cleaner T/Airbrush thinner. Really nice build. I’ll have to try the Depot roll out mat as a material.

[@tabletopchuck512]

I hope to one day make a 6''x4' really good forest mat with trees, ruins, and overgrown scenery.

[@leroyjenkins880]

Hey Jer, man I’ve been watching you for a min and I love your content, I tell everyone I meet in hobby shops about your channel. Here’s a big ask. I have been looking around and I haven’t been able to find anyone anywhere who has ever build a scale playable model of Castle Ravenloft. It would be huge at a playable scale and not really worth the hassle, but I would love to see a smaller cathedral maybe, with two or three levels that you could remove one at a time, but while put together would be a scale representation of the building. Idk how to even begin, would you consider doing a series of videos on a bigger build like this and how you would go about a big project? Thanks for the great content, you are a treasure to our hobby.

[@puerquitoDeSatanas]

Your projects are the definition of trusting the process, man the final result looks awesome and the process seems very straight-forward! ❤️❤️❤️ great job ❤️❤️❤️

[@jalspaugh3]

Was wondering if I could make a request! I would love to see your take on making "cave tunnels." Long versatile strips like your roads, but with some sort of representation of cavern walls on the sides. My idea was to cut the strips out of 1-inch-thick foam, and then use a hand-held foam cutter with a rounded wire to "scoop out" a wide center channel. But that's a whole lot of sculpting and it would be hard to make a floor even enough for minis to stand on. There's gotta be a better way, and I bet you could think of something awesome!

[@tempusavatar]

Howdy; you're looking to do something like dungeon corridors but natural-looking passageways? I would build a floor and and use the foam cutter to carve 2 'walls' then attach everything and blend the floor into the walls with filler & grit.

[@BillAllanWorld]

Watching this while I export my next video. As always, great crafting content.

[@EvanMoore]

I haven't tried, but I imagine to get the caulking more even over the mat you could take a page out of tile laying and use notched trowel to help. I imagine you'd might have to make your own notched one as the caulking is different viscosity than thin-set, but the idea should be the same. Also, look at some continuous spray bottles to help you coat your stuff way more evenly with that homemade sealant cement or whatever.

[@viciousyeen6644]

I used a wet sponge to smooth caulking before

[@EvanMoore]

@@viciousyeen6644 True. That would be a great way to smooth the finish, and probably is the best way to do that. However, I meant the actual thickness of the spread, not necessarily the finish.

[@Jim-yk9if]

By George, you've done it again! Loved this series of projects!

[@jakoblundeborg9881]

Awesome! I'd love some more idols of torment content!

[@vickiemullen660]

Congratulations on your new game. 😊 Thank you for the video. I like the options this give us.

[@Oreo_cakester]

I would love to see this mat as a snow terrain

[@cortezreynaldo4754]

Where do you get those crystal look rollers to make the the rocks , nice job I’m your biggest fan! Cheers

[@tempusavatar]

Thanks for the video. I think it was Mel the Terrain Tutor that suggested avoiding silicone because it doesn't take paint. That being said, Lowes has a contractor case of Alex plus, I was thinking about making a bunch of different mats and the Alex is cheaper than the Dynaflex. Hopefully if someone reads this and thinks this is a terrible purchase someone will correct me.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Dynaflex is paintable but with the flex/stretch/non shrinking benefits of silicone.

[@EricsHobbyWorkshop]

Amazing! Good Job! Wow!

[@dominiclemire2540]

I just found now this video. I'm looking for a winter mat with texture a little bit like what you done. Do you think the same technique could be use for a snow battle ground mat?

[@MFewwy]

Really nice project! Cool!

[@minacapella8319]

Putting the satin varnish on accidentally probably just added durability to the final product. Its actually something a lot of people do with miniatures when they finish: put a satin or glossy sealant on, then go over it with matte or testors dullcote.

[@bengamingames5002]

How do you get cooler in every video Jeremy? I can't wait to do this!

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

lol, not sure about that

[@G_Threepwood]

That looks fantastic! Another project to add to the list

[@antieverything1]

One thing I love doing with my storebought neoprene battlemats is to place bits of foam or books underneath to create elevation differences. How do these mats work with that technique?

[@nerdfatha]

Fantastic video, as always! I think with some minor tweaks I could make a nice star field mat for X-wing with this technique!

[@KyleBDoeden]

If you're in the US, Five Below has the mat for $6. They don't come in black in my experience, but still a deal!

[@talasmanca]

Curious how it would work premixing the grit in caulking, had a lot of luck mixing fine and medium grit into spackle to go on my desert scatter terrain, have not tried caulk, might do it and see. I love this idea, going to have to hit home depot and get some.

[@tempusavatar]

Howdy; the difficult part of mixing in aggregate is that when you trowel it out, you can only scrape as shallow as your largest aggregate. I was considering this same conundrum for a future build; I think I'm going to mix in my finest sieved aggregate, trowel that out, then sprinkle larger pieces and integrate with the roller.

[@cherylrosbak4092]

I always enjoy your videos, even when I know I'm not going to use your techniques.

[@atilladahung22]

Could you use the calking on to xps foam or even packing foam? I am making elevated platforms for my buildings and think that might do the trick.

[@kaizze8777]

I wonder if you can do thisnwith the ultimate dungeon terrain. Just get a round chopping board, roll this silicone on top with some texture and voila! Defo worth atry

[@damianarvizu1095]

Ouch. I have done the same thing with that very varnish. I struggle to distinguish the bottles of satin, gloss, and matte versions from vallejo.

[@BobtheOgreLive]

Great idea, but can't find the mat material locally at Lowes or Home Depot.

[@Immolate62]

So, good result with this and I can see where it would be an excellent addition to Pathfinder. How to add gridlines though. Any ideas?

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

My suggestion would be to stop using grids…..but this is something I might cover soon for those that can’t shed the shackles of the grid 😂

[@Immolate62]

I'm also working on a giant turntable (3' diameter) on a big lazy susan, and having the same challenge. Gridlines. Thought of making a jig that has multiple blades and a bit of weight to score the gridlines in the pink foam, but that is a bit daunting. I guess I could use all-thread and make a miniature disc harrow.

[@Immolate62]

@@BlackMagicCraftOfficial I understand the philosophical argument, but this is a group of guys that have been using grids (or hexes) for 44 years and who are uninterested in changing things. I don't even want to think about the process of putting hexes on a huge map.

[@Fadeing]

I wonder if Tamiya Dullcote would be a matte enough rattle can option