Let's Make an Acrylic Battlemat!

In this lets make video, we go through how to my acrylic battle mats for your wargaming terrain setup. In this specific case, I do a jungle mat with paths running through it.
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[@TheTerrainTutor]

What sort of battle mat should I try next?

[@GeorgeSealy]

My pick would be a mat that could work for Normandy / Bocage country. Cobblestone roads or a paved area for a town would be a great bonus!

[@deale4939]

Why not a wasteland map? For fallout or désert map for malifaux , wild west...

[@adambourkeproduction]

Underground Cave Setting!!!

[@richhangonladsivegotanidea1832]

I'd like to see a Mars type, maybe test the limitations of how much texture can be included on them with shallow craters (couple of mm deep) and stuff?

[@akbarrmd7714]

fantasy settings like forest,cavern,etc maybe.

[@francescodanza6157]

One thing that you really really have to keep in mind: make sure your mat is on a flat surface. I pinned my 6x4 mat to some wooden pallets and the gaps in the pallets made it an absolute nightmare. If you're doing one that large I recomend putting it on an unfinished basement floor or something flat like that. Also, if you use clear caulking then your paint will dry the correct color, without any white in it.

[@rustedbeetle]

About 7 minutes in and I just want brownies. I can't imagine why.

[@x.davidwilliams83]

HaHa

[@boku5192]

:-D

[@cams.2083]

Because you're super high?

[@dudebro84]

Just FYI folks.... This is called drop cloth in the USA.

[@dudebro84]

You can get it at home depot or Lowe's

[@giantlobsterboy644]

Thank you so much. Are there different types of drop cloth? The straight plastic kind does not have the weave that the demo does.

[@dudebro84]

It is a cloth not tarp. When you see it you will know what I mean. Should be able to get them at harbor freight as well

[@douglasischinger6357]

ok, so he’s using a canvas drop cloth as his substrait. This makes way more sense to me now. Thanks for the clarification!

[@jacobhope6164]

Wow! That mat looks amazing!

[@christianoliver25]

I use thicker fabric from a fabric store and use painter acrylic-latex caulk. Squirt it straight on and spread, then use a combination of spray paint and cheap acrylic paints. They last for years. The techniques I use I learned from watching The Wargamers Consortium. But I've never tried flocking any of them. What you're doing here looks great.

[@vicmarriott4849]

Love this, and loved watching it on Behind the Scenery.

[@danniereid6938]

I love how enthusiastic you are, makes your videos really enjoyable to watch

[@Duppyman695]

This was great, looks really cool! I would love to see a snow battlemat something that the rock faces would go with, a icey mountain range.

[@slimjim7411]

Very cool. Another project to the list of unending projects.

[@RocketPunchHero1]

I love this channel. Thank you for teaching us.

[@skoaljaw2216]

I want to thank you for posting this tutorial!!! My gaming club was just talking about tackling this sort of project last week! Absolutely perfect timing!!

[@Intro2Love]

i really like the plastic trowel your using to spread, great technique looks really good👍

[@johnkelley9877]

Great idea! Thanks for sharing this.

[@fantasticthriftyfox]

This is awesome! Great video Mel!

[@davidwalker1130]

I hope you get to read this Mel. This was a number one Terrain Tutor-ing for me. I would love to see a series or just one with many different types of textures, IE; sand, ice/snow, Medieval/Modern town/city that can be done on Acrylic Battlemats, and Rolled up.

[@markcoulter5858]

Excellent, really going to try this one day.

[@twentysides]

I literally didn't know this was possible until I saw this video. Thank you so much for the tutorial!

[@olivZeGeek]

Hi Mel !!! I've finish my first battlemat, the result is amazing, many thanks !!!! 🙏

[@ScratchBashing]

great mat, Mel!

[@bambori85]

Looks awesome!

[@mikepalmer2219]

Awesome job!

[@kericmason]

This is great, I hope you have a chance to make more videos on Acrylic Battlemats, and also separate rives/roads that can be used on any table.

[@idontwanttopickone]

You shouldn't use anything but acrylic paint. If you use house paint or cheap poster paint it will likely crack. Acrylic caulk, like all acrylic products, is basically a plastic based paint with a thickening medium in it. The flexibility comes from the acrylic being plastic. Other paints don't have this flexibility when they dry and that's why they are cracking. It's worth buying an acrylic paint to avoid any risk of cracking or peeling. Spend the money and you'll have plenty left over to use on your bases and terrain. Also using a premade paint will make it easier to base terrain to match. I've made a 4 x 4 foot mat, textured (mixed in a little play sand into the mix and spread it out so thin that it was only a grain thick, then dry brushed with acrylic paint) and flocked, looks great and has held up well - I just roll it up and stand it in the corner of the room behind a book shelf. I made it out of a 12oz canvas - 2 meter square for £20 from a local art shop. I PVA wash sealed mine just like you'd do with flock normally (PVA is flexible, especially when it's that thin) and also folded back all the edges and glued them with copydex, then covered them with black gaffa tape - it looks neat and strengthens the edges. No risk of wearing away the edges, even standing it up on its side for months on end. The only issue I find with it is it holds the roll for a while sometimes and needs laying out flat for a while before it stays flat. But I think this is because I have it rolled up for a long time and it's made out of acrylic caulking. I normally just get it out a little while before I'm going to use it and lay it flock side down with some books or terrain on it. Then flip it over and it should be flat. Hope that helps. Steer clear of the house paint. Acrylic only.

[@ProfessionallyIdiotic]

Wow

[@workermansimen3891]

Looking good! gonna try this for my roads :D

[@chaddlesg]

You can also pick up coloured acrylic caulk, might save you a couple minutes of mixing in paint/pigment.

[@BarringtonDrive]

Never would have thought to get a piece of cloth with a plastic backing. Almost would have gummed up my work-surface. :D Thanks, Mel!

[@orthoff123]

Very good work!

[@AJsWargaming]

Mel, I've had good results with felt as an underlayment for these.

[@TheGameSmithsTable]

Absolutely brilliant! I'd like to see your take winter or icy terrain, if you please.

[@johntailby74]

nice video Mel. that herb and mud mix would be great for multiple model based from DBA, Impetus or Kings of War. I can see my legions marching the forests of Germania over that mix.

[@corvusboreus2072]

Gratitude for these highly informative tutorials. Might I suggest that if you could find a suitable brown or tan fabric for the underlay then this would avoid the white border on your mats after you trim the edges.

[@evanhughes7609]

What a great channel this is! 😄

[@mr.h4646]

This is awesome!

[@baldrickthedungspreader3107]

This is great for me who desires making many different settings for different battles in history yet is limited due to space, with battle mats I can make Urban, desert, jungle, countryside, and snow covered Forrest's, and still be able to fit them all in my house, all pretty cheap and easy yet they look better than the typical artificial grass mats that you mainly use when your skint, thanks terrain tutor !

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Love the username bud

[@baldrickthedungspreader3107]

@@TheTerrainTutorlol cheers Blackadder's one of my favourite, that and Dads army

[@ThymeNTales]

Good tutorial. Maybe I try it at some time.

[@ckvonpickles3751]

cracking idea! cheers

[@UnkaJuwie]

great idea!

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Thanks!

[@jos7709]

Good video! Thank you!

[@bimb7474]

One thing that would help lock in all the flocking on that would be to spray it down with some Minwax Satin Polyurethane or an equivalent. I usually give all the terrain I make a layer of it just to make it more sturdy.

[@add2ndedition663]

would you still be able to roll the mat up if it had the miniwax on it?

[@RyeAlboa]

AD&D 2nd Edition - Good question!

[@garylaramore]

That's awesome!

[@tonydaalesandro5715]

That was... AMAZING! U DA MAN!

[@user-ek2pi4zz2u]

Very nice 🤗👍

[@lockedlake]

This is wonderful ! I know this video has some years, but I'll ask here anyway. I would be very interested to see your take on a "water" Acrylic Battlemat. Either like an ocean or swamp-ish theme.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Actually, thinking about a swamp one at the mo mate

[@GryphonArmorer]

Yet again, another great video, as is always expected & received from you Mel. It's really cool to see you circling back to redo projects you've done in the past with improved processes you figured out. I've said it many times and just couldn't say it enough, you've been such an inspiration. I have finally really started selling my products, or rather people have taken a chance on my still emerging company that I decided to start, in part by your inspiration. Thankfully I have had some really ecstatic reviews of my products and figure painting works, as well as some suggestions/requests for new product designs. Again, I really can't thank you enough for your sharing your knowledge and tips that spurred me to start making terrain. I have come across some of the same issues with spraying thicker paint/glue mixes. So, I did a bit of research and found that I just need a "bigger" airbrush, but not just bigger though. What is really needed is a "high volume, low pressure" airbrush/sprayer. Something like this linked Amazon product. (Not necessarily this exact one but of the same type. This is just the one I'm looking at, because I'm still not ready to spend an arm & leg for "high quality" equipment yet. But, I'm sure it will do what's needed for at least a few years as long as I take good care of it) It should work just fine with what ever compressor you are working with. I'm holding on until I can get a real one to replace my little, cheap on demand one. I'm planning on getting a "California Air", 1 gallon 120 psi tank, 56 decibel 0.6HP 1.6 CFM @ 40 psi compressor - model 1P1060S. Thunder Hardware High Volume Low Pressure Gravity Feed Spray Gun, 20 oz www.amazon.com/dp/B076YQT1MS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_I5tqDbZY5P583 Thanks the great videos. Keep up the good work, mate. 👍👍 🇺🇸🤓😎

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Cheers buddy, I've got a HVLP sprayer, but the capacity of my compressor isn't enough to power it, it drains the tank to quick, so I'll be upgrading my compressor soon.

[@jimeronimo]

Dig it. Good stuff. Quick and easy. Good vid format budro. How about one for dungeons that could also be used for a city setting?. Just subbed.

[@littlejimmy5020]

Mel's chocolate mousse coming to a tesco near you :)

[@Chromaz]

if you get the clear caulk the colour wont change so youll be able to get an accurate colour

[@HobbySauce]

As a nurse all I can say is you have beautiful, beautiful veins :)

[@mfm25farmdioramas21]

Please do a model railroad for Winter time love your channel I did your creeping ivy tutuorail

[@waltdog123]

Like it but will use coffee I think for a smaller scale.

[@giantlobsterboy644]

If you live in Nude America you should look for "Canvas Drop Cloth". Lowe's and the Hump Depot has them 😁😁😁

[@mikepalmer2219]

Ronald Brow where is nude America?

[@slynker22]

Asking for myself.. Location please ;)

[@YuriZahn]

I guess that’s where you find Hump Depot… makes sense

[@emilchristensen146]

Amazing build! thinking of doing some force on force vietnam in 28mm and your burma build is such an inspiration!

[@andrewtate4897]

Thanks for this Mel. I have been pondering for ages, how to do this the plastic backed dustsheet has probably saved damage to my kitchen table. I'm running a series of D&D games for my son and his mates. And I wanted to do this sort of thing with simple scatter terrain as it is easier to store as my flat precludes any thought of a table. I am looking at using different locales such as Cave systems Deserts mountainous passes etc using a battle mat combined with scatter terrain as you have here. I am so looking forward to your book. unfortunately I was too skint to get on the kickstarter otherwise I'd have gone for it . Currently I am using just different coloured clothes to represent ground colour and putting my scatter on those forming paths between objects bt although it works OK I would like to amp it up a bit and give the kids something a bit more impressive to play on.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Hope it helps you mate

[@casualhitman]

Have you experimented with trying to make a water effects board this way? Thinking maybe a dark blue/black base then a thin layer of some resin to give it the look of water

[@TheTerrainTutor]

You can't use resin, its not flexible, go with silicone sealant mate

[@aegrisomnia]

The most impressiv thing is that you managed to spray pva glue through an airbrush.

[@JasonM69]

5:30 💩 Great video! Definitely gonna use this method.

[@FredericGuimont]

I'm wondering if you could reduce the loss of herbs by spraying them with watered down PVA glue. You'd bind the surface herbs to the rest without too much effort.

[@aaronbono4688]

So if you needed something larger, say 6' x 4', would you recommend making one big mat or several small ones? I just wonder if a large mat is harder to deal with and might age differently.

[@greggsadler4387]

If I wanted to make a desert mat Do you think I could just use place and instead of the flocking? What considerations what I have to pay attention to with sand? I want to make a 5’ x 6’ mat

[@nathanmorris2023]

Great video, as always. Question, are you doing the whole thing (sand, herbs, paint) before the caulk fully dries, or is there drying time between steps? If so, for how long? Thanks.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Herbs went down on wet caulk, it was all done in a single sitting

[@snarehit2230]

Any idea if this would work with a roll of foam underlay with a plastic backing, have a leftover roll on the garage

[@carcollett]

I would be interested to know if it stays flat if you have it stored rolled up for a while and then unroll it again? Or would it get some buckling and lifting. This looks like a really cool home made alternative to neoprene mats if it unrolls flat every time.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Yep, no issues whatsoever mate

[@SunDancerGE]

Final step: do not eat the mat no matter how delicious it smells ;)

[@neilldoran9018]

Hi I like your videos and was looking back on your acrylic battle mat testing in the terrain lab and I was thinking, to get more of hills and maybe low bunkers, have you tested maybe how memory foam would work. So the idea is the mat would roll up, have stone and terrain on it that could be squashed and then when it is rolled out, the terrain would bounce back into shape. I am wondering if this was done with acrylic, could it give you some awesome terrain at different levels and still able to be rolled up. I don't suppose you have tried something like this?

[@duncantriggs509]

Hi , Could you use a wet " cobblestone roller" aka a Mordheim rolling pin on the mat and how long would you leave it before rollering please ?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Within the first 30 mins of laying it down mate

[@SomethingFishy707]

Have you thought about starting with a brown acrylic caulking?

[@MrBrad9]

this could be used to make some mats for Gaslands.

[@DrVesuvius70]

Just wondering why you didn't put a sealing coat of watered down PVA at the end, or as someone else suggested a varnish.spray. Would it have affected the roll-ability too much?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I just added PVA to the paint coat and did it all in one mate

[@emilymegan40]

Fantastic! I have never considered putting paint mixed with PVA glue in my airbrush. Any special considerations when cleaning it after this?

[@nilsziegeler3930]

Same question here but I would like to extend it a little bit. Was the PVA glue water proofed or not and was the gun an old sloppy one or a good one because you where able to clean it up properly?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

No, both clean up with cold water mate

[@TheTerrainTutor]

It wasn't waterproof and I only own one airbrush and everything goes through it!

[@MurderHoboRPG]

Yesssssssssss battlemattssssss

[@danield1568]

Hi Melvin, why don't you use black tea instead of herbes? Then if some comes off, it Will leave browns instead of greens.

[@Unclebillyr]

You could also just start our with brown caulk.

[@warderbrad]

If you were wanting to do an urban setting one with paved streets and such, would it be best to make the acrylic black or would it be better to paint it with an airbrush to get the black color?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I'd paint it mate, you'd need to add too much paint to the caulking to get it black enough

[@RyeAlboa]

Hi - Just discovered your channel and hugely impressed with the content you are creating here. This video (creating an acrylic battle-map) was the first video I watched and I did have one question... ok two it appears: Is there a way to ‘seal’ the surfacing to the flexible sheet without loosing any flexibility of the roll-up battle-map or harming the finished aesthetic? Are some possible finishes better on a roll-up battle-map than others? Many thanks again and I look forward to binge watching a few more videos in the back catalogue soon! CKTPR

[@TheTerrainTutor]

A simple coat of thinned pva will seal the piece mate. There aren't any better finishes with rollup maps, its benefit comes from easy of storage

[@jcephrie]

Mel, you are an inspiration! This violates all the laws of trade painting and I love it. I have some questions though: 1. Does the lack of seems on a 6x4 make it the preferred way of making an acrylic battlemat? 2. Is the trade off of doing multiple 2x2's with standardized roads all running off the 6"/18" points allowing for modularity worth the extra effort? 3. Is there be a way to make a decent looking rivers in a modular 2x2 scheme that would still allow the battlemats to roll? Is there transparent acrylic caulk?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

1. yes 2. no mate 3. stipple with clear flexible silicone sealant

[@jcephrie]

@@TheTerrainTutor Thanks for responding!

[@georgeduncan9443]

hiya, i am assuming that most of those plants are plastic fish tank plants ? but where did you get the tall palm trees? very nice build

[@sigmatus303]

Looks like icing mate youre making me hungry

[@rayslover8526]

How would you do a snow one for frostgrave?

[@allenfrost6828]

Do you have a support link to purchase items through on amazon?

[@joahnaut]

I'm really high, and this made me reeeeally hungry.

[@bartorzech21]

Hey, incase you see this, how much ounces of paint did you end up using? I feel as if the amount of paint for this can get into costly territory if I'm doing my mat 3.8 by 2.5 feet

[@TheTerrainTutor]

A single tester pot mate

[@sekh765]

Hey Mel, what would you do with the edges to make it more professional and better quality? I followed your guide and got a nice mat but the edges are curling a bit. Was wondering how to prevent that.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Black tape or stitch on some webbing to edge it mate

[@mikepalmer2219]

" mixed herbs". Mmmmm looks suspicious. 😜

[@verrezen]

I wonder. If you put a final layer with clear plastidip, will that work to make the herbs stick better? I made a map with just plastidip and acrylic and it worked great. But it is also pretty expensive.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Not sure how that would affect its flexibility mate

[@verrezen]

Well, plastidip is just spray-on latex. And it works fine. I made a mat that had a total of 7 layers of PD and some acrylic paint and it just rolls up in a roll. Only problem I can see is that a single layers might be too weak and multiple layers make it feel too much like polypreen mats. As for PD strenght. LARP weapons are often finisched with PD and are very durable. They need to be. Curse youtube for not allowing the posting of pictures or I would show you how my mat turned out.

[@mikepalmer2219]

I am guessing clear coating the final product would not workout well. I am assuming it would not roll,up correctly. I was trying to think of a way to help secure the herbs and what not.

[@TheTerrainTutor]

watered down pva mate

[@fafhrdofnehwon6626]

Can you put those herbs in something like a coffee grinder and make them finer if required?

[@worldoverlords]

Don't see why not, but also don't see why you would. The herbs are for the jungle texture; if you wante finer, just use tile grout, baking soda, sand, or other fine covering. Herbs are meant to look like fallen plants, twiigs, etc

[@MisterTroglodyte]

Sea/water is my vote, Mel. Also that battlemat looks *excellent* with your Burma build pieces! Can’t wait to see an update with all your terrain bits on a large mat to tie it all together. 😃

[@MrStuffedowl]

Hi Mel I know this is an old video but do you think this would work with weed barrier material or would this be too thin a material?

[@rickhardmann6695]

Mel, you really need to start selling color changing Tee-Shirts for the show. ;)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

I know .... continuity lol

[@garyjones6438]

Looks a real messy carry on ,with it being flat you could just mix pva glue and paint, then apply to plywood etc then sprinkle your herbs on , same effect only ply is solid and rolling up herbs might drop off

[@richardleclercq102]

Could grass clippings be dried, crushed into tiny bits and used like herbs? Would you do a tutorial on geomorphic terrain?

[@mtburner4631]

I would rather not use organic material. It will probsbly deter over time. Getting dry and then crumble

[@TheTerrainTutor]

As long as they're dried out, they're fine mate

[@Oost1987]

What kind of cloth are you using?

[@jackdunne6152]

Mel, I know I'm late to the party, but big question for you: did you have any issues with your airbrush after running watered down PVA through it? I just caught on to that part and had to ask.

[@ssvishnov]

What's the best way to store a gaming mat? Fold it or roll it up?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Roll it mate

[@timalder8940]

Is there a video for the burma terrain bits?

[@Radio4ManLeics]

Hang on dere lar! How did you fix the cloth to your MDF board?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Drawing pins on the edges mate

[@littlejimmy5020]

Hey mel did you treat those herbs with anything or are they fresh out the bag?

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Fresh out the bag mate

[@bartorzech21]

Hey, is it a good idea to make the mat a different color if I want a more greenish mat? (With that question said, is it also a good idea to paint the mixed herbs green?)

[@TheTerrainTutor]

Sure mate, this was just done to match my jungle terrain set

[@bartorzech21]

@@TheTerrainTutor thanks dude! And while i asked this on the fb group id stll like to ask you, is silicone glue ok to use or do we need specifically pva glue?

[@_.stargazer._]

forbidden chocolate cake

[@Shmygelbryl]

12:54 someone is behind him , you can se a foot stepping in 😳