How to make a hand painted gaming mat

**Wombat** · 09-18-2011 05:13

I decided to make a WoW mat myself some months ago. It went well, except that I did not take any photos during the work. In order to make a How to I needed to make a new map, so I decided to use the measures for one of the Knights of the air campaign maps (used for Mission 4a for example). It is made on two green carpets, each 1 x 1.3 meters, put together, making it about 4' wide, the attackers side about 16" deep, no mans land about 24" deep and the defenders side about 32" deep. The green carpet is originally intended for balconys.

So this is how I went about:

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I found a doable aerial photo, made a printout and marked where the no mans land should be.

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Use a black marker to draw fields, roads and water way, as on the printout. It does not have to be perfect to the millimeter, use your artistic side.

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Use a small amount of acrylic paint on a sponge to color fields and other features on the map. Be gentle and careful and rather use too little than too much paint, you can always put on more later on. You will get a better and more clean result if you are careful to get paint all the way out to the marker lines on the fields.

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I used spray paint to make a base for no mans land. First black and then brown. Try to get a smooth transission between no mans land and the surrounding area.

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Use the sponge again with brown paint on the no mans land to get a more rough feel to it. Try not to make it too uniform, use different browns to make it more uneven.

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The pens I used for trenches. Black as base, white to create highlights.

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Add trenches using the black marker and then use the sponge and lighter brown paint to highlight the immediate area surrounding the trenches.

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Fill in the trenches once again with the marker to make them stand out again.

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Highlight trenches using the white pen. Keep track on where from the sun shines, both to get all the trenches the same way, and for the craters you will add soon.

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Use card stock to make templates for craters. Cut out one circle for each crater size you want. I only made two templates this time, one 42 mm and one 27 mm in diameter. Keep the cut out parts, you will need them when painting.

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First put the paper stock on the map where you want a crater and spray at one of the edges using black spray paint. Be careful and do not use too much paint. Then use the cut out part over the crater circle and carefully put some spray paint on the opposite end with black paint.

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Do the same using white paint as with the black, but at the opposite sides.

Actually I found out that It would have been easier to begin with the white paint and than do the black. But do as you please.

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The last thing I did was adding a thin layer of brown spray paint on the white highlights of craters and trenches to make them blend in more.

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The finished result! It turned out nice, even if I kept it simpler than my previous mat.

If you make one yourself, don't forget to post the result on the forum!

/Jörgen

**richard m schwab** · 09-18-2011 05:53

Jörgen!

I loved you original post on your playing mat, the how too is great!

Thank you again for sharing your great techniques on mat painting!

Rich

**Zakopious** · 09-18-2011 05:56

Good tutorial.

**greenalfonzo** · 09-18-2011 06:18

That's amazing! Those craters really pop out!

**Flying Officer Kyte** · 09-18-2011 10:33

Thanks for the insight into your teqnique of producing the mat Jorgen. With the dearth of official mats, and the astronomic price of alternatives, this will fill a much needed gap in the hobby.

Rob.

**flyingryno** · 09-18-2011 11:01

Very Cool. Looks awesome. I want to make my own Large map. Where did you get the green mat/rug to start with

**Azrael** · 09-18-2011 11:59

Great work, I might have a go at making one of these

**Jager** · 09-18-2011 12:35

Very good; might have to add this to the lengthening list of WOW/WoG stuff to do.
Karl

**Bluedevil** · 09-18-2011 13:30

Beautiful map and a smashing tutorial...I think you just made the purchase of balcony carpets take astronomical heights

**gully_raker** · 09-18-2011 21:18

Fantastic work Wombat & a great tutorial!

**tede** · 09-19-2011 05:03

Magnificent work! I want to make one too. Jorgen, can you tell us the maker's name for the carpet?

Tede

**Tommy Z** · 09-19-2011 05:44

Very Nice! Thanks for the lesson!

**Rat of Vengence** · 09-19-2011 05:47

Thank you mate, fantastic tutorial.

Dave

**grumpybear** · 09-19-2011 06:27

Originally Posted by Rat of Vengence

Thank you mate, fantastic tutorial.

Dave

Well done looks great

**Wombat** · 09-21-2011 20:36

Thank you for your kind comments, guys!

Magnificent work! I want to make one too. Jorgen, can you tell us the maker's name for the carpet?

Tede

Sorry, I don't know the make of this specific carpet, but it is sold as balcony mat or balcony grass in sweden. It cost 79 SEK (about $12.40 or £7.68) per square meter at Mattlandet. The carpet rolls to choose from were 2 meters or 1.33 meters wide. Probably sold as outdoor carpet in other countries.

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This is how it looks like close up.

This "How to" is now also available in the "How to" section.

/Jörgen

**alpine** · 09-21-2011 20:42

I really wish you posted this before I bought both game mats! Great looking mat you made yourself. The skills you used are something I would never think of, but you really made it look like a simple process. Excellent stuff!