JUNGLE TERRAIN MAT

This is my first step into the Pacific theater as Chain of Command at CANCON 2019 will be battled in the Pacific. 
I will be helping with the event by supplying Terrain, my first task was creating a jungle gaming mat. 

I decided to construct my mat from fabric material, the reasons for this choice:

1. its easy to transport, fold, unfold,store and hugs the gaming table. 
2. creating a hill is no problem: just pop a suitable piece of shaped stryene foam  under the mat.
3. the fabric adds texture and at the same time other pieces of  terrain such as roads,trees, rivers etc... sit on the mat blending in with the fabric on the mat without creating gaps between the terrain item and mat.

Completed Jungle Mat.

Some trees on the mat to check out the effect.

The fabric I chose for the mat is a 50:50 blend of wool and Polyester in a Natural shade, priced at AUD $18  a meter  but I bought it on special for AUD $9 - pays to keep track of the weekly specials.

I decided to move to a fabric with some incorporated natural material  as I found I achieved better coverage with the paint as opposed to  pure Polyester fabric.

Here is a terrain mat I made a while back for the European theater, I used spray cans of paint to add the colours.

The underside of the mat showing the fleece type 100 % polyester material.

Back to the Jungle mat , this Image shows the  fabric sitting on 6 x 4 foot  gaming table in my garage.

Thankfully my gaming buddy and I had a short break from Operation Martlet, for the Football World cup which gave me the opportunity to use the table for this project.

Fabric spread out over the table ready for its conversion into a jungle mat rather than into winter suitings.

I used standard student Acrylic paints purchased at AUD $10 for 4 tubes which will be applied with a paint brush. The colours I used were Cadmullian Yellow, Cobalt Blue,Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber.

The technique I used to create the illusion of texture on the surface of the mat was drawn on my school days experiences in Art class.
As per the image, the transfer of a image on the underside of a piece of paper to the top ,can be achieved  by rubbing on the paper over the object with a pencil or crayon.
This action picks up the high spots of the object and transfers it onto the paper.

To achieve this technique I used this piece of terrain I made for my Europe Terrain.

Its  a paddock constructed from a  piece of heavy canvas  with caulking thickly applied on the top to create a uneven surface and coated with different flock.

I placed the piece of terrain under the fabric,using Burnt Umber paint with a paint brush I rubbed the paint onto the fabric creating the texture.

By adding a bit of Yellow Ochre to the Burnt Umber you can vary the shade.

To create different texture you can experiment by placing different item on the underside of the fabric.

The lines where created by placing some electric wire on the underside of the fabric.

To create the greenery, mix blue and yellow paint together to create Green paint.
Use the brush to dab onto the mat, vary the size and the colour of the green by adding a bit more yellow.

Allow to dry and using Burnt Umber or a mix of Burnt Umber and yellow Ochre, lightly dry brush over the green areas to make them blend in with the rest of the mat.

Completed jungle mat.

 The  plastic palm tree on the mat is my first attempt  painting  and basing palm trees. 

Cheers John