Best fabric for terrain cloth?
Brian Hodson
terrain cloth? I'm looking for something that drapes well, has a bit of
stretch to fit over hills, etc., can be painted, and is machine washable.
What are your recommendations -- felt, flannel, muslin, other? What about
fabrics to avoid?
Thanks,
Brian Hodson
Chris and Sandy Brantley
I use green felt purchased from the bolt at the local fabric shop, and
it works well, but I don't drape it over hills and haven't tried
painting it. I also have my eye out for an army surplus (olive drab)
wool blanket to cover a larger (wider) gaming area.
You want something with reasonable heft that will lie flat on the table
and not bunch up when you lean on it with your elbows or move your
troops around. You also don't want cloth that is "slick" with a
tendancy to slide around on wood or smooth surfaces. Felt is very good
for this. Wool will also do the trick, especially heavy/thick wool blankets.
A potentially helpful tip. When possible, I like to lay a terrain cloth
over the edges of the table and clip it in place with large binder clips
underneath or on the side (i.e. out of the way). This limits the
potential for someone accidentally pulling your whole set-up off the table.
bigmalc
cotton/polycotton sheets. You can paint/dye/stain the later and wash it,
but I wouldn't recommend washing felt, I don't think it reacts very well.
I also use a "scenic battle mat"!! I bought it from Games Workshop, they do
a green one and a sandy desert one. Mine is the latter (Sulphur Desert
Battlefield)and is a great surface for playing desert games. It is heavy
enough to sit still, looks good, is slightly rubbery in feel, so models
don't slip around, etc. It is about 6' by 4' (or possibly in metric, 1.8 -
2m by 1.3 - 1.5 m). I have made a range of scenery and painted it roughly
the same colour with light drybrushing of the surface and it looks pretty
good.
Malc
--
big...@tinyworld.co.uk
"Chris and Sandy Brantley" <br...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:3A85634F...@erols.com...
jfba...@qwest.net
I posted this to and eariler post about "depression" sic.
Looks like it fits here too...
Our "modular" terrain system consists of 2-3 folding office
tables covered with wool blankets. We use soft foam for
hills, banks, ridges, etc. This cuts very easily with an
electric carving knife, allowing you to be very creative.
Especially if your knife is one that cuts on the tip as well
as along the edge. A little spray painting and you are set.
Strips of blue or brown (muddy) flannel do for the rivers
themselves, grey or brown (paved or not) flannel for roads.
You can get tons of this cheap at the fabric store and cut
it into strips and other odd shapes (ponds, lakes, etc.).
You can also curve it around and use straight pins or scotch
tape to hold it in place, if necessary. The wool and
flannel do a pretty good job sticking together. If you get
2 shades of each color, it gives you more leeway when
designing your scenarios (dark brown for dirt roads, light
brown for a muddy river, blue for a shallow creek,
whatever). Strips laid side by side will do for plowed
fields, swamps, etc.
Trees can be purchased at your local hobby store (train
stuff) or made up from twigs and lichen.
The "modules" are easily thrown into a couple of boxes when
not in use, the blankets and tables fold away.These are also
easier to pack to game fairs if you are into GM'ing at
those.
Blue blankets to replace the brown/green makes a nice
seascape for naval actions, and the hills do double duty as
islands, with the flannel representing rocks and shoals. If
you have the space, tossing the blankets on the floor (and
more blankets) is better for naval operations. You can also
use a blue tarp for this, but blankets don't slide around or
ball up as much.
OD (olive drab) blankets are available at most military
surplus stores, and sometimes dark blue (OLD Navy), or grey
(Navy or Air Force) ones as well. The grey will do for a
sea, just make sure your flannel is a different shade. For
blue also check with your local poilce and ambulance
services for names of their suppliers. They carry blankets
on board, and they have to buy them somewhere. :)
For some scenarios we use sections of 'N' gauge train tracks
for RR's (for 15 & 20mm). You don't need much. Cut up
tooth picks or small wood strips glued togehter and painted
make nice RR's for 1/285, and fences for larger scales.
Strips of foam or balled up newspaper under the blankets
make nice ridges or embankments. Painted chunks of
stryofoam make good cliffs, rocks, walls, forts, and stone
fences. If you plan it right a fortress wall for 15-20mm
can double as a cliff in a smaller scale. Be creative. :)
Oh yes, we operate in 15mm ACW, and 20mm WWII for small unit
actions, 1/285 WWII for larger. Our naval scales are 1/2400
for modern, and 1/1200 for sail. That's the scale of the
ships, naval actions are actually fought in 1/7200 and
1/3600 (or smaller, depends on space), respectively. This
lets you put the ships 'nose to tail' while still allowing
for normal ship spacing in line ahead, and it takes up less
room. WWII battleships can range out to 50+ feet at a
1/2400 scale, I don't have a gymnasium, wish I did. :))
We generally use 2-3 2'x6' tables side by side. Two
blankets should cover this easily. As long as the tables
are all the same length and height, it really doesn't
matter, but stretching further than 3' to reach the center
is a little tough on my old bones and sinews. 8' edge to
edge is about the max limit for me. :))
--
thx
john :)
"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever
count on having both at once." R.A.H.
Blaze
60" and sometimes 72" widths. Since you pay by the yard, you want to make
sure the width you get will cover the table top so you only have to measure
the length. The best width to buy, is the 60" width since it covers the
table top and will still leave about 6" hanging over on each side. This way
you will only need one piece that is 5 feet wide and cut to the length of
your table.
The best materials are usually cotton or cotton polyblend. Avoid pure
polyester. The cotton tends to fold well and you can wash this in cold water
to get rid of soda stains. You want a material that does not pick up lint
because if it does it will collect the flocking off your bases and carpet
fuzz. The big thing is being able to wash this material.
You also have wool(us army blanket type) or flannel that are very
popular because they add a grainy texture, but if you are playing a game
that has formation of figures the flannel has fuzz that grabs the edges of
your figure. It looks good but keep this in mind.
You also have vinyl which is a bit more expensive but not much. This
depends on the grade you purchase. This is excellent for representing water
or ground cloth. It is textured and the figure bases slide well on it. Plus
you can wash stains off with a rag. The drawback, if you mark on the vinyl
and fold/roll it up with the vinyl surface touching to store can cause the
markings to peel off and stick to other parts of the mat it came into
contact with. Creases will stay in this so you do not want to fold it. You
want to get a roll to roll it onto or just roll it up. Thicker is better to
use, but this stuff tends to get heavier the thicker you go. Keep in mind
how much you will have to carry it around because if you buy the thickest
you may be looking about 2lbs per foot. (note: this material also makes an
excellent drop cloth for your painting table especially if you get the
padded.)
Since most of the time you will be looking for 8' long pieces or smaller
you can pick up good deals on the remnant table. This is the table where
they generally store the last part of a bolt or roll of fabric.
Also while there, see if they have any empty rolls for the fabrics that
come on rolls. You can roll your ground cloth onto the roll or possibly use
it in your terrain making.
--
Check out my web page. It's not much but it's mine. Sign the guest book and
let me know what you think. http://www.blazescorner.homestead.com/
Blaze
"Brian Hodson" <hodso...@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:963l16$ch8$1...@slb5.atl.mindspring.net...
Jon-paul
Its used for covering Snooker and pool tables. heavy, hard wearing yet not
too much bounce so you figures should stay upright.
Works just fine. Obviouly the green is beast rather than the newfangled red
:)
Brian Hodson <hodso...@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:963l16$ch8$1...@slb5.atl.mindspring.net...
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