This post is of a terrain day before the previous post. I have no idea how I forgot to post it, but I still managed to post it all over Facebook. So slightly related to the other 15 mm post, I had a commission for a 15 mm Flames of War mat around this time last year. Part of the payment was for X amount of money and two Killing Fields Terrain mats. As you can see throughout this blog, that I kind of do not need these, but I took them anyway. I think I was planning on making a Mirkwood mat for Lord of the Rings as a mental plan, instead on buying a whole bolt of dark brown fur just a mat or two. Honestly, with that much fur, I would have found a project for it some way of another.
Anywho, I finished another commission and felt compelled to try out a modification. One of the Killing Fields was in my way to another fur section I was after. So I felt like making a board for someone for a game scenario he had come up with. Seek the Battle of Prestonpans 1745 for the mat I was making. Our friend, Eric was running this game at Siege of Augusta 2020 that I played in. He has mentioned how he would like me to make him certain projects, but he never seems to get around to committing to a project or even gaming at our house when he is less than an hour away. He is one of our gaming friends that my wife is described as a member of the cats that she has to herd at conventions. So is this mat really free, no! This is purely a bribe to get him to come over a play. It has not worked so far, but I am about to lay it on thick in this post about my trials and tribulations I have gone through on behalf of our gaming friendship.
For those who have already seen my work and know the basic premise of how I do what I do for fur mats, I usually use the following tools: Wahl Dog Grooming Shaver, a 99 cent comb, scissors, and a basting brush along with paint. With the Killing Fields mats, these tools do not work for their mats. At least not all of them. When you look at their product, they use a dark chocolate brown base for their fur. Then, they have a lighter green as their highlight color. In fact, it looks a little darker that their website has it, but they are consistent. Both fur mats I have of their is exactly the same. Another plus is that their is very little excess fur to their product. These are all plus for a basic mat that you are not modifying. However, the fur that Killing Fields uses is thick and not as receptive to paint. My Wahl Shaver took 25 minutes to get through four inches of fur to make a road. I accomplished what I needed to do with scissors. And for a moment, I thought I broke my Wahl Shaver. Since I have been making fur mats, I have gone through $250 worth of shavers.
After cutting to where I was happy with the fur job, I went to painting. When you use a dark fur, you tend to have to go with brighter colors for base color and highlights. The darker color tends to be a base for wet ground like for a wet Spring or Winter. The lighter the color, the more it will pop for color. Most of the fur I have dealt with has been pretty forgiving for absorbing colors. The Killing Fields mats do not do so well. I had to cake on colors and comb it out. In other words, use actual elbo grease to get my effect. It was not the end of the world to do so, but it was a longer project than it needed to be. It was about two days worth. Anyway, below are some more pictures of the results. If you are reading this, Eric, the bribe still stands!
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| It is not often I can have a before and after picture. |
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| This was just a picture to prove that they were both the same color starting out. |
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