Also-if you heat up small sections of the EVA with a heat gun and then immediately use the texture tool, it takes texture just fine. You just can’t heat gun it a second time.
Agreed! I've used the heatgun+texture method with EVA sheets myself, and it works most of the time, though some EVA gets a bad consistency after heating and might fall apart
^ Came here to say this. Its how a lot of Cosplayers build their armor - heat it, shape it, mod podge, and paint. If you mess up, heat it again and the shape comes out.
Universal weathering does a lot to bring things together. If you use the same general washes/pigments on things they look like they lived in the same place.
I didn't like the look of the tile on its own - but when you put your city pieces in, it looks pretty awesome. love your philosophy about always pushing out your comfort zone!
I don't even wargame, but this is superb. Very versatile; I could see you doing different terrain types for other game genres too, like desert, arctic, prairie, etc.
From the top down view, I wasn't sure about the yellow & white additions to the lines but when the mat is all set up, I like the contrast. It does look like it's illuminated.
"spike tape" is similar to your automotive tape in sizes but is designed for the theatre and film industry so has a much less tacky adhesive and might be less inclined to pull up paint beneath it. Roscoe is the biggest manufacturer but there are others.
foam detailing tip from a cosplayer: USE A HEATGUN OR HEATER TO SOFTEN THE FOAM UP TO ALLOW IT TO TAKE DETAILS! it also closes the cells of the foam allowing you to not have the paint soak up as much paint
I love this and definitely plan on making something like this happen for my tabletop games. Also, I definitely relate when driving a gaslands car across a table / battle mat.
I see the Idols of Torment that you're showcasing behind you. I hope you plan on putting out some more content for that as you release content for the game. This was a really cool build. Such a cheap playmat with such great results.
Just in time! Was planning on making a necromunda rable for my small apartment. So a folding mat that doesn't take up much room and can take a battering is perfect
Very cool idea man, i love it. If you add texture to the EVA foam and then hit it with a heat gun the textures shines through very clear as it shrinks the EVA. Every detail will be enhanced and you can see it as clear an running a knife and pen through foamboard ;-). Thanks for the video.
What a great idea! Last halloween our local Micheals liquidated the cos play area. I scored a roll of 4mm EVA and the matching cement. I bet that matched with the dollarama eva sheets and matched will be great. Just what I need to a double sized Gallowdark board!
I love seeing different materials and approaches to gaming mats. I think this one is tied for the best option I've seen with the equestrian rubber mat Geek Gaming Scenics tested. I have also seen these tiles as interlocking floor mats at big home stores which might be an interesting way to 'tile' a mat. If you were going to forego the folding and just have them as tiles, would you still have picked latex paint as a base coat, or would you have have stuck with Mod Podge and why?
Haven't been this early for a while. Great build, sometimes simplicity is best, and using 2 readily available and relatively cheap materials for the build is proof of that. I imagine you could build all kinds of gaming mats with this technique; from dystopian city streets like you created, to idyllic farmland and pastures, to forest clearings with a brook running through it, all readily foldable and easy to store. I'll have to see if I can find similar materials and make one (or a few different ones) suitable for fantasy gaming.
You can carve textures with an xacto blade and use a heat gun to open the lines up to be deeper. That is how cosplayers use foam. Also with those deeper textures you can use flex seal on the mat which is rubbery and even more durable.
This is inspiring. I have old grass gw battlemat that I have been planning to do Sonething. It's in too bad condition to us as is anymore.. Putting it on the foam could be the thing.
I have seen some great builds from you over the years but the paving - craft foam -hinge is genius. It's a shame that in the UK the cheap foam floor mats tend to only be sold in packs and at max price. To get the craft foam to hold texture better, gently heat the foam with a hair dryer or heat gun on low.
I keep on being jealous of the materials you guys can get at you dollar stores. Over here in the Netherlands, stuff like thin cheap eva foam is hard to come by. The bigger chunky floor tiles are more common, but aren’t suitable for smaller detailed work. Keep on spreading cool ideas like this one though!
The only thing I'm going to really change is to make sure any roads going off will always match up in the exact same location so no matter how I spin it with other mats, they should always match up
I just asked myself if I could use this method to make myself a folding map for my arena map for Arena Rex. I think yes. Going to have to think over this....but I think it would work
I’m an automotive painter I wound up here on accident.. just a piece of advice for using hardline tape, 1: it’s expensive.. be warned. 2: open a window when you paint 😅
Me~ I'm gonna save so much money now that I can use stuff from the dollar store! Also me~ *Spends a thousand dollars at the dollar store* Love your videos, keep up the great work, this was amazing!
well a look in to and looks good me i have do a grid and may be some paking lots but thats me to bad you cant do it with two sides but butch of em in kinds shud do trick see new vids as do new ones
Very cool idea. But now that you mentioned the old floor look I can't unsee it. Would love to see more Eva foam builds as I got alot sitting around and could use some ideas
Seeing this and thinking of ways to do fantasy or non-urban mats, I think of door mats that are also found cheap or even bought in bulk. I know it's an old trick to buy outdoor welcome mats and then "mow" off the bristles using an electric razor to use for flocking/reeds. Really common to cut them up when making corn and wheat fields in historical wargames. You could buy some cheap door mats, shave off all the fibers, then use the latex paint to prime the surface that you paint over with green to make meadows/fields/etc. Then you still have all the leftover fibers that can be used to make other details or flock the mat. I need to stop watching this channel because my backlog is already larger than it should be lmao
I'm all for these dollar store videos! I've started to feel like too many of the bigger warhammer/DnD/miniature games youtubers have moved a bit too much away from beginner friendly tutorials and projects. Keep up the good work my man! EDIT: I love the glowing lines, they give me a warm and fuzzy old european scifi comics feel, something I feel Moebius could've dreamed up.
This looks great! If you heat up the foam first with a heat gun or a hot hairdryer before imprinting you get much better patterning! It also gives the Eva foam a more paintable surface! Cosplayers have great tips for foam crafting
I'm in the USA and our 'dollar stores' rarely keep anything like this in stock. However, I can see the potential in using chip board and EVA sheets in a similar method
Two minutes in and I'm already "ok, scrap the other plans I had for for tiles" and switching to this (mainly because already have the craft foam from making sci-fi tiles on dollarama mdf squares). That line painting had a bit of a lava vibe at one point - so clearly lava board is on the the work plan
I LOVE how the road markings and that glow effect between the panels came out! It may not be your usual style, but it looks kind of awesome and it's always cool to see people working outside their comfort zone.
This is a very cool build! I would love to see a mat like this but made for fantasy or wilderness- I think a mat like this would do great for Frostgrave!
Awesome idea man, and it looks fantastic! If you haven't tried it, gluing eva foam together with contact cement lets you get right up to the seams, and it'll never come apart. The cheap hardware store stuff works pretty good too. Maybe it's time for a Canadian Tire challenge??
A very cool project! I love the versatility of it. Any chance we could see you do a triple whammy of this? Like a green nature one, a cave/dungeon one, and a surprise one.
It might not be functional with the foam surface, but after you do your masking, lay down a clear coat of your choice, and it will seal the lines from paint seepage.
Fantastic. Think I might try this out for my Grimdark Future: Firefight games. Adding to a comment from earlier: Once you make your small cuts (e.g. hexes) in EVA, you can hit them with a heat gun, and they will open up and become much more visible.
Looks great - another smart need-meeting un-difficult use of cheap stuff. Ding! Yellow-line grid isn't worse than the orange one - just good in a different way. Am sure that a pile-on of buildings and scatter chases off any lino-look when you're using your grimdark yoga mat. Yoda mat, even. Must get on a plane to check out your endlessly bountiful nearest dollar store. Regards from Over Here - and ne mangez pas la neige jaune.
If you were building a matt for a clean sci-fi city or even space station interior that light source between the large tiles look would really sell it. Especially a light blue. Fancy Sci-Fi lights always seem to glow bug zapper blue in my mind. 😛 Thanks for doing more Dollar store builds. That's my budget.😁
I really like your version of cheap durable battle map mat. This technique work well for futuristic theme, but how would you approach a more open field ? I can imagine zones for rocks or forests, but having too many of them in the middle might be weird? Maybe? On the other hand, having only a few might make the fold hinges too weak? Anyway, your tutorials are amazing.
Hey boss, I buy a lot of fishing rods online and they’re shipped in this big cardboard tubes. I’m thinking of cutting them down and capping them into tubes for battle mats. Any thoughts or tips?
HUGE THANKS ARCHVILLAIN GAMES FOR SPONSORING THIS VIDEO! CHECK THEM OUT : bit.ly/AVBMC
🤣 I straight up lol'd when you started driving the matchbox car around, I'm right there with you man
you get a like for the car alone. the rest is amazing... how good would grass hold to the bending part?
Also-if you heat up small sections of the EVA with a heat gun and then immediately use the texture tool, it takes texture just fine. You just can’t heat gun it a second time.
Amazing idea! More sci fi stuff please.
Agreed! I've used the heatgun+texture method with EVA sheets myself, and it works most of the time, though some EVA gets a bad consistency after heating and might fall apart
^ Came here to say this. Its how a lot of Cosplayers build their armor - heat it, shape it, mod podge, and paint. If you mess up, heat it again and the shape comes out.
If you have a second pair of hands, that would be best. you have to work FAST with the heat method.
Will it still be flexible along the fold?? Curious if it will affect how it bends, I know sometimes heating can make things brittle? 🤔🤷♂️😊
Crazy seeing how well this ties in with your ruined city pieces that took so much longer, what an awesome set!
Universal weathering does a lot to bring things together. If you use the same general washes/pigments on things they look like they lived in the same place.
I can't seem to find the likes of those mats anywhere. Most definitely this looks pretty amazing for a quick, dirty, and cheap build. Too awesome!
I didn't like the look of the tile on its own - but when you put your city pieces in, it looks pretty awesome.
love your philosophy about always pushing out your comfort zone!
If you covered up anything with proper terrain it looks good lol
I don't even wargame, but this is superb. Very versatile; I could see you doing different terrain types for other game genres too, like desert, arctic, prairie, etc.
I don't often comment, but some of your builds, just make me go "THAT MAKES SENSE!!" Thanks for the craft!
From the top down view, I wasn't sure about the yellow & white additions to the lines but when the mat is all set up, I like the contrast. It does look like it's illuminated.
"spike tape" is similar to your automotive tape in sizes but is designed for the theatre and film industry so has a much less tacky adhesive and might be less inclined to pull up paint beneath it. Roscoe is the biggest manufacturer but there are others.
Love the the toy car play near the end of the video! That's the way i'd have done it too. The mat looks great!
foam detailing tip from a cosplayer: USE A HEATGUN OR HEATER TO SOFTEN THE FOAM UP TO ALLOW IT TO TAKE DETAILS! it also closes the cells of the foam allowing you to not have the paint soak up as much paint
I have heard that advice several times...I gotta try it out.
I love this and definitely plan on making something like this happen for my tabletop games. Also, I definitely relate when driving a gaslands car across a table / battle mat.
I swear you’re in my head…I was trying to figure out a quick and cheap way to make a play surface for upcoming Mordheim games. This is great.
I've been trying to come up with a easy cheap idea for a gaming matt for a while thanks!!
I love those foam craft sheets from Dollorama, super cheap and come in huge stack. I did a bead bot with them they texture and shape really well.
I see the Idols of Torment that you're showcasing behind you. I hope you plan on putting out some more content for that as you release content for the game.
This was a really cool build. Such a cheap playmat with such great results.
Thank you for the video! I’ve wanted to start making boards for Skirmish games but didn’t know where to start - I’ll have to give this a shot!
Ooh this is EXACTLY what I've been looking for. Thanks, Jeremy!
Just in time! Was planning on making a necromunda rable for my small apartment. So a folding mat that doesn't take up much room and can take a battering is perfect
Sound effects for the win ! Complete with pew pew.
Very cool idea man, i love it. If you add texture to the EVA foam and then hit it with a heat gun the textures shines through very clear as it shrinks the EVA. Every detail will be enhanced and you can see it as clear an running a knife and pen through foamboard ;-). Thanks for the video.
That looks incredible. The wash and damage spots really pulled it all together. Love these types of projects, they're so inspirational!
I am loving this 2 episode series. Channel Is amazing
What a great idea! Last halloween our local Micheals liquidated the cos play area. I scored a roll of 4mm EVA and the matching cement. I bet that matched with the dollarama eva sheets and matched will be great. Just what I need to a double sized Gallowdark board!
Never thought about doing this, looks soooo good man!
You're a bloody legend, mate. Keep up the amazing content!
cool proof of concept.
I love seeing different materials and approaches to gaming mats. I think this one is tied for the best option I've seen with the equestrian rubber mat Geek Gaming Scenics tested.
I have also seen these tiles as interlocking floor mats at big home stores which might be an interesting way to 'tile' a mat.
If you were going to forego the folding and just have them as tiles, would you still have picked latex paint as a base coat, or would you have have stuck with Mod Podge and why?
This fantastic! I can't wait to make my own. Thanks for sharing!
Haven't been this early for a while. Great build, sometimes simplicity is best, and using 2 readily available and relatively cheap materials for the build is proof of that. I imagine you could build all kinds of gaming mats with this technique; from dystopian city streets like you created, to idyllic farmland and pastures, to forest clearings with a brook running through it, all readily foldable and easy to store.
I'll have to see if I can find similar materials and make one (or a few different ones) suitable for fantasy gaming.
You can carve textures with an xacto blade and use a heat gun to open the lines up to be deeper. That is how cosplayers use foam. Also with those deeper textures you can use flex seal on the mat which is rubbery and even more durable.
This is inspiring. I have old grass gw battlemat that I have been planning to do Sonething. It's in too bad condition to us as is anymore.. Putting it on the foam could be the thing.
It’s a good mat, and the price is right, but first I’m going to go check out that sponsor - I really like Archvillain’s stuff here
It's really cool. 👍
This should be a series, with a few different themes.
It is! I just put out another one this week.
This is fantastic ! Thank you
I have seen some great builds from you over the years but the paving - craft foam -hinge is genius. It's a shame that in the UK the cheap foam floor mats tend to only be sold in packs and at max price. To get the craft foam to hold texture better, gently heat the foam with a hair dryer or heat gun on low.
The car noises were the best part. XD
I keep on being jealous of the materials you guys can get at you dollar stores. Over here in the Netherlands, stuff like thin cheap eva foam is hard to come by. The bigger chunky floor tiles are more common, but aren’t suitable for smaller detailed work. Keep on spreading cool ideas like this one though!
Look for yoga mats as they are often the same material and tend to be thinner so that they can roll up.
Great work!
The only thing I'm going to really change is to make sure any roads going off will always match up in the exact same location so no matter how I spin it with other mats, they should always match up
9:33 BMC is a Gymkhana fan confirmed. RIP Ken Block.
My favorite thing is that it took me a second to realize that the vitruvian man was on your shirt, and not part of the project.
god this was a cool concept for a game map, would love to see a generic fantasy setting version!
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
I use these mats for so many jobs props
I just asked myself if I could use this method to make myself a folding map for my arena map for Arena Rex. I think yes. Going to have to think over this....but I think it would work
Legit going to try this to make something for marvel crisis protocol. Ty❤
That is awesome
Very cool video
Amazing!
I’m an automotive painter I wound up here on accident.. just a piece of advice for using hardline tape, 1: it’s expensive.. be warned. 2: open a window when you paint 😅
Sweet stuff as usual!
I am so inpsired! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!
Can you make a video for a dnd mat using that stuff
Which dollar store carries those mats? (Nevermind rewatched critical part: "Two items, both from Dollarama")
Man I want to go to your Dollar store because ones near me never have as good of stuff.
"'My fingers, bologna.' What am I doing with my life?" --the cry of those over 30.
Yo! Have you tried Mr. Superclear for extra matte rattlecan spray. It's kinda expensive, but it's sooo flat
9:26 to 9:40 is why we do this!
Maybe I missed it, but what were the final dimensions of the board?
Is there a good substitute for the paint if you have latex allergies? 🤔
It looks amazing 🤩
Me~ I'm gonna save so much money now that I can use stuff from the dollar store!
Also me~ *Spends a thousand dollars at the dollar store*
Love your videos, keep up the great work, this was amazing!
This is the way
Anyone know where I could find the mats? Most of the ones I’m finding are tiled so they interlock.
there's only one source to say that cutting corners is a sci-fi effect... you watched Battlestar Galactica
the only problem is that they arent sized so you can do warhammer boards since you cant even get 44x60 out of them
well a look in to and looks good me i have do a grid and may be some paking lots but thats me to bad you cant do it with two sides but butch of em in kinds shud do trick see new vids as do new ones
Yum. :)
Loved the video! How wide did you make the roads?
Very cool idea. But now that you mentioned the old floor look I can't unsee it. Would love to see more Eva foam builds as I got alot sitting around and could use some ideas
The ONLY reason I would want to live in Canada is for Dollarama!
Wrong
Seeing this and thinking of ways to do fantasy or non-urban mats, I think of door mats that are also found cheap or even bought in bulk. I know it's an old trick to buy outdoor welcome mats and then "mow" off the bristles using an electric razor to use for flocking/reeds. Really common to cut them up when making corn and wheat fields in historical wargames.
You could buy some cheap door mats, shave off all the fibers, then use the latex paint to prime the surface that you paint over with green to make meadows/fields/etc. Then you still have all the leftover fibers that can be used to make other details or flock the mat.
I need to stop watching this channel because my backlog is already larger than it should be lmao
I thought this said warhammer HAT.. I'm rather disappointed
I'm all for these dollar store videos! I've started to feel like too many of the bigger warhammer/DnD/miniature games youtubers have moved a bit too much away from beginner friendly tutorials and projects. Keep up the good work my man!
EDIT: I love the glowing lines, they give me a warm and fuzzy old european scifi comics feel, something I feel Moebius could've dreamed up.
This looks great! If you heat up the foam first with a heat gun or a hot hairdryer before imprinting you get much better patterning! It also gives the Eva foam a more paintable surface! Cosplayers have great tips for foam crafting
Would you do it before they are on the base or after?
I'm in the USA and our 'dollar stores' rarely keep anything like this in stock. However, I can see the potential in using chip board and EVA sheets in a similar method
Ok I’m not crazy then. I haven’t seen anything like this at Dollar Tree or Daiso.
Two minutes in and I'm already "ok, scrap the other plans I had for for tiles" and switching to this (mainly because already have the craft foam from making sci-fi tiles on dollarama mdf squares). That line painting had a bit of a lava vibe at one point - so clearly lava board is on the the work plan
I LOVE how the road markings and that glow effect between the panels came out! It may not be your usual style, but it looks kind of awesome and it's always cool to see people working outside their comfort zone.
This is a very cool build! I would love to see a mat like this but made for fantasy or wilderness- I think a mat like this would do great for Frostgrave!
I'm really curious as to how well grasslands or forest floor texture would hold up in this folding format.
Yeah, as a beginner in craft, I plan to try that instead because I know I'll just mess the roads if I try this.
Awesome idea man, and it looks fantastic! If you haven't tried it, gluing eva foam together with contact cement lets you get right up to the seams, and it'll never come apart. The cheap hardware store stuff works pretty good too. Maybe it's time for a Canadian Tire challenge??
A very cool project! I love the versatility of it. Any chance we could see you do a triple whammy of this? Like a green nature one, a cave/dungeon one, and a surprise one.
+1 for additional terrain types! Such a cool build and use of the materials - would love to see other concepts!
I’d love to see a dungeon one and a wilderness one too!👍
This one looks excellent. I’ll be checking my local ¥100 stores for stuff this weekend.
It might not be functional with the foam surface, but after you do your masking, lay down a clear coat of your choice, and it will seal the lines from paint seepage.
This came out really cool! The metal plates with lit up lines between kind of could work like a dwarven city with lava channels running around, too!
That's your best video of late, really great idea and execution.
Another Nat 20! Such a great, low cost solution.
Great timing on this. I was going to make a few battle mats and you've given me some ideas I hadn't comsidered.
Thanks man.
Excellent, a great looking build that is well within the powers of even the most novice crafter. And cheap too. Win/Win. Cheers!
Fantastic. Think I might try this out for my Grimdark Future: Firefight games.
Adding to a comment from earlier: Once you make your small cuts (e.g. hexes) in EVA, you can hit them with a heat gun, and they will open up and become much more visible.
Sometime I'd like top see you do the same project as a Grim / Dark fantasy city for D&D. I'd be interested to see how you would approach that.
This is a such a good idea! I have very little room so it would be nice to have a battle mat I could put away easily.
I've been looking for a good way to make a large grass mat, this might do it, looks like I'm heading to Dollarama in the morning
The truck interlude!!! 🤣😂
(Glad I wasn't taking a sip of coffee!)
Love how it doubles as that rug we all had as kids with the roads on it
9:25
Looks great - another smart need-meeting un-difficult use of cheap stuff. Ding!
Yellow-line grid isn't worse than the orange one - just good in a different way. Am sure that a pile-on of buildings and scatter chases off any lino-look when you're using your grimdark yoga mat. Yoda mat, even.
Must get on a plane to check out your endlessly bountiful nearest dollar store.
Regards from Over Here - and ne mangez pas la neige jaune.
If you were building a matt for a clean sci-fi city or even space station interior that light source between the large tiles look would really sell it. Especially a light blue. Fancy Sci-Fi lights always seem to glow bug zapper blue in my mind. 😛
Thanks for doing more Dollar store builds. That's my budget.😁
I really like your version of cheap durable battle map mat. This technique work well for futuristic theme, but how would you approach a more open field ?
I can imagine zones for rocks or forests, but having too many of them in the middle might be weird? Maybe? On the other hand, having only a few might make the fold hinges too weak?
Anyway, your tutorials are amazing.
Hey boss, I buy a lot of fishing rods online and they’re shipped in this big cardboard tubes. I’m thinking of cutting them down and capping them into tubes for battle mats. Any thoughts or tips?
Perfect timing I was just looking online to buy one for my first game and they are very expensive. I am planning to try Vincey V's Space Station Zero.
Loving these back-to-basics videos!
Heating EVA foam can help it take texture. Not sure how that would affect it when it's already stuck down though.