Reviving a Game Matt Part 2

Time to add a bit more to the How To on Surfacing. This picture I still had the Flash on but worked out to show how the plain white Kel Seal didn't get properly flocked. You can see a whiteish edge. Now to Fix it after its Dry. If you try before its fully dry you have a good chance to roll a swath back up on your rolling pin. Patience is key here. I squeeze about 3 tablespoons or enough green paint to fill the cup of your hand into a small plastic container, add in 5 large dollops of the KS and mix till its all light green. Tinting the KS Green reduces the chances of more whit line areas showing, but for the purposes of showing How To, I left it white for some more pictures.

As shown, I use a few different sticks to feather some of the KS out around the edges. Notice that I do not attempt to fill evenly or have a defined edge to the area that I cover with the KS. By feathering it out over the surrounding area a bit it really hides the over lap lines, adds thickness to areas and allows the adding of more coarse chopped turf for small bushes. Use the flat end of your spatula (12 inch ruler is what i use, the beveled top side with the numbers is the smoothing side I use) to drag lightly over heavy lines left when the spatula is used to spread the KS over a large area, otherwise when you dump the flocking and roll it you will see these Thicker lines when the excess flock is removed a couple hours later.

Here is a shot of the coarse turf tossed about first to help make sure that it gets bonded. I use several colors but do not add them all to each area as I go, to avoid uniformity. After the coarse turf clumps are scattered, then I pour on the T49 flocking and roll from the edges inwards to start then back and forth, Not as hard as I can though. You will notice some bit of the KS push up thru the turf, just dump some more on it and roll over it again. Rub any build up of KS/Flock off the rolling pin as you notice it. The stone rolling pin I use , plastic scrub pad, bit of soap and water cleans it right up,.. though the wooden handles are a bit greener....oops, could have waxed them first...

Here is a shot of putting a small pile on a spot I rolled where the KS oozed up thru, just covered it with more and rolled back over. The small line near the top of the picture is not something that is in the the KS below, but a rolling edge of the rolling pin as it goes thru the flocking. Once you have covered the entire surface with the flocking you can lay it out and spot fix any area you are not liking using a small spatula and more coarse turf or flocking. Here are a few more IN PROGRESS shots.

How the flocking looks when rolled over, the KS spread about before flocking or coarse turf is added.
Another shot of redoing a thin area or area where the flocking was just enough to cover the area but rolled up on the rolling pin and .. well, redone.

So final shot with Dusty standing on the field with the rising sun behind. The Matt is a monster 6 foot by 9 foot for a convention game. I estimate that I used 4 large bags of flocking from the Woodland Scenics T 49, about quarter of a bag of 3 different coarse turf colors and sizes, 2/3 of a gallon of KS. I did have to obtain 6 large bags of flocking though, so as to have enough to cover the spread KS thickly enough to be rolled out. The left over simply goes into my base flocking tub for future use. My 4x6 foot Matt used a full gallon of KS, probably because I over applied, it being my first go. I was not liking the way the canvas was taking the KS due to not being able to press down much as I was able to do with the Felt, but after some experimenting it worked out rather well. Today is hand cramp day... spray the whole Matt with diluted PVA glue and water... and let to dry fully. A J's idea of the spray on Matt coating is a good idea to reduce wet spills on the surface, though the KS will not dissolve in water once it has dried completely. KS will wash off with water though when its still wet, great way to get it off your pants if your not wearing old work pants and go oops... Also cleans off furniture when the cat runs over the KS and ... well, I got it cleaned up before the wife saw it!