Hey guys,

I recently purchased a Realm of Battle Board from GW, painted and flocked it. Having played a few games and had a good look at it, I can say I'm really happy with my purchase. Amazing product that will get a lot of use.

I applied a lot of PVA, but some of my static grass is starting to come off in areas. Not completely, but it's slowly going 'bald' and I can see it getting worse over time. People have recommended spraying it with some sort of sealant, while my GW manager advised against it and told me to simply reflock in a few years.

Was wondering if anyone has any advice on that? Does sealing it change the texture of the grass drastically? Is reflocking in time the best option?

Cheers!

Matte Medium is probably your best best here. Fill a spray bottle with it and thin it with about 25 % water and a drop of dishwashing liquid. The DW liquid will remove the water's surface tension and help it absorb into your board.

I suggest that you repair the bald spots first by reflocking them using full strength matte medium. Some modellers use isopropyl alcohol to soak the bare spots first allowing the matte medium to "grab" better. Use whatever matching flock you need and press it down into the board so that you get a firm bond.
Once your repairs are made, spray the whole board with the diluted Matte medium. Give it a good soaking.
Let it dry and repeat the soaking. If you need to add flock to your bald areas, you can repeat step one before resoaking the board.

A cheap brand of Matte Medium is ModgePodge, which can be bought in several sizes and places like Michaels and Hobby Lobby always have 40 or 50 % off coupons available. Buy the 32 ounce size and it will last you forever. Good luck.

"Matte Medium is probably your best best here." I would agree if you already have some. If you have to buy it buy Woodland Scenic Scenic cement in the spray bottle.It is already mixed. I like Modge Podge but I have never used it for flock. It would probably work as well as PVA. I would be inclined to say the matte Modge Podge is more expensive than PVA.

Flock is going to wear off and get dirty. It is normal to replace it from time to time. I have found that thin PVA does not stick well to unprimed plastic. If you painted the board before flocking I do not think that is your issue.
Some people use PVA for everything. It is often not the best choice. I would hazard to say it is often the worst choice.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Cheap Hair Spray also works. Flock will come off, plain and simple. You just have to do some minor maintenance from time to time.

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Xintao

I like hairspray for trees alot. It is not always the best choice for grass mats. A good quick fix.

Aleene's Flexible Stretchable fabric glue is best for attaching flock to cloth mats.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Cheers for the replies guys! I did paint the board first - spray undercoat and a layer of brown. I also didn't thin the PVA down much at all, after seeing someone else in my area try it and it turned to a disaster.

I'll look into some Matte Medium. My only concern is it'll change the soft texture of the flock so that it becomes coarse and, if not sticky, hard. Does this happen at all? Is it even noticeable?

I'm totally fine with flock coming off slowly, and a bit of wear and tear. But I just want to make it last as long as possible, and not have pieces of green flock constantly floating around the flat after a day's gaming.

Cheers guys!

Using PVA for everything is often a disaster. Matte Medium should not cause problems. However, I do not know the brand you have. I can not say if you might need to thin it or how much.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Not sure if this is exactly the issue you're having, but this YouTube tutorial may be helpful:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lvRVjhAZZkY

I find that he generally has a lot of good advice for terrain.

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

I like his videos. There is still the issue of wetting agent. I believe he has a video on how to make it. My issue is not knowing the brand of matt medium. The wet water or wetting agent is not necessary with scenic cement.
See above.

I have a syringe. I often use an eyedropper instead. The school glue bottles also work.He has some good tips on making flock as well.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I used Woodland Scenics Spray to seal mine and it has lasted really well so far. Even with the abuse from my gaming mates and the cat sleeping on the boards a lot.

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For a simple repair of a bald spot on a game mat, it's not necessary to soak the mat with an isopropyl alcohol solution first. You can get the same result by mixing about 20 % wet water into the matte medium. Wet water is tap water with a drop of dishwashing liquid in it. Some modelers use distilled water, but I've never found any discernable difference by using water right from the faucet.
I mix it in an empty dropper bottle, which gives you greater control as to where you want it to go. Just shake it up real well.
I have never had any luck with spray bottles. No matter how you clean them, they always clog up. That's my main problem with Scenic Cement. After one application the nozzle is clogged. I've tried boiling them out, but the spray is never as fine again. Scenic Cement is formulated to be used on model train layouts, which are typically foam covered in plaster or wall filler. Not cloth mats.
I suggest that you try all of the various solutions offered here, on the underside of the mat. Pick out a small section of your matt and try matte medium, white glue, Scenic Cement and Aileen's fabric glue and see which one works the best on that particular cloth. Use coupons and it won't cost a fortune. Buy the smallest size if money is a consideration. Let us know what works the best.

I agree spray bottles are very difficult to reuse. I save cleaning bottles and use a new bottle for a new project.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm currently on holiday and away from home but when I get back I'll pop into a hobby store and see what I can find and get back to you. Seeing as I spent around $800 on the board, I appreciate the help as I really don't want to ruin it!

Another option on spray bottles is just get the smaller travel size ones from a drugstore, use once and discard (keeping the excess glue/sealer of course). The smaller spray bottles are relatively cheap and you don't get annoyed trying to clean them out

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"Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."