Wednesday, August 20, 2014

CAUTION! Road Work Ahead! 15 / 20mm Roads Done!


In the interest of "stepping up my game" with terrain, I finally got around to working on a project idea I've had for a long time.

For Flames of War and a few other larger games, I was using cork railroad bedding (O Gauge) for larger roads and causeways.  This has a few advantages and disadvantages as far as I'm concerned.  It's raised for one thing, which is great because many roadways are raised for drainage purposes, or at the very least have culverts next to them to trap water.  It also offered a modicum of cover for infantry teams.  Problems are it's not easy to work with and much trouble to detail.  I ended up spray painting mine for larger modern games to represent an improved road surface.  So that's the end of them.  No horse and musket roads or WW2 rural roads for me.....until now.

Panzer 38 rolling through 

I was at the hobby store recently and found...well for lack of a better word, "hobby cork" used for small DIY projects which comes in 4 foot rolls!  For under 10 dollars US!

I layed out the cork, flattened it for a few days under some heavy books (Osprey's "Peninsula War Atlas" works great), covered the surface with PVA and sprinkled sand all over it.  spray painted it brown, then dry-brushed it with a latex tan.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with the color tan used, feeling it a tad too bright, but you build the roads with the materials you have!  I didn't want to use the acrylic stuff I have feeling it wouldn't have been cost effective.

 Speaking of cost effective, this entire road-network took me about 4 days to do.  Considering what the Hotz roads, and the Battlefront Roads cost, this allows me to put money where it REALLY belongs - buying rules I'll never use!
 The roads have that dusty, talc look to them found on dried roads in many parts of Eurasia (and Central Texas).

 For the price, they turned out nicely.  Ten dollars!!  No shipping.  Materials on hand.  You be the judge.





endless columns of Soviet troops march towards the front.

Cork has its advantages as it doesn't stick to my table.


Panzer Marsch!

Or how about the Norman countryside?  A picturesque road junction about explode into a full scale fight as German forces fan out!






14 comments:

  1. Those work a treat. The versatility of cork knows no bounds!

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    1. Mark,
      Cork is the gamer / modeler's friend! I am very happy with how the roads turned out.

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  2. Looks good to me, especially for the price of materials.

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    1. Thank you sir! I thought so as well. You can't beat 10 bucks for a respectable looking road network.

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  3. Its a winner Steven!

    To spice them up even more add some flock to some of the edges, just to break it up a little. They look really grand mate.

    I would do rivers the same way but change the colour and shape. The sand/grit looks good enough to act as the small boulders you find in swift currents.

    Outstanding mate.

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    1. Thanks, Paul! I'm going to flock the edges with both lichen in a few spots and flock in a few spots.

      I'm looking to do the same thing with the rivers, just making them a bit wider! I still have plenty of cork left over.

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  4. Thank you for sharing. I agree with you on the color - they look a little light- though pictures can be deceiving.

    I like the idea and the price.

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    1. Thanks for commenting, Itinerant. I was thinking in the pictures they turned out looking almost white. They're definitely a tan, but still very light.

      One interesting thing though - I was reading David Glantz's "The Battle of Kursk" and he was talking about the extremely light color of the top layer of soil in the Kursk salient, and that any attempt to hastily dig-in troops was difficult to camouflage because the soil underneath the chalky talk was "almost black" against the extremely light dried soil around it.

      That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!!

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    2. Of course, you planned it! Well done sir!

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  5. Nicely done, Steve. I need some 6mm roads for Naps gaming, I must try and find one of those cork rolls. Thanks for the great idea. And yes, those Battlefront roads are pricey!

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    1. Thanks Michael. You know if you need roads for 6mm, you could get away with cutting these in half! You'd get twice as much roadway for your money.

      I got these at a regular "big box" style US hobby store (AC Moore) in a 4 foot roll for 10 dollars US.

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