One of the terrain features that is often overlooked and underused is roads. Building sectional roads is not as hard as it may seem, but it is a little more involved that the other terrain pieces I have written about. It takes several steps to make a road, but it is hard to make them look bad. This is by no means the best way to make them, but it did work for me.
1) Planning. The first thing to do is to pick a base material. I use the standard hardboard (similar to MDF). It is important to figure out the scale of your roads. I went with single lane roads 3” across. In hindsight, it may have been better to go with 4” wide roads.
2) More Planning. The next choice is the length and type of pieces. I recommend several 12" and 18" straight pieces, some 90 and 45 degree turns, and various intersections.
3) Cutting. Cut the base pieces out of the hardboard; I use a jigsaw. It is also a good idea to sand down the long edges of the boards.
4) Texture. I use Elmer's Wood filler. It is relatively inexpensive and gives a good look. I find it is much easier if you get the surface damp first. You don’t want to overdo it, as too much water will cause the board to warp and even breakdown the wood's bond. You don't need an even coat, but it should be completely covered. You will want to rub the surface along the road in the direction of traffic. Don't make the lines too straight.
5) Paint. After the texture dries, it is time to paint. I picked a light brown, about the color of cardboard. Pick a color that matches the rest of your terrain. Again, paint in long strokes to match the flow of traffic across the road.
6) Wash. I use a black "magic wash". If you don’t know what magic wash is, do a search. It is easy to make and works very well.
7) Wash #2. This is not so much to give the road color as to give something for the gravel in the next step to adhere to. Make sure your first application of wash is completely dry before you do this step. You can also use various adhesives (watered down PVA glue, spray adhesive, etc). Do a very light coat in this step.
8) Gravel. Lightly sprinkle woodland scenic gravel over the road. If your wash was too thick, the gravel (which I believe is made of cork) will absorb the wash and make your road look like it is covered in strange black acne. Remember, sprinkle very lightly. You don't need very much to give it the right effect.
9) Flock prep. Run a light bead of PVS glue (Elmer’s) down the outside edge of the road section, and then run your finger along it. Take your index finger and 'tap' the glue, running all along the edge. This will give it a bit of randomness. Take a few dabs of glue and put splotches along the center of the road.
10) Flocking. I use woodland scenic burt grass, but make sure you get something that matches the color of your gaming table to help the edges blend in.
11) Sealing. Use standard sealing techniques. Gloss coat followed by a dull coat.
If this all sounds like a lot of work, there is an alternative. Last week I was taking my son to the local toy store and noticed they had a series of airplanes called ‘HotWings’ on sale. They also had runway sections to go with the planes. For about $1.50, they were selling 2 feet of runway sections. The sections were interconnecting, and made of durable ¼ inch foam.
3 comments:
Nice article, I like the way you add hints and tips throughout the text. As an alternative to wood filler, I can recommend the "filler" or "fix" you use between the ceramic plates in the bathroom, as this is made up of very small gravels of sand, it looks quite simliar to small gravel in 28mm scale. (I hope you understand what I mean, I'm not perfect in the english language.)
/Gonka Koff
Nice web site, and a great little series of articles on simple terrain tips here. Another tip for your readers- I made a series of road pieces, like your MDF roads in differently shaped and angled strips, by cutting the roads themselves out of sheet rubber, the kind that is rolled out to cover flat roofs and then sealed. It rolls out equally well on the game board, and looks great- also very easy to store, as the pieces are not hard like MDF but can be rolled up between games and will lay flat again.
The rubber itself can be found discarded from building sites, or purchased- but then you must buy in HUGE quantities. I also use acrylic paint to put lines in the roads to add some detail. Rubber seems to hold acrylic reasonably well.
upon reading this, a technique for imprinting tank treads into the road came to mind. you could take an empty lint roller and(assuming you've got extra tank treads) glue two rows of treads around the radius of the roller approximately the right distance apart. for those of you without spare treads, just ask your friendly neighborhood IG player, they'll have some for sure. and I suppose to break up the uniformity of the tracks, you could vary the pressure used to roll them through the putty/grout/plaster/etc, and roll over a few extra times to give it the impression of a well-traveled road... you could also use a model with free-rolling wheels to add some variety, just make sure you have a way of cleaning the wheels once done, as you wouldn't want to ruin your paint job by splattering it with your gravelly mixture.
Post a Comment