ASPHALT ROADS

Making a Asphalt road system from MDF was quite a challenge, I decided to only make it wide enough to accommodate one vehicle and wanted it to be  slightly dilapidated, here is how I made them. 

British Centaur tank  cautiously moving down a asphalt road in a urban area.

 28mm Late war British Infantry making their way across a asphalt road bridge

I used 6 mm MDF for this project but you can use 3 mm if you wish.

The width of the road measures 7 cm.

While the length of the long sections measure 30 cm.

This is the look I am aimed to duplicate in the asphalt roads.

First step is to shave off the edges with Box cutters.

File down the edges that where just cut away with a file 

This is the finish you want to achieve.

Run the file long way to produce grooves in the road.

Like this

Now randomly file across the road. 

Like this

Use a dremel type hand motor with a large round bur to make a groove on the edge.

Using a small round bur highlight the previously filed area along the edge to create a area where the asphalt is breaking down.

Next randomly run the same round bur over the top of the road to create crack lines.

This is a optional step, lightly run the large round bur  randomly over the top of the road to create a bit of unevenness .

Finished etching 

Coat the whole surface with a Black Primer.

Dry brush the surface with  Vallejo Model Color Black Grey and Iraqui Sand leaving the middle portion of the road blackish. (I painted these thave forgotten the ratio but it should be 1:1 mix)

Continue to dry brush the road with Vallejo Model Color Black Grey and Iraqui Sand again only slightly going over the middle section of the road. (increase the ratio to 1:4)

Use Vallejo Flat Earth to dry brush the edge of the road and highlight with Desert Yellow and Flat Earth 1:1 mix 

Use a old brush to paint on PVA glue on the edge and in spots on the road surface and flock with fine turf.

L- section

Y - section

Cross Intersection

Curve

Finished product with a 28mm tank for scale.

I also constructed a bridge to suit this type of road surface. 
It's constructed with 6 mm MDF and basically made up of 5 sections of MDF.

  Added a section of MDF to accommodate a river and a wall on the edges of the bridage. 

 

 Etched detailed into the MDF, 28mm figure present for scale.

Coated with black Primer.

Painted and flocked finished bridge

 Aerial view finished bridge.

Image of intersection

cheers John

COBBLESTONE ROADS

This is one of five tables I made for the Chain of Command tournament at MOAB 2017.
I was not sure how to tackle the task of making Cobblestone Roads till I was inspired by Rob Hawkins Hobby Terrain Blog, although his tutorial is a  "how to make Flagstone Streets" I was able to use some of his techniques and modify them to make my cobblestone roads..  

I used 3 mm MDF for the road, the width measured 15 cm wide.
The tiles are 1 mm think cardboard, cut into small squares.
The borders are made from thin coffee stirrers found in the 2 dollar shop, cut into 8 mm strips and glued in place with PVA glue, 2 stacks high.

After setting the borders in place,Use a old brush to paint on a layer of PVA glue onto a 1/4 of the road.
 Use a sharp hobby knife to pick up the cardboard squares and set in place on the road covered with PVA glue - this I found was the quickest method of setting the tiles in place.

Continue this process till the whole road is covered with cardboard tiles.

Allow to dry overnight.

Paint PVA glue over the tiles trying to get most of the glue into the grooves.

Wearing gloves use your fingers to rub off and push the PVA into the grooves.

Cover the entire surface with a fine gravel.

Push the gravel into the grooves and continue to lightly push the gravel off the tops of the cardboard tiles. The gloves are used to protect your hands from scratching or cut caused by the gravel.

Allow to dry overnight.

Undercoat with Black Primer.

Using a wet brush technique (similar to dry brushing but with a loaded brush of wet paint) apply 2 x coats of Vallejo Model Color Green Grey. 

Using a wet brush technique apply over the surface: Vallejo Model Color Green Grey and Vallejo Model Color Offwhite 40:60 mixing ratio. Over emphasize this colour in some areas. You can also want to apply straight Offwhite to further highlight some areas, up to you.

Paint random tiles using Reikland Flesh/Agrax Earthshade and Black washes .
Last of all apply PVA to the edges with a brush and apply flock.
The large straight pieces measure 30 cm x 15 cm.

90 degree road piece.

45 degree road piece

Square piece measuring 15 cm x 15 cm. These pieces have no boarders and are used instead of T or cross sections. They are can also be used to make a Plaka area. 

This is a circular intersection, the middle area is idea for placement of  a monument.

The Bridge is scratch built from 5 mm MDF and detailed etched with a dremel type hand motor. The wall edges of the bridge are extended out on each side to accommodate and secure the road pieces.

cheers John