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Sunday 15 October 2017

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 

30 comments:

  1. The end effect is stunnng but it must have been very fiddly.

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    1. Thanks Paul, initially it was, but once you get into a rhythm you can complete a section quite fast.
      cheers John

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  2. Always impressive and great to game on!

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    1. Thanks Bart,not long now, we will be playing on them again at Cancon 2018.
      cheers John

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  3. Un BLEEPING believable! I wish I had the patience but at 83 I don't think I have enough time left! Beautiful but I guess I'll have to buy mine!

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    1. Thanks Dick for your comments.
      cheers John

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  4. Awesome WIP / tut. Thanks for sharing and atm I'm 100% sure I'll steal this idea. :)

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    1. Thats great WeRT, please share your results when you have completed them
      cheers John.

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  5. A true vision splendid manifesting itself through proper planning, execution, and attention to detail. And absolutely the best terrain I have ever had the pleasure of playing on in over forty two years of wargaming.

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    1. Thanks Richard for your comments much appriciated
      cheers John

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  6. Now these look splendid! Certainly well worth the work, but maybe not at all suited for people with the attention span of a lizard... like me.

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    1. I don't know about that Moiterei, I've seen what amazing work and detail you put into that house on your blog.
      cheers John

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  7. Thanks for sharing John - IRL they look fantastic (like the rest of your scratch built terrain!)

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  8. Simply fabulous John! A very impressive looking table too :o)

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  9. what an effort. i hope the gamers appreciated what they are playing on.

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    1. thanks Catweaseloz and yes all ten guys for very appreciative and excited to play on the tables.
      cheers John

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  10. Absolutely amazing! The patience and the dedication you have for this is just impressive. Well done John!

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    1. Thanks Dave for your comments
      cheers John

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  11. Your terrain is inspiring. I am going to copy all your methods!! Walls and roads! Thank you for taking the time to share your techniques. Love your buildings as well and my try them. Did you use MDF for your river sections too? Thanks you!

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    1. Thanks ljr70 for your comment, good to hear you are inspired, it be good to see your work once completed. The river is made from 3mm MDF, I intend to write up a' how to " on the river in the near future , my computer is in for repairs at the moment and i hope I have not lost the photos I took.
      cheers John

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  12. Great roads John, I'm currently in the process of copying you and making my own. Could you describe "wet brush" technique a bit more though? If the brush is loaded with paint, how is wet brushing different than simply painting as normal?

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    1. Sorry for late reply, just saw your post, Wet brushing is like dry brushing but you load up the brush with some paint not too much and lightly brush over the surfaces as opposed to the harsh dry brush stokes. Basically you are apply doing the same thing as dry brush but getting a thicker layer of paint on the surface of the object.

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