Wednesday, 30 August 2023

Almansa 1707 - 2mm Roads

 


There's a fair bit of road need to try and recreate the battle of Almansa as you can see from above. So the question was how am I gonna try and make this and try and keep it cheap?

Reject Richard used lollypop stick for his 2mm roads, which looked brilliant, see below.

 

But at first they caused a few arguments, as we leant over the tabletop, some of the roads were pushed out of place, causing gaps to appear where they shouldn't be. So a un-named blogger suggested cutting up some small pieces of felt and glue them to the bottom of the stick, to make them stick to Posties terrain tiles. This worked!


So I had the thought of dumping the 100 odd lolly sticks I'd already bought and go straight to the felt idea.


I bought a few different shades of brown felt from Hobbycraft and went with a light brown in the end, I heavily dry brushed the sheet with the same colour paint I used for my bases, then dry brushed a lighter brown over, stuck on some 1mm flock to some edges, just to create that road look. I did try to add the odd bush, but they kept falling off, I tried using superglue, which stuck the bushes down but, it tended to leach around the bush an leave a stain.


Scale wise they should be probably be a little thinner, but I think that'd be a bit too fiddly. You might as well use string, like I've seen some 2mm gamers use. So I stuck with the width of a lollypop stick.


I did say cheap, I only used 2 sheets of A4 felt and I've probably got enough road to last me a lifetime, and all for 99p a sheet! And it sticks to Posties tiles like you know what to a blanket!!!

32 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. They sure do! At this scale, are roads even needed?

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    2. They aren't really need Jon, its purely for the aesthetics'

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  2. Cost effective and pleasing to the eye. Good combination. 😀

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  3. Good answer to a tricky problem, they look grand and should keep their shape on the table well.

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  4. Nice solution. For 2mm I hope they work out better than my own felt roads in my 28mm games, where models and bases frequently snag on the fabric and move it all over the shop during games!

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    1. I think they will Dai, they're only there to fill out the terrain, they won't be used as roads or say.

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  5. Good thrift solution Ray. I have some felt roads from S&A scenics. They have a textured and painted surface, so the exposed felt on the bottom sticks to the mat and ‘crispy hard’ road surface doesn’t catch anything.

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  6. That's a lot of roads. You are set.

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  7. Seems like a win-win-win Ray - nice job!

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  8. Smart idea and they look neat!
    Best Iain

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  9. Looking good Ray…

    All the best. Aly

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  10. Cheap and practical. You continue to both amaze and tempt me with these 2mm offerings, Ray. :-)

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  11. A nifty solution there Ray - look great

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  12. The felt roads, plus bits, do look the biz - great solution to a tricky problem.

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  13. I'm going to pinch this idea fir my 6mm Bolt Action. I did buy some black fabric for tarmac roads. And I have also used lollipop sticks for walls and bushes.

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