"Making roads from latex caulk" Topic

This was mentioned a while back.
Are there any tutorials on it?

I hope it uses REALLY CHEAP caulk, that can be painted with craft paints!

John,

Make sure you buy ACRYLIC caulk, not SILICONE. Silicone won't take the paint.

I just laid down a bunch of beads on wax paper side by side to get close to the width I wanted. The I spayed my wide putty knife liberally with wd 40 and spread the caulk into the path I want. Takes a day or so to set up and then peel it off teh wax paper.

I use really cheap acrylic latex caulk on granny grate. One layer to fill the grate, let dry then add a layer for texture. Dragging the but end of a small brush through while it's wet makes wagon wheel tracks. another layer along the edges to hold some sand (no glue needed) provides a texture for grass.

Then STAIN the road bed with watered down craft paint. (I like the effect I get from Burnt Sienna thinned to taste) is all that's needed. I paint my grass with REALLY cheap craft paint (hunter green) and dry brush with yellow. It doesn't even look bad if the colors of the various sections don't match due to uneven thinning.

Seal the whole thing (top and bottom) with future and you're ready to go. Note, if you don't seal the bottom the pieces tend to stick together in the storage box.

Mine have been going strong for about 10 years now with no sign of wear. I have 12" & 6" sections, various intersections and 45 degree curves of various radius that I use with 15mm, 20mm and 28mm figures. it all looks good to me when it's on the table.

What's "granny grate"?

Think Water Gate, but with old people

"Granny grating" is a kind of plastic mesh available from needlework and sewing shops where it is sold for making tapestries. It's more properly known as "plastic canvas" or "plastic weave".

Last year I embarked on a project to make flexible roads. I tested many different goops on many different backings (wax paper, parchment paper, adhesive mesh tape, metal and plastic screen, rubber mat and more). I wanted a backing because I thought goop -- specifically acrylic latex caulk -- by itself would tear too easily, but now I'm convinced acrylic latex caulk by itself would be fine.

I found though that acrylic latex caulk shrinks and ripples when curing.

I have since read about someone using a Silpat non-stick cooking mat. This is more expensive than wax paper, but it's reusable.

I'll be damned:
link

Learn something new every day. Done. And thanks.

I bought the cheapest canvas tarp I could find. I cut out road sections in the shapes/lengths I wanted. I smeared acrylic putty all over the canvas with a spatula and then shaped it with whatever tool seemed best (ranging from tongue depressors to spoons). I pressed some gravel (medium ballast) into the edges and some smaller rocks (fine gravel) into the middle.

The caulk I used was already dark brown, so it was pretty easy to dry-brush up from there.

I added some tufts and some flock and had some pretty nice road section. I've used them at demo games and people have asked me what company makes them.

The whole process took about two hours, with a break in the middle for the caulk to dry.

Easy and CHEAP to do.

Shawn.

I mix RIT dye into ACRYLIC caulk when I am making terrain with it. I use green powdered dye which comes out a medium gray with a slight olive tinge. It just makes it less obvious if you miss a spot with paint or a player gouges a 2 inch diameter crater into the road.

Once done, how flexible is it? Good enough to drape over hills/ridges?

Yes, it stays fairly flexible.

I use DAP acrylic. Make sure you get the kind that says it is paintable (it will say so right on the tube and box). They make it in clear (great for rivers), gray (highways), black, three shades of brown (cedar, tan, and dark). It is generally around $4 USD a tube. Also, look for the kind that dries in several hours, not within 7 days.

Lots of suggestions for backing. I personally don't like the wax paper method as I always had trouble peeling it off. I ended up using a cloth backing (dark brown polyester). It makes it extremely tough after it dries and it keeps its shape really well. I have used this to do rivers by painting the cloth a brownish color along the edges and blended out to a dark pthalo blue/green in the middle and then covered it with the clear DAP. While it was drying you can use your fingers to add ripples and a current as well as sticking your fingers and then pulling straight up to get a frothy kind of ripple for where rocks would be near the surface (and you can press your own rocks into it).

For dirt roads, I simply put it on the cloth and used a stick to add ruts and tire marks (it wouldn't be that hard to do tank tracks). I also added a set of the Silfor grass pathway tufts in the middle to do those small dirt paths with grass down the middle.

I also made a highway with cracks by using a pencil while it was drying.

Other uses I plan for this stuff are some plowed fields, lakes, ponds, and marhses (by adding tufts of grass).

Also; Use the brown stuff for the base and banks, then the clear for the water, and poof…rivers.

They look really good too.
I can get some photos of the ones my brother made if needed.

What a great thread! I would love to give this a try.

Please excuse the very basic question – but are we just talking about bathroom sealant here – or is this more of a modelling material? I guess the product names will be different in th UK?

There is also a product of black rubber-coating that comes in an aerosol can. You could cut strips of some material in the shape of the roads you want and then spray them with the rubber for a nice asphalt look.

PDF link

Fons
MMPS

Theng queue!
Great ideas.
I am off to WalMart tomorrow!

*cough* Lowes.

I have a lot of old mismatched bed sheets in the house. Plan A.

You can never have too many roads. Since I wnat to do Trenton again on a Ping Pong table, I need a lot more roads than I already have.
I paid good money for my last sets, but good money is hard to come by these days!

Well, OK. Lowes.

I only say Lowes (or I guess Home Despot), because I know they have the right kind. Wal Mart never seems to have what I need.

Here's another tutorial I found.

link

I can get some photos of the ones my brother made if needed.

That would be great to see what they look like DS6151. I need some rivers, and if I could make them myself instead of having to buy them it would help an already tight pocketbook.

Is this the right sort of stuff ?
link

If anyone in the UK could point to a clear version I'd love to try using it for rivers.

Thanks

Yes that's the right stuff.

Ironically, you want to look for the cheapest caulk (mastic) you can find. The cheap stuff makes a poor sealant because it hardens too much and doesn't stay 'soft'. This is what you want for you road… so poor sealant = good road!

Thanks

Delthos has already linked to my article on caulk roads above – link – but I didn't bother with any backing material and my roads are so far holding up just fine.

The cheap brown paintable caulk I used cost $4 USD-2.50 per tube (managed to get some on sale at Home Despot!) and made many, many feet of road, plus a few small fields and there's still caulk in the tube, too.

I haven't painted most of my pieces (pure laziness on my part…) and haven't had issues with figures or other terrain sticking to the caulk, unlike Tim above.

Caulk is an awesome material for roads, it's cheap, flexes over hills and other terrain, seems to stand up well to gaming, and working with it is kind of fun, like playing with cake icing! (just remember not to lick your fingers or tools clean, I'm pretty sure it would taste awful…)

Ironically, you want to look for the cheapest caulk (mastic) you can find. The cheap stuff makes a poor sealant because it hardens too much and doesn't stay 'soft'. This is what you want for you road… so poor sealant = good road!

Yup. The 2 dollar tubes were dry overnight. And still flexible.