"Take the High Road: Making Cheap and Easy Dirt Roads" Topic
12 Posts
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The Bibliophile | 09 Apr 2019 9:25 a.m. PST |
I have wanted some good roads to add to my games for a while now. For about $10 USD in supplies and an afternoon's worth of work I managed to build close to 10 feet of road for my battlefield (as well as some random terrain, like mud patches and forest "floors"). On my most recent blog post, I discuss step by step my cheap and easy process for making dirt roads. Many photos and details at my blog, Scrum in Miniature: link
Lots of photos and a breezy walk through the process at my blog, Scrum in Miniature: link |
SOB Van Owen | 09 Apr 2019 10:48 a.m. PST |
Very nice and interesting ideas. I'll gave to check some of them out myself. It's nice to get the cat involved in craft projects. Consider for a dark brown matte spray paint Rustoleum or Krylon camouflage colors. $4 USD a large spray can at Walmart. There are other useful camo spray colors too. |
jefritrout | 09 Apr 2019 1:12 p.m. PST |
Nicely done on the roads. Read back a couple of posts and saw that you held a convention pretty much in my backyard. I would love to be able to run a game or two at the next one you do. It is only about 10 minutes from my job, so I know that I could make it over there. My e-mail is my user name at msn dot com. |
The Bibliophile | 09 Apr 2019 2:07 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the kind words! And, Jeff, I just sent you an email to make sure we stay in touch as we plan the next Scrum Con! ( link ) |
Old Wolfman | 10 Apr 2019 6:48 a.m. PST |
Cute cat in the pics too. |
Sgt Slag | 10 Apr 2019 7:23 a.m. PST |
I hope you do not have the issues I had with vinyl floor tiles… I painted PVA Glue on pieces I used as bases, 1-square to 6"-squares. I swirled them in colored sand mixtures, gluing the sand in place, for texturing, across the surface of the vinyl tile pieces. They were great for a few months, then the PVA Glue began shrinking, pulling the outer edges up, towards the figures, in the center of the pieces. It ruined the bases, requiring them to be re-based -- on MDF. The MDF has undergone the same treatment, with some pieces being 2+ years old now: zero curling/warping. I have not had any issues with the MDF, other than the fact that it is around 4mm thick, and the vinyl floor tiles are around 1mm-2mm thick. I still use the peel-n-stick vinyl floor tiles as a base, but I print off PDF textures on regular paper, then I apply them to the sticky side of the tiles. The vinyl tiles are then cut to size and shape. I use these for 2D dungeon floor plans, to create modular dungeons. They curl a little, over time, but I just flex them the other way, and they lay flat. They are nice and heavy, easy to cut, easy to use. And like you stated, they are flat, and thin. Fantastic stuff to work with. Cheers! |
The Bibliophile | 12 Apr 2019 8:59 a.m. PST |
Interesting that it took so long for your PVA to settle. Do you remember what sort of PVA you were using? I haven't had that issue with Mod Podge in the past… |
Sgt RV | 13 Apr 2019 12:07 p.m. PST |
Nicely done for all. Ive used vinyl from a roll at fabric store for muddy rivers. Just had to dry brush and gloss coat. Nice and thin also. Fairly cheep too. Keep posting comrade!! |
Sgt Slag | 15 Apr 2019 9:06 a.m. PST |
Originally, I used Elmer's White (PVA) Glue, both School, and All-Purpose types. I switched to using various brands of yellow PVA Wood Glue, as it is stronger than any flavor of white PVA. I really prefer the MDF for several reasons, but the vinyl floor tiles are sooo inexpensive… I would prefer their thinness, but the warping is a game-killer. I made up a dozen look-out towers for various fantasy races: the tower was a tree, cut off at the top, with a square platform; there were spiked sticks surrounding the base, along with moss, representing thorny briars. They were nicely done pieces… Until the glue curled the bases. Then I had to re-do them with MDF bases. Not finished yet, but this time around, the bases won't warp, and ruin the models. The bamboo skewers I used for the spikes are firmly attached to the MDF base, by the Wood Glue -- they make me nervous, as they are very sharp! I'm afraid someone will be stabbed reaching onto the table, in a game. :-[
You can see the vinyl base warping already, in this photo, which was taken after the model was only a few weeks old. Like I stated, I still use the vinyl floor tiles as a base for 2D paper terrain. For that purpose, it works superbly. Cheers! |
The Bibliophile | 15 Apr 2019 12:15 p.m. PST |
Wonder what made your tiles warp when mine didn't? As you can see below, I slathered Mod Podge all over my river tiles, and a year later they're just as flat as when I made them. I spray painted mine black, and I used the top side not the adhesive side. Maybe that explains the difference in why mine never curled?
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Sgt Slag | 16 Apr 2019 5:29 a.m. PST |
Color me impressed! Thanks for the quick "how-to", on the rivers -- GORGEOUS! That is some of the best water effects I've seen. Granted, it has no depth, but it doesn't need it. Wow! I really like that technique… Mod Podge is not quite the same formulation as Elmer's PVA Glues. Not a chemist, can't say more than that. I can say, however, that I even tried gluing two tiles together, doubling their thickness, to see if that would solve the issue… It did not. I put the two glue sides together, applied the PVA to the shiny sides, but no joy. The base in the above photo, is two layers of vinyl tile. The warping even caused them to separate a bit I know that Elmer's whote PVA glues have more water, and less PVA in them (saves costs, increases profits…). That may be part of the problem. I've never tried yellow Wood Glue (much stronger formulation of PVA). I may need to experiment with that, to see if that works better. I really liked using the vinyl floor tiles for bases -- so easy to cut to custom sizes. Cheers! |
The Bibliophile | 23 Apr 2019 10:08 a.m. PST |
So…I did some more research on this, and you're correct that Mod Podge definitely has less water, which causes it to constrict/shrink less when it dries. Mod Podge also has some resin in it that most white glue doesn't, which makes it a little better resistant to water, too, when it dries (incidentally making it a better glue to paint on top of, if you need to). Probably the combination of those factors explains why your tiles curled and mine haven't, even a year later. Sorry your first time out of the gate with the vinyl tiles was a frustration, but I think Mod Podge instead of Elmer's would make the difference. I just got lucky on my first choice of glue, I guess. |
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