Making Dirt Roads: Cheap and Easy

[The Bibliophile]

I have wanted some good roads to add to my games for a while now. For about $10 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: https://miniaturescrum.blogspot.com/2019/04/take-high-road-making-cheap-and-easy.html







Lots of photos and a breezy walk through the process at my blog, Scrum in Miniature: https://miniaturescrum.blogspot.com/2019/04/take-high-road-making-cheap-and-easy.html

[Anselm van Helsing]

Thanks for sharing, this look very good. Might try this out.

[Pan Marek]

They look good.   I'm surprised that you didn't get warpage or curling given the glue and paint of one side. 

[The Bibliophile]

I'm surprised that you didn't get warpage or curling given the glue and paint of one side.

That's one of the great things about using vinyl/linoleum tile: No warpage! (Unlike MDF, which drove me a little crazy.)

[FifteensAway]

Decent job.  By taking a bit more time and care and adding 'margins' to match your gaming mat surface (if you can), you'd get a sterling result.  For the money and time, they certainly work.  You could dry brush some greens and yellows along the edges and still heighten the result.  Not meant to critique but to add options for improvement.   

I cheated and ended up buying a whole bunch of roads last year but still need to paint them and work on the margins (that will be a project!  My cloth is composed of eight layered colors!!!).

[The Bibliophile]

Decent job.  By taking a bit more time and care and adding 'margins' to match your gaming mat surface (if you can), you'd get a sterling result.  For the money and time, they certainly work.  You could dry brush some greens and yellows along the edges and still heighten the result.  Not meant to critique but to add options for improvement.   

I cheated and ended up buying a whole bunch of roads last year but still need to paint them and work on the margins (that will be a project!  My cloth is composed of eight layered colors!!!).

Thanks. I thought about whether to find a way to line the edges, either with foliage or with rocks and other bits. It's an option I left open for myself if I want to circle back around and augment these. I want to get them in a few games first before deciding how much more effort to put into them. But thanks for the feedback!