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Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: TWD on 07 January 2014, 09:54:45 PM

Title: Warhammer roads
Post by: TWD on 07 January 2014, 09:54:45 PM
I made some roads for use in my WFB games (and others)

Simple as you like made by cutting Wilko's floor tiles into strips.

(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r195/webdeak/Scenery/road027_zps8ab3a7dd.jpg)

A few more pictures on my blog
http://tomstoysoldiers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/making-warhammer-roads.html
Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: Gutbukkit on 07 January 2014, 11:25:01 PM
Nice and simple yet effective. I've been looking at those tiles a lot recently in Wilko thinking of using one of the designs for a dungeon, now you've given me another idea on how to use them.
Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: maxxon on 08 January 2014, 06:20:17 AM
Looks nice. You could probably use larger pieces to base an entire city section.

That's a good find, usually the patterns are way too large to look good with miniatures.

Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: TWD on 08 January 2014, 09:49:14 AM
Thanks.

Yep been thinking about making a town square or similar from some bigger pieces.

The did also have these in a more sandy coloured version, so I might pick some of them up for the base of a small settlement for my El Cid games, though it would also be good for Tomb Kings desert boards etc.
Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: Mason on 08 January 2014, 01:05:55 PM
Not sure about this as they look very cartoony and two dimensional, like someone has painted squares on a roll of lino.

You could have just cut out cardboard strips from cereal packets and added cardboard 'stones' and then painted them.

That would have given the same effect but in three dimensions.
It would also have been in the colour of your choice that way.

A little scenic grass etc and it would look much more authentic and be pretty damn cheap.
Maybe even cheaper than buying the tiles.
 ;)

(Of course, it would have taken a little longer, but you could have done most of it in the time it takes to make a trip to Wilko's... ;)).

Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: TWD on 08 January 2014, 01:47:54 PM
Not sure about this as they look very cartoony and two dimensional, like someone has painted squares on a roll of lino.
Could this be because that's what they are? Lino with stones painted on. ;)
Also I should point out they don't look as "cartoony" in r/l as they come across in the pictures, viewed from a gaming distance and in normal light they pass muster, to my eyes at least.

You could have just cut out cardboard strips from cereal packets and added cardboard 'stones' and then painted them.
That would have given the same effect but in three dimensions.
The challenge with cardboard roads (in my experience) is to stop them warping.
As soon as you add glue and paint they start to curl - cereal boxes in particular would be next to impossible to keep flat.
To do what you're describing I think you'd need to use something sturdier like 2mm MDF and even that can be prone to warping (I know, I've done it for some WW2 roads). :-[

(Of course, it would have taken a little longer, but you could have done most of it in the time it takes to make a trip to Wilko's... ;)).
I guess that depends on how close your nearest Wilkos is. Mine's about a ten minute walk away.:)

Joking aside, I take your point that it is possible to make roads that look much more authentically like roads than these, but for the investment in time and money (very little on both counts) I've got something I'm happy with.

Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: Mason on 08 January 2014, 02:00:52 PM
Could this be because that's what they are? Lino with stones painted on. ;)
Also I should point out they don't look as "cartoony" in r/l as they come across in the pictures, viewed from a gaming distance and in normal light they pass muster, to my eyes at least.

...........


I guess that depends on how close your nearest Wilkos is. Mine's about a ten minute walk away.:)


My nearest store is about the same distance so I will check these out next time I am there and see what they look like in reality.
 :D



The challenge with cardboard roads (in my experience) is to stop them warping.
As soon as you add glue and paint they start to curl - cereal boxes in particular would be next to impossible to keep flat.
To do what you're describing I think you'd need to use something sturdier like 2mm MDF and even that can be prone to warping (I know, I've done it for some WW2 roads). :-[

Fair point, but placing the finished article under some heavy books for a while should cure that.
 ;)



I've got something I'm happy with.

This is obviously the main point of the exercise, of course.
And if you are happy with them, that is all that is important.
 :)

I was just offering up an inexpensive alternative.
 ;)
Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: maxxon on 09 January 2014, 06:30:36 AM
You could have just cut out cardboard strips from cereal packets and added cardboard 'stones' and then painted them.

I've actually done that, and it's an insane amount of work for any real amount of surface covered. I only did the sidewalks for my ruined blocks and even that was something like 250 individual tiles cut, glued and painted.

Apparently I've never photographed my ruined blocks separately, but the thing should be relatively apparent here:
http://www.smallcuts.net/photo/?id=1299

Generally I agree that printed stuff tends to look flat, but it is an easy alternative.

Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: former user on 09 January 2014, 07:34:49 AM
since we are discussing it
I must say I was ambivalent from the start: at first I found them interstingly looking and they reminded me of the roman street pavement I know from Pompeii, (and other roman towns), and only upon looking twice I thought about how to improve them.
Basically, I find them a very good idea, especially regarding the cost and effort involved.
the first thing that shouts improvement to me is the fringes (the cuts through the tiles) - either they need a sidewalk, or better, cutting around the bordering tiles. Then some brownish wash/dip for the filling inbetween and you are done, it might even achieve some plasticity from that.

glueing them onto straight stripes then and filling the borders with some fine sand might even make them perfect for both street and countryside, but I can't estimate how this might increase the time budget needed. What I know for sure is that cutting out tiles from whatever, glueing them to stripes AND painting them to look like stones would be kind of luxury time budget. With that kind of effort, I would try to buy roof slates and crumble them into small tiles and glueing these on, the stone surface effect would be just right.
Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: maxxev on 09 January 2014, 08:30:23 AM
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lemax-Cobblestone-Street/dp/B00G6J326S/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1389254846&sr=1-1&keywords=lemax+cobblestone
Title: Re: Warhammer roads
Post by: TWD on 09 January 2014, 01:31:54 PM
Indeed, plenty of ways to skin this particular feline.

Looks like I wasn't first with this idea even:
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=46631.0