J’s Work molds and roads for Saga

For some time I’ve wanted to make some decent roads for Saga.  Actual cobblestone/paving/etc type roads rather than just ‘sand sprinkled onto mdf and painted brown roads’.  I’ve seen some nice resin road segments but the cost of them adds up quite quickly.  Also with my plan to redo my Saga terrain boards, from 12mdf flat pack boards to sculpted foam on 50mm boards, I wanted some decent road bling without having to glue in hundreds of small rocks (and watch them fall off over time).  I don’t want roads sitting on top of the board, I want roads sculpted into the terrain board.

Cobblestone Pavement (large) mold

Cruising the inter webs I came across some 1/35 scale silicone molds for dioramas.  They are made by “J’s work” (http://www.jsworkmodel.com).  I purchased mine from BNA model world (http://www.bnamodelworld.com).  Each mold is approx 8x12cm (postcard size) and made from very flexible silicon and cost $8.  The molds are designed to be used with plaster of paris.  I'm yet to test if they work well with resin.

Very bendy

The brick wall and pavement molds have interlaced ends so they can be joined together with the minimal amount of blank space and joined with a small amount of plaster.  So far I have purchased…(with a picture of the end result rather than the mold)

Brick Walls

PPA3017 1/35 Brick Wall - 2 sections of brick wall in the mold.  The bricks are quite thin so would even suit ancient Roman style villa walls.  Didn’t really need this one but couldn’t resist at $8.

Pavement I

PPA3018 1/35 Pavement 1 - Large rectangular pavement stones like you would see in European cites up to WW2.  Just crying out for a PAK36 and some panzer grey.  I got this for my new adventures in 1/35 modelling.

Cobblestone Pavement (large)

PPA3041 1/35 Cobblestone Pavement (large) - Large human foot size rounded stones.  Good for rough ancient roads.

Cobblestone Pavement (small)

PPA3042 1/35 Cobblestone Pavement (small) - Human hand size rounded stones.  Less bumpy ancient roads or roads in town.

Two cobblestone sections side by side

Both of the cobblestone pavement molds would make great Saga roads.  Given that plaster of paris costs next to nothing (5kg bag for under $5) you can make all the roads you like.  Curves will be more interesting.

On my first test runs there were a few air bubbles trapped.  This is because the silicone is far to bendy to pick up and bang to get out the air like you would do with stronger molds (like the Woodland Scenics rock molds I have).  To fix that I’ve cut out some small wooden boards which I will place the mold on and thus have something firm to tap on to get the air out.

Next week hopefully will have some painted examples to show.