Road Tape and Hills

voltigeur · Post by **voltigeur** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:36 am

Just throwing this out there. I was at my local railroad shop and looking thru the Walthers catalog. I saw the road tape and it is not expensive at all. I'm working on a terrain tile design that models the land but roads are strips of felt so it can be changed, and the only geomorphic layouts will be riverbeds.

I would love to use this tape but not sure it can be laid down and then reconfigured and re-used. Or do I have to tape this to thin styrene sheet and use those. The black top road looks great and the pictures I've seen on here of the cement parking lots and roadways look grand as well. That would leave only dirt roads and logging trails that I can make out of styrene and fine ballast.

Also I was looking at taking the pink insulation foam and using a grater to shape hills. This would allow me to sculpt hills using Google satellite photos to make unique and interesting hills. Since my research has shown that most hill formations will be at least 1 to 1 Â½ kilometers wide and usually 3 to 4 kilometers long. Iâ€™m going for a rolling hill effect so none of the hills will be particularly tall or steep. I also figured out how to cut an X in the middle of a really long hill so I can place it on the table edge in 3 or 4 angles. (Isnâ€™t insomnia grand?)

Iâ€™m even toying with a wedge that will be used to give me a flat surface to put my buildings on hillsides. (Brushing of some geometry and trig skills with that one.)

I have resigned myself to the fact this won't look at good as the fixed terrain I see here but would be more versatile. One of the design specs (yes I was in aviation) is that this â€œEuropean Setâ€ fit in 2 or 3 paper ream boxes. I live in a small apartment and the ideas I've seen in other sites don't work because 1) I don't have the room to work the larger tiles and 2) there is no place to store that type of terrain.

Construction will start after I finish the Soviet T80B Regiment. Getting very close only 10 tanks and the anti aircraft units to go. This thing is looking scary. I saw my dismounted US Cav scouts talking to each other and plotting to go AWOL. (Isnâ€™t insomnia grand?)

1ComOpsCtr · Post by **1ComOpsCtr** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:44 am

The road tape in not reusable once you remove the backing. If you wish to make it portable try using some of the preformed brass 1" wide by 12" long pieces available form your local hobby shop. The brass gives enough weight to keep the road tape from lifting the ends like thin plastic does, though a thicker plastic should hold up to that natural tendency and would allow you to make shoulders if you want to add them.

tstockton · Post by **tstockton** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:18 pm

voltigeur,

Also I was looking at taking the pink insulation foam and using a grater to shape hills.

A recommendation, if I may... If you have a well-ventilated place to work, I would highly recommend getting a hot foam cutter of some sort. It will significantly reduce your "clean-up" time. Using a grater, rasp, file, saw, etc. creates quite a bit of "styrofoam dust" -- little bitty pieces of styrofoam that get everywhere.

These cutters come in different sizes, shapes and costs. I think you can get a "cheapie" cutter at one of the chain craft stores for around $10 USD or so -- it uses a couple of "D" cell batteries to heat the wire. Some of the "high-end" cutters run to nearly $200 USD, but have all of the "bells and whistles" I would imagine you could ever want. I have two -- a Woodland Scenics model, which ran about $35 USD, and recently picked up a Tippi (brand name) cutter at a model railroad show for about $40 USD. Haven't tested the Tippi yet, but from the demo at the show, it looked pretty good...

The thing to watch out for, in using hot foam cutters, is that as the styrofoam is cut using a heat process, some rather noxious fumes are released. Don't know how hazardous they are... but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I usually do my cutting either in my two-car garage, or outdoors on the deck (weather permitting). Probably the safest thing to do would be to get a protective breathing mask of some sort...

One other "come to mind"... If I recall correctly, the Woodland Scenics brand foam is advertised as being "non-toxic", in regards to the gases released. It is also more expensive than most other foams (maybe due to this "non-toxic" nature).

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

1ComOpsCtr · Post by **1ComOpsCtr** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 3:02 am

This picture contains samples of two of the available road tapes from Walthers. It also contains examples of hand painted road sections which take way too much time to do.

The link below takes you to one of the road tapes offered. There are two or three colors as well as cobblestone offered in "Z" scale which works perfectly with our scale vehicles and figures.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/528-44100

Extra Crispy · Post by **Extra Crispy** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:21 pm

If you don't need the road markings, here's an easy way to make roads:

http://www.deepfriedhappymice.com/html/ ... _tape.html

If you work to get the glue on the back mostly removed, they have a little grip but won;t pull apart your terrain too much when you move them.

You could also do them in black and just dry brush with a very dark gray.

voltigeur · Post by **voltigeur** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:20 am

If you have a well-ventilated place to work, I would highly recommend getting a hot foam cutter of some sort. It will significantly reduce your "clean-up" time. Using a grater, rasp, file, saw, etc. creates quite a bit of "styrofoam dust" -- little bitty pieces of styrofoam that get everywhere.

I have some experience with the static electricity carrying this stuff all over the house.

That sounds like a really good investment. I'll check Hobby Lobby for the $10 one.

The brass gives enough weight to keep the road tape from lifting the ends like thin plastic does, though a thicker plastic should hold up to that natural tendency and would allow you to make shoulders if you want to add them.

I had never thought of the brass! I was planning on using styrene and the thinker gage would work. I was going to use the concrete for AutoBauns so the should be built up. And will be straighter.

Will: How much can you "curve" this stuff before you have to start cutting slots in it to make curves?

Well back to work I'll try to post some more tonight.

1ComOpsCtr · Post by **1ComOpsCtr** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:21 am

The "Walthers" road tape curves pretty well. A tight radius requires some cuts to make it work, but a long radius of say 8 to 10 inches should not need any cuts at all.

Will

Fulcrum · Post by **Fulcrum** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:33 am

Construction will start after I finish the Soviet T80B Regiment.

I'd love to see and post any pictures of your regiment to my website !!!

tstockton · Post by **tstockton** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:46 am

Rick

I still think your picture looks like the "May Day Parade" to end all "May Day Parades"!!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

voltigeur · Post by **voltigeur** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:47 pm

I'd love to see and post any pictures of your regiment to my website !!!

Thanks for the offer. I'll take you up on that although with some of the painters here that is an intimidating proposition.

I still think your picture looks like the "May Day Parade" to end all "May Day Parades"!!

As intimidating at my regiment is I've seen those pics and WOW.

Tha'ts a bunch o' Russians

Fulcrum · Post by **Fulcrum** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:02 am

Thanks for the offer. I'll take you up on that although with some of the painters here that is an intimidating proposition.

That would be great !! also thats why my pictures are black and white.....

As intimidating at my regiment is I've seen those pics and WOW. Tha'ts a bunch o' Russians

It's as close to the mark as I can get right now on my 1 to 1 scale Russian Tank Division
not enought support equipment.....