The "HOW TO" of Making FAST Roads!

Just a few pics illustrating how I made the felt roads. FAST AND SIMPLE! One hour... and you have enough for most battles.

Dark Brown felt pieces cut to shape.

Use felt if you can. Cut to size and shape desired. Lay out flat and paint on the texture using a SPONGE (I use the little grey packing sponges that Flames of War models come in). Use strokes on the felt making lines down each road. Start with brown paints working up to a tan or even khaki/buttermilk (experiment here).

Texture with shades of brown and earth tones using a
sponge - pulling the paint (DON'T LEAVE GLOBS). Use a
BLACK sharpie, ink, or wash to make tracks. Blend final paint
over tracks.

 Pull the paint to spread it out; you don't want GLOBBS. You are after an earthy look. Before applying the final layer of painting, take a fabric pen, or sharpie (BLACK) and make wheel tracks. Simple really, no need to be exact here. I make quick 3-4" strokes down the road running it's length. Again... experiment. You want it to look like many wheeled vehicles pass through leaving deep tracks.

Flock! I used a mix of green flock, sand, and oregano.
Use watered down white glue. DO NOT OVER USE GLUE! or you
will stiffin the felt. Space your glue out.

 Now, apply the final paint with your sponge. Be sure to run over the black marker lines to kind of fade /blend it in (you don't really want STRONG lines showing here - doesn't look natural. Let dry a few mins at least. Now apply watered down white glue with a brush in various spots (again stretching the glue out. Flock these areas with whatever you have (I used a mix of green flock and oregano, along with a bit of sand). You can also apply pure sand as well to make it look more "dirty". Let dry.

I roll over the flock to to press it on to the felt.

The important thing to remember here is don't over use the glue, or apply THICK amounts of paint. Otherwise you will stiffn the felt and it wont be bendable and conform properly to other terrain (or lay flat for that matter). Use glue in a spotty fashion (no long lines stretching more than an inch). Space your glue areas.

One final tip: Use India Ink, or any BLACK or dark brown ink/wash in addition/instead of the marker mentioned above. Works wonders! :)

Same idea with the field. Cut, texture with paint, apply marker lines, apply final paint (not always desired with fields), apply flock. Hay fields just texture with yellow and straw paints, and apply static grass (straw colored - or highlight a yellow/straw color once glued to felt surface). Oh... don't water you glue down when applying the static grass; pure white glue.