Cobblestone Yard / Road

Cobbled yards and roads are a common feature on farms, particularly around the Pennine area I am modelling. Therefore this is the next technique I will be demonstrating. I'll be using Kapa Line Foam board to make the cobblestone.

 In order to create an effective scene I am modelling my entire farm on a slope, as flat land is rare up in the hills. therefore I start by building a sloping framework for the cobbles to sit ontop of. This is made of 5mm foamboard with plenty of cross bracing to stop warping.

 If you are modelling a flat yard or road the above step is unncessary and you can start here. Taking a sheet of Kapa Line foam board I remove an entire side of the outer paper to reveal the dense foam centre (this differs from the method for stone walls, where only the glossy part of the outer paper is removed, leaving some paper above the foam). This board will now be alot more flexible so wraps around the sloping framework easily, or can be glued onto a flat board. 

 To make the cobbles a pressing tool needs making first. This is constructed from two pieces of 6.4mm U channel plastruct cemented together to make a rectangular punch.

 Making the cobbles is as simple as pushing the punch into the foam and repeating to build up the pattern of cobbles.

 As with any modelling research is key so look around the area you are modelling to see how something is done in real life. In the case of cobbles the stones are laid with a set of border stones running along the edges like a curb on a tarmac road, then the rest of the road is filled in with cobbles laid like brick work running in the opposite direction to the border. This will change depending on the area, and the type/shape of stone.

 Repeat until all ground has been covered.

 The next step is to seal the foam with paint, here I am using Naples Yellow acrylic, the same as I used for the stone walls.

Next step is to fill in the gaps with tile grout. To do this the grout is sprinkled over, the with a fingertip or brush it is pushed into all the gaps.

 In order to seal the grout I start with a quick spray of an isopropyl alcohol water mix (1 part alcohol to 2 part water) applied using a perfume style sprits bottle. This removes the surface tension for the next step which is to apply a PVA water mix (30% PVA, 70% Water) which is allowed to soak into the grout and set it solid.

 I then dry brush another layer of acrylic over the cobbles where the grout has covered the stones. 

The last step in the process is to weather the stone, here I have used black and brown acrylic and poster paints, dry brushed and washed onto the cobbles to darken them to match the stone work.