1:48 Paving II.

A paved surface for scenes in 1:48 scale

A made up surface decides whether a scene looks like a piece of real street or like a board with a model standing on it. Stone has a rhythm of its own on a diorama: it repeats, but never exactly, and that very irregularity is what the eye reads as paving. Hand cutting cannot hold it at 1:48, because an individual road stone comes out here at under two millimeters.

What the sheet carries

• A sheet of 100 x 70 mm with the elements held in a carrier frame
• A total of 35 pieces of paving elements
• The elements have no uniform size, so they can be laid in an irregular bond
• The material is laser cut acrylic; the edges stay sharp and the thickness even

A procedure that has proved itself

Release the elements carefully from the frame and lay them into a thin layer of filler or white glue spread over the base. Work from the edge where the area will be most visible and leave a noticeable joint between the stones. Then fill it with a mixture of fine pigment and water and wipe the excess off with a damp cloth once dry. Acrylic is smooth, so it takes paint reliably only after a coat of primer; otherwise there is a risk of it flaking during handling.

Mix the shades of the stone so that neighboring pieces differ slightly. A uniform area looks printed, whereas a few lighter and a few darkened stones create the impression of a surface driven over for years. The rest of the impression is provided by a dark filling shade run into the joints and by dry pigment rubbed with a brush into the middle of the roadway.

The package deals with the surface of a scene; equipment and figures do not belong with it.