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I've recently started working full time on designing and manufacturing wargames scenery and accessories and my first product is now available - a modular road system for 40K.

This is a product that I've wanted for myself for sometime now and was the inspiration to start the business. A road system that wasn't too expensive, wasn't fragile and which could be painted.


These roads are made from laser-cut gray perspex making them really tough, easily tough enough to withstand being dumped into a box of scenery after the game. The detail is deeply cut making them easy to paint and weather. They are sized to accommodate 40K tanks - chimeras, rhinos, battlewagons, etc all fit nicely between the gutters and even land raiders can squeeze on.


Currently I have two lengths of straights, 90 degree corners, t-junctions, cross roads and road ends. There are also road-block barricades (as shown in the pic) which are only available in the starter set.

The starter set is 6x short straight, 3x corner, 3x end, 1x t-junction, 1x crossroad and 2x road-block for £35.


I hope that everyone else is as excited about this item as I am! There is lots more to come with a modular city-block system, techno-gothic canal system and a road bridge coming in the very near future with lots more to follow.


http://www.s6engineering.co.uk

Nice work, but where my Tau are going they don't need roads.

They're very nice looking. Any chance of offering them scaled down for 15mm or smaller gamers?

Can't see the pics. Could you host them on Dakka please?

Balance wrote:They're very nice looking. Any chance of offering them scaled down for 15mm or smaller gamers?

Absolutely, what 15mm sci-fi system do you play?

I do have a selection of Flames of War items in the pipeline but they're a little way off.


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asmith wrote:Can't see the pics. Could you host them on Dakka please?

Done!

Looks like you've got your release schedule cemented for the next little while, but I'd like to suggest that you look into making storage containers.

Those were snatched up like hotcakes from any AT-43 sets and are nice stand alone terrain pieces that can also work as part of a modular urban board.

Not sure this road is for me, but I'm looking forward to seeing the up-coming pieces you mentioned. I'd be all over modular urban terrain at the sort of prices you're managing.

The do look good! Though possible word of advice...be wary of your description. 40k *scale* is good....40k Roads...could lead to a C&D if you're unlucky.

I don't know though. I'm just a pleb! But better safe than sorry?

You are making a bridge? Ooh, can't wait to see how that is going to turn out. I'm dying for one to fight over.

Nice one! Roads are so underused in 40K. They make the game more fun as it gives some great movement options for tracked vehicles, and they look great.

I have the GW latex roads but I had to mount them on hardboard because the curled up too much. You can't curve them, or even make turn 90 degree turns very easily with them.

Looking good!

Do you think it would be possible to add a little more detail to the road segments? Lane markers, manholes, and sewer drains are a good way to give a road "scale" as well as making it seem more realistic. Even a few segments with "extra" detail would be great.

Really looking forward to your city block system and bridge.

lasgunpacker wrote:Looking good!

Do you think it would be possible to add a little more detail to the road segments? Lane markers, manholes, and sewer drains are a good way to give a road "scale" as well as making it seem more realistic. Even a few segments with "extra" detail would be great.

Really looking forward to your city block system and bridge.

I echo this sentiment for some more detailed road pieces - your roads right now are rather nice, but having some with added detail could really give them some scale and visual interest. In other words, a second set with some molded on details would be pretty cool! Also a ruined set that looks like it just got through a strafing run would be cool too. Then again, I'm just wishlisting

I don't think I've ever seen perspex used for minis, although I can't be certain. What else do you have in store for the coming months?

Those are really nicely done and quite impressively priced. I'll be looking forward to your canals as I'd like some for Necromunda.

I really don't like them, the lines really break the looks for me.
But heh I wasn't looking for some anyway

BrookM wrote:You are making a bridge? Ooh, can't wait to see how that is going to turn out. I'm dying for one to fight over.

Bridge should be up tomorrow, possibly today. I'm just tweaking the railings so that a land raider can scrape over.


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Brother SRM wrote:

lasgunpacker wrote:Looking good!

Do you think it would be possible to add a little more detail to the road segments? Lane markers, manholes, and sewer drains are a good way to give a road "scale" as well as making it seem more realistic. Even a few segments with "extra" detail would be great.

Really looking forward to your city block system and bridge.

I echo this sentiment for some more detailed road pieces - your roads right now are rather nice, but having some with added detail could really give them some scale and visual interest. In other words, a second set with some molded on details would be pretty cool! Also a ruined set that looks like it just got through a strafing run would be cool too. Then again, I'm just wishlisting

I don't think I've ever seen perspex used for minis, although I can't be certain. What else do you have in store for the coming months?

Short sections with extra detail are also due in the next couple of days. I had original put a variety of details on every piece but when you laid them out and it was repeating over and over it looked terrible. The detail pieces are going to be listed at the same price as normals (the only cost difference is a few seconds of machine time) so that customers can add a sprinkle of the different ones as they wish.

I would really like a strafed set as well but to do it well and not have it take loads of machine time is tricky. It is on the list though - just waiting for a good idea.

After the bridge the next release will be the building base plates for the city block system.

Acrylic is an interesting material for this - it's strong and light and can be cut and engraved very cleanly with a relatively low-powered laser. It just happens to perfectly absorb the frequency of light produced by a CO2 laser, a very fortunate co-incidence. I'm only using Perspex brand material as it cuts better and is more consistent thickness, a lot of the cheap brands have very variable thickness, even over a fairly small piece.

I don't like them. If it was me, I'd make them wider: about 6 inches wide instead of what looks like ~4.5 as-is. Then you could detail them as if they are two lane roads for civilian vehicles instead of single lane, tank-width roads. I'd also make the outside edge of the 90 degree corners squarer.

They're a good start.

I've always wondered what Imperial traffic signs and signals look like.

AlexHolker wrote:I don't like them. If it was me, I'd make them wider: about 6 inches wide instead of what looks like ~4.5 as-is. Then you could detail them as if they are two lane roads for civilian vehicles instead of single lane, tank-width roads. I'd also make the outside edge of the 90 degree corners squarer.

As it stands they are about the right width for civilian two-lane roads (about 20 feet), maybe a touch narrow (a nice civilian road should be 12 feet per lane). They're modelled on the dimensions typically used in military roads, I figured that would be the kind of thing that was thrown down in settlements and outposts.

Producing a wider road wouldn't be difficult if there was demand, it would start occupying a lot of table space though.


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JOHIRA wrote:I've always wondered what Imperial traffic signs and signals look like.

Bronze skull on a post - one eye red, one eye green?

Very nice start! Good luck with your new project and I hope you get all you wanted on your new activity.
A silly question If i may?
Laser-cut gray perspex is that like plastic?

Scott-S6 wrote:Short sections with extra detail are also due in the next couple of days. I had original put a variety of details on every piece but when you laid them out and it was repeating over and over it looked terrible. The detail pieces are going to be listed at the same price as normals (the only cost difference is a few seconds of machine time) so that customers can add a sprinkle of the different ones as they wish.

I would really like a strafed set as well but to do it well and not have it take loads of machine time is tricky. It is on the list though - just waiting for a good idea.

Would making it out of two layers work? Bottom layer would be the road as is but with some craters cut out and the raised crater edges made out of a second layer that the customer is required to stick down.

I don't like the GW roads, but these look better.

Quite nice. And cheap too.

Any sketches or pictures of the city block system?

NAVARRO wrote:Very nice start! Good luck with your new project and I hope you get all you wanted on your new activity.
A silly question If i may?
Laser-cut gray perspex is that like plastic?

It's acrylic sheet, specifically cast acrylic. Compared to the plastic that model kits are made of it's much more rigid and stronger. For example, you cannot bend it, it will flex a little and spring back into shape.

This is not the same material as perspex glazing plastic (which you may see in DIY shops) - that's extruded acrylic which is softer and cheaper.


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Gargskull wrote:

Scott-S6 wrote:Short sections with extra detail are also due in the next couple of days. I had original put a variety of details on every piece but when you laid them out and it was repeating over and over it looked terrible. The detail pieces are going to be listed at the same price as normals (the only cost difference is a few seconds of machine time) so that customers can add a sprinkle of the different ones as they wish.

I would really like a strafed set as well but to do it well and not have it take loads of machine time is tricky. It is on the list though - just waiting for a good idea.

Would making it out of two layers work? Bottom layer would be the road as is but with some craters cut out and the raised crater edges made out of a second layer that the customer is required to stick down.

Possibly, there's a variety of ways it might work. The biggest problem is that all cuts must be vertical, they can't be angled. At the moment I'm thinking of doing road sections with a broken end. Then you could just use it as an end, sculpt it into the ground like it had been overgrown or butt it up against a crater.

Any idea how much across the Atlantic shipping might run? I like these a lot.. and the monetary conversion is good for the budget at the moment!

Scott-S6 wrote:

NAVARRO wrote:Very nice start! Good luck with your new project and I hope you get all you wanted on your new activity.
A silly question If i may?
Laser-cut gray perspex is that like plastic?

It's acrylic sheet, specifically cast acrylic. Compared to the plastic that model kits are made of it's much more rigid and stronger. For example, you cannot bend it, it will flex a little and spring back into shape.

This is not the same material as perspex glazing plastic (which you may see in DIY shops) - that's extruded acrylic which is softer and cheaper.


[.

Very interesting! How does the cast takes subtle textures or non geometrical shapes?

When I say "cast acrylic" this refers to the method of producing the sheets of material, not how I produce the pieces.

Acrylic sheets comes in two types - extruded (soft, cheap, only available in transparent) and cast (harder, stronger, more expensive. Turns white when lasered.)

I produce the pieces from sheet using a CNC laser.


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porkuslime wrote:Any idea how much across the Atlantic shipping might run? I like these a lot.. and the monetary conversion is good for the budget at the moment!

Unfortunately we don't have an equivalent of the USPS flat rate packets so it's a bit more than I'd like. I have it set to a flat rate of £20.

However, you won't have to pay VAT (17.5% sales tax) and this will be deducted from the prices for you. (in the UK you always show price including sales tax unless the bulk of your customers are other businesses). So, a starter set becomes approx USD 45 before shipping.

How easy is the material to modify/customise to add my own details if I wanted to?

Arakasi wrote:How easy is the material to modify/customise to add my own details if I wanted to?

Well, it's very hard which is good and bad. You'll struggle to do much with modelling knife and file. With a dremel you'll do much better and the hardness of the material allows quite fine work to be done.

So, not easy but your work is unlikely to be damaged in use!

I'd like to second the motion for wider streets. I've been wanting something exactly like this for a while now, my only complaint is they're too narrow. Even if they are to relative scale, they just look small.

I suppose you could always lay 2 side-by-side and model a K-rail divider, but that could get pretty expensive. Your stuff holds some definately awesome potential, I've always thought a lack of roads and sidewalks and signage made for terrible city-fight tables, and some of your upcoming products seam to remdy at least a bit of that without having to scratch build

I like what I see. Nice price, too.

But I am really looking forward to the FoW roads.

Kalamadea wrote:I suppose you could always lay 2 side-by-side and model a K-rail divider, but that could get pretty expensive. Your stuff holds some definately awesome potential, I've always thought a lack of roads and sidewalks and signage made for terrible city-fight tables, and some of your upcoming products seam to remdy at least a bit of that without having to scratch build

This is exactly what inspired me to start this. With the upcoming building baseplates the 40K universe will finally have sidewalks!

If there's demand for wider roads then they could certainly be produced. What throws the eye off, I think, is that 40K tanks are overscale, especially on width.