Need Your Stone Opinion!

Well, Tewfik and I are back to trying to perfect our flagstone method... I was messing around with a few different methods yesterday and I wanted to get some outside opinions on this.

First, for reference, this is the sort of style I'm going for (minus the color, ignore the color please, we'll be doing a cool blues/greys instead of the warm reds/browns):


Now, here's a small sample of a few different methods that are being contemplated currently.




What I ask from you guys is 2 things.
1) Which of these methods in the bottom image most closely resembles the look of the top image (ignore the colors!)?
2) Which of the methods in the bottom image do you personally like the look of most (ignore the colors, it'll all be painted over)?

I think the middle one most closely resembles the reference picture. But as a personal preference I like the one on the right. The gaps between the stones are smaller, and I think that suits the scale of the models alot better.

Yeah, I'm torn between those 2. In person I feel like the middle one looks better, but in the picture I think the far right looks better.

It also seems like if you make the gaps to scale they would have to be ridiculously small and I think it just doesn't look as good that way. The other problem is we're using lightweight spackle as the grout/filler between stones which works great, but the gaps are so small in the right method that it doesn't work as well.

I feel like there needs to be enough contrast between the spackle and the foam to make the stones really stand out as well, and that works a lot better with the middle method.

Hrm....

You're putting grout between the stones!?! Amazing. Nice touch, I didn't clue into that the first time I looked at your image. Just great.
I've been drawing my stonework into the foam with a ballpoint pen, and then using a handing piece of treebark to create texture.
I can't wait to see yours. Whichever you choose.
hmmm...indeed...

Well, we're using spackle as grout. We've got some really great lightweight stuff that works awesome.

Left, definitely the left one, looks perfect to me.

I went for the middle. You'd get a nice texture to the stone if you rough it up with some coarse sand paper (50 to 60 grit works nicely).

Right, go right! He he he... the ones on the left look good, but maybe the stones are a bit big. The ones on the right look more or less the same, but slightly smaller.

I had a similar dilemma when I had to decide which floor to go for with my board. In the end, I left out the flagstone pattern, as it wouldn't suit my wilderness terrain.

As for your project, if you're only using these for urban games, then this approach seems fantastic!

Joao

JoaoS wrote:

Right, go right! He he he... the ones on the left look good, but maybe the stones are a bit big. The ones on the right look more or less the same, but slightly smaller.

Well, you are not wrong... the right technique was simply using a pencil to dig into the foam and outline some stones. The left technique was the same except I pushed the pencil in deeper to make some larger gaps in the foam.

The middle technique was done by simply cutting out bits with a craft knife.

Yeah, this will form the basis for our Mordheim city streets. Almost all blocks that we build (we're doing a heavily modular design using 6"-24" blocks as the basis) will have this as the base, which is why it is so important.

its a bit hard to decide when you cant see how it will look painted.

Moffe wrote:

its a bit hard to decide when you cant see how it will look painted.

Yeah, I know. I'm going to try and do some quick painting on these as soon as I get some free time and then I'll probably re-post for more opinions.

After looking it over in person again, I'm not so fond of the right one. It looks great in the photo but in person it's very flat. The other two have a bit more texture to them.

Hi,

I prefer the right one. The stones are too big IMo in the left and center ones

Jacques

Okay, so there's another method on the way... I used a craft knife and a pencil for the above methods. However, I just ordered this heat tool to try out. I'm hoping with the hot knife I can simply make some cuts and have it melt enough of the foam away to be able to fill it up with the spackle. The problem with the current methods is either I get cuts in the foam but no real gaps or I have to try and actually cut out sections which leaves gaps that are too large and hard to get to a good shape. We'll see how well this actually works.

I'll also try and paint these all up to get a better idea.

5 votes for each, that's decisive voting.

Left looks so much better than the others in my opinion, but right is closer to your image.

qboid wrote:

5 votes for each, that's decisive voting.

Yeah, no kidding!

I uploaded a few more pics. I did a quick and dirty paint job on each for comparison. I tried to use the same colors in all 3 so it wouldn't skew anything. Feel free to change your votes now.

The gaps in the right side were so small that a single coat of paint made the whole thing almost completely flat. I think I'm currently liking the middle the best.

You can see on the upper right there I started a new method... that one was carved with a paperclip. That worked surprisingly well. I still have to see how this heated cutter works when it shows up too.

Wow! The painted patterns make a substantial difference now! The one on the left now looks better!

In fact, you could have a mix of both sizes. That would probably work in a much more realistic way.

Joao

TBH, i cant tell any difference between the techniques no when they are painted. Just use the easiest way

Well, I think I found the cutting method I'm going with... This new hot cutting tool works perfect! I can get thin lines, but deep enough for the spackle to fill in well. Also, since it just melts through the foam it requires less effort than the other methods, and less cleanup of foam bits.

Here's a few quicks of my first use with the new tool (not sure what happened with the colors here, but the right side is the same stuff as above for comparison, the left is the new part):




I still need to decide the sizing of the stones, it looks like the vote here is pretty torn as well.

Moffe wrote:

TBH, i cant tell any difference between the techniques no when they are painted. Just use the easiest way

Same here, I've no idea what difference there's supposed to be.

Well, it should be fairly clear with it painted that the right side is pretty flat. It almost just appears as a flat surface with stones painted on it. While not necessarily bad, I'm one very much for actual texture rather than the flat painted on look.

There are a few main things that I'm looking for people to consider here, some are harder to tell in the pictures.
-The size/shape of the stones.
-The spacing between the stones.
-The general look/depth of the grout.

The painting/colors might vary slightly, but that's generally the look we're going for... gray (on the blueish side) stones with a lighter grout. I may try and add a bit more texture to the individual stones themselves as well.

In terms of scale according to the top reference, I think the size of the left version is good, but I like the smaller spacing of the right version. I think large stones like the left one, with narrower grouting like the right one and include small stones as filler for about a third of the surface area. I think they would use large slates as much as possible and plug the rest of the gaps with whatever fits.