Today Mark reviews a set of Desert Roads from a new scenery company,
Introduction
I must admit I spend an ridiculous amount of time thinking and reading about Flames of War, however by checking out all the main Facebook pages and the occasional searches of Ebay you often find new and interesting products. I am always pleased when I find a source of pre-painted scenery. For me scenery is one of the main draws of 15mm. The scale allows you to model so much and give loads of set up options. However for some reason I can not stand painting scenery so I am always drawn to anything that can be used ‘out of the box’.
Take Cover Scenics
It was on Facebook that I first noticed Take Cover Scenics, and just at a time when I was buying up stuff for my new desert board. For those not familiar Take Cover Scenics create hand made scenery across various scales including hedges, roads, fields, vineyards as well as commission work.
I wanted some desert roads and the Battlefront dirt roads I have just don’t look right for it. Luckily Take Cover Scenics have some at a reasonable price and I managed to get a set to spruce up my board.
The Desert Roads
So lets look at the desert road set and see what you get. Well for £24.99 plus postage you get
- 4 x 12″ straights
- 2 x 6″ straights
- 4 x 45 degree angled wedge shape curves
As you can see below this is enough to create a single long road stretching across an 6×4 ft board – all you are likely to find in most deserts! The roads are flexible so they can be laid over hills creating a natural look to the board. This is a real bonus over the battlefield in the box sets which are relatively inflexible and so have to deviate around hills and dunes.
The roads balance flexibility and strength quite well;they aren’t so flexible that they can bend and then get stuck in that position. This is something I’ve seen with some other products, especially after transportation in a box with other scenery to a tournament.
Finish wise, the roads are nicely drybrushed which really highlights the tank and wheel tracks which would be pretty evident in a sandy environment! The edges have a little flock which represent the roads not being in the more arid desert areas. However, if you prefer a more barren look, you can ask for your order not to have flock on the edge. Personally I like the flock as it means that these roads can also be used on a Russian Steppe board for my EW Barbossa force. They will also work well for Pacific games. As the image below shows the road also matches the new BF matt rather well.
As for as value for money, you are looking at the same price as a set of Battlefront Rural roads (4 x 12″ straights and 2 x curved pieces). While the Battlefront ones are wider. this set is longer. Additionally the curve wedges makes them easier to vary and set up in different configurations.
Additional pieces can be purchased with your order, with 12″ straights coming in at £5 and £6 for Y/T junctions and crossroads. All in all I think they are very fairly priced and fully competitive with other products on the market.
Conclusion
Take Cover Scenics desert roads are a lovely product that I would fully recommend. As you can see in the images they fit in well with a variety of other ranges including the BF buildings and game mat. They are well priced and the wedge pieces make building the set up how you want a lot easier. Additionally the flexible material allows them to hug scenery like gentle hills, which makes them look a lot more natural.
If you are interested in seeing these or another other Take Cover Scenic products then head over to
www.facebook.com/TakeCoverScenics/
or email
john@takecoverscenics.co.uk