Drains for Riga

I decided that I'd have a go at creating some canalised stream sections to add a bit of visual interest to my burned-out-suburbs-of-Riga set-up. 

Old Riga stands on the right bank of the Daugava River within a loop of the Riga River, which today forms a series of attractive lakes in city parkland but which, in the medieval period, formed Riga's defensive moat.

The area burned out by the Russians in 1812 would have had small watercourses draining into the Riga River. I envisaged these as, by 1812, running through stone-lined channels between the buildings.

I started out by cutting out some strips of mounting card (about 28mm wide) and painting the central strip in black before adding a layer of gloss varnish.

I then cut out edging stones from several thicknesses of card and glued them in place with general purpose adhesive.

With the stones painted in several shades of grey to match my cobblestoned city mat, I think the effect (as seen by the prototype piece below) is reasonably attractive.

I'm going to make a few corner pieces so the drain can run between two adjacent edges. I'll also add a couple of wooden culverts made from coffee-stirrers. 

I'm not sure whether these waterways will have any significance in the game but sources of water can often be useful in Sharp Practice given the presence of random events like fouled barrels and the tendency for officers to tread in unpleasant materials at unfortunate moments!