I was looking for non Infinity related stuff (airplane diorama stuff) and find out that during the 60s-70s, some soviet airbases' tarmac was made with concrete plates. And some of them were made of hexa shaped plates. If I get it right, the concrete plates allowed quick airfield building and the hex shaped had a lower impact if bombed. Plates also permit to repair runway faster than pouring concrete or asphalt. Anyway, my point is: it's pretty common to find large hex surface for cheap in modeller stuff at different scales as it is used for diorama. For small surface, it could be easy to sculpt hex with rolls or similar techniques but if someone want to go bigger I think it could be a pretty decent option for little money (I found a 235mm x 165 mm base for 2€).
Funny enough, I tried to find pics from the airfields with basic search as "soviet airbase tarmack" "hex tarmack" and such but can find only diorama entries
Try searching "Soviet Hexagonal Airbase" and then whatever scale you want the hexs in. I was getting a bunch of hobby kits for Dioramas trying that.
Printed card? 21 pounds for A3 printed FPVC by Coastal Kits. Or DIY (more tridimensional, any size you want) using bases, quick examples: 4 hexagonal bases of 75 mm in 2-3 mm MDF, 2 euros at Sarissa, 3 bases of 80 mm in 2 mm MDF, 0.95 pounds at Fluid3d.
Just in case anyone wants to do it properly scaled, for real Soviet airplanes: Spoiler: Real references The red numbers are for 1:32. The black is the sealant, looks to be applied roughly and over the edges, not only between blocks. Places like Minibits accept custom orders of bases, so maybe also simple shapes, like the half hex with rectangle (otherwise cut hexagons in half and glue to a rectangle). I would use 60-40 mm "flat to flat" bases for Infinity (in 1:50 they should be 62.4, 51.8 and 41.4 mm), or a bit bigger if that means way cheaper (not done the maths for price vs area covered). And cover them with many coats of gloss for space ship style. or acrylic paste (or gel with some texturing work) for concrete look. BTW, Fluid3d Workshop, not just Fluid3d.
Lazer cutting(really only marking rather than cutting the full thickness except for the edge hexs tbh) 2-3 mm greyboard would be my first instinct for this. If you want to have damaged hexs(iirc they were rumoured to have mines buried under some of the slabs that they would activate if they were overrun and lost the strip) then I'd cut out one of the slabs, put cling film or tin foil in the hole, fill it with plaster, let it set then pop it out and break it in the middle with a hammer to get the right amount of rubble and broken bits to glue into the hole and onto the surrounding hexs.
