One of my many weaknesses is creating realistic looking streets, roads and highways. I would like to know what your best methods are and any photos you might be able to share. I have a Woodland Scenics paving kit with Smooth It (looks like Plaster to me) and the paving tape (looks like regular foam tape to me) and I am going to try it later today. Anyone with experience with this system, please let me know what you think. Ship IT on the Frisco Transportation Co. ! Rick
I've used the WS street kit- ehhnn.............my first attempt on the road approaching the hughway overpass wasn't what I was looking for. My advice- leave the black paint alone, and either use gray paint (to represent older asphalt) or weather with chalks (which looks better to me). IMO, a box of Plaster of Paris and careful sperading of the plaster does just as good, and doesn't cost as much. But as the man said, YMMV.
For concrete streets I like to use .020" styrene, with expansion joints scored lightly with a dull Xacto blade. I carve a few cracks in too. Then paint with Krylon Camo Khaki color from a spray can. This color duplicates aged concrete color very well. I use masking tape to mask off the centerlines and parking space lines then spray on a light coat of white or yellow for the lines depending on the era modeled. Use a black sharpie to add tar crack sealer. I then add some weathering using a light application of black pastel chalk down the center of each lane. Using Floquil Grimy Black and a brush I add some oil spots in parking spaces, parking lots and places where cars might sit for awhile like at stop signs and traffic lights. But what really makes my roads look real are the Blair Line signs I add to finish! Dale Rush
Hey Dale, I like those sweet Blair Line billboards too. Especially the Frisco billboards. Does everyone on the All Aboard site know about them? Maybe you could put some info and links in the Vendor area of the site. It doesn't see too much activity. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Rick - Back on my father-in-law's old layout, I was quite pleased with joint compound for the older-style concrete roads. As long as I didn't spread it on too thickly (causing it to crack when it dried), it was quick and not terribly messy and didn't require forms. After it dried, I used a Dull X-Acto #11 blade to carve the expansion joints, the same as Dale mentioned. A little WS Concrete, with some weathering and the black Sharpie and I was quite pleased with the results. I'll likely use the same technique once our Northern Division starts actually rising above the benchwork level! Best Regards,
The Woodland Scenics method uses very thin (1/32" or so) glue-on-one-side foam tape for the form. My scenery is not that smooth so I needed something in the 1/8 inch range for my forms. I happened upon some nice 3/16" MD foam weatherstrip at Home Depot yesterday for $2.50 for 17 Ln Ft. I tried it last night with regular old Plaster of Paris and pulled the forms off today. So far I like the results. I have a nice, fairly flat road that is higher than the surrounding scenery. This will let me create positive drainage away from the road like the real thing. Next steps include (1) letting it really dry (48 hrs) and (2) sanding it lightly to smooth it out. Despite my best effort, there are still some taping knife streaking in the plaster along with a few air bubbles. I plan on painting this Grimey Black to represent asphalt and will use some scenic stone to create the shoulders. For those who have been to my layout, the road I am working on is the long stretch (8'-10') of Kansas City Road (a.k.a. Hwy 56) south out of Lenexa. This was a fun little project and I plan on replicating this around the layout. I have a ton of street work to do. Photos will follow once it looks presentable. Frisco Faster Freight !!! Rick Shawnee, KS
Here is a progress photo on my version of Kansas City Road just south of Lenexa. I still need to lightly sand it and paint it. I have changed my mind and will paint is concrete and draw in the lines per Dale and Chris. Check out that cool Blair Line Frisco billboard in the background. Ship IT on the Frisco ! Rick
The R. B. Potashnick Co. could do no better laying a good looking road, and their work is still solid after 40+ years! I hope you will sponsor a clinic at some time in the future.
WOW - Looks Good. I'll give a call to the guys with the air compressors and Jack Hammers. They should have some uneven trenches and patches installed before the weekend is over.
Who is that standing trackside watching the trains go by? Could it be katyslug and one of his grandchildren. El Bob Oh
A little update on the road project. . . . . After operating on Bill Hirt's excellent CBQ 1963 layout, I was inspired enough to finish my road last Saturday evening just before the Wichita guys came to operate the Frisco. I wound up sanding the Plaster of Paris with a fine drywall sanding sponge made my 3M and really got the surface smooth. I added a coat of Floquil Aged Concrete and added expansion joints with a Sharpie. I kinda like it. I still need to weather it but it sure is a nice 10' stretch of road. The only thing that could make it better would be a couple of FTC trucks. Ship IT on the Frisco! Rick
Wow. I just get to do dirt roads. I may have to do a diorama of 1960s Hoxie branch just to try making a neat looking concrete road like that. Very nice modeling. Can't wait to see it finished.
Jim, I'd be curious to hear your dirt road techniques... I've read one that uses good quality (e.g. baseball field) dirt, glued down similar to ballast and then lightly sanding where the traffic has worn down the road. I've tried using W.S. fine buff ballast that I ground down a bit further in an old coffee grinder. I was reasonably pleased with the results, but it still looks a bit out-of-scale. I have some good quality cement sand that might do the trick better but it will need some weathering as it looks way too light in color. Best Regards,
I use spackling compound, my fingers and different color mixes to get the look just right for my dirt roads. What really makes it pop is the edge of road where weeds, grass and stuff dress up the edges. I gave up on going for surface texture and went for color to get the look right. HO scale is kinda small for realistic dirt road texture at least for my abilities.
Hi, I used the baseball field dirt with some good results on my old N scale layout. Did have to use a very fine sifter to seperate the fine particles. Then spread those with a spoon on plaster painted with Elmers glue right out of the bottle. Ground foam was added to the edges the next day. Joe
Wow, that road looks nice! For an instant, I thought I was looking at an old photo of Route 66 in the Ozarks. Shame I'm just doing blacktop highways.......that concrete road might look good in SW Arkansas.
If you model highways from the 1940's and early 50's, there are signs and markings that were different from today's. Stop signs were yellow with black letters (Instead of red with white letters) and no passing lanes were marked with the yellow stripe in the center of the lane, rather than just right of the center line. Tom
I am glad you added this, as it was a question I was going to ask. But, clairify a few things for me. In the 40's was the center line dashed and yellow, except where it was a no passing zone, where it was solid through the no passing zone? If it was solid and down the center in the no passing zone, both lanes were always no passing at the same time? I hope I got that understandable.
