Roads

[rayman14085]

I am planning an edge of town scene on my HO scale railroad that will have a propane dealer and 2 other small structures. I am lost at what to use for a road, any help or suggestions greatly appreciated. Also how wide should my road be in HO scale feet?

 

[kenw]

Paved or unpaved?

 

[NH Mike]

Paved or unpaved?

And what is your scenery base, plywood, foam board, homosote? Depending on the material and if it is going to be a paved or cement road you may be able to use something like Woodland Scenics Earth Pigments. They make it in concrete and asphalt shades. If the surface is grainy a coat or two of unthinned latex paint or thin coat of patching plaster might be needed to fill in before adding the top coloring. Paper based materials with a rough texture like homosote will need the plaster.

 

[UP2CSX]

The easiest, assuming your raod will be paved, is sheet styrene glued down with latex caulk. You can then paint and weather the styrene to represent concrete or asphalt.

 

[rayman14085]

Thanks for the reply, also how many HO scale feet should my road be?

 

[alcoman]

Generally, roads look better if they are slightly less than full scale width. 10 HO scale feet seems about right to me. Put some vehicles down and see what looks right to you.

The Walther's street system builds a street 40 feet wide. It's intended to be 2 lanes with parking on each side.

 

[AllenB]

I found that 5 inches across gives two lanes with parking on each side.

 

[rayman14085]

Thanks for the replys, I will try and lay out some vehicles and see wht looks right in my mind. Thanks again.............

 

[Beachbum]

I have started using craft foam - it's about 1/4-inch thick foam rubber sheets from Michaels. Comes in black, gray and a bunch of other colors, about $1 for an 10X12 or so sheet. Very flexible and easy to cut. Not good for simulating gravel or dirt roads though.

 

[Dougget]

I built a small diorama to experiment with various techniques and materials. I like the look of sand paper for roads. Comes in various grits and colors and you can use chalk or paint to weather it as needed.

I try to post a picture or two later tonight.

Doug

 

[Dougget]

Here's a couple of pics. The road is made from sandpaper and the parking lot is made from that craft foam stuff. It's about 1/8th thick.

 

[Larry]

Lately I've been using some of the thin foam sheets for roads & sidewalks. I get 8 sheets of 8by10" for a buck at my Dollar Tree. It comes in about 5 diff. colors. I paint mine w/WM rattle cans & glue it down w/Elmers glue. It's about 1/8th" thick.
All of my city streets are sandpaper painted w/dark gray latex paint.