Ideas wanted for making a highway

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That WS Smooth-It is junk. It's wayy too thick, as Ken said, hard to spread to get a smooth layer, and dries with all kinds of cracks and uneven spots no matter how you apply it. I can't think of a worse material for roads.

For concrete rods, you just can't beat thin styrene, .010 .020 thick. It's easy to cut to shape, easy to glue down with latex caulk, and can be painted and weathered very realistically. Floquil Aged Concrete paint is a good start. You then uses chalks for oil stain in travel lanes and a fine tip black marker for expansion joints and tar lines. It will take you a little practice but it's not a hard teqnique to master.

This whole concrete highway was created using the methods I described and I think it looks like a pretty good representation of a concrete road:

XmasWreck.jpg
 
mind is made up

Styrene for concrete...That road looks outstanding.
I just slid down to Home D and bought some 400 grit wet sandpaper for blacktop. Still undecided about secondary roads
 
Jim, the details on your roadway make it exceptional.

others: note the scuffing, darkened areas, even asphalt-lined patches! If you want realism, study real roads as Jim has obviously done here....
 


Thanks, guys. I'm kind of anal about roads because I really think they can make or break a city scene. If a road looks believable, it helps to make a lot of other not so believable details look better.

That stretch of highway probably has about four different shades of concrete colored paint, from very dark aged to almost new, white looking patches. All concete roads have expansion joints filled with tar about every 30 feet and those are the straight black lines you see across the road. The other black lines are where cracks developed and get filled in with tar. I then used a lot of different colors of chalk, ranging from light gray to black, to simulate the trafic wear. I used yellow stripe decals for the center lines and a white paint pen for the fog lines on the edge of the road. I sealed the whole thing with two coats of dullcote when I was done since only brand new roads ever have any sheen.

As Ken said, the best way to get your roads looking good is go out and take some pictures of the different types of roads in your area. It's actually not much different than weathering a freight car and having some photos for reference really helps. Of course, it's also kind of like ballasting - you end up with a better job if you like doing this kind of detail. :)
 
Jim/Ken(anyone), would you help us out by posting some photos of (MR) asphalt/concrete roads and streets with materials used and explanations of work? There are several good methods here, but it would be helpful if we could see some more photos. In addition to helping us now, it would make this thread good archive material. (or better yet: start a how-to make roads thread.)
Thanks.
 
Since I'm at lunch, I can post another view of my "sandpaper road". Here's another view, as a road in a small S Texas town. None of these were taken specifically for the road, so I've had to crop some existing pics as best I could...

Heck, the locals are just glad it is paved!

This is 400 (maybe, i forget) grit wet-dry sandpaper. Use the finest that you think looks good, in general, finer is better.

Cut it to size with very old scissors (or if you WANT to ruin some new scissors...). Roll it, crease it, fold it, whatever to impart some variation; asphalt roads aren't flat. If you can mound the center of the roadway slightly where the paper is going, you'll create a realistic "crown", very appropriate for most roads. I did this by contouring the blue foam base down along the edges of the road, leaving it alone towards the middle.

Glue it in place with Elmer's or whatever you prefer. I like to place the roads before doing the rest of the ground cover as that makes the roads lower than the surrounding areas, which is more common in these parts. It is a small town, so curbs aren't needed.

You might want to mist a fine coat of grimey black to knock down the sheen, or soften the texture. Real roads don't sparkle! (unless there is a LOT of broken glass...)

Then based on your photos you've taken of real roads, dry brush grimey black, dark greys, black, whatever to add tire skid marks, oil droppings, whatever. Note the "dirt" washed onto the road, the variations in color (dry brush) and general unkempt appearance. I never added stripes as they also aren't common on small S Texas roads.

Again, base this on the photos you have as the grunginess will vary based on locale, usage, weather, etc.
 
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Ken, those are some nice looking rural roads. All my layout is urban so I don't have anything rural except a gravel road going to the yard. I imagine the same techniques would work for urban asphalt roads with the addition of some styrene curbs and sidewalks.

Rex, all my roads are done and I've got plenty of pictures but, except for me showing off, I can see how it wouldn't help anyone trying to duplicate my efforts. I finally went out and got a decent tripod after Ken L's visit shamed me into not just using my 5 inch backpack tripod for pictures. I'll try to do a photo series this weekend starting from a plain sheet of styrene and showing the steps I use. Now, I wonder how much of my Floquil paint has dried up since the last time I used it? :eek:
 
Thanks Ken and Jim. Ken that is a nice looking road and opens some ideas for some areas that I have.
Jim, it's not that I or we want to duplicate, but there just isn't very much out there about road making based on methods that have proven longevity along with acurate detailing. It would be great to see the steps you use to clear up questions and rather than have to deal with too much trial and error (screw-ups). Besides, don't worry about someone doing and exact copy of your work...unless they are EXPERT! ;) :)
 
Hi all: FWIW, here are a few examples of some of my roads. This one is made with 1/4" foam core, 3" wide, glued down with white glue, painted grimy black, weathered with gray side walk chalk (borrowed from my grandchildren), middle line outlined with blue painters tape, and painted with a paint pen.

P1010247.jpg


This one was an experiment using a roofing shingle, turned upside down,(smooth side up), finished same as above.

Modelrrpics3-10-08Aperturpriorit-27.jpg


This one is styrene, finished like the other two.

P1010780.png
 


Hi Rex and Dekker,

Been a long time but I just want to add one method too :
Using fine sieved sawdust..
The road was made out of:
latexwallpaint-
very fine sieved sawdust and
(a kind of) acrylconcretecolor

first paint the flat(!) surface with latexwallpaint and immedeatly after that, as the paint is still wet, add the very fine sawdust with a sieve.
let it dry for some> 10 minutes and remove the sawdust that is not "glued"to the road by brushing it CAREFULLY with a soft longhaired brush. Let is dry totaly. Next day paint the road in the color you want. I did some "tuning"by brushing the road with a lighter deluted( terpintin) alkyde paint and brushed the paint away as it was still wet...so it looks like the road is weathered by the many trafic...
(picture attached)

Jos
ps: the car, chappel and train are in N scale
 
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Hi Rex: I think I'd have to go along with Jim. I prefer styrene. It's easy to work with, takes paint well, and large sheets are inexpensive, (signs from K-mart, Wal-mart, etc.). I, also tried WS road material. It seems to dry very quickly like Hydrocal, not much working time, and it's pretty messy. Like Jim, I wouldn't recommend it. Foam core would be a close second. Foam core is stiffer than the thinner styrenes, hence, it needs less support, and because it's also thicker, it can provide a raised road bed, if that would be appropriate. This road is foam core, which I covered with plaster cloth, with a thin layer of Sculptamold/Gypsolite mix added. It has a fine texture representing more of a gravel road. Hope this helps.

ModelRRPictures147-1.jpg
 
Rex, when I said duplicate my work, I didn't mean that literally, just that they can use some or all of my techniques to come up with their version of what I've done. I take it as a compliment that anyone even cares how I did my roads. :)

Gramps, I've always admired your roads. What I like best is the variety of road types you have, from gravel to asphalt and beat-up older roads. I think that's where a lot of layouts fall down. They have one type of road that's used for the whole thing. In real life, towns are always changing road types as old road wear out and new roads are laid. I have brick, concrete, and a little asphalt and gravel on my layout. I think the variety helps the realism as much as any particularly good modeling skills on my part.

Jos, sounds like your sawdust method would work really well for something like a country lane. Do you have any pictures of a finished road?
 
Hi Jim: Don't be modest, that concrete street is outstanding, as I'm sure your other roads are, too. I, for one would like to see more of your modeling. And, thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it.




















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I've always used joint compound, it is dirt cheap, and comes in huge buckets. I am somewhat experienced in using it, but I can guarantee that it is 100x better than the WS overpriced garbage.

My roads generally have a lot of depth, I use cork and ballast like I would with my railbeds to make it look more realistic. Not to mention the fact that crossings look great when it is at grade and not a steep slope. My perfectionism also makes me sand the road to an angled shape (for drainage). Even though my layout is now gone, my newest one will incorporate plenty of roads.
 
Jos, nice to see you here.
This is great! The thread has become rich with excellent ideas. I probably will lean toward styrene for the area around and leading to a passenger station and probably for my downtown area of Hawkinsville. However, I do see where I could do some experimenting utilizing other materials in both rural and industrial areas.

One question: Do you just shim for mating the road with a grade crossing? what with? more styrene? balsa? anything?:D
The road will be on the foamboard (foam core,poster board) already installed and will be a little lower than the top of a rail (will lay on tie). I have some Blairline crossings that I will try.
 
Hi Rex: Here's a road crossing made with scale lumber with a foam core road. I think I used 4x6 scale boards, in layers and butted the foam core to it. If the road is too low, shim with cardboard, styrene, etc.

P1010240-2.png
 


Another very small tip:
try to avoid to make the road as high as the top of the track: when cleaning the track with a towel or sandingrubber it will sand the road/surface of the road. So keep it atleast 1 or 2 mm lower?
 
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