Im planning of constucting a downtown urban area and i am puzzled on what type of roads to use. Im thinking of using joint compound but if i do that, i may have a difficult time aligning the sidewalks using wood or styrene. My guess was to use joint compund as well for the sidewalk but i hear that its a nightmare and may come out sloppy.
any suggestions
You could use thin wood or plastic strips as edging for the joint compound. Then use something like Rix Sidewalks. Place the sidewalk on top of the compound along the edges so you will have the curb.
I paint my Rix sidewalks to a color that I think looks more like concrete to me.
If you havent already, study roads in similar urban areas as to what you are doin. Street view and satelite. Most curb lines barely exist in city urban do to decades of just asphalt overlay instead of mill and pave. You might be able to just use a scratch line to show curb line on some streets. Dont forget some streets might be coble or brick. Maybe old embedded trolley line. Brick showing through in places. Streets can be tough due to elevation differences of street and sidewalk and building entrance. So. Put in street. Then put the sidewalk and building on suports to make the elevations work.
Most use a plaster type material to make the street. But new alternatives in cardstock and sticky paper are out. The printed cardstocks are nicely done and detai load. So is the printed papers that adhear to anything. Those i would put on cardstock as well. But are also well detailed. Worth a look. Same with side walks. Downtown deco makes sidewalk sections in plaster complete with curb. and cracks. Large number of options
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
I've tried making roads and sidewalks with joint compound, water putty, spackle and plaster but I could never get them to look smooth enough to want to drive down them. Now I use sheet styrene for roads, sidewalks, and parking lots.
Thanks. i am probably going to use compound and then apply basswood for sidewalk along side the compound ( becuase compound when sanded is uneven, placing it on top of the compound may be difficult)... Then i may just use a putty to seal the edges of the road and sidewalk and paint to match.
Lone Wolf and Santa Fe Now I use sheet styrene for roads, sidewalks, and parking lots.
Good Call!
Evergreen has 4" x 21" sheets, extra large, in black, too which would be easier to color unless you were going with lighter concrete color where you would probably want the white.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Evergreen-Scale-Models-Black-Styrene-Sheets-030-p/evg-9114.htm
The above link is for four sheets of .030 4" x 21". That would probably make plenty of roadway. Look around at the other thicknesses, too.
I was lucky to find a bunch of the Walthers street system in brick, asphalt and concrete for a reasonable cost. It is a nice system with catch basins and utility covers and curbs and sidewalks. If you can find that and your budget allows, it is a nice way to go.
https://www.walthers.com/concrete-street-system-complete-set
Have fun!
Ed
LION has several sheets of extruded roofing foam (used) with bumps and waves in it from having once been a roof. LION will use that as the base for the urban scenes of him. Buildings will be on 1/8th" hardboard, which will become the sidewalks. What is left is the road, wavy and uneven like any NYC avenue. Paint it a streaky grey-black. You can even had some personel access covers (formerly manholes), drainage grates, litter, and puddles of oily water to finish the effect.
Ergo, what is not built up is street. It is waht is left after you build your city.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Lone Wolf and Santa Fe I've tried making roads and sidewalks with joint compound, water putty, spackle and plaster but I could never get them to look smooth enough to want to drive down them. Now I use sheet styrene for roads, sidewalks, and parking lots.
When I started out with HO scale some 13 years ago, I decided to use 1/4" art foam board to fashion my urban streets. I had no idea what to use for urban streets at the time, so I chose the art board because its light gray color seemed similar to the look of urban streets in photos. But in HO scale, 1/4" is 21.75" thick, a little much for a paved street. Then, I used the same 1/4" art foam board, sprayed a concrete color for the sidewalks, resulting in a 21.75" curb height - - LOL.
Anyhow, if I could do it over, I would use styrene sheet. A 0.080" sheet would translate to a 6.96" height in HO scale, so that would work for the sidewalks as well with a curb height of approximately 7 inches.
Rich
Alton Junction
Use plaster with white glue added to the mix.
For urban roads, I use .060" sheet styrene. It's reasonably priced when bought in 4'x8' sheets (and available in other thicknesses - check plastics suppliers in your area) and useful for many other projects, too. It's flexible enough to allow you to crown the street, or make railroad crossings...
It's useful, too, for the backs and roofs of larger structures, kitbashed with all of the kit's walls facing the aisle...
...and also for larger scratchbuilt structures...
Wayne
thanks for the info.. However, i just did a test run on a road i just did using compound and after using 150 grit sandpaper it came out really smooth...I ran a couple of cars to make sure it ran without any hesitations or bumps , i was impressed ...Plus i was able to create realistic patches and cracks on roads.
I've used styrene in the past but came out too perfect.
Wayne, Always enjoy seeing your scenes and models. Like the way you crowned your street, adds yet another dimension of realism. What thickness of shim do you use for the crown?
Thanks and regards, Peter
HO-Velo...What thickness of shim do you use for the crown?
It looks to me as if it's simply another piece of .060" sheet material. (I had quite a bit on-hand. I think that I'm working on my 5th or 6th sheet of the stuff.)
That street is the only one to which I added the crown, as it was the one where it would be most noticeable and it's not one which crosses railroad tracks.Most of the roads on the layout do cross tracks and many were done using plaster, so no intentional crown - I simply never even thought of it at the time. I'm sure that if it were to rain on the layout, there would be widespread flooding in the streets, with water pooling everywhere.
HO-Velo Wayne, What thickness of shim do you use for the crown?
Wayne, What thickness of shim do you use for the crown?
In the real world, the crown is normally 2%.
Let's do some math.
- if your road is 30 feet wide, it is 4,14" in HO (30' x 12"/feet x 1/87)
- Half of the road with is then 2,07"
- The thickness of the shim is then 2,07" x 2% = ,041"
I did the same as Wayne did on a short span of road near the edge of the layout using ,040" styrene for the road and a piece of ,06" styrene for the shim to enhance the crown a little. The effect is pretty nice. Unfortunately I can't post a photo as I am away from my computer and layout for some days.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
I first cut styrene to the shape of my urban "blocks" and glued them down. Then I filled the space between them with water putty and painted it gray. At this point, the top of everyhing is at the same level.
The next step is to cut a second copy of each "block" outline. Then, I outline the structures in place and cut the styrene sheets so that the structures will sit inside this second layer. By putting the structures a bit below the sidewalk level, the look more "built in" and less "built on," and there is no issue with light leaks from below.
The second layer of styrene is then glued in place on top of the first. Here, I've painted the sidewalks a slightly different shade of gray, and scribed sidewalk lines and curbs with a ruler and pencil.
With the structures in place and some vehicles, it starts to look more the way I intended.
To me, urban streets have lots of "furniture" like lamp posts, traffic lights, fire hydrants and mailboxes, plus pedestrians.
Here, I've added an old Miller Engineering "HOTEL" sign that flashes and a set of Walthers traffic lights. They provide "animation" even though nothing actually moves.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.