Making asphalt roads

[Steven S]

TheK4Kid

Thanks for the information on the Creatology foam, there is a Michaels near where I live, I'll stop in and take a look at it! :)

 

Black craft foam with gray craft paint sponged on works well.  I just used a kitchen sponge, but make sure it doesn't have any sort of pattern embossed on it. 

Large cracks are easily made by tearing the foam.  I made the small cracks by chucking a straight pin into a Dremel and etching them in.

Patches can be made by tearing or cutting  out a piece and rinsing off some of the paint.

 

Steve S

[TheK4Kid]

aljb,

Thanks for the information on the Creatology foam, there is a Michaels near where I live, I'll stop in and take a look at it!  :)

[gmpullman]

Tarmac or Macadam has been used as well.

It seems the term "tarmac" is used to describe an aircraft landing and taxiing area but I've heard it used for other asphalt paved areas, too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac

Lately, I've been using the 1mm EVA craft foam like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1mm-CRAFT-FOAM-SHEETS-12-X18-12-pcs-assorted-colors-your-choice-/121311602104?hash=item1c3ebc25b8

Regards, Ed

[mbinsewi]

OK, thats believable.  Many civil engineers, and some terminoligy in plans and specs., for road contruction, refer to "bituminus asphalt pavement".

It's also a type of coal.

Mike.

[NittanyLion]

Working backwards through that spelling and filtering it through Australian accenting, I think it was "bitumen," which is the British English word for what American calls asphalt.

[mbinsewi]

I guess so.  I just tried to Google the word "bechument", and it it leads me to this thread, from 2011.

I guess we will never know!

Mike

[BigDaddy]

Steve, does that mean we will never know what bechument is? 

[Steven S]

gck49er

It has the appearance of bechument(sp) like the rough roads in the outback of Autralia....

Given that the last post was from 2011, I wouldn't hold my breath for a response.

Steve S

[gck49er]

It has the appearance of bechument(sp) like the rough roads in the outback of Autralia....

[dknelson]

Marlene

Where did you find the 1/8" white pinstriping for the lines?  

At the shop I go to, all the paints, adhesives, tools and tapes are in one area.  That is where I found yellow and white tape.   I suspect the narrow tape is primarily aimed at our model car counterparts.  Both for marking the model cars and for lines on slot car race tracks.

  1/8" is actually a bit wide for HO since the road lines I see locally are probably around 5 to 6 inches.  But it looks OK.  I use Matte Medium to tone down the high shine of the tape.  it also helps to make the tape adhere to plastic streets, and is also a good base for powdered chalk weathering.

For N are we looking for 1/16 inch tape?  Such stuff exists: http://www.identi-tape.com/mini.htm

I tried to search for 1/32 inch tape but ... ain't the internet grand? -- came up with hundreds of results for tape which is 1/32 inch thick. 

Dave Nelson

[Marlene]

Where did you find the 1/8" white pinstriping for the lines? When I was in this hobby 10 years ago, it was easy to find. Now even searching Google I can't.

Also, I'm guessing your 1/8" is for HO scale? I'm doing N-Scale.

 

[eaglescout]

Was out and about today on a variety of asphalt roads and came to the conclusion it would be pretty hard to have a poor reproduction of a prototype road as the range is so wide.  Newly paved asphalt is definitely very black and smooth.  After six months to a year it goes from dark grey to lighter grey and uneveness begins to set in as heavy vehicles travel over it.  After several years the sun has bleached it to a light grey with cracking, chuck holes, etc being more evident.  Roads many years old can be completely broken up with exposed gravel and dirt.  So,  choose the condition you want and go for it.

[Philip H.]

I've been using photo textures from ScaleScenes.com, resized and glued to 0.010" styrene using 3M spray adhesive.  Comes pre-striped and pre-weathered.  Print it out at hi-res, glue down and then hit it with some dull coat.

 

[engineAL]

I haven't made any yet, but I personally think that using plaster or WS Smooth-It or something like that is better that some type of sheet material (like styrene or foam). I think that using materials like the prototypes use would yield better results, not that I am saying styrene or foam or whatever looks bad, a lot of examples I have seen look really good.

[brakeman618]

I have used Busch asphalt roads to great success on my layout. It has been used in one of the MR issues to "Build a Modern Highway Crossing." Don't cover any part of that with any tape thought because when you peel it up it takes off part of the road with it. Although it added some great detail on my roads in the form of worn out and soft shoulders.

Another product I have wanted to try is Woodland Scenics Road System in which you essentially pave your own road. You can see a great video at

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/video/RealisticRoads

Hope this helps.

[wp8thsub]

One material I haven't seen mentioned is sanded tile grout.  It doesn't have a great amount of texture, but enough to impart a grainy, non-reflective look.  It's available in a lot of useful colors and can be built up within forms just like plaster, but won't chip and leave white spots.  You can use different colors for pavement of different ages, and it will take paint.

Remember that asphalt isn't usually black.  Even a newly applied coat is lighter than what many of us try to represent with our models.

[Medina1128]

I used styrene sheet almost exclusively to model my roads (except the dirt ones). I paint mine with the darker gray primer. Before I paint it, I use a dental pick to create cracks in the pavement. After painting I spray a wash of rubbing alcohol and India ink. I use weathering chalk to imitate the dark streaks left from tires and oil.

[Motley]

I just looked at that link. Using the asphalt shingles. Interesting technique. I think it looks to rough, there's too much texture.

But the previous posters in this old thread using plaster I think looks the best.

I'm actually going to be doing some roads on my layout soon. I'm gonna go with plaster or WS smooth-it.

[eaglescout]

Found this website on using asphalt shingles (smooth side up) and thought it was quite detailed and informative.  While pouring and spreading various mixes others have suggested may be more like "laying real asphalt" I can't see the extra work and mess.  The shingles IMHO look just like freshly laid asphalt.  For a more aged look various paints, weathering techniques, cracks and chuck holes can be added.

http://coffeevalleyrr.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-i-made-my-asphalt-roads.html

[BLRyCo1980]

RCRU

I used the same Creatology foam about 1/16th inch thick mentioned by others. ......

 

NICE!!! I think I'll give that a try too.

[camaro]

60YOKID

I am using black felt roofing paper for asphalt roads. One company even uses this stuff to make pre-printed roads that come in a package. The light weight felt works very well and you can weather it with a bit of chalk.

I have used several methods for making asphalt roads.  The  best method for me was utilized by Lance Mindheim which consists of automotive primer and various washes.  The exact method can be found following the link below. 

Larry

 

http://www.lancemindheim.com/roads.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[60YOKID]

I am using black felt roofing paper for asphalt roads. One company even uses this stuff to make pre-printed roads that come in a package. The light weight felt works very well and you can weather it with a bit of chalk.

[RCRU]

I used the same Creatology foam about 1/16th inch thick mentioned by others.  Cheap and easy to work with.  Only drawback is if you have a long road this is usually in 12 x 18 inch sheets.  For short runs or parking lots, etc. works great.  Use the black and paint it any color "asphalt" you desire.

Also nice effect is that you can make the edges rough,  chip out "pot holes" etc.   Cracks can be drawn with a black colored pencil.

For the lines I just painted normal masking tape yellow or white and cut into strips. Lay this down, then hit it with some dull coat and you can also use chalk to create darker areas down the center of each lane.

This area is not finished but you get the idea from the photos below.

 

[MisterBeasley]

I use Durhams Water Putty.  It's a powder that is mixed with water.  You get it at the hardware store.  It can be mixed quite thin, or very thick, and will hold a crown after it hardens up a bit.

The mixture is a light tan in color.  After it sets hard, I use a wash of gray acrylic paint, which the putty takes very well.  I use a thin wash with multiple applications, which eventually produces a slighly irregular coloration of the road.

There was an article a few months back in MR about using a photo-backdrop to "extend" a road into the wall.  The background of this scene is a picture of the street in front of my house.

[E-L man tom]

Some of the ideas already posted here will work. But, for a rough-paved/chip-sealed country road, I like to use 22 pound bond printer paper over a roughly-smoothed plaster "subroadbed. I paint the paper prior to installing but after fitting it over the road surface and cutting. I use gray acrylic, darkened with black or lightened with white to the desired "aged" look. You can add cracks and patches with a fine-tipped black roller tip pen (not a ball point pen). I use the black Uni-Ball pens. I just use white glue very thinly spread to attach the bond paper to the plaster. The edges can be dressed off with your choice of "dirt" or gravel for the shoulder.

[ssgauge]

I apply patching plaster over wood.  When the plaster is dry, I sand it smooth (which still leaves realistic hairline cracks), then paint it with Polly S "concrete" mixed with a little Polly S "grimy black."  When the paint dries, I rub it with dirt...backyard dirt...using my finger, to give the "asphalt" a lighter, aged look.  I sweep away the excess dirt, of course.  If you'd like to see an example, look up the June 2009 entry on my blog, allaboard09.blogspot.com

[dknelson]

It might be too heavily textured to be totally accurate but the smooth back side of roofing shingles can capture the look of asphalt roads, and can be cut to size and shape readily enough.  Smoothing the texture a bit with an abrasive foam pad can improve the realism and smoothness of the texture.   Some weathering chalks applied with a mascara brush can bring the needed variation in shade. 

By the way I have given up trying to "paint" (or draw) the yellow or white lines in roads and streets - I now use very fine thin tape, and secure it with a carefully applied coating of matte medium, which also tones down the shine.

Dave Nelson

[wm3798]

I take some ready mix joint compound, add some black acrylic craft paint to it and mix it up to get a dark grey tint.  I then add a bit of water (if needed) to get a consistency that I can brush on to the road surface with a 3/4" paint brush.

By tinting the plaster, I can go back and sand it smooth without loosing the base color.  I add the striping with a sharp colored pencil.

The bridge deck is styrene.  First I sand the surface to get a little texture, then scribe in the expansion joints.  I paint a line of yellow down the middle and let it dry, then use 1 point graphic line tape to mask off the stripes.  I then spray alternating coats of almond, flat grey primer, and a little bit of flat black to get the concrete color.  Finally, I go back with a fine point sharpie to make the patches and tar lines.

Lee 

[fender777]

I like the idea of using 400 grit black sandpaper that was used in the new issue of MR 4X8 layout