I use gray grout for paved roads and I like it. I would like ideas on what to use for dirt roads.
I have also been experimenting with grout and tile thinset for roads. The thinset is a little courser than grout and it seems like it will be good for dirt or gravel roads. I just lay it down as a powder and sprinkle water on it. Then throw a little fine and medium ballast on it. Then add some green bits.
This parking lot is grout. I am going to grey/brown it up a bit with a wash, however I am happy with the result. It looks much better in real life.
This is made up of thinset, grout, cement and a few other things, thus all the weird colours. Ever since all those fix up your house TV shows hit the airwaves, I have been busy. I always have leftovers in the bucket and make a trip in to the trainroom for another application to my rockwork.
Once you paint it, the weird colours turn in to this.
I have a lot of different colours of leftover grout on the shelf and even the different kinds of thinset vary in colour. You don't want to throw the stuff out and a MRR is a good way to use it up.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Did a little mock-up using Joe Fugates dirt & gravel road method, sans the tempera/plaster powders.
regards, Peter
I use fine sand dry-brushed with acrylic paints.
Rob Spangler
wp8thsub I use fine sand dry-brushed with acrylic paints.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
farrellaaWhere do you get grey/gray sand?
I dug some of it up from a highway excavation in Idaho, other material was probably from Oregon somewhere.
Try tube/play sand or paver sand from the home center. These can be had pretty cheaply, and often come in useful colors, including grayish for some brands. Look at the spilled material around the bags for a guess at the color. If it looks wrong under your room lighting, it can still be useful for other base ground cover or ballast.
What looks right to me in the photo's is a very fine sand was used in the tire tracks. Some other have shown gravel roads and the grain size looked way to course for the scale. Finer is better IMO, and that shows on Robs, especially in the tire tracks.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Very Nice!
Joe C
Hi All,
Many Australian gravel roads tend to be sandy in colour so I sieved through clay based cat litter and made a "natural colour" dirt road,
to wit
Also
Regards
Trevor
riogrande5761 What looks right to me in the photo's is a very fine sand was used in the tire tracks. Some other have shown gravel roads and the grain size looked way to course for the scale. Finer is better IMO, and that shows on Robs, especially in the tire tracks.
This is what I have been trying to find, a very fine grey sand. I don't know if the paver sand at HD is too large but will look into it. Maybe some dry cement would work? I used some black fine sand and tried to paint it grey but it doesn't look right. May just need more experiment with colors.
Fugate's dirt and gravel road method calls for sanding the tire mark areas using a "bright boy" with the direction of travel. I didn't have a "bright boy", so used some fine sandpaper instead. I tend to think this sanding of the tire grooves technique would look good with most any texture medium.
Rob, Top notch work, your talus and culvert look great, also, the subtle color changes in your grassy hillsides adds tremendously to the realism.
Regards, Peter