highway construction

[Anonymous]

i am experimenting with putting a highway in my layout and wondering how and what to use to make it look good?
i am trying different gray colors of paint on a rubber material to make it look like a highway.
did anyone see in model railroading using h.o. cork? if so, maybe someone can send me a copy of it or tell me and maybe i have that magizine.
i am working with nscale.

[willy6]

yo fishneb,
try .010 styrene and paint it gull gray.........it worked for me.

[2021]

I agree that using styrene is the best method for a paved road. Used it on my layout after trying plaster and then drywall compound (hard to make smooth and even but works well on country roads where you want that look). I assume willy6 means gull gray dark - there is also a gull gray light which I don't like as well.
Ron K.

[Bennekers]

How about the yellow and white lines? Any suggestions? I use sometimes markers.

[mgruber]

I use Scotch Quick Release masking tape and mask off the middle of the lane then paint in the lines with what ever color they need to be.

[Anonymous]

15# ROOFING FELT CUT TO THE PROPER SIZE MAKES A NICE BLACKTOPED ROAD.
YOU CAN EVEN STRIPE IT IF YOU LIKE.

[cwclark]

I have found that matte board makes nice roads and is cheaper than styrene..it's like poster board but a lot thicker and you can get it in various colors at Hobby Lobby...now on to the striping...i've tried the paint and tape thing and it never comes out looking good (there's always that over spray or the paint runs under the tape for some reason) ...Woodland scenics and micro scale decals sell sets of yellow and white striping that is much easier to use than the tape and paint method...I weather the roads with pastel black and gray chalk dust...it also looks good if you take a fine tip felt black pen and draw in cracks and potholes in the road to further enhance the road detailing features.......Chuck[:D]

[willy6]

I used pin striping (white and yellow) for lines. and i did what Chuck said about cracks and potholes.

[jkeaton]

Matte board is also available at any place that does framing - and some of these places will sell their offcuts cheaply. As well as good roads and parking lots, matte board is also useful in scratchbuilding and kitbashing.

The artistry of painting road cracks and potholes is something I need to practise! I didn't know about the decals for the road striping - will have to try that.

The area of eastern Canada that I'm modelling converted from a white stripe in the centre of the road to a yellow stripe sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s (if memory serves me right - I wasn't paying strict attention at the time, didn't realise I'd need the info in 25 years!). Was this a general change across Canada and North America, or was the white centre line a Nova Scotia anachronism?

Jim

Jim

[Seamonster]

I use plaster for asphalt highways on my N scale layout (they're all asphalt). Smoothing the plaster with a wet sponge after it starts to harden makes it quite smooth and I feel I can get a more realistic crown and shoulder slope with plaster. To colour it I use Woodland Scenics Asphalt #ST1453 which produces a very realistic colour. To make the lines, I use white and yellow gel pens and put them on by hand. After seeing my granddaughter use the pens I figured they'd write on anything and make a nice bright line. Doing it by hand, the dashes are not all the same length or spacing and double lines and curves are a little tricky, but I'm not a prefectionist, and nit-pickers are run out of town on a rail in my N scale world.
...Bob

[2021]

The easiest and fastest way to apply striping is to use tape that designers use. You can get it in many colors and varying widths (I use 1/16"). Its available in most craft shops and anywhere drafting supplies are sold. The nice thing is that you get a constant width and can align it first before pressing it down firmly. It holds very well. Mines been on for three years and hasn't moved. Good Luck
Ron K.

[Cheminotenchef]

I used joint compound for several of my roads and for the Intermodal yard. I agree that on a wide surface (Intermodal yard) levelling is not that easy, but for the roads I didn't have a problem. Furthermore,natural drying hazards make it look good. When drying sometimes joint compound cracks just enough to have a very good looking crack in the road. Small airbubbles make nice realistic potholes. But you do have to smooth it out wth a slightly wet sponge before it has completly dried or, if touch ups a really necessary, after it has dried. Airbubbles can not all be entirely eliminated, therefore I leave whatever is left. The texture of joint compound is close to the real asphalt. Its a chore, a bit messy, but my roads have those cracks and holes that I like. For more cracks, I then use a sharp felt pen.

Lines are a problem. I used to have a product made by Lettraset (a UK company) product #4274 which is very close to the actual width of road lines (5 inches). It's a rub on product, which gives that nice painted road line effect. On joint compound it looks almost perfect. But they don't have that product anymore and I'm freshly out of product 4274. So now I'm in a jam. I have not found any rub on substitute yet.

[Anonymous]

On my HO scale layout I use Midwest Products N scale cork yard pads,
( 3 1/4" x 36" ) paint it grimy black and when the paint dries I rub my fingers
back and forth over the surface and it turns the color to a light gray and the
texture of the cork really looks like asphalt and without the mess of plaster,
add some center lines with narrow white or yellow tape and you are good to go.

[Bennekers]

So, lines should not be a problem anymore, lots of methods to chose from, but what about the curves? They maybe hard to do with tape.

[nobullchitbids]

One possibility not mentioned so far is to set up an operating highway using HO model slot cars/trucks. These were made by several firms: Tyco, Aurora, Marx, and a couple of German ones I recall. An article on how to adopt model slot cars to MR use appeared either in the December 1963 or December 1964 Model Railroader.

Because slot-car roads have the "unprototypical" slots in the highway to guide the cars, most successful applications I have seen place the working road at a higher level to partially hide the slots. Lane lines are not a problem since they come factory painted on the (plastic) track.

Old slot-car sets at least occasionally may be obtained at train shows or swap meets.

[Anonymous]

I use AMI Instant Roadbed. It comes in gray and can be painted dull black to look like backtop. Sticks to layout and can be curved very easily. I also just push on mmy car and they stick to road. Striping I use striping tape bought at auto stores. You can get it in different colors.

[Anonymous]

on my layout i used a self adhesive rubber insulation tape material from W/M used to wrap water pipes. Pealed of the silver jcoating and sprayed with flat black.. being a sign painter, i used a stripping bru***o paint lines

[BRVRR]

I used matte board for my road. Painted it flat black and striped it with 1/16" width yellow tape. Got the tape in one of the LHS. RC plane modelers us it for accents. Its cheap, goes on easy and comes off if you make a mistake or want to change it. I'm still weathering the road, but a squirt of Dullcoate takes away the shine on the tape and mutes the black. Pictures on the website under the Layout button.

[Anonymous]

For N scale, i mostly use gasket cork which you can buy very cheaply at an auto parts store. I cuts with very easy, followings up and down contoures of a road. I am not concern with road crowns since in N you really can't see them and if so they are out of scale. Cork takes the woodland scenis asphalt paint very good. Another source is light card stock ( I get my from new shirts or even from the dry cleaners if you have them done - not on hangers. With this material, if you want repair or rough spots, take an erasure, wet it and rub the card stock lightly. You will get a rough spot similar to road breakdown or just repair. Then darken this with paint. One road on my layout has been in place for over 20 years, and still looks great. In fact I just refreshed it with some chauking. Don't forget the different shades in the road for auto tire travel, driveway entrances and exits and other areas where there would be cross traffic.

For stripping I have found in the local art store has boxes of drafting tape in all sizes and color. At one time designers and drafters used this but with cad drawings, it is just wasting away. As a result I get a very good price.

Using joint compound works, ok but takes a lot of smoothing to get out small bubble holes. I did use this in my piggyback yard, painted it would woodlands concrete and look great.

[Anonymous]

I use sheet plastic with a muted gray for concrete,slighty darker shades for what ever age your black top is. I use post it notes in a line and use a dry brush method of white or yellow , I tend to make my lines older faded ones. Do one line, wait a day then do the other. It's time consuming but I 've had good results.

[Anonymous]

I use joint compound for roads & have for years. I do like everyone else has said in this topic. It's real easy to smooth w/a damp sponge. It also cracks like most roads & highways. If the cracks are to big I fill them in w/caulk. I also use the same thing for paved railroad crossings. After you put a coat across the rail, I run a Kadee track gage
down the track thru the mud & it gives the correct gaps for loco flanges. Just before it dries on the track, I wipe it w/a damp cloth.
For striping, I use a Paasche roller striping wheel. The wheels come in all different widths & I use water mixed paint in yellow, white or other colors.
I buy latex asphalt gray paint at Walmart in quarts. It's the true color for asphalt roads.
As for electric vehicles, just look in the 2005 Walthers catalog under elect. vehicles section & they use the magnetic roads w/no slots. Quite expensive though.
I use that money to buy trains instead of realistic vehicles. LOL
I had the old Varney system way back when, but, the cars & trucks weren't scale.

[fischey]

Arizona Rock makes concrete roadway compound. This basically is concrete colored stone ground very fine. It is an excellent product, you mix it with regular diluted white glue and pour like concrete and finish with plastic pallet knife. You can crown the roadway realistically. Finishing is a bit of a trick. I discovered that if you use a wall-paper joint roller (looks like an O-Scale steam roller wheel on a handle), cheap at your HW supply, and very gently use it like a real pavement roller, you get fantastic results.
After the "concrete" cures, if there are mistakes you can "wet" roll it again. Once dry, SEAL it with matte spray. Then apply very fine dk brown or black felt tip pen to get expansion breaks and cracks. You can also color in tar or asphalt "patches", a common cure for potholes.

Unless you are modeling Oregon, Arizona or New Mexico, forget the Arizona Rock "Asphalt" because it is too red. Fine for Eastern Oregon and parts of AZ!!

[fischey]

I forgot to add: Arizona Rock pavement product needs a roadway base. I have used cardstock, wood, styrofoam, styro-insulation, just about everything. You can also use it in forms to create walkways and drives. I have also poured it between the rails.

[Anonymous]

I used Woodland Scenics road system on my layout. They make a learning kit you can purchase to see if you like it. Your local hobby shop should carry everything you need but you can also order it online. It worked like a charm on my layout and looks real.