Try using Bondex blacktop patching compound; spread thin and shaped while wet. Wet sanding with a sanding sponge leases a nice coating of gray dust. - from the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society website NEB&W Guide to Roads, Streets & Sidewalks
If you are unfamiliar with this website, it's run by the RMRS at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and has a nominal $5 a month subscription price for unlimited access to the site (they describe it as "over 5,500 pages and 35,645 photos") . [link to sign-up information]
Co-owner of the proposed CT River Valley RR (HO scale) http://home.comcast.net/~docinct/CTRiverValleyRR/
Make a roadbed surface using wood or any other surface you would normally use as a base, even cardstock or cardboard.
Then I use Arizona Rock's Concrete roadway compound. It's powdered grey rock. To make a cement style compound, simply mix wet ballasting glue 50% water (or more), white glue and a surfactant like 2 drops of DW liquid. Make it the consistency of very thick stew sauce, not quite as stiff as joint compound, but not so it pours easily.
To make asphalt use black color dye or water based paint to taste. Don't use their "asphalt" mix, it comes out too reddish (unless you are doing older Oregon highways which had volcanic rock in the Asphalt mix.... then it's just fine).
Spread it with a soft spatula to the best level you can. For concrete style finishing I then use a 1-1/2" wide wooden wallpaper joint roller just like it's a steamroller! Gently roll it in the direction of the roadway with no weight applied, to make the compound settle. It will "float" your roller with a bead of water.
When it dries you get good and inconsistent shades just like the real thing. You can cast pour-lay it just like real concrete if you want to make steps, sidewalks, or poured road sections (I found the latter to be time consuming). Its set up time allows working. If you dislike your results you can wet it and re-smooth.
When dry, you can draw concrete cracks and expansion joints with a fine dark brown felt-tipped pen or a pencil. Just keep re-sharpening the pencil. The roadway takes dry transfer striping well if you did a good job smoothing.
Seal the job if with matte medium spray you expect friends to put down drink cups or spill on your highway.
You'll like the results.
Lots of really great ideas and fine photos. Seems like there are quite a few methods to achieve believable model roadways. I will probably give a few of the methods a try myself. It is fair to say that what works well for some does not work for others, but there is no "right way" to model them. Real world observations, patience, practise, experience and care seem to be the key ingredients no matter what the material used.
Thanks
Split Reduction
Here's another good place for sheet goods:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=22883&catid=715
Prices are pretty decent, fast, reasonably priced shipping and absolutely the BEST customer service you could hope for.
I'm not too far from the Ohio location (St Clair Shores, Mich); I have never placed an order that I didn't get overnight.
I build my concrete highways & Black top roads with foam-board cut to fit, put down with latex caulk, painted with acrylic paint & weathered with chalk. I still need to add my center line striping. (By using the weekly Hobby Lobby & Michael's coupons you can save on the foam board, paint ect.)
tomwayburn I wonder if anyone else has used photographs from the computer for road surfaces and markings.
I remember at least one article a few years back about this very topic (I believe in RMC - although it may have been one of the then second tiers like Mainline Modeler) - I think the author included images of man-hole covers in addition to road patches, markings etc. Didn't seem all that exciting (although I guess it made some impression if I remember it after a number of years), probably as it came in a year when there was a wave of 'take digitial photos and use the images on your layout' articles (for buildings, for backdrops, for graffiti, for roads, you name it)
In the past I used plaster mixed with fine ballast and dark grey paint. A key advantage of that was I didn't have to worry about white spots due to chipping. When it dried I weathered the surface. Spreading it evenly and smoothly can be a challenge. I would say this method works well to represent an old, uneven, beat-up asphalt road with crumbling edges (potholes and rough spots sometimes just happen for you as you're spreading the material) and you can actually make patches and fill potholes with a darker, smoother batch of the same material. Change the color a bit and maybe go with slightly larger ballast and I would think this would also give you a very convincing old-style rural "oiled" road (a gravel road with a thick, sticky brownish goo poured on and compacted to form a sort of pavement). But as the earlier poster noted, not all roads are the same. You would want to use a different method for newer, fresher asphalt, and probably yet another method for concrete, especially those old concrete highways with regular expansion cracks every few yards (they were like a giant sidewalk, as I recall). I will probably use two or three different methods on my new layout.
I have been using a product that I got at Home Depot called Patch-N-Paint (the lightweight formula - $6.48/32 oz). It's a spackling compound and if you can spread butter on toast, you can do this. It has the consistancy of whipped butter. Easy to sand and feather edges to make an old country road or a downtown main street. Takes paint well. I got the samply size cans of Olympic at Home Depot (7.12 oz for ~ $3) and they paint a lot of road.
Doc in CT camarothat is only affordable if you have access to .060 4' x 4' styrene or larger sheets. If you are in the Detroit area try: Curbell Plastics, Inc.28455 Schoolcraft RoadLivonia, MI 48150Tel: 800-953-6945Tel: 734-513-0531 4x8 sheets should be in the $20 range (0.04 was $15); they do have a $50 minimum.
camarothat is only affordable if you have access to .060 4' x 4' styrene or larger sheets.
If you are in the Detroit area try:
Curbell Plastics, Inc.28455 Schoolcraft RoadLivonia, MI 48150Tel: 800-953-6945Tel: 734-513-0531
4x8 sheets should be in the $20 range (0.04 was $15); they do have a $50 minimum.
I have been purchasing .060 through The Plastics Store in Traverse City since they are three miles for my house. It's 30.00 for a 4' x 8' with no minimum. I normally purchase a 4' x 4' section for 15.00 only because there is no additional charge for cutting or purchasing half a sheet. I purchased a 2' x 8' work bench at Sears and a 2 x 4 section of glass for cutting and assembly.
Doc in CT camaroKurt is using 320 grit sand paper that is put down with 3M Super 77 adhesive and then a beige wash is applied. That works if you like very obvious seams in asphalt. The Real Road system, while "pricey" seems a lot easier to work with than some of the suggests in this thread. One trades time for material in modeling. Remember the key feature is the ability to create the road OFF of the layout.
camaroKurt is using 320 grit sand paper that is put down with 3M Super 77 adhesive and then a beige wash is applied.
The Real Road system, while "pricey" seems a lot easier to work with than some of the suggests in this thread. One trades time for material in modeling. Remember the key feature is the ability to create the road OFF of the layout.
The seams can be colored. Unfortunately, the road systems in this country are a patchwork of patches. I have used this method with success. It does provide a textured surface that is nice. True continous beautiful asphalt exists only in model railroading. LOL
Personally, for city streets, I prefer the sheet plastic using the method as described by Lance Mindheim and that is only affordable if you have access to .060 4' x 4' styrene or larger sheets.
Hydrocal is easy to shape but hard to sand. It can be planed with a carpenter's plane, which might not be good for the plane, but a layer of vinyl spackle from Dap or Crawford's spackling paste - both sold at Sherwin-Williams stores but, perhaps, not at the same time - can be sanded easily. A concave sanding block can be fashioned to put a crown on a road surface of vinyl spackle.
Split Reduction I have been building highways and roadways using old 1/4 inch panelling cut with a jig saw to the width and curvature needed. Over this base I have been applying Woodland scenics paving material. I also use "sculptamold" for a roaway base, but it really is a bear to sand smooth after it sets. I'm curious to learn what others have found to be a successful way to create model highways and roadways. We drive on these roadway every day but I seldom see "realistic" roads modeled in the usual publications... Split reduction
I have been building highways and roadways using old 1/4 inch panelling cut with a jig saw to the width and curvature needed. Over this base I have been applying Woodland scenics paving material. I also use "sculptamold" for a roaway base, but it really is a bear to sand smooth after it sets.
I'm curious to learn what others have found to be a successful way to create model highways and roadways. We drive on these roadway every day but I seldom see "realistic" roads modeled in the usual publications...
Split reduction
Kurt, a master modeler from Germany, is currently modeling his version of Lance Mindheim's "East Rail" Miami Layout. Kurt is using 320 grit sand paper that is put down with 3M Super 77 adhesive and then a beige wash is applied. Whatever you use, it is worth it to check out his work on the Gauge Forum.
Larry
http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=169&hilit=kurt
TexasSPI can get just as good if not better results than that road system at a much cheaper price.
That's one of those things that you don't know unless you try.
Hey, for $20 I'm willing to take a chance.
And again, I'm going for contrast in my roads.
I get what your saying Michael but there is more principal there for me.
To me it's kind of like the guy who I linked that shared his foam method not sharing the method but instead packaging the products then reselling it for 8 times it's cost. Kind of lame. To me the line kit is even more of a joke, paint markers and some masking tape it seems to be.
As far as the patented material part I don't doubt the paste is patented but highly doubt the seller of the system holds the patent. I really can't see a return on investment for patenting a model rr road system that has very limited marketability.
I have big $$$ tied up in locos myself, but they are the center point of my model rr and not a side feature. No one looks at my layout and says "oh what nice roads you have" yet they all comment on the locos, especially when the "strange looking" BLI AC5 comes around puffing smoke and making noise. I can get just as good if not better results than that road system at a much cheaper price.
TexasSP Maybe it's just me but the "real road system" seems a little expensive for 12' of HO two lane. Most other methods you can make 12' of two lane for 1/8 to 1/3 the price. It looks to me like someone has come up with their own method for road making and is trying to sell it at a rather large mark up. It's just too simplistic and doesn't offer anything spectacular for me to spend money on.
Maybe it's just me but the "real road system" seems a little expensive for 12' of HO two lane. Most other methods you can make 12' of two lane for 1/8 to 1/3 the price. It looks to me like someone has come up with their own method for road making and is trying to sell it at a rather large mark up. It's just too simplistic and doesn't offer anything spectacular for me to spend money on.
Yeah, I agree that it's pricier... And once could certainly use the other methods to create some different looking looking roads.
However in the grand scheme of things I don't view dropping $20 for 12' of HO road as being a budget buster... Not with the amount I have tied up in engines and rolling stock if you know what I mean.
And it will create a different type of road as compared to the others already discussed... Again, it's the ultimate contrast in road look and texture that will make all the roads on layout "pop". Too often we see layouts where all the roads look the same.
I think one can find lots of products out there that have a high markup from the manufacturing point to the retail point... It's just how this stuff works. The pair of blue-jeans I pick up at JC Penney's for $25 probably don't cost a 1/10th of that amount at the manufacturing level... But I still buy'em.
Why not incorporate several road making systems into your layout?
First off it would give you some idea on how each worked for future reference, but more importantly it would give your roadways different looks.
Quite often you'll find one road making system employed per layout and consequently the roads all end up looking alike. Travel around your area, does all the pavement look alike? I know in my area it doesn't. Different colors, different textures, different degrees of "crown" (with some roads not having any at all).
Styrene, foam covered with plaster, the Woodland Scenic's road making system and even this one, the Real Road System, merits a look see.
Use some different ones on your layout, finish them off with different colors... I think the contrast between roads will end up making each one that much more unique.
I wonder if anyone else has used photographs from the computer for road surfaces and markings. Her is an example:
Some of the surfaces are vinyl spackle painted with Woodland Scenics black and marked with Chartpak tape.
In the past I have used roofing felt with great success. I find asphalt roof shingles way too heavy for HO may work for G or O gage though. I am planning a stretch of concrete road and I visited a layout where the builder used bass wood and real cement dust over a bed of white glue. I have seen bass wood just sanded and painted with a concrete color. I've seen Howard Zane do them on a .020 piece of shirt cardboard also.
I like to use good old fashion tar paper. Its very easy to cut. I carve in cracks, and depending on what type of road I am doing,I can dig out enough for pot-holes or add cobbel stone here and there & maybe a manhole cover, and spray it with dull coat, and weather it with light gray chalk. I don't know how to post pictures yet.,but as soon as my son shows me how. I will post a lot of pictures. Sam
TexasSPWhat do you use to glue the foam down?
I use plain old yellow carpenter glue.Or white Sobo craft glue.
TexasSPI may try the drywall mud as well. How watery do you mix it to get good results?
Pancake batter. I'll also use drywall quick plaster and mix some black/grey and use it as a cement ramp for the grade crossings. A little sanding and it looks great. (I still need to sand the ramp up to the crossing)
Here's a few pics....
I think I originally found it on here or one of the other RR forums. It's funny how the results turn out like they do, I wasn't sure as I had tried other methods with so so results. I like how the foam keeps the road smooth but allows the road to move with the natural shape of the terrain as well. Plus it's so easy to but your roads right up to the track for crossings. Styrene didn't allow this and straight plaster was always a pain to get smooth.
What do you use to glue the foam down?
I personally have been most pleased with the web spray adhesive such as scenic express sells. You just need to let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before placing the foam on the layout because if you put it down right away, the gases from the adhesive curing process in the beginning will cause the foam to bubble up.
I may try the drywall mud as well. How watery do you mix it to get good results?
Glad to see someone else using this method with good results!
TexasSP I went through several methods before settling on a variation of this:http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ashphalt_roads.htm The foam he used is irrelevant as any craft type foam 2mm thick will work. I get mine from hobby lobby for 0.79 for a 12x18 sheet. I use smooth it as the plaster. Tried hydrocal and others but smooth it brushes on the foam and levels out better. You want the smooth it mix just thick enough to stay on the foam well but not as thick as the instructions say. I probably use about 25% more water than the instructions on the box call for. I mix in black paint to tone down the plaster color which can be the perfect color for cement before touch up and weathering and gives a good base to paint it for asphalt. I vary the paint I use and the weathering to make it more real world. Newer asphalt is darker than old and the mixes can vary a great deal in color. I even add pot holes and patch areas which I do by painting darker.
I went through several methods before settling on a variation of this:
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ashphalt_roads.htm
The foam he used is irrelevant as any craft type foam 2mm thick will work. I get mine from hobby lobby for 0.79 for a 12x18 sheet. I use smooth it as the plaster. Tried hydrocal and others but smooth it brushes on the foam and levels out better. You want the smooth it mix just thick enough to stay on the foam well but not as thick as the instructions say. I probably use about 25% more water than the instructions on the box call for. I mix in black paint to tone down the plaster color which can be the perfect color for cement before touch up and weathering and gives a good base to paint it for asphalt. I vary the paint I use and the weathering to make it more real world. Newer asphalt is darker than old and the mixes can vary a great deal in color. I even add pot holes and patch areas which I do by painting darker.
You have got to be kidding!
I use the same method. It works fantastic. From now on I won't use any other way. Its fast, and very simple to do. The 2mm foam is cheap at 79 cents a sheet at hobby lobby. Simply cut it out to fit your road dimensions.I use the grey road foam so that when I sand it the grey comes through and looks like road wear. The drywall compound can be colored and used over and over again. I have 2 containers. One asphalt and one grey color.
There's a website somewhere that shows exactly how this works, but I can't seem to find it.
..... Bob
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