Blacktop roads

[JLK]

What is your favorite way to make blacktop roads? I want to make a parking lot and a road. Thanks in advance.

[Lake]

Plastic signs from the hardware store. Either the medium or heavy ones. The thinnest ones tend to warp. I spray the white backs with the color I want the roads or parking lots to be. When dry, I use a small flat head screw driver of the correct width, with a ruler if need be, for the lines to scrape off the road color. This shows the white under. For yellow lines I then go over them with a yellow Sharpie.

Below are the making of the lines and the finished product. I attach the plastic with tub and tile caulk covering all of the plastic. Any that oozes out the sides can be cleaned away.

[JLK]

Did you use an airbrush to spray it or did you find gray spray paint?

[Phoebe Vet]

I use cork, painted  or the back side of shingles, unpainted.

[GP-9_Man11786]

I prefer Woodland Scenic Road System, which consists of thin foam tape used to make forms and "Smooth It" plaster (plaster of Paris works equally well and costs a good bit less). I made the plaster roads and painted them black with tempera paint.

At the time the above photo was taken, U used colored pencils to make the lane lines. I have since switched to Pactra Trim Tape, which I got at my local hobby shop. Its similar to pin stripe tape and comes in varying widths.

[MisterBeasley]

I use Durhams Water Putty for mine.  It's a hardware store item.  It comes as a light tan powder.  I mix it with water, fairly thin and runny, and sometimes I add a splash of white vinegar which slows the setting and gives me more working time.  I pour it on the road, and as it sets I use a wet foam brush to smooth it out, keeping the brush clean in a yogurt-container of water.  Once it sets up completely, you can sand out the rough spots, but it dries very hard and it's quite durable.

 I use a thin wash of cheap gray acrylic craft paint in water to color the road.  The road surface takes color well.  By using a wash, it comes out a bit uneven, which is more natural-looking than the "perfect" even paint job you would get with straight paint.  I prefer to use a single color rather than mixing, because it's much easier to touch up that way.

The lines here were done with a white gel pen.

[jacon12]

 

Thanks for posting this tip on making the white/yellow lines.  From looking at your photos it looks like you may have applied a little weathering also?

Jarrell

Lake

Plastic signs from the hardware store. Either the medium or heavy ones. The thinnest ones tend to warp. I spray the white backs with the color I want the roads or parking lots to be. When dry, I use a small flat head screw driver of the correct width, with a ruler if need be, for the lines to scrape off the road color. This shows the white under. For yellow lines I then go over them with a yellow Sharpie.

Below are the making of the lines and the finished product. I attach the plastic with tub and tile caulk covering all of the plastic. Any that oozes out the sides can be cleaned away.

[BroadwayLion]

The BACKSIDE of shingles! What a great idea, I was using the top of the shingles.

I will try that. For 7th Avenue I will just use the foam deck that I will be using for that level of the layout. 7th Avenue is  one way with four traffic lanes plus two parking lanes. The foam that I will be using, about 1.5" thick was removed from the roof of the library building (I have tons of the stuff) and is quite uneven, which is why I thought it already looks like 7th Avenue.

The city blocks will be built on 1/8" hardboard decorated as the sidewalk and will support the buildings.

Actually, I'll not model all of 7th Avenue, just the curb lane and maybe one or two traffic lanes. If you try to cross the street you will fall off the edge of the table.

ROAR

[steamage]

I use Red Devil Lightweight Spackle for my roads, this so the road will have a crown to it.  When this Spackle drys, it can be sanded easily.  In this picture below I just continues the road into the backdrop using the same paint color.

[tshryock]

I've got a tutorial for that on my blog. I use 2mm foamie sheets.

 

http://smallrails.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-make-ho-scale-roads.html

 

thanks

Todd

[Lake]

JLK, I use Krylon Fusion spray can paint. It is black with the cap that has a textured feel to it with little faint sparkles. I tried other blacks and other colors, but this looked a lot like new laid asphalt to me. What color works best is up to the person who's layout it is. Just by looking at the other road photos shown here this in made plain.

Jarrell, Very little weathering. Since my layout is not in a climate controlled space dust gets on every thing. When I first brushed it off to vacuum it up some would stay on the paint. At first I was going to use a damp rag to clean the roadway, but realized it looked like older asphalt. Looked as good as the little bit of weathering I tried and looked like many of the roads on a lot of the layouts in magazines and on forums. So now I mostly use a 2" wide fine bristle paint brush to brush the loose dust into piles to vacuum up.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[jwar41]

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/finnish_road_lines_002.JPG

I like to use 1/8 foam underlayment with greyish black drywall mud about 1/32 or 1/16 thick on top, works great for pot hole, cracks, patches. Then acrylic chalk to get were pattern.

[hon30critter]

steamage!

That is a very convincing painting of the road on your backdrop! Using the same paint as the road surface is brilliant, although it is probably an obvious method to those with more experience. You did do a great job of lightening the road colour as it goes further into the distance.

Your blending of the backdrop with the forground colours is also excellent. I think I detect somebody with some artistic talents here. What is your background (experience wise).

Dave

[jacon12]

So far I've been using Durham's Rock Putty.  

 Jarrell

[steamage]

Thanks Dave for the comments on the road and backdrop.   I did an article in MRR back in Janurary 2008, called Painting Distant Mountains.  I use Latex indoor wall paint for many of my modeling projects. I even have a quart can mixed for Blacktop road color. I have moderate art skills, and improved while painting 40 feet of backdrop.

Bruce Petty

 

[G Paine]

I also use Durham's Water Putty. In this photo of Central Street, I completed the pours and wet sanded the road, then attached the 6x6 styrene curbs with CA cement. The curbs make part of the forms for the sidewalk and building foundations. This area was also wet sanded smooth. Where I find high spots. I use the rough side of a hack saw blade to scrape them down, then smooth it with the straight side of the blade followed by w final wet sanding.

I painted the road with Krylon gray primer and Floquil concrete for the sidewalks. This photo shows the completed road with some buildings set in place and some others added with Photoshop, so I can get an idea when the final scene should look like

[Steven S]

The site below has a tutorial for making asphalt roads.   He uses craft foam with tinted plaster brushed on top.  

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ashphalt_roads.htm

 

Steve S

[YoHo1975]

Krylon Fusion makes by far the most convincing newish Asphalt roads in HO scale hands down.  

[Southwest Chief]

I like to use styrene sheets painted with Floquil grimy black.

I used .010 thick for these roads.  You can see I still have lots of roads to paint