OK, here's a question that could work in any scale, but since i'm in N scale, that's the scale we'll deal with.:teeth: What do you use for roads on your layout?? I currently use drywall joint compound, spread on thin(ish) and sanded down fairly smooth. After that, it gets painted a greyish color and its ready to go. What do you use??
I use this product: Realroad It makes very realistic roads in a very realistic color. I got it a while ago (a couple of years) so I do not know if the guy is still in business. His web page still comes up.
I am in the drywall joint compound camp. I have tried a few other things but keep coming back to the joint compound.
I use a combination of materials. For major paved paved roads, I starts with a piece of roadbed, split down the middle, and glued down with an appropriately sized gap in between (at least 1/2", but it depends on what type of road I'm dealing with. The gap is filled with joint compound once the glue dries on the cork. If I want an asphalt road, I typically use .020" styrene cut to an appropriate width and airbrushed with weathered black before gluing in place, though joint compound can also be used for this application. If I want a concrete road, I cut .020" styrene to width, and then scribe expansion joints into the road. This typically gets painted with floquil aged concrete. On many of my asphalt roads, i ballast the shoulders. With the cork roadbed, grass and weeds can also be applied to the slope, leading to a roadside ditch. Using the cork under these roads makes grade crossings look more correct. There isn't a big hill going from the flat road to the tracks, which can happen if the road is applied directly to the senerey base. For less well traveled roads, if they are paved, I just use joint compound. If they aren't paved, I just make sure the area the road is going down is reasonably flat, and apply appropriate senic materials to the top surface (usually this means ballast) Paul
For asphalt: sand paper painted with (dark) grey. For asphalt: clay, painted with all colors of grey. For concrete: styrene.
Rob, nice roads! What program did you use to print the graphics? Thieu, I like the way you colored the road, with the darker line down the center of each lane... skitterend!
I scarved it with a hobby knife to simulate the concrete plates. With some blackened water and some pastels I highlighted those lines.
I like the joint compound because I can contour it up to the rails for grade crossings, sand curbs into it, paint it to simulate concrete, asphalt or dirt and it is inexpensive. I blend the edges in with ground cover. It is a little messy to work with and the dust from sanding plugs the filter in my shop vac real quick. It usually takes a few applications to fill all the voids and cracks after it dries. After I paint it, I shade the grease stains down the middle of the lanes with graphite pencil that I smudge around with my fingers. I come back and use the pencil to draw cracks and joints.
The roads shown here are a combination of plaster and plastic sheet. The plastic sheet includes the brick surface and between the rails. :cat:
Russ, Get a dry wall sanding sponge and use it wet. When sanding the dampness captures all the dust. All you need to do is rinse in a bucket of water each time it clogs up. It also leaves an ultra smooth surface of your work.
This site has an interesting tutorial. http://www.telusplanet.net/public/crowley/ashphalt_roads.htm Here is apic from the tutorial.
Thanks for all the information. I was about the rebuild one of my roads, so I searched a found this thread. I just used the lightweight joint compound, and man, that was great to work with. I sacrificed one of my wife's Ziploc plastic containers (she doesn't know yet!), and mixed it with water, and used a mini trowel to spread it. It was so simple! Now it's drying, so I'll go get a drywall sanding sponge for the finishing touch.
