I am putting a concrete area around the lumber yard I am building. What I did was used lightweight drywall compound (got the idea fiom ARTHILL) Mixed it with water and paint and spread in in the area. When it dries I think it will make excelent concrete. What I do not know is that it will need some sealer of some sort I would think, and since it is already a good concrete color I do not want to paint it. Would you suggest a clear coat of somekind? If so what do you recomend. Any good ideas? Mike
Why do you think it will need a sealer - since, if I understand correctly you mixed the paint into the compound (seems to be a derivate of the old Durham’s Putty and paint mixture of at least two decades ago), even if the surface is chipped or cracked by accident, there is no bright white surface exposed: all is concrete color.
Leave it alone for now…(although, perhaps some weathering and chalk powder would add another level of realism).
I was thinking of it from the dust point of view. With the paint in the mixture maybe it won’t be dusty. It isn’t dry yet so I don’t know how it will tun out. I’ll keep in touch. Mike
That sounds like a good idea. What color paint did you use and how much?
What I did was mix the water and compound together so it is fairly runny and will smooth easly then added black paint from Wally World until it is a dark gray, after it dries it will turn quite a bit lighter. Do some exterminting, and do thin layers at a time or it will crack. Mike
drywall compound should not be dusty when dry unless you sand it. you’ll probally want to stain it somewhat anyhow as parked vehicles drop oil,water, sun and rain change colors and fade it,if you want to seal it,try dullcote, but it’ll be fine as is.
Not sure from your post whether you’ve don it yet or are doing it… BUT… what you might like to try is to do it in patches/squares about 3"x3" or 3"x X. The 3" is about 20’ in H0 (Okay go small for N). This is about the size that a lot of concrete is laid for things like parking lots and hard standings.
You would probably want to surround the space with black card (or styrene) to the depth you want to lay the “concrete” and then back the card up with the same depth of balsa or other stripwood while the “concrete” sets. When hard take away the wood and leave the card. If you do the same thing again next to the first you will (probably) get a slightly different colour - this happens - and you will get the appearance of the mastic sealant (or bitumen) that is squeazed in between the laid panels. Doing this you can have slightly different angles in the panels where you want - again this happens - Also panels are often made with a series of short straights instead of a curve for any curved edge. If it’s new the outside edges are often left with the shuttering and holding pegs in place.
If you have already laid your surface you can scribe the joints in place and mark them with a fine tipped pen.
The great thing about doing the panels is that they frequently get any damage there is at the edges and corners… so this is the first place to start any “weathering”. Also the mastic comes out. Both cracking and loss of mastic let dirt in… dirt collects seeds and you start to get grass and other weeds… except where there is a lot of traffic… exactly where the tyres go… which gives you your next task… putting in the tyre trails. I think that this can be done with chalks or “dry brushng” acrylic paints with cottonballs to give an extremely light touch… going over and over to build up the trail.
If you can look at a suitable concrete patch you will see:
- oil blobs where trucks stand… both parked up and q
Wow! What a lot of good ideas. You must spend a lot of time in parking lots. [:D] I’ve printed out your message and am saving it for when I get back to adding onto my layout this winter.
Glad you liked it [8D]
It’s amazing the things you get to notice as a tower operator on a quiet line. It’s great to have somewhere to pass on all these ridiculous details after all these years [:P]
Er… just another thought… you might like to look at ways damaged areas are patched and/or what happens when a utility company cuts a trench across a concrete 9or other) paved area. One thing I’ve noticed is that when concrete is cut or broken out it is similar to rusty steel… that is… you’d sort of think that a rusty bit of steel would be the same all through but as soon as you cut it the new surface is all bright and shiny. While the top 1/4" of concrete may be full of crud and spillage the inches below… and the dust… will be bright and (usually) white with the bits of the ballast very clear colours… then again… different sand will cause the concrete to be all sorts of colours.
Patches and backfills are often “temporarily” surfaced with tarmac… which often starts out as a bump and becomes a rut as the broken ground under it compacts.
New posts used to be put in (for signs, barriers and whatever) by jackhammering out a rough hole and filling with new concrete round the post. More often now only a small round hole is made using a diamond tipped core drill.
Most roads and parking lots are made by rolling in a layer (or two) of aggregate (sometimes old railroad ballast) and then pouring the concrete on top. The concrete isn’t rolled but is tamped - a vertical chopping motion with an edge. The tamping leaves the rippled effect. this is often left to provide grip and causes a lot of the noise of a concrete road. Alternatively a screed of finer sand/cement ca