Does anyone have any tips/tricks for painting smooth traffic lane lines on curves. I just drew my first lane and edge markers on a straightaway using a straight edge and white marking pen (earlier era, white lines, not yellow). For a first attempt, it looks very presentable. Now I have reached the curves. I thought about trying to freehand them but that seems like it would take a keen eye and a steady hand, neither of which I have in my tool box. Since these are on highway curves which would naturally be no passing zones, I not only need a smooth solid line but need to keep two lines parallel. The curves were laid out by eye and so have no fixed radius or center point and even if they did, it would probably be out in the aisle. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Never tried this before but maybe you should check out a set of flexible ‘artist curves’ - can generally get them in a big office supply store or wherever artist’s supplies are sold. They’re typically blueish and are a sort of flexible ruler - shape it as desired and then it will hold that shape until you rebend it. Just a thought, hope it helps.
M
[#ditto] MR had an article a while back on using a “French curve” and fine tip paint pens for this. Don’t let the tip of the pen contact the French curve or it will “drag” the paint and cause sloppy line edges.
Good suggestion but it has given me another idea. I have some left over Woodland Scenics flexible foam tape used for shaping roadways. If I can get that to stick to my highway, it should work well as a guide. Thanks for the tip.
I had thought of the French curve which I remember using in my high school drafting class about 40 years ago. The problem is some of these curves run through a deep cut and I don’t think I could get a French curve to lie flat. I can see some areas where it would be useful. Not a bad suggestion. Thanks.
Thanks for the reminder. I meant to pick up a French Curve last week at the art supply place. But, they gave me a coupon which is only good tomorrow, so I’ll go back and get one.
Did you paint your roads originally? I did, using a “straight” color, no color mixing, from the container. I thinned it to make a wash, but I can still easily color-match my road with paint straight from the container. (Cheap acrylic “gray” was my choice, by the way.)
After you put down the lines, you can touch up any bad spots with a bit more of the road-colored paint. And, if you overdo the touch-up with road color, you can give it another pass of white-line stuff. Patience, Grasshopper, patience, is the key.
I used cheap acrylics too. I’ve tried several products for paving material, WS Smooth it, Durham’s water putty, but I’ve settled on a powdered joint compound that gives me the greatest working time. I like to use several different grays to simulate asphalt. One thing I have noticed about ashphalt in the real world is the newer it is, the darker it is. Since not all roads get repaved at the same time, there will be variations. I’ve used everything from a medium gray to almost off white. With all of them, I use several shades of weathering powder to dull it and then a streak of grimy black down the traffic lane. I will do this after the traffic lines are down so they don’t look like they were painted yesterday. As with almost everything in scenery, the key is layering. With this approach, it’s hard to do it wrong because you can just keep applying varying shades until it looks right. I just finished a large parking area with good results.
The flexible artist’s curves are very useful in re-creating any arc. I bought one for work many years ago - for drawing roadways for traffic crash sketches on police reports - but kept it even when I was moved “off the street”. I used it again within the past week to draw some curves on the fascia for my layout. Mine is now over 30 years old and hasn’t lost any flexibility or usefulness.
Bill
Could you make a 3 hole jig. After getting one side of your road marked (straight or curved), have one side of the jig a scribe to follow the mark, the other two for your markers, center line could be raised and lowered as needed for passing zones (on your straight sections). That way your lanes would be a constant width without the need to measure.
Good luck,