I am thinking about how to build the streets on my “Arkansas Central” layout and was wondering, how in the world should i do it? Im thinking about using woodland’s “smooth it” plaster but how do I make sidewalks, and curbs on the street also the road will be higher than all the other areas, how should i blend this? Thanks in advance! raptor
The November MR has an article ‘Model Realistic Streets and Sidewalks’ which I have been following. He uses drywall compound which I think is too soft. I have been using Durham’s Water Putty, and wet sanding to smooth it. He also suggests using 7 layers of masking tape as a pouring form for the roadside; I had some 1/8" basswood strips and have been using them instead. The roads I am working on are straight, so it is not a problem. The tape would be an answer for curves.
I just glued the scale 6x6 styrene for curbs last night, and hopefilly will pour the sidewalks today. I plan on spraying road with Floquil Primer, then a Reefer Yellow down the center. I have some narrow tape which I will put on the centerline for the road stripe, then top it off with Reefer Gray for the asphalt road surface. I will add cuts in the sidewalks to represent expansion joints and paint them Concrete. I am modeling the 50s in Maine, so the curbs would granite, some shade of gray - I have not decided yet. The road painting was in one of the Dream, Plan, Build CDs.
Raptor,
This topic has been brought up a number of times here on the forum the past few weeks. Here’s a couple of links:
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/952350/ShowPost.aspx
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/954707/ShowPost.aspx
I’ve just started to look into and experiment myself. I picked up a 1/16" thick roll of Contact cork. (The same folks that make the liner than goes in your kitchen drawers.) For an asphalt road, I cut off a 3" wide strip off the end, removed the backing, and secured it on a piece of scrap wood. Since the cork is porous, I’ve found that wall spackle fills in the voids quite nicely.
I spread an thin layer of spackle on the cork strip with a spatula and let it dry. Once dry, I then sand it lightly with 400 grit sandpaer to make the surface even. (You may want to add another coat of spackle for greater uniformity.) When you’ve finished, paint the road surface with Pollyscale “grimy black” (dark gray tint) then add lines appropriate to the era that you are modeling.
Tom
Last week, I posted a reply about the street project I was starting using the Nov MR article and Duhram’s Water Putty. I finally got a Photobucket account, so I can share spme photos of what I was talking about. I already knew what buildings I was going to use - they were from my previous layout.
After I laid out the roads and parking lots, I started by pouring a 1/8" thick layer of Water Putty over the whole area. I did this in strips 6" to 8" wide so I could smooth the putty before it set up. When this was complete, I wet sanded it using a medium grit sanding sponge like drywall installer use. It is on the right in the photo. I wiped the surface with a wet paper towel to remove the excess ‘mud’ from the sanding. After drying overnight, I used CA cement to glue the 6x6 scale styrene to the first layer to represent the curbs. Then I poured an additional layer of Water Putty to form the sidewalks and level bases for the buildings, and wet sanded it. I used the styrene and 1/16" wood for the forms. After sanding smooth, I scratched expansion jounts in the sidewalks every 5 ft.
Just to see how things will look, I set the buildings in place. Some need additional work.
To complete the job, I will spray a primer coat, followed by white on the road centerlines and parking spaces (I am modeling the 50s in Maine; yellow single lines were not used until later), a final coat of gray will represent asphalt. The sidewalks will be painted concrete and the styrene will be gray for granite. I will use narrow strips of tape on the roads and parking spaces before I spray the gray to make the lines.
George - I like the curbs and sidewalks. How did you do the grade crossings?
May I add in a plea for information on road cambers, the rainwater gulley between the road and the curb and drain grids please? I seem to be able to find pics of manholes in the middle of the road but the rainwater services never seem to show up.
HELP please! [8D] TIA
Generally, a road will be highest in the center, and drop off in a gentle arc towards the edge. This will push the rainwater to the edge, where it will either run downhill, enter a drainage grate, or just form a big puddle. Some here have suggested using a styrene sheet for the road, and putting a small obstruction like a toothpick in the center to create the “crown” effect on the road. Drainage grates can be either horizontal (in the road) or vertical (in the curb.) They might run to dry catch-basins which are easy to construct and work fine until they fill up, or to short pipe runs to open ditches or “swales,” or, in more urban environment, into a storm drain system which eventually ends up dumping into a river.
Traction websites teach all aspects to model streets, and; they are literally gold mines for road and street modeling including the sidewalks.
Simply “overlook” the word “traction.” For example: How do you properly model street trackage at railroad crossings even if you never model a traction layout? Now, you will know!
Trolleyville Schoolhouse - Paving Streets (Part One) …
http://www.trolleyville.com/tv/school/lesson6_3/
Trolleyville Schoolhouse - Paving Streets (Part Two) …
http://www.trolleyville.com/tv/school/lesson6_4
Interurban`s - “how I do in the street trackage” …
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=12348&page=1&pp=15
Re-read the articles to see what you missed during the first read(s) because there is very little fat in these articles. For example: In Paving Streets Part One you will see, “We have found that oil-base Floquil paints adhere much better and are more durable than water-based paints.”
I haven’t tried the product in the link below, but it looks interesting.
http://bibaland.com/real-road/
Mike Tennent
Hi Mr B, sorry for the late reply we have been away on a short trip.
I have some Campbell wooden ties that I bought for a retaining wall many years ago. I am using Atlas code 100 flextrack. I glue down a layer of the ties between the rails, followed by a second layer. If you set the first layer directly on the plastic ties, the second layer is just below the railheads. I use the rail ‘spikes’ as a guide to leave a flangeway.
Once the glue is dry, I carve a ramp on each end with a hobby knife so low coupler trip pins will not catch. I do a similar thing outside the rails. I painted it with a wash of Floquil Railroad Tie Brown - 5% to 10% paint in Dio-Sol. Here is a close-up
I still need to do some cleaning up after pouring all that Water Putty.