Hi guys,
I saw an article about “Modeling a Flatlands Scene” and the roads (traffic wise) looked VERY realistic! Any suggestions on what is the best product for vehicle roads?
Thanks in Advance!
Regards,
Nigel
Hi Nigel,
I’ve seen good results from Woodland Scenics ‘Smooth-it’ product, and have bought this for my roads. It’s a tad expensive in Oz, But should be worth it. a large 1L (ish) container was $25.95 from my local hobby store.
I know a couple of guys here have also used regular plaster smoothed out with colour put into it when it’s still ‘wet’ and have produced good results.
James
Durham’s water putty, plaster and styrene seem to work quite well for road material. I used to use plaster exclusivly, but there are times that the other products are better suited for the area size and working time for the putty.
I use powdered masonry dyes for all my plaster whether for castings, roads or top hardshell layer. This stops any white from showing and is a great base to start with.
This is only base plaster w/o any staining or painting
Like bogp40, my current favorite material is Durham’s Water Putty. It is harder and less dusty than plaster. It is a buff brown color powder that you mix with water like plaster. It is slightly more expensive than plaster, but less expensive than the Woodland Scenics products.
I used basswood strip wood as a form to give a uniform thickness when I poured the putty. I also put masking tape on the track and RR crossings near the places where I would pour the putty. When it was dry, I wet sanded it with meduim and fine sanding sponges that drywall contractors use. The result is a smooth surface.
The last road I completed, I spray painted with Floquil Reefer Gray to represent asphalt, or concrete for the concrete sidewalks that I also cast in a second pour. Before the gray, I sprayed white on the parts of the road where centerlines and parking space lines would be, then used 1/16" wide tape to mask where the lines would be.
This is an in-prograss photo before I added buildings and other details:
I am modeling in HO scale.
You have a very nice layout, you should be proud.
I use flat black brush on paint with sand mixed in it to make it real thick, then spread even. Once dry you can tone it to what ever color you want.
Jeff told me to use drywall compound on Grade crossings so I tryed it out on roads. Works really good! A thin layer should do it and takes weathering really good. After it drys just sand it down to a smoth surface. It’s also cheaper than stryene.(A big bag of the Dry stuff. Not the pre-mixed)
EDIT: I used this for concrete roads.
There are many methods that give good results. I used this on my last layout and I liked it so well I’ll be using it again.
Wow. Those look really good. I could of used that on my ashphalt allies.