I am doing a major renovation in my town, and could use some advice. I have “raised” my entire town with 1/8" masonite, except where the roads will be. Hopefully this will enable me to build curbs. I have been experimenting with Woodland Scenics Smooth It for roadways, and it seems to work okay, but am having a hard time painting it to look like real roads. I am also using a lot of lemax street lights and traffic signals, so I need to be able to bury the wiring in the roadway. I don’t know whether to stick with the Smooth It, or go to a pre-fabricated road, such as those from Scenic Express. Any “street” advice you could give me would sure be appreciated! Also, does anyone have any experience with the Bachman On-3 trolleys? They look like they would make an interesting addition to my streets without taking up a lot of space. I have given up on O-gauge trolleys, as they are either to big, requiring large turns (read O-27), or way to expensinve. Can they be run back and forth such as Lionel or Industrial Rail trolleys by using bumpers? Again, any info. you can give me sure would help!
Roadway I don’t know about. The Bachmann trolley uses a reversing track. It’s a special 9" section of track that changes the polarity.
pbjwilson, can this track section be purchased seperately? My local train store only has the trolley for sale ( I believe under the Spectrum name), not with track.
i remember in an article about using black sandpaper for roads. to paint the lines make a stensil on some cardboard and spray paint them on the ‘‘road’’[^]
I had some roofing paper left over from a porch project. I like the texture of it and after painting it various shades of gray, the edges of the center line can cut into it with a knife. The scribed lines help guide the brush when painting.
Click photo to enlarge
I used 1/8" masonite painted gray with oil and other stains dry brushed on. For the lines I used pinstripe tape. When done I spayed all with Dulecoat.
CHEAPEST and easiest CUSTOM asphalt or concrete roads.
I use cardboard. Yes cheap cardboard. It is easy to paint, cut and make very realistic… To use with masonite you need to cut out the areas where the roads will go(clean up the fuzzy edges), and using that as a stencil place over the sheet of cardboard and cut out the roads to fit;
use the masonite as the sidewalks and curbs paint those areas where the side alks will go using concrete color spray paint; score the sidewalks .
STEP 1.
layout your city on the on the masonite. Cut out the areas where the roads will go(clean up the fuzzy edges), and using that as a stencil place over the sheet of cardboard and cut out the roads to fit; place the cardboard beneath the masontie and using it as a guide draw roadway on the cardboard.
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Approximate where you will have WHITE crosswalks and stop lines
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Obtain WHITE line spray paint; this paint can be used with the sprayer nozzel upside down
and paint on the cardboard where the lines will be; Also spray WHITE on both sides of the road and of course in an X where the railroad crossing would be. -
MASK the street lines and letters. Using Charting and Graphic Art Tape like Formaline(R) 3/32 or 1/16 inch create the Road edge lines placing over the WHITE paint on the road edges; Use an X-acto Knife to cut and form the X-crossing “STOP”, road arrows(like I said it does take some planning ahead) and cross walk and stop lines. Look outside on your street to get an idea of the thicknesses of real lines to know how to form your lines. Create curved lines at curves it is easily done because the formaline line is flexible. Press hard with the line tape to seal te white. Where possible wrap the lines under the cardboard too.
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using a straight edge mark the centerlines on the dried yellow paint of your road but offset the center by 1/8"
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Obtain and spray YELLOW line paint down the center of the roads;
I just started looking at the Smooth-it and other materials.
Can you use the Smooth-it by itself of are you supposed to paint over the top of it with either the concrete or pavement options they offer?
mpzp.
The track section I am talking about is Bachmann E-Z track. It comes in a blister pack. and I think you get two sections so you can put one section at both ends of your trolley line. You can check it out on-line at hobbycircle.com. Just go to track - bachmann-H.O.
TRY A SQUARE OF ASPHALT ROOFING SHINGLES. I USE IT ON BOTH MY HO AND O SCALE LAYOUTS EASY TO CUT, PAINT LINES AND HAS A NATURAL CURVE IF YOU ARE USING ROADBED. COMES IN MANY SHADES AND TEXTURES. WILL HANDLE ANY KIND OF PAINT. FOR SIDEWALKS TRY SELF STICK VINYL TILE CUT TO SIZE AND IT CAN BE PAINTED TO YOUR LIKING ALSO
I was just looking at a roofing shingle - thinking about using it - my son and I are also thinking of using his plastic road track. It just clicks together, and has center lines, curbs, and man-hole covers already in it.
For what it’s worth I use black sand blasting crystals, available at home centers, for black top roads. Simple put it were you want it then spray it with glue/water mix.
I’ve used drywall compound. What is esp. good about it is that it often cracks, leaving prototypical “frost damage” to your road.
For dirt roads, I simply use dried clay spread over latex.
For shoulder of country roads, I use small grained gravel.
Dave Vergun
I’ve used expanded cell sheet PVC (Sintra is abrand name), available at plastic distributors. It is usually available in black in 3mm and 6mm, which when lightly dusted with any gray primer ‘looks the look’. It is also available in 1mm white, but when you paint it, you lose the slight texture that makes it so good for roads.
Folks,
I use 3M grip tape for roads.
You can find it at most hardware stores, its self adhesive, looks good, and is easy![8D]
I’ve been using mat board for years. It’s inexpensive (around $5-6 a sheet) when bought at an artists’ supply store rather than from a framing store. I buy 30x40" sheets. They cut easily with a hobby knife, take paint well, and it’s easy to put a crown in them by placing 1/8" stripwood or similar sized wire underneath.
Here’s another method that’s kinda cool. Lay down some latex paint or glue, then sprinkle with sand. Then coat with a layer of black enamel paint once it’s dry and vacuumed.
You will end up with perfect asphalt; and it even feels like asphalt; in fact, that’s sort of what asphalt actually consists of.
I did the same thing when I built my town. I laid down 1/8" poster board under my town buildings. Then I used pre-made roadways for the streets and parking lots. I then bought 1/4" square balsa wood for the curbs. Before gluing them down, I sprayed them with gray stucco paint that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe’s. The stucco paint makes them look rough and “curb-like”. The balsa wood is easy to cut and glue in place.
Hopes this helps. If there is a way to send you some pictures, I can show you better than trying to describe it.
Thanks for all your responses! Wish I could have gotten back here sooner, but it seems I have to go to work. I need to figure out a way around that. The woodland scenic smooth it does require paint, and the paint they recommend for it does not look right. Being fairly stupid, I laid my masonite down, before measuring for pre-made road systems, so they probably won’t fit unmodified. I am looking for a more cement color than asphalt color. Main Street will be cement, while outlying roads will be a mix of cement and asphalt. I think I am going to practice with a few of your ideas and see which one works best. Thanks for the help, guys!