Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Here is a photo of the real thing. Definitely need to lighten the entire road, and there is a bit of difference in the middle of each lane versus where the tires go. There is a manhole further down the street, and will have to build the gutters in, not to mention the curbs, sidewalks and retaining walls and such. For the joints between the sheets, would paint the area underneath with off-black paint, then they would be expansion joints.
Kevin, the sandpaper is "wet or dry" so it is waterproof... shouldn't get wrinkles... and I plan to use some sray on glue.
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Here's what I am doing with the road. Decided to put the sandpaper on a piece of .040 sheet plastic so that I could work on it at my workbench in the house instead of in the trainroom. This way, I can monitor Big Blue and watch TV (Go Texans!) The sheet plastic will also give me a base for glueing the curbs and sidewalks and gutters.
First, measured the area where the road goes and made a paper pattern, then cut the plastic. Painted black lines where the edges of the sandpaper will be so that the white plastic wouldn't show through. The plastic is 32" on the long edges and almost 9" wide.
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Cut out the sandpaper to fit. Although the sandpaper was wide enough to cover the width of the road, I went ahead and cut the sheets in half to represent the joints between the asphalt sections which result on the real thing because of the width of the asphalt laying machine.
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Used 3M 77 Spray glue. This stuff sticks like crazy. Gotta be real careful to get the sandpaper in the right spot on thefirst try.
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And after putting a wash of off-white on the paper and sealing it with a coat of spray-on matte finish, I put it in place with the bridge just to see how things are looking. The road is still too dark, I'll do another wash of white and then seal that, and repeat as necessary until I am satisfied with the color.
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I put two more wash/sealer coats on. Still could be lighter. I started on the striping, then I'll go back and either add darker in the center of the lanes between the tire tracks, or make the tire tire tracks lighter. Probably the latter. Maybe use weathering powder, but then the dullcote makes it dissappear... we'll see. Multiple applications of powder and dullcote?
Also, the road still needs more variation in color, will work on that. Even with the "weathering" I have done so far, the road still looks like a very newly laid asphalt road.
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Stripes done. On to the weathering. The areas with the blue tape will be the sidewalks.
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Okay... after 4 wash/dullcote applications and three weathering powder/dullcote applications, it is getting close to good enough. The first expansion joint may need to be toned down a bit, and still need to think about whether any patches are needed. Will add a manhole cover as per the prototype, and of course, do the sidewalks, gutters, and retaining walls along the sidewalks.
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Gary,
Pretty Schnazzy!!!!
That is a nice effect and it seems very controlable unlike the mess of plaster or other products. Nice shoes by the way!!
You're right Greg. it was easy to control the process. The sandpaper takes the washes very well, and can be moved around with a bit of extra water added. The washes dry lighter and more translucent than when they are wet. Because of that, after the wash dried, I sprayed the dullcoat on, let it dry, then did another wash, spray, wash, spray, etc. The downside is the amount of time it takes due to the drying times.
After the washes had pretty well produced the color I was looking for, I sealed the whole thing with dullcote, then added the striping by using blue masking tape as guidelines. That worked out very well, no paint seepage under the tape at all.
Then the weathering powders went on, medium gray in the centers of the lanes where the oil drips occur, and white on the rest. Did this three times, sealing with dullcote between applications. The dust does dissappear a bit under the dullcote, hence the extra applications of powder.
Luckily it was nice and sunny today, with minimal humidity, and that helped with the dry times. All in all, it was a pleasant day watching the Texans play the Raiders and working on my layout.
The sandpaper I started with was almost black instead of gray. I actually had some 600 grit paper that was more gray, but did not have enough. The grayer paper may have been quicker due to less wahes.
Oh, Boy, Gary! That's looking very, very good! I'm liking it a bunch! So, you used some of your wife's laundry product on the road and it ends up looking like that? Very kool!
I wonder if Reckitt Benckiser, Inc. knows that Spray 'n' Wash has this really neat creative hobby uses?
O.K. ... I'm a little punch this afternoon ... or evening.
All kidding aside, I think you've got another winner workin' there, Herr Bridgemeister!
Nice one biL... but not "Spray and Wash", but wash, spray, wash, spray....
Photo of the road under the bridge. Time to start on the sidewalks and curbs.
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Thanks Gus!
Got started on the sidewalks and retaining walls. Oh... just so everyone knows, I am absolutely stealing this stuff from Steve and the streets and sidewalks he built on his layout.
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Gary S Wrote:Thanks Gus!
Got started on the sidewalks and retaining walls. Oh... just so everyone knows, I am absolutely stealing this stuff from Steve and the streets and sidewalks he built on his layout.
Fantastic. I remember a quote, I don't know who said it, but it went something like this, "Remember, mimicry is the ultimate form flattery!"
So, that said, I intend to flatter a lot of folks here when I get around to doing some scenery. Including you fine Sir! That street and sidewalk look fantastic!
Gary S Wrote:The first expansion joint may need to be toned down a bit, and still need to think about whether any patches are needed. Will add a manhole cover as per the prototype, and of course, do the sidewalks, gutters, and retaining walls along the sidewalks.
Gary,
This gets better and better. I often flip between your proto photos and the model photos, and if it were not for the blue tape or other give-aways, I would not be sure of whether I am looking at the real thing...!
I do have one nit-pick if I may!
I don't know if roads are paved differently in Texas, but I have never seen an expansion joint in an asphalt-paved road. Your first photo in the sidewalk post looks much better - like the road has been cut and excavated from some utility work. We see these kind of "scars" all the time here. Just after the road is paved, they realize they have to cut it up for water or sewer work - and it looks just like your photo.
Andrew
Tetters, thanks! And it sure helps to have all the info on hand here at The Gauge.
Andrew, I appreciate the commentary. I agree with you that asphalt roads typically don't have expansion joints, but was at a loss for what else to call them. If you look carefully at the proto street, you will notice straight lines running the width of the road every so often. Also, there are lines running the length of the road. From what I have seen, these lines are due to the asphalt installation machinery, which typically does only one lane at a time (even though I only modeled the joint in the very middle of the road).
As for the lines running across the width of the road, it may be that this was originally a concrete road with the requisite expansion joints, then as the road deteriorated, they topped over it with a layer of asphalt. That is a typical way things are repaired/resurfaced here in Houston. Then, with the concrete expansion joint cracks underneath, the asphalt seperated there, leaving the lines as on the prototype. Anyway, the good thing is that since I needed 3 sheets of sandpaper, I didn't have to make a lot of effort in hiding the seams.
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