What Roads? We dont need no stinking roads

[Badhorse79]

Well.its official!  I suck at scenery I tried to "concrete" the area around the building in CP Harris and it was like brain surgery lol I failed miserable!  I retreated and came back and and remixed another batch of plaster and im.a little happier with the results to what I had ... I at one time had peanut sized hunks that dried a little faster I guess?  Ah the joys of learning.  This is however"MY " first attem pt at scenery , hey that's why im glad my engines arent this difficult I wouldn't be doing this hobby

[thpbears]

It will take practice. I am decent at scenry but my track is like a nightmare. Just keep trying and you will get good and enjoy the results. Now if I can get fireball to show me how to make nice mountains . Anyways keep trying your bench work is nice so in time I am sure so will the rest of your layout be.

[Badhorse79]

Thanks Bears .. I am currently uploading an update video showing the displaster... on youtube... maybe im being to hard on myself.

[Badhorse79]

I loaded the video ifvanyone would like to see it

[thpbears]

I think the volume went out on the video. Other than that by looking at it you sure don't have anything to be upset at. It is a nice layout that is coming along. I remember the first layout not that big I went at it and felt like I had to have it done in a week or two. But when I start my next one I amtaking my time and then there is always I am told something else to change or do differantly. Looking great though.

[chipallen16]

Try going through Big Al Mayo's videos on Youtube... he's really, really good!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MonsterRailroad

-Chip 

[Badhorse79]

Thanks again... I know Big Al .. he called me a hacker so I leave him be!  I thought his work was good,  but he thinks everyones out to get him! ? And my phone is my only means of anything , pics, movies, computer... so the quality stinks and I talk quite!  Sorry about that

[chipallen16]

Haha, no problem. I wish you luck! I'll be doing this soon. For now, it's time to get the brown paint for the ground and the tracks!

-Chip 

[NSMoWandS]

Badhorse, I have found that for concrete... it is best to use styrene. Use the back of an Xacto blade to score the joints into it. (the back of the blades are just as useful as the front!) For asphalt... I use foam board cut to the size I want. Then I use a floor leveling compound(Lowes Hardware) to cover the foamboard and to build up a 45 degree angle on the sides. Once dried... I paint it black. Then I use fine grit sand paper and run it down the center of the lanes to simulate the wear from tires... then once that is done.... I get out my bag of cigarette ashes(collected from various friends) and cover the road. Heavy for old roads... lighter for newer roads. Then, if you want, tape off a square with 3M blue tape and paint it black again(patched pothole). After that, I use styrene strips painted white or yellow for the lines. It gives it that thick paint that the DOT's seem to use. If the road is older... put the lines on first, then ashes... Those are the steps I used to make the roads in Wilson on my layout. And, as always... practice, practice, practice.

[Badhorse79]

I remember you telling me that but I lost the message and I remember the Cig thing that was it lol.... Guys I really appreciate all the tips,  comments , well basically everything .... Its going to help me improve and not give up ! Confidence is key and patients and Tons of support from your Buds ! 

Eric

[chipallen16]

Hey, I'm looking forward to seeing progress!

-Chip 

[Badhorse79]

Ok I came home today and started sanding down the parking lot .... well it was still damp! ? Well it all cracked and mushed up so I removed all the plaster!  Well that's a good thing so im going to try the foam board MoW talked about
.
This isn't getting any funner! 

[Badhorse79]

Well I just wanna say,  making this was actually fun ... I was bob Ross ing it up ... Happy Trees .! I think im going to be ok lol

[NSMoWandS]

That's pretty funny. I still use Bob Ross as a template. His two rules on trees... 1) trees always need friends (never just one tree). 2) never put down an even number of trees... always put them dowm in odd numbers... I do not know why he had those rules... but, they seem to work!

[NSTopHat]

As NSMoWoS stated, sheet styrene works well. I would also look at using light weight drywall compound as your pavement for either asphalt or concrete. You can use .030" styrene strips to form the edges of the roadway. Note that the Fed Hwy STD for lane width is between 9' and 12' per lane depending on traffic use. Shoulder width can be between 0' and 8', again depending on road usage.

I would buy several plastic spakle knives from Lowe's or HD, and trim a very shallow Vee into them to create the crown in the roadway. Surface streets typically have a 1/8" to 1/4" of slope per foot of road width. Heavy why and interstates have as much as 1/2" of slope. This holds true for both asphalt and concrete pavements. Depending on vertical and horizontal curvature alignments, there may be now crown in the road used for drainage.

For full depth concrete paved roads, transverse joint spacing is between 10' and 15' o.c., and may be skewed from perpendicular, depending on the state DOT. The longitudinal joint does not run down the center of the lane, it has been tried and failed in the real world.

For partial depth concrete paving, also known in the industry as white topping overlays, which is becoming a popular remediation method at intersections that have heavy truck traffic, joint spacing is directly related to the thickness of the concrete. So 4" thick concrete will have spacing that is 4' x 4' o.c., in each direction, up to 8" th., with 8' x 8' spacing.

[NSTopHat]

My iPad wouldn't let me scroll through the previous post to edit.

As far as striping goes, dot's use conventional paint, plastic tape and/or thermoplastic paint. The thermoplastic paint goes down at a thickness of 1/4", so really thin strip styrene can be used . The same thickness sheet styrene can be used for grade crossing and intersection markings.

You could also use paint pens or chart tape as well.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Russ

[NSMoWandS]

Thanks for the info Russ... that thermoplastic paint is the thick stuff I was talking about in my earlier post. Now, I know what to call it. 

[kh25]

 i have started doing basic scenery last month, so far so good. there was an article years ago in model railroad craftsman about  a shortline in michigan i  don't remember the name of the line but the scenery had a lot of thicker ground cover which caught my eye, it looked like  lichen was used for it. so as most railroads being short on funding scenery has not been on my top priority expense list. so i used home made ground foam for ground cover gives it a good look.
last night i was working on a service road, supposed to be one of crushed gravel, i ran out of the n scale buff ballast i was using so the area i was working on has a dirt ground cover( real cooked dirt, smelled really good like a brick oven pizza). i had some ceramacoat sand stone paint, painted the road with it over the dirt, scraped a little charcoal chalk over it blended it in came out pretty good, this morning i have been putting groundfoam along the sides, i have some pics up on my face book page if your interested.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=330348653708992&set=a.330342457042945.76147.100002015814538&type=3&theater

[Badhorse79]

Thanks for the tips ...I couldn't get the pics to load some reason I couldn't log on to Facebook kept saying my passwords wrong but I can log in on the app???? I dunno . But I seen another article in MR Oct 11 were a feller used Arizona Rock n Minerals asphalt paving materials looks pretty cool and I bought a glass measuring cup to mix and pour the plaster and I think I used to much water and was basically in a hurry .... my dads in town for my Bday tomorrow and were gonna try this again ....seemed to work on the old layout should work again right lol... thanks again

[Badhorse79]

Never give up!  Right

[NSMoWandS]

Never give up! Never surrender! Looks like ya got it Badhorse! Great job! Dan
PS-HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[Badhorse79]

Damn now I knew I should said never surrender lol...but thanks Dan , I just took my time and let my artistic side go free ... And if I messed up,  start over and try again,  and thanks for the Bday im enjoying my vacation to let's see the damage I can do

[chipallen16]

Looks good- happy birthday!

-Chip 

[Badhorse79]

Thanks !