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I had recently posted a small section of road and two grade crossings that I completed. This was my first attempt at roads, and I had done a good deal of reading and saw a lot of different techniques and preferences on the subject. I am a big fan of re-purposing items I have on hand.

I had brought home some 1/8" hardboard that was used as packaging material in a shipping container at work. It has a nice flex to it, and my original intention was for mounting a backdrop for my lower level. I cut what I needed for that, and had some strips left over, which ended up as my roads. 

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I found this textured paint at Lowes. I've used the "rock" textured stuff before, but that uses a pretty good sized grit. I wanted something smaller, and this cap had almost a sanded texture to it. The cap is black, and that is the color I was expecting it to be, but it ended up as a faded gray color.

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I had had to warm up the garage so I could paint, we've had quite the cold spell here in PA over the last few weeks. This stuff has a pretty strong odor to it, so I suggest spraying it in a well ventilated area.

Once it dried, I used yellow acrylic paint for the center lines, and I used a paint marker for the white. I had originally tried some artist pastel crayons, as I had seen good results in my research, however the texture left the lines spotty looking. 

For the grade crossing, I put two strips of 1/8 plexiglass against the inside edges of the outer rails, and filled the middle with joint compound. After 24hrs, I removed the plexi, and let dry another 24. It was after I had gotten to this point that I saw a post talking about mixing color into the compound. Anyhow, once dry, I sanded with 220 sandpaper to ensure that the center rail would be exposed.  Once the rail was cleaned off, I used a test car to ensure wheel clearance. I used a craft stick with sandpaper wrapped around it to keep a fairly straight edge, while removing compound for the wheels. 

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Once the cars rolled through smoothly (I tried 4-5, and of different manufacturers) i mixed up some acrylic paint to a dark grayish color and painted. Added the shoulder and center lines, using the same paints as the road. 

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The patches are acrylic paint, outlined with a fine tip black sharpie. For the tar lines, I used a black lacquer paint marker, it still has some gloss after it dries. And the oil stains in the road was made from a wash of black acrylic paint (10% paint, 90%water). I brushed some on, let it dry, then went back over it until I was happy with the color. Do multiple light coats, and build to the color you want. 

I hope this encourages someone to give it a try, and be on the lookout for some scenery in between the two tracks. I've been following Paul's build, and I'm really eager to try my own "drainage ditch"!

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Ed,

I did the lines by hand. At first I tried artist crayons, but the texture left bare spots, and I didn’t like the look. So then I went over it with normal acrylic paint using a small brush, then the paint marker for the white.

I did lay a ruler down to keep the lines straight, but no tape.

I just picked up a paint marker in the yellow for the middle lines, so the long sections should be easier. 

-Mo

Ed Walsh posted:

Mo,

Thanks for the detailed how-to.  I am going to borrow your idea to do mine.  I have been procrastinating on this for a long time because of the lines.

Thanks

Ed

Ed, you're welcome! 

The yellow is chose is called "cadmium yellow - medium hue". It's more on the orange side, which I think makes it look pretty darn close to the actual color of the lines on the road.

Post some pics of your progress!

laz1957 posted:

Very nice, MO!!!!  Looks outstanding.

 One question, when you put down the joint compound did you use the fiberglass mesh used for doing corners on drywall?  Or was the compound just put in between the tracks?  Was there any cracking after it dried? 

Laz,

I just used the joint compound. I did get some cracking as it dried, however, I went over the surfaces again, and let that dry. 

After the second coat, and sanding, no issues!

Thanks. It took a little bit of thinking on how I was going to do it with out making it dip. I am in the middle of renovating my house. My wife took down the lumber scraps to burn in our furnace. So I was down stairs to stoke the fire and seen the small pieces laying on the floor. I looked at them and thought this will make a good start to my roads. I now have to figure out how to cover it up to look natural. I will have to shave some more off so the top will not be to high. I will have to run them through my tablesaw to give it a lip so it will sit on the ties, lowering the roadway enough to put a top covering on and paint. 

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