What Product Have You Used For Highways / Roads

David and Pete...great pictures of your layouts!  The road detail looks realistic...nice buildings and scenery too.  Even though trains are the real deal here on the forum, my eyes always turn to the cars and trucks first.  Pete, you've got some real classics there, and really enjoyed seeing the Ford V-8 billboard...nothing like a '50's Ford V-8 engine.  

David, great detail on your street scenes.  Sidewalks, parking meters, and curb height look real.  The pick-up coming up Main Street brings back some memories.

Nice job everyone and thanks for posting on this thread.

I was making a muck load from a wreck at a crossing for an MOW car, and wanted to include some damaged pavement. I used joint compound, flat black latex paint and sand, to make a mixture, and spread in on some wax paper to dry. I painted double yellow lines in the center, and a white line on each edge. I then broke the dried road section into chunks. This made a rather realistic looking road before I broke it up. There is a guy, Wilbur G Snyder, on several of the Facebook train forums who recently posted a short tutorial for making roads from thin cork sheet. 

For smaller roads in older eras, I use Walthers HO Cornstone streets.    I have only used the concrete ones on my layout, but they make brick and asphault also I think.    they come in pieces, about 8 inch long straights, and then crossings.     There are also matching sidewalks.

While these are wide HO streets, I found that they make  decent single lanes for O scale.     Used directly, there is no parking lane.    I also used the sidewalks, and laid double widths (side by side) which looked good to me.    

The streets would not be so good if you want on street parking, unless you cut off the curb edges and used two side by side.

David Minarik posted:

Quarter Gauger 48 posted:

David Minarik posted:

Just paint.

 Dave, I really like your color combination... Do you have any additional pics of your roads?  We'd like to see more'.... of your work'''...

Thank you.  Here is a different module.

The first photo is just the base with roads, sidewalks and foundations.

 

 

The second photo has the buildings sitting on the foundations.  You can see that the street is not flat.  There is about 1.5" rise from one end to another.

  Very nice Dave',  I see the elevation.  It makes a very realistic scene'. Excellent modeling'... and very nice work'....

Here's an idea that I have used in the past .  Its roll roofing or sometimes called mineral paper .  Its pretty cheap considering how much you get in a roll , maybe split it with a buddy if he or she lives close enough. It is HEAVY  and it does cut okay  with the proper  tools and if it is kept warm . Being that each roll is 3' in width , one can easily make long winding seamless roads .  Hope this idea helps out someone on this thread .

Skateboard tape

JohnnieWalker posted:

Here's an idea that I have used in the past .  Its roll roofing or sometimes called mineral paper .  Its pretty cheap considering how much you get in a roll , maybe split it with a buddy if he or she lives close enough. It is HEAVY  and it does cut okay  with the proper  tools and if it is kept warm . Being that each roll is 3' in width , one can easily make long winding seamless roads .  Hope this idea helps out someone on this thread .

That looks GREAT!. With what did you cut the mineral paper?

Randy Harrison posted:

JohnnieWalker posted:

Here's an idea that I have used in the past .  Its roll roofing or sometimes called mineral paper .  Its pretty cheap considering how much you get in a roll , maybe split it with a buddy if he or she lives close enough. It is HEAVY  and it does cut okay  with the proper  tools and if it is kept warm . Being that each roll is 3' in width , one can easily make long winding seamless roads .  Hope this idea helps out someone on this thread .

That looks GREAT!. With what did you cut the mineral paper?

I actually used a razor knife with both regular straight blades and hooked blades , lots of them and I also used an old pair of shears .  I had made a template of my town and curved road  leading into it using paper taped together , then traced it onto the roll roof using a colored marker . after cutting the roof material I placed one large roadway onto my O gauge  layout .  

JOHNNIEWALKER:

Thanks for the information. Since you said that you used shears, then I assume that a pair of tin snips will work on it?

About 5 years ago some posted a similar question and the recommendation was to use a roofing product called water and ice shield.  It has a sticker bottom and can be cut to size with a razor knife.  Local lumber yard had a partial roll for free.

Randy Harrison posted:

JOHNNIEWALKER:

Thanks for the information. Since you said that you used shears, then I assume that a pair of tin snips will work on it?

That's right . I'm a contractor and I had bought a new pair of tin snips to upgrade my tool box ,so I saved and used my retired pair for the cutting of the mineral paper . 

The road construction continues...

I use black sandpaper that I lightly spray with gray spray paint and draw on cracks and patches with a brush and acrylic black paint.  

Paul