White highway lines

Ed,

if you visit a hobby shop that have race cars and planes you will find few white stripes.

the wide is around 1/16" to 3/32".

I hope this information will help.

Andre.

Andre is correct... The RC Plane pin-stripping works great.  Here is mine on Masonite and on foam.

 

I often wondered about people that do double WHITE center lines.  Was that how American roads were done in the past?  I've only known and seen double YELLOW lines and could never understand how some folks would take such great care detailing a scene only to use a double white line down the middle of the road.

 

Ron

 

 

Sorry... I should have added these since you asked about a curve.  The pin-stripping works great for that.

 

 

Thanks for the tips Andre and ron. 

 

Ron your wite side lines are exactly what I'm looking for.  As we don't have a good RC hobby shop near by, I'll need to order on line.  Ron - do you have a brand/part number That I can use to search for?

 

thanks

Ed

Prior to 1971 the center lines in most states were white. The change to yellow took from 1971 and completed in 1973 through adoption of National Highway Standards.

Ed:

You could try painting your own. Just remember placing tape on a rough surface will result in paint bleeding under the tape. I paint the lines first then over spray with the road color.

 

See http://www.modelstructuresinc....y.html attached for more details on how I made my roads. Just click on the blue text Make Your Own Highways and Parking Lots!

Joe

Automotive pin-striping works well too.  1/8" is what I used.  Will try to post my photos when I get home.  My layout is also circa 1953 or so.

 

George

Thanks NelsonW,

Given I was 4 at the time that would explain why I had to recollection of White center lines.

 

Ed,

Great Planes 1/8 Kwik Stripe.  I did look for Auto Pin Stripping as George mentioned too, but I found the auto parts stores very limited in color... however I do remember white, but not yellow.

 

Good Luck!

Ron

 

 

 

Here's an overpass, circa 1953, with white lines.  I did this with automotive pin-striping 1/8" wide.

 

George

I use Testors white and yellow decal paper for ink jet printers and cut and apply.



The effects are certainly; if I say, authentic.

Question:  Would dry, rub-on transfers produce a line that has that worn look?  Everything said so far produces crisp, new-looking lines.

 

Jan

What is wrong with that they redo the lines every 6 months to a year.

 

Ken M

You can rub my decals just fine. The road shown above is a fairly new highway circa 1950's. Kept and maintained.

The results below were using foamcore and decals/paint etc.

I went to the craft section at Walmart and got some paint pens. They are relatively cheap and come in various colors. Yellow,creme and white are suitable for the roads. I used creme. Lines can be drawn with a straight edge and curves free hand or with a jig. These pens are also useful in color coding wires in small projects.

 

Here is a pic of the curbing I started. I painted the roads grey to match my superstreets. I painted the dotted lines later,not shown in this earlier photo spacing lines with a ruler. Click on photo to enlarge.

 

 

 

Dale H

Red Lion Train shop, RED Lion, Pa, was in orange hall, with all kinds of striping kits

717 246 2284

Jan,

Take a look at my last picture in my 1st post above of the stripping on the foam road.  I "dry brushed" and stippled some grey paint over the top to get the "worn" look.

 

And just so you know, I'm the farthest thing from creative or an artist, which proves anyone can do this.  Dab a brush lightly in paint.  Rub it on a piece of scrap cardboard to get most of the paint off.  Then dab and stipple (poke downward).  Be as sloppy and messy as possible.

 

Here are two more close ups so you don't have to scroll up.

 

 

Looks like I have several very good alternatives - the posted photos really help.  One thing that will make the task easier is that in the early 50's they generally didn't paint stripes on the edge of the roads.  I'll only have to deal with the centerline. 

 

I note that many are using 1/8" wide stripes - 6 scale inches.  Was 6" a common standard line width?  If I go with decals like Eric I could cut them to match to whatever was highway practice in my era. 

 

Ed

Those of you who are interested in the historical accuracy of highway markings and signage should know about the "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)", which is a series of fascinating documents by which one can trace the evolution and timing of highway safety design (and are also a good source of artwork for homemade signage).  The documents date back to 1935 and are freely available for download at the following site:

 

https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu...ns/MUTCD-History.htm

 

Also to be found there are a series of scholarly articles published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers, tracing the often confusing evolution of highway standards. A perusal of these papers will reveal that the real story is often far more complex than simple statements like "yellow lines were introduced in about the year xxx" could ever capture.

 

For example, the following describes the state of the art as of the 1948 edition of MUTCD:

 

Ron045, I like the look of your "worn yellow" center stripes - it's very realistic.  Nice job!  BTW, I use pin striping tape.

I use automotive pinstriping, which comes as two stripes ona carrier strip. makes it easy to apply with the correct and uniform spacing.  I chose white lines, as a) I am pretty sure it fits my 1955 era, and b) I like the look. Spraying the road with dull coat, and then weathering with chalks and washes both hides the edge of the stripes, and makes them look worn out.

 

The pinstriping tape is TFX high Performance White pinstriping tape. Part number 00035065. It comes in 150 foot long rolls.  The stripes are 3/16" wide, which is too wide for strict scale accuracy.   Real highway stripes are 4-6" wide depending on era and location.  That's a bit more than 3/32 to 1/8" wide, so my lines are wider.  But I found thinner tape is hard to see, particularly after you weather the roads, AND it looks unrealistically small with all the 1/43 scale vehicles I use.  The thinner tape is also harder to come by (I could not find any!) so there is the not small matter of precisely cutting and aligning thin strips of material that is several feet long.  

 

The auto pins striping tape is very easy to apply (it comes with a carrier sheet that maintains the proper spacing), and it is easy to bend around curves

 

 

white out comes in a form that is literally white tape in an easy to use dispenser.  a quick google and it looks like it comes in different colors too!

 

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-Wite...-Count/dp/B0013CFDPQ

 

Have you actually done this or are you just recommending it as an option?  I tried this and failed miserably.  It's not consistent and it can't be lifted and reapplied if you make a mistake.  I would not recommend this as an option.

 

respectfully, Ron

 

I have had good luck with a straight edge and white grease pencil or China marker.

Beautiful John!


       

Since I model in S, I used 3/32" pin striping tape on a layout for my club.  It represents a more modern underpass like the ones around here.  The "tar" lines are dimply a fine permanent marker.  By the way, 3/32" in S is 6" prototype.  I used an airbrush and black paint to simulate the oil usually seen in the center of the lanes.  The airbrush also mutes the lines a bit.

 

 

And the overpass:

 

 

This also gives the look of a real road, meaning "not perfect". White tape looks like...white tape. I've done curves with a compass, French Curve, or dinner plates.

This is why modeling the dirt road era is fun - no lines!  I don't like coloring inside the lines anyway,

Ed 

I found 0.128" wide white stripe. there is not a lot but maybe can help you to your project.

let me know.

Andre.

Thanks for the input Andre, but after considering the need to double stripe sections of the road leading to Horseshoe Curve I decided to use the automotive pin striping tape John Sethian suggested in his post above.  Last Saturday John was down for a layout visit to Williamsburg with a group of DC Area O scalers and kindly brought me a length of the tale sufficient to do the scene.  The next morning, just prior to an afternoon open house layout tour , I applied the tape to the road leading in to my Horseshoe Curve scene. For single stripes I cut the double pin stripe carrier down the middle before applying to the road.    To see the finished lined road check out my post on the 2 Rail Scale forum titled : my-horseshoe-curve-finally-sceniced. 

 

Thanks to all for responding to this thread.

 

Ed Rappe 

 

Thanks to all who took the time to respond to my post.

 

Ed Rappe