Roads

Roads look very good

Roads

Very nice looking roads...

Roads

Very nice.  Did you use one of the available "textures" in GIMP?

Very Nice!  Can you give us a

Very Nice!  Can you give us a more step by step on how you made them.  Assume we have some knowledge of GIMP or Photoshop. 

Mark

Did you spray the roads with

Did you spray the roads with dullcote or something else to make it water proof?

Charlie

"Textures"

No, I created my own concrete and macadam surfaces using scaled digital photographs of the real thing.  You'll find that trying to create roadway surfaces using GIMP texture samples, stock or custom, doesn't work very well.  The result is much too regular.  It needs to appear more or less random.

Roadway surfaces ... the how

Hi Mark,

I started by venture by taking a photo of a clean concrete road surface with a cell phone camera held waist high and pointed straight down.  After uploading the photo to my Mac, I scaled it until it looked "right," like a photo of a section of real highway concrete as it might appear in a single lane between expansion joints.  Then, I rotated this "base" block 180 degrees, copied it, and pasted the copy against the end of the "base" block.  This does a good job of approximating the look of a real concrete highway.   To create a lot of variation in subsequent blocks, I simply "chopped" apart and reassembled sections of the "base" block.  

Creating highway lane markings took no more than using GIMP's line draw tool with the transparency set at about 60 percent.  If you want "newer" lines, reduce the transparency; if you want "older" lines, increase it.

You'll find that GIMP works great for creating straight sections of roadway, but you will find it problematic for making curves.  Yes, if you're tremendously patient, you can do it relying heavily on the Path tool, but you can obtain a much better and faster result using Photoshop's tools for transforming straight lines into arcs.  Indeed, I will be "borrowing" a copy of Photoshop this weekend precisely for this purpose.

As you know, "real" concrete roads vary widely in color; some are distinctly gray, others basically tan.  I obtained "the right" color by fiddling with GIMP's exposure and darkness controls and then making certain that my InkJet produced what I was seeing on the screen.  Getting a high degree of conformance between what you see on screen and what comes out of the printer can be challenging, especially with ink cartridges that are somewhat depleted.

As for macadam or asphalt ... Interestingly, you'll find that you can transform your "concrete" into "asphalt" simply by manipulating GIMP's exposure and brightness-contrast controls.  "Joints" in your "concrete" in most cases will simply "read out," but if they are too obvious, I just use the select tool to do a bit of cutting and pasting in the image.

If you're printed output will be viewed very close-up, I'd use photo paper with a "canvas" finish, but otherwise a matte finish works without any problem.  

After I print out several sections of highway, I use an old wall-paper hanger's trick -- double-cutting-- to obtain joints that are effectively invisible.  I then use rubber cement to adhere the paper to a strip of basswood or any other smooth surface.  Just remember one thing ... InkJet printouts don't take kindly to water or alcohol.  If you smear a section of roadway, however, it's easy to pull up and replace if you've applied rubber cement properly.

If you want to talk about any of this, drop me a line at bill.wilken@wilkenmail.com and I'll reply with my phone number. 

"Dullcote"

I haven't used Dullcote or anything like it.  Indeed, I'm not even sure what effect it would have on Inkjet printouts.

Plainly, Inkjet printing doesn't take kindly to alcohol or water, but I usually don't put down any roadway until I'm pretty much done with any scenery work in the immediate area.  Once in awhile I've "goofed," but rubber cement is a terribly forgiving adhesive.  Applied correctly, it makes it very easy to pull up a damaged section of "roadway" and to replace it with a new section.  Alternatively, at least in this part of the world, roadways are often a mess of irregular pits and potholes, so if you damage a little section, it doesn't take much to "touch it up" in a realistic fashion.

Alternatively, printouts done with color lasers don't have any of the durability problems of inkjet output.  

Bill

Thank you for....

...putting up he RxR spec sheet. It is something I have been needing to find out for awhile. I will have a road from an industry crossing several tracks close together. This will help me with the pacement markings.

Jim

Dullcote

I've used Testor's Dullcote on inkjet items. A few light coats on it will waterproof it just fine. I have used it on things in a sheltered outdoor location and have had no problems with moisture although I did coat both sides. My only problem is the glue I used has started to let go. I'll have to find something different. Back to the glue charts!

Happy Rails to You.

Bing (RIPRR, The Route of the Buzzards)

Great Idea

Thanks for the info about GIMP. I didn't know about it. I will check it out. I am starting to plan parking and roads for my switching layout. I was unsure of what to use for them.

Jim

Looks Great

I did the same thing, only I found via a Google Image search a nice 6 lane which I reduced to 4 lane, mine don't look as nice as yours, but they photograph well. 

Files?

First let me say nice job, I've been thinking about just such a thing (printed roads) for my clubs layout.

So since I'm lazy, don't have GIMP installed, and you've done the work, I'll ask would you be willing to share your images that the rest of us may then just print?  I think you could attach them to this thread as files instead of imbedded pictures.

Thanks for your consideration,

Jim

http://www.modelegnineers.com

Quote: "they photograph well."

Let us see some examples.

Free textures..

http://www.texturemate.com/category/image-galleries/asphalt

Free textures