You Forgot a couple things on your concrete roads

I grew up with a concrete Highway in front of my house and every 50 feet there was an expansion joint running all the way across the road from gutter to gutter and down the center of the Highway as they poured the concrete built roads one lane at a time with a 1 inch form around each lane section. This 1 inch joint was always Oozing with Black Tar and on hot days we would grab large fingers full of the tar and flick at the girls in school when they were not looking. (we were Mean little boys).

Everything else about your concrete road is great the cracks and paint job are perfect your just missing the perfectly stright joints from the forms down the center and Expansion joints completely across the road.

Another addition to the scene could be a work crew with a small tank truck and a hose comming from the tank to one of the workmen refilling these cracks and joints.

Every summer the city would send crews to refill the cracks and fill any new ones with fresh Hot Tar. They put up red and white striped saw horses with Road Work written on the top rail and a flag man about 50 feet from the work on each end of the areas as they worked.

Dan

WOW!

Thanks for the tutorial.  It looks pretty easy when explained like this.  I was amazed at how quickly the surface started to look like old pavement!

One question.  What is the "White Spirit" you refer to?

Thanks again!

You forgot...

Hey Dan,

well I realy was focused on the "painting" concrete and not so much on the exactitude of depicting a concrete road. But you are right, if you do something go for it all the way, so here is, just for you ....

lol 

White spirit....

Hi Kevin,

the white spirit I am refering to is the spirit you buy in general house paint stores. The white spirit you use to dilute house hold oil paint, wash out the roler and brushes afther you are done painting the walls and ceiling. Altho when painting interior walls I always paint with water soluble acrilyc paints. I use the inodor white spirit, easier on the smell.

That's Great

That's more like what I remember Concrete Highways looking like and at almost ever other spot where the 4 corners meet one to all 4 of the corners were broken, chipped, & filled with Tar. These corner cracks varied in size from a 1 inch corner to a 6 or 8 inch corner crack caused by cars changing lanes and breaking down these inside center corners.

Dan

OUT LAWED In USA

White Spirit was removed form the shelves in The USA 20 years ago because it was considered a cause for Cancer in the US. Only thing we can get is an oily product called Mineral Sprits. My Uncle was a Painter back in the 1950's through the 1990's and he had this stuff in the work shop back in the 80's and washed his brushes and rollers in This White Spirits but he died of Cancer in the early part of 2001. Guess they were right Be careful using this stuff.

Dan

Thanks

White spirit...

If white spirit is out lawed in the USA you can do the same with terpentine. Now, if terpentine is also out lawed in the USA I'll have to scratch my brains a bit to come up with an alternative....maybe one of the forum members can help out here.

White spirit substitute

Over at the Railwire we were having a similar discussion, and Coxi pointed us to Turpenoid with which he gets excellent results on his N scale freight cars.

And for those keeping track, we've now had a tutorial from a Blegian modeler on U.S. style concrete roads, with a thinner suggestion from a transplanted Aussie, all brought together by an "out of the Bayou" Louisiana transplant.  This is why I love MRH!

Top Coat

Thanks for the detailed post, Jappe.  This helps a lot with the application of the process but I was left with a couple of questions/comments:

1. I tried following your technique using the Woodland Scenics Top Coat but I had difficulty in the application of the paint.  The WS product is very thick (it's about the consistency of latex house paint) and I found it would drown out details, building edges etc. very easily.  How do you manage this in your application?  I tried thinning it with a few different mediums but the paint didn't mix well at alll.
2. You mention that you don't brush the weathering wash, but just lightly drag the brush along.  I found that after a few layers I left brush strokes which ruined the effect.  I ended up applying the wash with a very large/wide brush and just laying it on it's side on the surface of the model letting the wash wick across the surface which created realistic looking dark spots and eliminated the paint streaks.  Do you have a better method to avoid this?  Any pointers would be appreciated

Scarpia-  An alternative that I used that applied better for me (but I don't know that it would be any more available for you over there) was Model Master Armor Sand.  It has similar color to the Woodland Scenics product and applies a little more smoothly.  Alternatively if you want a less weathered look Model Master Sand is a similar color but a lighter shade.  Either one with the oil wash Jappe describes looks very good.  Here is a picture of how it came out:

Just a thought

Rich, when I use the WS pigments, I thin them with wet water.  A little bloop of the pigment in water has given me a nice stain to work with.  I figured this is how I would do this application.  Now I want to go try it right away! 

Hmm...I may have to try that

Hmm...I may have to try that again Dave.  I tried that before but the paint seemed to separate out into an oily mess.  If you give it a try with good results let me know!

Top coat...

hey Rich,

ok, first, before you even start painting you should shake the WS bottle for at least 2 to 3 minutes so the paint is thoroughly mixed (this infact goes for all paints in bottles, jars etc. Even when using Tamiya acrilycs for the airbrush I always use a small cocktail mixer on batteries to mix the paint for at least 2 to 3 minutes).

Don't try to cover everything with the first coat, instead, work in layers. With each layer changing directions. So, if you start your first layer horizontally, apply the second layer vertically and so on untill everything is covered. You may speed up the drying between layers with a hairdryer. (advantage using WS top coat).

Also, the brush you paint with should be a soft bristle one.  The softer the bristles the less brushstrokes you'll see at the end. Artist brushes is all I use. I know, they are more costly but if you take care of the brushes they last and last. Afther every painting session I first rinse my used brushes with white spirit and second give them a wash with a soft dish soap and last a wash with a neutral hand soap. For the small pointy ones , like a triple 0, put some saliva between your fingers and reshape the point.  I have Winsor&Newton brushes that are at least 20 years and I still use them.

 Now if you find the paint too thick, don't look no further, " water". just dip your brush in water before going to the paint, mix a little paint with the watered up brush and apply to the surface to be painted.

For the weathering it is not so much the way you put the weathering on, it's the way you take it of again. Dabbing with a cotton cloth. Roll it up some or roll it up to a puffy ball ( I am realy sweating here how to explain this, lol)  And dab the surface, on other spots dab the cloth (ragg) like if you where putting down a stamp (more a roling dab motion, lmao if only my biker bro's could see  me typing this, sorry, just had a brainfart, lmao). No need to put alot of preasure here. Only at the end,  for the darker spots you may apply some more preasure or even a wiping motion.

For cracks, joints etc. take a fine pointed brush, take some weathering and just put the point down. the weathering will flow by capillarity into the crack, joint or what ever. This is done afther the general weathering, it's more detail weathering so to speak.

Don't use wipe all paper, it just dosn't work, more,  you might end up with a positive print of  the design of the wipe all on your weathered surface.

Yep Rich I was thinking in the same direction for an alternate product for Scarpia, but you beat me to it ,lol.

Ok that's it,

Time for a cig. and I might cranck up my MP15 to do a little switching..,

LOL,  today I thought more in English then in my own native language...modelrailroading is fun. (and kinda makes you smarter too,lol)

Hi Dave.

Dave,

I am talking about WS  "Road System Topcoat Concrete" ( ST 1454) here. The WS pigments are a totally different product for a totally different use. They work, kinda good, for coloring plaster and such but are unusable for the tutorial here. Just incase

Right On Jappe And kcsphil1

Both Turpentine and (the odorless Turpentine Substitute) Turpenoid are easily found in the USA Thanks Guys.

Jappe I don't know if you tried to submit this process to the MRH Magazine as all the articles here at the forums and the Magazine all seem to run together after awhile. Mainly because I read every word printed here at the forums as both a fan and a spam Cop for MRH.

What I'm trying to say is this subject and the process you have shown us Jappe is Top Notch and should have been in the Magazine if it wasn't .

I remember you making a Concrete shipping Dock a while back and that was very nice but the step by step you have shown this time are perfect and you should have received a paycheck for this process and article.

A Definite 10 Point read in a 1 - 10 Grade Curve and some darn fine Modeling methods with top notch Paint instructions Thanks. I will use this process sometime and have bookmarked these pages as well as copied and printed it and put it in My scratch builder file.

Ten Thumbs Up.

Dan

Thanks Jappe

I just assumed they were the same since they are in the same bottles and are sitting in the same spot in the hobby shop.   

Thanks for the tips Jappe!  I

Thanks for the tips Jappe!  I think 99% of my problem was that I left too much of the weathering solution on my model. 

I made a MUCH more diluted mixture than you did (a tiny fraction of the paint you showed mixed with Turpenoid to the top of the baby food container in the picture father up this thread) but didn't dab it off after application leaving puddles as I let each layer dry.

I ended up applying 10-12 layers to my loading dock which gives it an all-around old weathered look (I still need to apply some dry brushing) but woudln't be good if you were going for a less aged appearence. 

Thanks again for taking the time to write such a detailed reply (and as a non-english speaker no less...maybe I can pick up Flemish to return the favor...well not too likely ) as it's a great help.

~rb

Thanks Jappe...

Jappe,

Thanks so much for posting this how to, and for doing it so quickly!  You must have started as soon as you got my email last night...  It is exactly what I was looking for, and will be having another go at my concrete roads in the next couple of days using your methods.

As Dan has mentioned you really should speak with Joe about submitting your weathering methods for an article in MRH, your skills deserve a financial reward and should be shared with the wider model railroading world!

Thanks again for your help...

Cheers,

Jas...

What they said!!!!

As Dan has mentioned you really should speak with Joe about submitting your weathering methods for an article in MRH, your skills deserve a financial reward and should be shared with the wider model railroading world!

Thanks again for your help...

Cheers,

Jas...

What they said !!

Steve

An alternative that I used

I don't want to deviate this too far off of Jappe's excellent topic, but that isn't an option either; I'm limited to artists acryllics and oils. No hobby products at all. I apprecate the suggestions though!

So while I'll have to work up something from "scratch",  one thing this has really brought to light for me (and maybe others) is that the color isn't gray at all - but a tan base. My preconception has been that concrete is gray gray gray, clearly I need to re-evaluate my thoughts on what is real color vs what I think is real.

Joe has mentioned many times to use prototype pictures from your souce as much as possible;  his advice rings true here as well. Thanks again to Jappe for this post! 

An alternative...

Hi Scarpia

think I found a solution here, afther reading your post that you are limited to artist acrylics and oils it got me thinking and remembered that I had still some Winsor&Newton " FINITY" artist acrylic colour tubes laying around from when I was a model figurine painter. (We used those to weather and  drybrush the terrrain the figurine was standing on, saving our oilpaints with that).

So I mixed up some white and a small dab of burnt sienna, added some water and started painting the backside of the road piece I did yesterday....the paint  whent on fairly well and when I was at one end , the other end already started to dry. When it was covered to my liking I crancked up the hairdryer (lol, I almost start looking as Al Mayo from monsterrailroad, a brush in one hand and a hairdryer in the other) to speed up the drying. Mixed up some weathering (this time oil paints),  the usual cracks etc...and started weathering (oil paints here). Same result as you can see in the pictures.

I am pretty sure that over in Dubai (?) you'll find an artist art store that carries the Winsor&Newton "FINITY" line...if not, well an art store that dosn't carry the Winsor&Newton line in it's all isn't worth calling itself  "artist art store" IMHO.

Now this was on gatorboard which already has some tooth to it for the paint to catch up, if you are going to use styrene, I'd give it coat of primer first to put some texture down.

The pictures....(I only done half of it so you can see how it started out afther putting the acrylics on)

that's it, hope I could help you out some....

Note on this tutorial..

I am happy you all like the tutorial, now as for me writing for MRH and with that for money....naaaaa. It's my pleasure to share in this hobby (and life in general) in the first place and all the reactions (positive or even negative) are worth more to me then a cheque. Dan's thumb's up or even Mr Mindheim's reaction in my other post is worth a thousand cheques ...

If Joe wants to use this tutorial in the E-zine, he is most welcome. For money? Nope, can't do that, I'm not made like that...besides, it's more pleasant this way,  you see some thing,  you ask a question, you get a response in 99% of the cases, instead of having to wait for the next issue for part 2.....

Ok, time for another cup of tea and I realy should start working on building in those Sdtxx Tsunami's in my Kato's C44-9W and AC4400CW.........(the Tsu's came in last week from Litchfield station,... but ,... but ,...but ... ... where was my candy?)

"I'll be back"...

Jappe

Jappe, that's fantastic. I greatly appreciate your time in sorting this out - I was presuming I'd need to mix up some colors; I appreciate you doing the legwork for me! 

Cheers!

SInce we're talking about road colors

This is a two lane road running alongside my prototype's yard.  Barely visible in front of the car is an expansion crack, which tells you  that this was initially a concrete road that has since been paved with asphalt.  Yet the asphalt has weathered to a dusty brown-grey, mostly due to 1) the surrounding dirt, 2) the products trucked alon gthe road, and 3) the color of the BRS ballast use din the adjacent yard (which is a light beigy limestone).  Taking Jappe's methods to do this, the greys and blacks would become the base coat, and the tan would be the weathering coat . . sort of a negative image if you will.  I can't wait to try it!

In Philips Photo of asphalt

In Philips Photo of asphalt the color isn't so much only from the surrounding as the fact that the sun heats the asphalt, Rubber tires pick up the surface oill and tend to take it with them leaving a hint of the actual colors of the rock and stone making up the asphalt along with the weathering Philip has stated.

For the most part U.S. Highways require a certain combination of hard rock, sand, and gravel mixed to within US mandated standards and the oil and tar binding settles to the bottom under the rocks which compress and wears down giving a certain amount of flex to the highways to help keep tires from wearing out too fast.

Dan