Powders

I came across a fairly new and local company here in MO at our last train show. It's called Bison Products. Not sure if they have a web site as one is not listed on their card. email is bisonroute3258@gmail.com.

They have about a dozen different weathering powders and some of them would work on roads and cement fixtures like bridges ect.

Jack

Pens?

If all you need or want is to get yellow stripes, tar marks, etc. May I suggest markers? I have some I use that are permanent and temporary. Both work. Different colors are available and what I suggest is: a ruler and yellow for the stripes. And just free hand for tar. Here in TX, we have a lot of streets/roads like that. In fact, even worse. Where the road cracks and they come along and slop the tar and ?miss some. So, you could even leave cracks. Or carve them with a Xacto knife. From what I can tell from your picture, should not be too difficult. Post pictures when you finish.

Thanks for the support! 

Thanks for the support!  However, I am the one who is pushing for it to look more weathered.

Daryl

Who Cares

He does.

He wants to achieve an affect and is asking advice on how to do it.

Slagging off on people who enjoy realism on a thread discussing techniques and calling them "stupid rivet counters" IMO is just as rude and annoying as someone who slags someone else's efforts unasked for not being realistic enough.

He's *asking* for suggestions, techniques, constructive criticism. Take the anti-modeler screed somewhere else.

Daryl

Daryl,

What is the medium (material) you used for your roads?  And concrete retaining walls?

I've really become a fan of using Pan Pastels for all types of weathering, including streets/roads/retaining walls, etc. They are much easier (to me, anyway) to use than ground up chalks.  While the individual pans may seem a bit pricey, they last a very long time.  I usually apply them with a very soft make up brush, building up the color and texture slowly to the desired effect.  Generally you don't have to seal the results, unless it is something you might be handling a lot.

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

Criticism & more

Looks like the critic guy is gone. Weathering can also be accomplished with india ink. Diluted and brushed. Maybe even use a rough item like sandpaper, emery board to rough up the road surface. Depending on how much you want the road to "look used/old".

I second Al

Pan pastels really are worth the $. I find that the most often used (by far) are raw umber followed by  black.......oh and rust. I could do just about everything with just those three. 

Here are the tools used for cracks. One trick is.....don't press down on the pen like you are writing, let the weight of the pen make the marking and lightly drag it over the surface. The other trick is to make sure the road surface (before weathering) is way lighter in shade than what you want to end up with. A light gray is very easy to darken but if you start with a darker shade and use pastels it will get too dark and it is darn near impossible to retrieve. I actually have two tubes of artists acrylics that I keep separated from my other painting supplies, rubber banded and a mixing formula written on them for asphalt. As many times as I have used this method I swear that the base color is way too light but if I darken the mix even slightly it just fights me later and I have to paint the light gray over the mess (this time actually following my own directions). Makes me wonder............Oh well. By the way, it is common in most weathering to always start light then carefully add the darks.

I forgot to add earlier that DarylK really has an excellent scene there. Well done and worth the extra effort do a  "bang-up" job on any weathering.

Pan Pastels

I am just getting into weathering and I settled on the Pan Pastel as for one thing they are forgiving. Your  layout looks great as it is and weathering will take you to another level. I have the foam brushes from PP but have been finding I prefer natural brushes when using the PP. As Rick Sutton stated  above you don’t need a lot of variety of colors. To rough up that road I agree you should try some sandpaper on a sample piece. I think that will help match the intersection you are trying to imitate. I know whatever you do experimenting will be your best friend. Write it down as you try something so you can duplicate it later.

Tom

Looks very good so far.  As

Looks very good so far.  As for the weathering I find if you start on the low end you can add more but it is hard to remove and you don’t want to go to overboard with the cracks in the road, unless you are modeling Michigan roads then you can’t over do the cracks...

-Doug

He models Chicago west

So no, he can't overdo the cracks in the road.  In fact, he needs at least three potholes, one of which should be as big as a VW Beetle....

Scott Chatfield

Thanks for the suggestions so

Thanks for the suggestions so far.  I have already found the Panpastel raw umber, rust and black on amazon.  For the pens, the set pictured in Ricks post is $24 while other 4 Pitt sets are under $10.  Is that due to being India ink and if so, it it worth the extra $? Are there other sources that would give better prices than Amazon? I have found Amazon is not always the cheapest way to go.

Daryl

"Any weathering suggestions

   I'd start with craft paints or cheap acrylics. Mix colors and dilute various amounts and practice layering them on. Let photos not memory be your guide. Don't over do it to start, let it build up till you think it's enough then stop at the step before that:> ) ......DaveB 

Pens

I have several sets of pens. The set shown in the photo cost approx. $12 with a Michaels coupon. I have found that many of the sets of FC Artists pens are just different combinations of the same pen type. The ones that I use for roads are the black "S" and "XS" the smallest lines in the sets. I'll add screenshots of where they are available and you can buy them separately at very reasonable prices.

Pavement

A couple of summers ago, my wife and I did lots of long walks along the roads around our house. I did a lot of observations on paved, concrete and gravel/oil surfaces and realized the following that you probably won't notice from 55MPH:

• You can't weather a road too much
• Debris lives on the sides of the road. Lots of it. Cars going by fling it there. All roads have it, almost to the point they blend into the non-paved areas beyond
• There are an almost uncountable number of random spots, splotches, spills, stains, etc on any road
• Where the cars go, the common ruts are a lighter shade then the rest of the road
• There are way more tire squeal marks on a road than you think

I took the one real road on my layout and totally changed it after taking notes, as the real road it represents was a oil/gravel road at the time, not blacktop or conventionally paved. Here's the before/after:

pens/pan pastels

In addition to the pens Rick has listed (which I have some of), I also found Micron Art pens (black) at the local Hobby Lobby, and bought and use a couple of different sizes:  .005" and .02".  Like Rick says, don't press down, let the weight of the pen work for you.

Pan Pastels are available in sets (weathering, rust, etc)  but be aware that these sets don't include individual lids for each pan.  Instead, they are designed so the bottom of a pan acts as a lid for another pan, creating the stack you see them in ads.  While this works, it is a real pain in the arse to try to find the correct pan when they are all screwed together.  You can, however, buy separate lids - I bought a 10 pack (or was it an 8 pack?) on Amazon, so all my pans are individually capped.

Yes, you can find cheaper prices than Amazon.  One such place is Dick Blick, and there are others.

Finally, I agree with other opinions to start light, much lighter than you want, then use whatever weathering products you want to start to darken the road.  Out here in the Pacific Northwest, concrete roads that have been around a while are almost always very light, with obvious grease/oil drippings and tire wear marks.  I usually start with a white craft foam, like Rick uses, and spray it a very, very light gray/tan, then weather to finished state.

Al Carter, Mount Vernon, WA

got a good laugh on this thread today

Thanks guys,

needed a good laugh after spending $75 for a new tire,  live 1 mile from Hobby Lobby's outlet store here in okc.

Do a lot of trial and error before my final,  but have been building layout for over 40 yrs. w/friends ( fellow)  Scout Masters.

Kinda like Gumbo,  some like Okra others do not.  To me it IS all about the FUN in the hobby.

Boudreaux,  Pres. Bayou Crest Express

Weathering roads

If your layout includes rough asphalt or even gravel farm roads, then I agree you can't weather too much. Farm equipment beats the life out of roads and leaves all sorts of debris on and on the side of roads, not to mention the occasional washout. if your field is level with the road it may wash out/get blown into and over the road. I'm still learning on weathering myself and there is some really good info here in this thread. Experience is the best teacher and for myself I am still learning. So weather on brother!

Modeling (or at least trying to) Seaboard Airline south Georgia late 50s-mid 60s.

I'm going to give my standard

I'm going to give my standard advice that I've come to believe after 49 years as a model rail and hope it applies here and is not deemed off topic. Whatever your weathering technique or materials, the first thing you should do is figure out what your base scenery dirt color is and put a very light dusting of that on almost everything. It will tie it all together and give  commonality. Also, IMHO there is no such thing as "over weathering". Nature constantly weathers everything in her path including us!

Road lines

For road lines I have found the narrow pin striping used for wooden derby cars works well.  Once the road is weathered and sealed looks very believable.

Joe

Where do you find the narrow pinstripe??

Joe- that striping looks very good.  I searched for the derby pinstripe and the narrowest I could find was 1/8" which would be a foot wide in HO.  Were you able to find it narrower, or did you cut it down to the proper width?  Thanks!

Craig

I recently used some 1/16"

I recently used some 1/16" wide stripping for automobile paint jobs and it worked out well.  Easy to lay down and cut to length with an xacto blade.  Very forgiving and a good width for HO.  I believe it's available in double stripe also.

@ Craig

Thanks Craig.  
 

My local Hobby Lobby carries the pin striping in the section with the wooden derby car supplies.  The image was from my last layout, (moved and currently building a new layout), so don’t remember what the specific width was but did not have to cut it. (May have been 1/8)

Also, I did not rely on the self stick adhesive alone.  Once placed I sealed with Mod podge.

Joe

Our Hobbytown in Kennesaw, GA

Our Hobbytown in Kennesaw, GA has "Line-O-Tape" in sizes down to 1/64"  Line-O-Tape is also available on Ebay.

Daryl

Good Idea on the Modge Podge

Thanks for the response Joe- also good tip on sealing it with Mod Podge

Craig