Once again, I'm not reinventing anything, only using a method that brought good results to me over the time. Also, I like when the layout has a visual coherence and for that, using the same materials and color palette helps a lot.
I've often thought roads on North American layouts look too good to be credible. When it's time to paint yellow and white lines, most will use full strength paint, which is far to yield a realistic appearance.
In my case, masking tape is used to frame the future lines. Then paint is kind of drybrushed to get a faded look. You don't want paint buildup along the tape. For yellow, I generally lighten the color with some white. After winter, lines are in bad shapes and not pristine if still visible at all.
When dry, I remove the tape then I use an hobby knife blade to scrape the paint. Don't be shy, the more you remove, the better it looks. Only leaving ghost lines is what we want. It is surprising how very worn out lines can still make a decent contrast with the adjacent asphalt color.
Then, a generous coat of dullcote seal everything while hiding the glossy hobby knife scratches.
Hi Matthieu, I've always liked the idea of doing as much work as possible at a bench but am not sure what do about the seams between road sections for a long road I have. What will be your approach to the seams? Or are your roads planned so that you don't have seams?
ReplyDeleteAlso, your eye for colour is fantastic and your roads look very realistic. Well done!
Thanks for your kind words. I try to design roads so I can use standard material. Most illustration boards and other thick cardboards can be obtained in quite sizeable dimensions. If I have to deal with seams, I think I would splice the parts were pavement repair seams exist. Instead of a single cut, I would make a stepped interlocking step corresponding to each lane. Also, don't forget you can glue parts together then putty the seams since everything will be painted with rattle cans and primer.
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