The Little Rock Line

[Bendtracker1]

I needed a highway near the town of Ruston, LA.
So again I followed the method Mr. Foxx used with styrene, it seemed to work pretty good for the scrap yard entrance I made earlier.

Using the same cork I used for roadbed, I laid down the base, then used a plastic "No Parking" sign that I got at Menards for the highway.



After getting it painted to my liking, I used masking tape for the striping and stippled TCP White and Yellow so it wasn't a completely solid line.




A friend printed me a Crossing stencil. I sprayed it using TCP white and touched up the stencil lines.




Then I grabbed my Pan Pastels to weather it and used a calligrapher's pen and black ink for the cracks and tar lines.
The oil spots were made using some Rail Center wash in a stiff brush.  I used a dental pick and pulled the bristles back so they'd splatter the wash near the crossing.





 

[shark_jj]

Looks really good Allen.  If you have the eye for colour its hard to beat styrene that is beautifully painted and weathered and you clearly have the artists eye.  I notice you mentioned on the blog the fading issue with Pan Pastels once they are Dullcoted, and I totally agree.  Painting is the right approach if you can seal the masking tape so you don't get bleed under.  The problem with the grout approach I used is the rough surface of the grout prevents a good seal when you tape.  Great job.

[NorthWestGN]

Nicely done, Looks great!

Brent

[Bendtracker1]

Looks really good Allen.  If you have the eye for colour its hard to beat styrene that is beautifully painted and weathered and you clearly have the artists eye.

Thank you John!

I notice you mentioned on the blog the fading issue with Pan Pastels once they are Dullcoted, and I totally agree.

Yup, at least the lighter colors anyway.

  Painting is the right approach if you can seal the masking tape so you don't get bleed under.  The problem with the grout approach I used is the rough surface of the grout prevents a good seal when you tape.  Great job.

I agree.  I used Tamiya tape and tried to burnish it down after I sealed the base paint.  Seemed to work just fine?
I originally planned to try the pre-mixed grout like you have done just to try another method, but didn't feel like making a mess at that particular time.  I still plan to give it a go on another road though.

Plus like you said, being rough might be tough to keep the lines crisp with Pans or paints.  I did however, give some thought about using Frog Tape to see if that would work to help seal things?

[Bendtracker1]

Nicely done, Looks great!

Brent

Thanks Brent!

[OldEastRR]

Really great-looking roads. And they LOOK like they're old and used, not fresh-laid asphalt. Pan Pastels are powder?