Almost Free Highways

I need to pave a lot of city streets and other roads on my layout. I had a brainstorm, which does not happen very often, while cleaning my desk; I came across a pile of business cards that I had collected over the years. Why couldn’t I use them to model sections of concrete highway? After measuring them I determined that the basic business card is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches or a scale 26.67 ft by 46.67 feet. The 26.67 is a bit wider then the roadway on a bridge model I plan to use so I’ll trim the cards down to the bridge width or put up a sign “narrow bridge ahead.” My plan is to paint them a concrete gray or even a different gray to resemble aged asphalt, add some stains, patches, manholes in the city, etc. After the business cards are painted I’ll lay them out as sections of road using some glue to attach them to the scenery. The cards will add some depth, which would not happen if I just paint the roads on the layout. I’ll give it a try and report on the success or failure.


Gary

 

Hmmmm........never thought of using cardstock for roads, although I make a lot of my asphalt parking lots using black fine sandpaper, and I've used thin Styrene to make a few roads. Keep us posted on how it works. My worry would be with the edges of the cardstock doing something "bad" .

 

Because it's cheap, I like the idea. Because I've tried something like it, I have to say 'don't go there'.

I tried using posterboard for concrete roadway surface. It looked great until I applied diluted glue to the adjacent areas to secure my ground cover. The cut edges absorb moisture readily, even though painted. Once dry, the road couldn't be made flat.

I've had reliable results with thin styrene sheet.

 

Kinda weird, but, thats why I would try it.. lol.. I have been known to be the king of recycled trash for layouts, hahhah.. I try all sorts of weird stuff to use on the layout, some work, most dont, but, the ones that do makes it worth the effort.. Good luck with it and let us know how it turns out..

I am actually planning on using colored sheetrock mud to actually "pave" roads using a home made trall shaped to "dome" the road as they are in reality just slightly. It might not work, and I might make a mess, but, we will see.. :tb-confused:

 

I've used poster board for roads and it has worked fine.

I attach the roads with a white glue.

I then paint the roads, including the edges, using a concrete colored latax paint.

I attach adjacent ground cover using a brown colored latax paint.

 

I had a similar idea several years ago when the old Southside N Scale club was doing scenery on some modules in our meeting room which at the time was downstairs at a football club and used as a function room with a bar down one end. I was charged with building a road and was at a loss for materials until I found a pile of cardboard drink coasters behind the bar.

 

What is, where is, concert highway and what is concert gray? Where do I get it?

 

Concert is "concrete." Just a typo.

 

The concert highway is the highway you take to get to the concert; it may be made of asphalt or concrete. The concert highway is located in most major cities and many minor ones. Concert gray is the color of the outfits that some of the performers wear, very similar to the color of concrete.
:tb-embarrassed:

 

Wonder if you could use "gift cards"without embossed numbers. Yes, you would have to cut each one down to square the corners and you would need a lot of them.
Hmmm,

 

I don't think that the little bit of embossing will be much of a problem. With a bit of luck the business cards will curl a little and resemble the crown of the road…but I will not hold my breath.

 

Sorry that it has been so long to get back to this.

I finally found the time to paint some of the business cards. There was some concern that the edges would swell and curl, but that did not happen on the dozen or so cards that I have painted with the base coat. What did happen is something that I did not expect.

I apologize for the poor photos.

The card in the back is still wet, note the curl
The card in the front is dry, note its curl

The card in the left is still wet
The card in the right is dry


After being dry for a day or so it is real easy to remove the curl and the cards lay flat. Just need to

1. Trim the cards
2. Paint the strips
3. Pour the slabs

I'm not saying it is perfect, but...Almost free Highways.

Gary

 

Keep in mind that real roads are built with a crown, however the curling in the cards is too much crown, but, non the less. In my humble opinion, I think that when modling roads, when you put in a slight crown, it just looks better. If you look at a modeled road with a slight crown, and one that is perfectly flat, you can see what I mean. it just looks more real to me. Sometimes, ya dont notice until ya compare, but it is one of those sub-conciously noticed, conciously un-noticed things that do make a difference.

for the record, roads are built with this crown to help drainage so water doesnt stand on the road.

 

Here in KY they don't seem to understand the concept of Crown. FLAT FLAT. Especially in the rural towns and back roads

When I first started painting the cards it was nice to see the curl that would represent the needed crown. Painted up a bunch and went to bed. Was I surprised the next morning to find that I now had a dip.

Since I'm working with business cards it should be easier with the cards then styrene to insert the needed crown. I am thinking about running a layer or two of masking tape down the center of the card to force the center up as I place the cards. N Scale won't need much. Only time will tell.

So much to do with the layout and so little time.

Gary

 

How about trying some non-water based paints, say the stuff that comes out of a spray can? Maybe they won't cause the card to curl at all. Just wondering...

 

It probably will also. It is just the paint shrinking. Humidity will do it too due to moisture transfer. You can minimize it by laying a book or something on it when it dries, it will flatten back out just fine..

 

Since I'm painting on paper and not the best quality, I think that they will curl no matter what. The curl is really not a problem. All I have to do is pull the card length wise over the edge of the the desk or layout and it is flat. Taping the cards end to end after getting them flat and trimmed helps keep them that way. I believe that once they are glued down some may try to curl again but it will just add some bumps in the road. You know the ones you feel every 20 or so feet as you drive down the road.

All in all I am still not sure if it is the way I'll go. This is an experiment to see if the edges were going to swell and create a curb (something that I did not want). I was a bit surprised to see the two different curls.

I've got almost 500 business cards and that is going to make a lot of slabs.

Gary

 

If ya wanna go with paper, i would just buy a box of card stock. Its pretty cheap. The problem I could see with the cards, is they all will probably vary greatly in the types of paper they are. Odds are, they are many manufactures, and qualities making it difficult to standardize your method of using them.

I just use sheetrock mud with a cardstock trawl (slight crown). It's cheap, and makes a pretty good road, complete with natural cracks etc. That, and also used various shades of fine sand papers (although more expensive). Im all for recycling. I do it all the time, or at least experiment, so kudos for that, but some experiments fail, and some are winners, ya never know until ya try it..

 

In most cases I would agree with you about the "vary greatly in the types of paper they are. Odds are, they are many manufactures, and qualities"

Just by luck I have a box of cards that I had printed about 3 months before I left the job that they were used for. So those variables are not a problem here. Using the cards for me will hopefully save $$$ let me recycle them into something useful other then shims and spacers.

Time will tell how they work.
Gary

 

Silverfish eat paper. laugh: