Concrete

[Richard Pike]

I have a fairly large area of concrete, 4' x 2', to create on my layout for a maintenance depot base. Whats the best method to create this ?, I am considering either Plasticard or Plaster, any advice would be appreciated.

 

Richard

[tetleys]

Hi,

 

4' x 2' of concrete! I assume you must be modelling a modern container scene. Remember that concrete is laid in individual sections squares or rectangles with expansion joints, the sort of annoying bump, bump you get on a concrete roadway, so you will need a medium that will take being scribed and I suggest unless it is very modern the surface may well show signs of wear and tear. I would suggest plaster to be the most cost effective but I would include some sort of strengthenig agent such as jute scrim or fibre glass mesh tape or it could develop real cracks.

[noiseboy72]

How about printing Scalescences Concrete onto A4 sheets of waterproof paper (Very similar to thin Plasticard) ?

 

Cut it up at the joints and fill them with a few bits of green scatter and general brown crud. Use a laser printer to prouduce a good dense, semi matt fade proof image. This will be strong and hard wearing, fairly quick to produce and easy to repair.

 

If you are using any sort of liquid medium, you will need to get it dead level. Concrete finds a level when you lay and jiggle it, so you need to ensure you use a similar method, maybe even shuttering it into 6" square blocks and mixing a few batches at slightly different colours and textures.

[Red Devil]

Hi,

 

4' x 2' of concrete! I assume you must be modelling a modern container scene. Remember that concrete is laid in individual sections squares or rectangles with expansion joints, the sort of annoying bump, bump you get on a concrete roadway, so you will need a medium that will take being scribed and I suggest unless it is very modern the surface may well show signs of wear and tear. I would suggest plaster to be the most cost effective but I would include some sort of strengthenig agent such as jute scrim or fibre glass mesh tape or it could develop real cracks.

 

Whilst not quite the same thing, I used ready mixed plaster for roads, it appears to have some form of chemical/glue addative, it bonds well to the surface, is easy to 'float' up and scribes easily. As of yet no cracks!

 

Have a look here http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/172/entry-2393-more-easy-street/

 

Along the same lines, tile grout is often mentioned

[chrisf]

There are twwo things to bear in mind here - what material and what colour.

 

I've just made a representation of a concrete apron to go alongside a cattle pen with a drainage channel between the rails to take away - er - bovine discharge. As I was using C&L chairs and bullhead rail I decided to use plastic card for the concrete.

 

To represent the colour I bought two tins of concrete paint and used neither. Instead I took some matt white and added a hint of Humbrol 110. Whben this was dry some concrete weathering powder was rubbed on for texture. It needs another dose and will get one when I've found the jar of weathering powder ...

 

Chris

 

Edit - found it. It's by MIG, catalogue number P026 and I bought it at the last Peterborough show. Thanks to Chris56057 for helping me find it there

[Andy Y]

Worth a read before you dive in Richard - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/1/entry-44-inset-trackwork-on-keyhaven/

[mason]

i agree a good read of andys key haven is needed, its a great example of doing a large hardstanding area and how to do it well. 

 

regards

 

neil

 

 

[R A Watson]

Green Scenes do a range of textured paints which I have used often, one of these is Concrete and it gives a good representation of new concrete that can be tinted either before use or when dry with normal colour wash or weathering methods.

 

Just paint it onto the flat board surface or surface packing if you want to raise the surface between or beside the rails.

 

H T H

 

Wally

[SRman]

Artists mounting board in a concrete colour. You can often get offcuts cheaply from art and craft stores and any joints can be made to resemble the real thing anyway! It is easy to cut and shape around or between tracks, too.

[49395]

Remember that concrete is laid in individual sections squares or rectangles with expansion joints

 

 

The sections aren't usually bigger than 6m square (78.7mm in 4mm scale)

 

Thats how big I scribed the plastic sheet I used to represent mine

 

Mike

[Guest jim s-w]

Hiya

 

For modelling Tarmac (I know thats what you asked) I use Suede texture paint as a base and work on top of that with other colours - usually a grey with a light spray of black for tarmac followed by washes.

 

 

For concrete I use a base of PVA with lines drawn through it while its still tacky (I use a nit comb for this). This is then has the plasticote suede paint sprayed over it.

 

 

The following shows Platicote suede applied to walls and weathered with washes.

 

 

HTH

 

Jim

[Richard Pike]

Thanks Guys, I really like the Keyhaven idea.

[Chivers Finelines]

Worth a read before you dive in Richard - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/blog/1/entry-44-inset-trackwork-on-keyhaven/

 

Andy's method gets my vote!! I did a small patch on a 009 layout I was building and it turned out perfect, although I used plaster mixed with water and PVA Glue instead of the flexible filler.

 

it looked like this once I weathered it....Not the best picture.

 

 

I'm now in the middle of doing it again on my new layout.