Chipboard Roads

by Bruce Arbo

For ease of construction I use Chipboard for my roads. It is available at Hobby Lobby in large sheets and is 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch thick. It is cut into long strips and glued directly to the base. Lightweight spackle is applied to form the shoulders. This brand goes on pink and dries to white. I sand the dried spackle to form a smooth slope and transition to the bare plywood top. You can see that I added a bit more spackle on the inside corner of the intersection, in order to form a smoother transition from roadtop to gravel parking lot for the drive-up restaurant. Next step will be latex 'earth tone' paint on all the ground surfaces, then painting the highway and intersecting road.


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I painted the base 'earth' coat over the module (This is a custom mixed flat interior latex paint from Home Depot-They matched a jar of Pollyscale 'Earth') I thin it 50/50 with water to extend the paint and allow it to flow much easier. I also painted the chipboard highway and side road with my custom mix of SP Dark Lark Gray, Flat Reefer White, and Aged Concrete.


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Striped the roads on the "Dari King" module with Woodlands Scenics striping pens. These are designed for this application but care has to be taken. Make sure there is an even flow from the nozzle and make sure your measurements are exactly where you want them before striping. Removing and/or painting over the stripes is a pain if you're not pleased with your application.


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Added tar-filled cracks and expansion joints on the road using a Faber-Castell "Warm Gray" artist pen.

Then, add a gravel shoulder-I use a mix of Z scale limestone ballast, Woodland Scenics 'gray gravel', and some earth powder.
I apply it to the shoulder, then fix it in place as I would ballast-wet water, then dilute wet white glue, or scenic cement.

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Then, I weather the road with a grease strip down the center of each lane- I use pastels…in this case, Tamiya weathering pastels-this kit has an 'oily' color that I like.

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