[jmswms]

I know that this has been discussed here and there on the forum, but I'd like to revisit it. I'm wondering what paint (and techniques) people use to get realistic road colors. In the past, I've used Ralph Lauren River Rock paint, which works okay. It's a bit rough, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. Actually, in scale, I'd say it's too rough. I'd be interested to hear the various things people are doing.

Here's River Rock paint.

And, with a black ink wash added (but this is getting too complicated)...

 

[Ian B]

Bill, interesting subject I'm just experimenting at the moment myself with Stone paints (not original I copied off here somewhere) I must admit I like the look, I have since tried different colours I'll get some more photos later.

 

[Aberstone]

I really like that stone effect paint, I tried a short section of our last rally track with it and was well impessed, I`ll be using a lot more in the future. I`m having thoughts about trying to spray and blend two different colours.

Cheers - Phil

 

[Ian B]

Here just shot these

I think the key is not to use to much a simple light cover seems to do the trick in my book.

 

[JEXY1]

How do you apply the stone paint brush or spray?

 

[spykerman]

Not having a permanent layout myself, let alone having painted my track, I have no real experience to share.

However, I found this solution used for this guys Juporing quite interesting: mixing acrylic paint and cement.

 

[Aberstone]

QUOTE (JEXY1 @ 29 Mar 2012, 14:15) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>How do you apply the stone paint brush or spray?

Plastikote spray, about £6 a tin.

MANHATTAN MIST
9444

GOTHAM GREY
9445

SOAP STONE
9436

CANYON ROCK
9438

ALABASTER
9439

 

[JEXY1]

Excellent - i think i will have to give that a go.

 

[Mr Modifier]

I used the stone effect spray on the infield of the Amman Valley Raceway.

It looks good BUT you should allow a few DAYS for it to dry.

Even now, months after I applied it, the paint will peel off when scratched (when I accidentally drag a fence with a pop rivet base fixing across it for example). It is fine with normal handling. The base used in the paint feels quite rubbery so it is probably latex based. The beige stone paint looks like sick when it dribbles down the side of the can and has a similar consistency (I know - too much information!!!).

Also be warned - coverage is not good - one can at about £7 will cover 2 square metres at best. So I would suggest you find a cheaper base coat of roughly the same colour to lay down a foundation then coat with the stone paint so if your coverage is a bit light in places it won't be so noticeable.

 

[jmswms]

The stone paints are all spray, correct? So, you have to tape off the rails to apply it?

 

[JEXY1]

QUOTE (Mr Modifier @ 29 Mar 2012, 15:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It looks good BUT you should allow a few DAYS for it to dry.

Even now, months after I applied it, the paint will peel off when scratched (when I accidentally drag a fence with a pop rivet base fixing across it for example). It is fine with normal handling. The base used in the paint feels quite rubbery so it is probably latex based. The beige stone paint looks like sick when it dribbles down the side of the can and has a similar consistency (I know - too much information!!!).

Also be warned - coverage is not good - one can at about £7 will cover 2 square metres at best. So I would suggest you find a cheaper base coat of roughly the same colour to lay down a foundation then coat with the stone paint so if your coverage is a bit light in places it won't be so noticeable.

Did you use any primer before spraying?

 

[Mr Modifier]

Yes - a primer from the same manufacturer as the paint - both Plasticote.

 

[Kellerkind]

Hi all,

I did two different types of road surface untill now. One is made from blackboardcolor (black) mixed with primer (white) to get a grey finish. I used it on my testtrack.

Second is just matt acrylic paint (grey) sprayed over with black and white spots. Added some tyre marks (dark grey) and it looked great.

...can be done looking like cobblestone, too.

Regards Jens

 

[90s F1 Kid]

Hi all,

Thanks for bringing this topic up. I am getting close to painting my track and many of these tracks shown here have been part of my inspiration.

As part of my track I am thinking about having a short older road and part like a modern race track- I was going to use the acrilic grey with mists of watered down black and white sprayed over after for the modern sections and i am most interested in this gravel look for the normal road area.

Does the stone effect scratch any de-slotted cars? Some guys in Aus use a composite called ferrodore for their tracks which is known to be very rough and can make a mess of finishes when cars slide across the track.

Cheers,

 

[Ember]

I'd been umming and ahhhing for ages on whether to paint or not to paint my track. Finally gave in and made the decision to do it. I've got the paint supplies that were recommended by my paint expert: Dulux Suede Effects in a couple of different colours, and 3in1 Sealer-Primer-Undercoat. Now all I've got to get is that damned round-tuit that seems so illusive.

Hoping I might be able to get things done in the next few weeks seeing as I will have plenty of free time during school holidays.

Embs

 

[Chip of FDSC]

WOW!! that surface looks amazing

Is it worth doing for a semi-permanent track? I guess if the plastic bends, it will crack and it'll look worst.

 

[rallyP]

This is a great topic. I am also thinking about this for my track to be. It seems to me that to get a realistic road, maybe the issue is not so much
the paint (which of course is essential) but finding methods to create the imperfect look that roads have.

This is not just pronounced tire marks, these are the holes, the new patches of road, the cracks on the roads, the middle line where the two side layers of the road meet, the different coloring of the parts of the road that more used and so on. It would be great if we could get an index of the common imperfections of roads and how to modeled them.

 

[Nikko]

I use Valspar flat grey. It adds a little extra grip to the Carrera track and sticks pretty well. My concern with the stone paints is the texture. It might be a little too much and eat up tires.

 

[capnfutile]

Our club used a fairly grippy paint, can't remember what it was called but I believe it did have clay in it or some such. VERY abusive to finishes; every corner had a rainbow of tiny coloured marks from rollovers.

Our club allowed (the track has since been torn down, lost space) a citrus-based cleaner for tyre treatment (de-solv it).

So I would recommend not going too abrasive with the paint. Our next track will have something else.

 

[mondo]

I used a similar technique to Jens, just recently. painted he base with a matt grey (primer type colour). them mist coated over with grey, white & black matt sprat from rattle can. The effect can be varied by the mix of colours, which one is done last and the distance the can is held away (but not so far the paint dries before it hits the surface.

results: (its actually a bit lighter than it appears here)

before I settled on this I trialed a few methods of mixing either plaster powder or tile grout powder in the base coat, although the grip was increased slightly (tested by placing an object on the surface and tilting the test surface up until the object slid and comparing angle between finishes) it was very abrasive. I could imagine cars getting very scuffed. I also tried scraping it back but with but mixed results. In the end went for the spray method. it actually gave a textured finish as well as the particles of paint tended to sit on the surface. Time will tell if the surface gets knocked back with use.

Cheers
Ray