Modeling Gravel Roads with Martin Tärnrot

Hello and welcome to a Model Railroad Academy video in the free section. Today, I'm going to show you one method of making gravel roads. Yeah. There are many methods to to achieve a nice looking result, but this method I've used throughout my entire layout. For this video instruction, I make a small diorama made from 2-inch thick styrofoam. I prefer to make the road itself from thin styrofoam. These styrofoam trips are used on the modern wooden floor. So, you find them in the floor section of your DIY shop. However, I know that some of you guys have problems obtaining this styrofoam and then you can use tape instead. I use a razor blade or a hobby knife to cut strips from my paper tape. These two tapes will mark the position of the road, but also make a stand-off when we're plastering this later. The plaster I'm using is a medium-coarse, sand-based, water-based plaster for indoor use. But, hey, both Woodland Scenic, NOCH, and the other manufacturers has landscape plaster which also can be used. The only thing that's really important is that it's water-based for the styrofoam. And also that it's easy to sand. Now, if your landscape is much more irregular than this styrofoam sheet, then you might consider to use thin strips of balsa instead of the paper tape. Now, what about if your road is going up or down? Well, then you're just cutting the road surface from the base board. Reduce the thickness of the road. Now with this thickness, it will be much easier to shape and then glue in place in the desired position. However, before gluing it in place, we will first sand it smooth. For this, I'm using a sanding block and a sanding paper. Once you got it real smooth, then it's time to glue it in place on to your baseboard or layout. Leave that to dry properly, and then it's time to shape the ground on both sides of the road. Can we use PID, Septa mold, or in this case, I'm using Mold-A-Scene from Woodland Scenic. On both sides of a gravel road, as well as sometimes in the middle, there is a more coarse gravel. To create this, I use chinchilla sand which is found in your local sew shop. Spread a thin layer of Elmer All Purpose on both sides of the roads. And then, sprinkle in chinchilla sand into the wet glue. The surface and the color of the gravel road will be created using tile's grout. This is also very low-cost material which you find in your DIY shop. I have since years, three different colors of this tile's grout. This is light gray, dark gray, and also I have this brown. The good thing with these tile's grout is because it contains a lot of pigment. You can mix different colors or shades of the tile's grout into new colors. It will not just mix, it will blend. Once I'm happy with the blend of grout, I pour a piece onto my table and then I blend paint according to the color of the grout. If you already have available a good color for gravel roads, then you do it the other way around. Meaning, mixing the grout with the paint as reference. Thin the paint with water so the paintbrush doesn't leave any marks and spread it over the entire road surface. I use a piece of a nylon sock to get an even distribution of the grout over the entire road surface. The ground surfaces on both sides of the road is painted in brown. This paint is mixed with glue and into the glue I then sprinkle turf. This is a Woodland Scenic Earth Blend and Green Blend. Once dry, I apply a layer of static grass glue. Not on all of the surfaces, but in areas like this. And then apply a 2.5 millimeter tall static grass. If you like, also apply some grass in the middle of the road. Excess grass is removed using a vacuum cleaner and a round, soft brush. Now there only one thing remaining, and that is the track marks. To recreate this, I use a pastel chalk. I grind some powder off; this is a burnt Sienna yellow. Application is made using a makeup sponge. I typically not topcoat my gravel roads, because they look better without a topcoat. But, if necessary, please also remember that this will darken the colors somewhat. I hope you liked this video tutorial on how to make gravel roads. If you did, why don't you sign up for a premium membership here on the Model Railroad Academy and thereby gaining access to a huge library, which covers every aspect of the model railroading hobby. See you in there!