Oakridge Neighborhood - Painting Commercial St.

Once the terrain was formed and plaster dried, I worked on bringing the roads in Oakridge to life with  painting and weathering. Like many of my painting and weathering projects, my techniques and materials were chosen for simplicity and repeatability. The end result was a surface realistic to Commercial St. completed without much fuss. 

I started the project studying prototype photos. I used "street-view" functions on the internet and took screenshots of desired textures and colors  I wanted to replicate from the actual road. Commercial Street, which parallels the tracks, seemed to be a lighter asphalt-gray color with elements of light browns. Aged, but not poorly maintained. This final look would be achieved with weathering. 

I used a wash technique to paint the base color similar to that I use when weathering equipment. This involved "building" color by applying multiple thin washes to achieve the desired look per prototype photos. Additionally, washes for both weathering or in this case painting allow for any sort of tweaking of color should it be needed. The base color for commercial street was achieved with 4 washes of a tan-gray color. 

The base coat applied to Commercial St. I worked in small sections at a time. 

The final wash was a dark brown-black mixture used to begin the weathering process. I have previously scribed expansion joints and other cracks and the wash helped to bring out these details in the road surface.

Commercial Street has a distinctive tar pattern along the major expansion joints and cracks. I replicated this by hand, painting over these joints and cracks with a dark gray water mixable oil and a fine brush. Here I used prototype photos extensively for accuracy. Note however, I did not replicate any one section of road, but merely used photos as reference to ensure realism in my final result, if not an exact replica.

Tar painted with dark gray oils along previously scribed joints and cracks.

I then followed this detail work with an additional black-brown wash to help blend the newly painted tar lines into the rest of the pavement. This did not obscure any of the previous step, but merely softened the distinctiveness of the painted tar lines. 

Second wash of brown-black applied and still drying. 

I used weathering powders to finish the coloring and weathering of the road. I began with light browns and grays to give a dusty look, especially along the shoulders and along the middle or crown of the road. I also used a fine brush and dark brown powder to highlight some of the expansion joints. All this was blended with a large, soft brush.

Weathering powders applied to lightly weather and age the road. 

With scenery still to come, it remains to be seen how the road will fully integrate into the scene, yet the initial results are encouraging!

The finished road without additional vegetation. To my eye, the road stands out rather harshly compared to the plain dirt texturing, but maintains a realistic look. 

A sneak peek in to what is to come in Oakridge. Here, the road is much more an integrated element in the scene!