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1. Latex paint mixed with texture compound is the basis for
Harold Minky's rural dirt road, churned by horses' hoofs.
Harold Minky photo.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Making a dirt road
Q.
I am redoing some scenery on my layout and am looking
for suggestions on dirt roads. I have been thinking about using
very fine sifted sand, stepping up to a medium coarse sand for
the center and the edges of the road, and then coarse sand for
the very edges. Anyone have any other suggestion?
A.
Study photos or take a field trip to nail down how dirt roads
look in the area you're modeling. Look for color, texture, width,
weeds, grading, ditching, and so on. After you look at the pic-
tures, check track ballast as a size comparison and find some fine
sand at different sizes smaller.
The photo (1) shows a dirt road crafted by Harold Minky, who
shares a detailed how-to at
. His basic materials are latex paint, a texturing compound,
white glue and water. The most sophisticated tool involved is a
spoon. Harold mixed the paint texture additive with his road-col-
ored latex, let it set up, and then spooned the crumbly mixture
onto the layout.
Paver sand can be sifted into several grades, and is available at
home improvement and garden stores. In some areas it's called
“sharp sand.”
An option is lightweight spackle, which has some body and sticks
well to wood and painted surfaces. Spackle can be shaped to
Questions, Answers & Tips - 1
MRH-May 2013
