How to create a tarmac for a jet plane

This is an overall photo of my tarmac. It is 20"x30". I should have used the next size larger foam core board.

I think this looks fantastic and I dont think the joints looks bad at all. I am going to try this method for sure thank you for sharing Bruce!

Here is a link for making an asphalt tarmac. 

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/17438

When I made mine I glued a piece of plywood to the backside of the foam board to keep it from warping. I scribed lines into the foam to simulate the joints between the pavement. I also painted some areas a darker color to simulate patched areas in the pavement.

Scale matters, and rather more than a little.

Smaller than 1/100, probably painted paper card might be best.  At a 10" viewing distance is better than 80', not a lot of detailgoing to be visible.

At 1/48 it gets dicey.  That 10" viewing distance is 40', some texture and detail will be visible in paved surfaces, but not a huge amount.

Even 1/32, which is a large scale a/c is a long way off to see "broom finish" in concrete.  Those broom marks are under 1/16" in actual size (maybe 1mm), or a teeny 0.0020± (0.05mm) to scale.  Tar macadam, aka "tarmac" is a fine asphault paving of bitumenous "tar" into which fine aggregate gravel & sand) is impressed (alternately, the aggregate is pre-mixed and applied hot to the subgrade). 

Personally, I like Crescent board--a compressed paper product using in framing.  It has a fine texture with some pores, which can replicate both concrete and tarmac.  But, that's just my 2¢

German Armour

I found a coumpany out of the U.K. that sells printed bases that look quite good.

https://www.coastalkits.co.uk/newstore/airfields.html

Sprue brothers sells them in the U.S.

 

The Carrier ones are nice, i recently used one myself. But IMHO the otehr ones, both by Coastal and others, look awful. They are just to flat, even for the concrete parts. There is no texture.

I used 320 grit 3M wet sandpaper and glued it to a 3/4 inch plywood. I used white glue with a roller to spead in on the board. It turned out ok. The texture of the sandpaper simulated concrete nicely for 1/48 scale. 

Here is the finished base:

I admit the the concrete joints did not turn out that well. They were drawn on with a regular number 2 pencil.

Hope this helps.

I found a coumpany out of the U.K. that sells printed bases that look quite good.

https://www.coastalkits.co.uk/newstore/airfields.html

Sprue brothers sells them in the U.S.

Hello!

Most surfaces on an airfield are concrete. This is easy to paint - first you paint the surface white, then brush it with thin black wash a few times. Pencil in the partitions and cracks before that. For tarmac it's even easier - glue some fine dark coloured sandpaper to the base, makes a really nice tarmac.

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

I don't make my base the same way as this guy, but i use the same aproach for painting.

http://bowemodels.blogspot.com/2013/05/technique-building-basic-wwii-era.html