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| The picture above shows a part of my runway Even if there are still some improvements to make, I am pretty happy with its general look, That’s why today, I decided to disclose tips and advice for you to build a realistic runway, based on my experience. But before that, I recommend you to subscribe to my YouTube channel here, where you will find ideas to enhance your airport diorama, and detailed tutorials very soon. It’s done ? Ok, let’s get started. If you’re making your own runway, I invite you to wonder how big you want it to be according to your diorama. Is it a small airfield with no heavy planes ? An international airport with a long and wide runway ? For mine, I wanted a pretty big one which can welcome the A380 Qantas that I have in my collection. So I designed an operational width around 45m. Once you have decided, think about the material you want to reproduce : A light concrete surface, with square pavements, or a dark asphalt runway ? Mine reproduces concrete, because I wanted to have a strong contrast with tire marks, and to be able to detail pavements and tints for pictures. Asphalt has other advantages : a great contrast with white markings and planes, and less work to do (no pavements, and usually a single dark tint). Having this thinking will enable you to know where you go to make it realistic. Note : you can add a little side area to your runway, like in reality, which is usually dirty or abandoned. It will enhance an effect of contrast. Now, to have the first layer of your runway done, you can use a large paint brush or even spray paint it. Personally, I used a large brush with light grey paint. The step n°2 is to draw the white markings. Begin to plot them as a draft with a pencil at their right position. Use Google Earth to help you with your layout and get the dimensions of each mark : the threshold, the runway numbers, the edge lines, the center lines, etc. Then, you can use white line painters to draw them. If you do so, I strongly recommend the POSCA brand that I’ve been using for a long time. You can start with a regular size (here) and move on to something thinner for corners and borders (here) Done ? Now, for those who have concrete surface, it’s time to draw square pavements ! You can simply use a pencil to do it. Last step : tire marks on each side of center lines. You have been a lot to ask me what I used for that on Instagram. This tool… Is charcoal. You can find it as “pens”, like this. It has been very useful to my runway and made it reach the next level of realism, as you can see it below.  A last advice : you can even add small tire marks with a pencil close the threshold and runway numbers, to display the lining ups. I hope these tips will help you with your project ! Olivier |
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