12-18-2008, 11:10 PM
RobL Wrote:Josh:
How do you like working with the Woodland Scenics road system? I tried it once and I thought the roads looked awful... your roads look way better than mine came out... how did you paint them, and did you "add" anything to get a more textured look to the road?
I saw a great idea in this months MR for roads... using photos of real roads, printed as decals, attached to styrene... I might give that a shot, but I am not sure yet. Luckily for my rural scenes following how it really is in Vermont, I will be able to create dirt roads which should be fairly easy to do.
--Rob.
Hi Rob, thanks
I LOVE the Woodland Scenics Roads System. The thing is, you have to be patient about the stuff, a few coats are required to get good results. and this means letting the road dry completely in between each coat. I usually do 3-4 coats, a rough coat, a medium/smooth coat, and a smooth/fine coat, and if need be a touch up coat in some spots that may be bugging me lol. Patients, Patients, Patients, Patients is the key to getting good results with the stuff. I personally like the stuff and i will continue to use it for ALL my roads and loading dock areas.
Water is good when your working with the Smooth-It. Mix it to the consistency of medium to thick soup, making sure there are no clumps remaining in the mixture, pour it in between the path of the roads you layed out with the paving tape, smooth it out with the styrene smoother that is provided in the paving tape, and let it dry, but make sure there are no raised areas that are higher then the paving tape sides. If the mixture begins to harden on you, add some more water, and keep a glass of water near you so you can continue to clean the smoother off, this also adds water to the newly poured road and further helps to smooth it out. After it is dry, you can pull the paving tape up or leave it place for the next coat, it doesnt really matter. Come back with a thick mix and do another coat on the road. Mostly you are just filling in "dips" and such like that. When that dries, come back with a even thicker coat to do a smooth coat and a touch up coat to areas that might not meet your standards lol. If you have not removed the paving tape you can now do so, it should come up fairly easy leaving you a nice straight or curved road.
If you do not want to paint the roads, mix a color into each mixture each time you do a coat, that way you will not have to paint it.
Word of caution, Smooth-It can go fast, buy lots and use only what you think you will need for the job, you can always mix more but you CANNOT save mixed Smooth-It, even under a lid, it hardens and is un-usable after a period of time lol
Need a road thats wider then the smoother will smooth and fit across? For roads wider then the smoother, lay an extra strip of paving tape down the center of the road, pour in the mix and smooth it out, after it dries, pull ul the tape and then go on with the next coat, filling in the strip where the tape was in the middle of the road.
I am thinking of posting a tutorial on how i make my roads when i start my modules for the M&ET :mrgreen: which should be soon