This morning I ordered two "half gallons" of Smooth It and will give it a try. I really appreciate all your comments and suggestions. When the time comes, I will be sure to give my take on the product and let you know!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
May I add..... I sure can't/won't pour 7 feet of plaster in one pour. I figured on doing it a section at a time, perhaps 8-12 inches each. I'll put in either basswood or styrene for dividers. The end result will give the natural expansion breaks as on the prototype. Looking forward to more comments....... still not set on which way to go for a medium...........
Best method I have found is to use regular plaster and add white glue to it as about half the water amount. Once dry you can scribe in cracks or lines without the chipping worry. Try different formulas to find the one that works best for your area as far as glue to water ratio. Tried many myself and they all seem to work well.
Smooth It is basically plaster of Paris. I use the paving tape with regular Dap Plaster of Paris and get the same result.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
mobilman44....a 1950s era "concrete" highway. .......I'm set on actually pouring the road - just like in the real world.
Except that concrete roads are poured in slabs with seams between them. If you pour one continuous ribbon of Smooth It, it will look more like asphalt.
Why not take some styrene or Sintra sheet and scribe lines for the seams. Sintra has a slight texture to it which would work well concrete.
You could also make individual slabs by pouring plaster into simple molds. To give the slab some texture you could use waterproof sandpaper as the bottom of the mold. The walls of the mold are made from a sheet of depron foam with a rectangle cut out. You could also use craft foam. After pouring the plaster, pressing a pane of glass on top of it will force the plaster into the nooks and crannies and give it a nice flat bottom.
Steve S
I've used it in several MR projects, most recently the 2015 Red Oak N scale project. I like to use Woodland Scenics Earth Colors black pigment to tint it at the mixing stage, so I don't have to paint it.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Durham's Water Putty for me, too. There's a bit of a learning curve in getting used to mixing it and using it, but I like the results. For me, it's replicating an asphalt surface that works well.
It's a hardware store item, so it's relatively cheap and there's no long wait for delivery.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
peahrensHaving read in the forum about Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty, I then switched to using it on my roadway and a couple of attached "concrete" parking lots. I prefer it as I had less problem, though there might be a minor crack in one parking lot (how's that for realism?).
You can color Durham's throughout before mixing it with water by adding powdered tempera or dry earth powders such as umbers, siennas, and other colors. Small amounts of acrylic, latex paints, RIT®, Tintex, and coloring matter which will mix with water are also suitable. Do not use oil-base products, since oil and water do not mix and the putty will not harden.
I've used it and actually like it. I needed a smooth transition of a road over the tracks and after watching Luke Towan's youtube video I was sold! It works well and personally I like it better than the hyrocal for going over rails....but both are solid products.
Mike
tried smooth-it worked ok , but went back to hydracal as it cost less and to me worked better and i think it might be a tad stronger , for forms i use square styreen of the thickness i wanted, wont go to great detale but curves were made by bending heated styreen around a glass jar if proper diam. held in place with brads.
Another option is drywall joint compound (aka "mud"). It's readily available at your local Walmart or Home Depot. Buy a small container for a few bucks, it's pre-mixed and ready to apply. Dries fast. I've used it on my layout with good results. I've also used Smooth-it, but when I ran out I switched to the mud. I used the foam tape with the joint compound. The tape will stick to the sub-roadbed and leave a residue if left on too long (I'm talking for days - not hours).
I used Smooth-It on a small roadway on my grandson's layout, so I tried it on my newer layout for an "asphault" road. Both layouts are on painted plywood, one 1/2" and the other 5/8". In both cases I used the Woodland Scenics road edging tape to form the edge and as a guide to thickness. It came up for me ok if removed promptly, which I did when the Smooth-It or putty (see below) was still liquidy.
The Smooth-It worked fine on my grandson's roadway but when I did the first part of my laoyut's roadway the Smooth-It cracked pretty soon after drying fully. I want to be fair here; i.e., I might have mixed it too thin and/or applied it too thin for it to have enough strength / integrity.
Having read in the forum about Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty, I then switched to using it on my roadway and a couple of attached "concrete" parking lots. I prefer it as I had less problem, though there might be a minor crack in one parking lot (how's that for realism?).
So, which ever you use, take some care in how mixed and ensure enough thickness on the first application to allow some internal strength. I imagine it has to flex at least a bit as the plywood surely flexes somewhat when the table (on rollers) is moved, etc.
I painted the asphalt with the Woodland Scenics paint (pricey for an acrylic paint but I like the thickness and color) and I just mixed some acrylics for painting the concrete parking lots.
First photo is the Smooth-It that I then scraped off.
Next is the water putty under way:
Next is the complete project sans the station and its parking lot added later:
And the concrete parking lot (I did not try the texture I've since acquired):
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I have used smooth it and I love it. The nice thing is that it is very smooth on top, and no sanding is needed unless you tried to build a road without forms or when the product was partially set.
Your idea of n-scale roadbed is good. They sell a "paving tape" also, but the issue with that is that if your subroadbed is already painted, the paving tape sticks and does not come up.
A second issue us that edges are brittle. This might be desirable for realism ... But best to color it and apply the apron gravel (exactly what I do) as soon as possible.
NP.
Hi,
I'm in the final stages of layout scenery, with the biggest project remaining being the building of a 1950s era "concrete" highway.
The proposed highway will be 4 1/2 inches wide, and just over 7 feet long in an elongated letter "C" shape. After considering several alternatives, I'm set on actually pouring the road - just like in the real world.
The edges of the road will be formed with N scale roadbed to contain the "concrete". After the concrete sets, the roadbed will be removed and gravel for road apron will be put into place.
To reinforce the road, I will glue down screening on the benchwork surface to act just like rebar would on the prototype.
I have Plaster of Paris on hand, and am fairly experienced with it. But I'm not sure if that is the best way to go.
Woodland Scenics puts out a product called "Smooth It" and that could be a much better alternative - or not. My only problem is that I would have to order it online - and have a two week or so wait.
So my questions are..... have you used "Smooth It", and what is your opinion of it? Or, do you prefer another type of "concrete" instead?
Thank you!