Woodland Scenics Road Sytem - Using Smooth-It

[Trucklover]

Hi guys, here is the tutorial i have been saying i would be doing for the past few months

Ive had several people ask me how i did my roads and crossings from this picture:

Well this tutorial will not include any pictures of doing a crossing, but after i finish this post on doing regular roads, i will do another post in this thread explaining how i did my crossing in the picture above with Woodland Scenics Smooth-It.

Before i begin, id like to not that
USING WOODLAND SCENICS SMOOTH-IT TAKES PATIENTS!
Please don't hold me responsible for your roads not turning out the way you would like them to when following this tutorial



TOOLS YOU NEED TO DO THIS:

1. Woodland Scenics Smooth-It
2. Woodland Scenics Paving Tape
3. Some kind of spreader (i used one that came with a package of paving tape and modified it to make it longer, see picture below)
4. 3/4" Putty Knife
5. 3" Putty Knife
6. A mixing container with a lid
7. A large cup of water
8. Steel Ruler
9. A Sharpie or other pen or pencil

The modified spreader i listed above in the tools was made from 2 spreaders. Each package of Paving Tape includes a spreader, i took 2 of these (i have multiple packages of Paving Tape) and added 1-3/4" from the second spreader onto the first spreader, making it a total length of 7" and easier to do a highway or road. You can make the spreader however long you want to, i would just keep it under 9". 7" is long enough to do a 3 lane road, 8" would be just long enough to do a 4 lane road (lanes of 1-3/4" wide).....

The 2 different sizes of Putty Knifes in addition to the lengthened spreader, make the road laying much easier, i would highly suggest getting both sizes of Putty Knifes. The Putty Knifes are mostly used for after the first coat is dry. The smaller one is good for small spaces or one lane roads, the larger for smoothing larger roads....

The mixing container is very important, and i would try and find one with a lid. The cup of water is also important, this is your cleaning cup, where you clean the spread and putty knifes.

If you have all of the above, you should be off to a good start.


Laying your Roads/Highways With Paving Tape

It is important to plan your Roads and or Highways. I would suggest taking your Steel Ruler and actually drawing out a path for the road with the Sharpie or whatever your using. Curves can be difficult, but if you keep a consistent width of the road through the curve, it will come out just fine. Measure out and draw your roads on your layout base. Be sure to include the center dividers if you would want a divided road/highway.

Here is a guideline from the back of the Woodland Scenics Paving Tape Package on road widths:

Prototype City Street = 30' wide. HO Scale = 4-1/8" wide. N Scale = 2-1/4" wide.
Prototype Country Road = 18' wide. HO Scale = 2-1/2" wide. N Scale = 1-3/8" wide.
Prototype Highway Lanes = 12-18' wide depending on the era being modeled. HO Scale = 1-5/8" - 2-1/2" wide. N Scale = 7/8" - 1-3/8" wide.
Prototype Side Walk = 4' wide. HO Scale = 1/2" wide. N Scale = 1/4" wide.


I made my highway lanes 1-3/4" wide, this was only done to try and save a little space, otherwise i would have done them 2-1/2" wide. I test fitted 3 of my trucks side by side and they fit comfortably along side each other on the highway, so 1-3/4" works just fine.

After you have the path of the road marked out, take the Paving Tape, peal some of the backing off so the sticky side is exposed, and lay it along the lines of the road that you drew out. If your doing a regular 4 lane highway, make sure your spreader reaches all the way across to the other side of the road where the other strip of Paving Tape is, this is very important. If i does not, either modify your Spreader to make it longer or lay another strip of Paving Tap down the center of the 2 strips of Paving Tape you have already laid for the roads edges. Once the first coat of Smooth-It has dried, you will have to remove the center Paving Tape Strip and fill it in with more Smooth-It....

I would also suggest that if you are doing a long and wide road, break it up into sections. You can draw all the lines for the road but only lay Paving Tape in sections, this will be alot easier in the long run.

Here is how i laid my Highway out with the Paving Tape, as you can see, this particular section, i had to make the right side of the highway narrow down to 1 lane so that i would have room to put in the on-ramp on the left side, so that is why it goes from a 6 lane highway with a center divider to a 4 lane highway with a center divider, the other 2 lanes would be just off the layout....

Now that you have your roads marked and the Paving Tape down for the roads edges, you are ready to mix and pour the Smooth-It

 

[Trucklover]

Mixing Your Smooth-It

Take your container with the lid and pour some Powdered Smooth-It mix from the Smooth-It Container into your mixing container. You really have to guess how much you will need judging on how long and how wide your road is. Once you mix the mixture, you cannot save it, you have to either use it or throw it away because it dries, even with the lid on. Even if you put a ton of water in with the left overs, the Smooth-It will still dry on the bottom of the container and when you go to use it next time, you will get hard chunks that will just not work, don't ask me how i know this... LOL So it is always better to mix only what you think you will need. You can always mix more if you need more.

I would also suggest that you do not try to mix to much at once. Mixing to much at once will cause the mixture to not mix completely and when you pour it you will get chunks that will not smooth out when you use the spreader. In the container i showed in the picture above, i only pour in the powdered Smooth-It to about a quarter of the container.....

Next add some water. Don't add to much, its best to add to little and add a little more if needed. You want to mixture to be to about the consistency of cake mix (for lack of a better explanation). This is not to thick but not to watery either. If your roads are on a hill, you will want to mix it a little thicker, if on level ground, a little more water is just fine. The problem with too much water is that the mixture tends to get very bubbly. If this happens, set it aside for a few minutes and let it dry some, then go back and mix it again. Make sure you mix it thoroughly, you don't want any chunks of powder left. Often times when im mixing a large patch, ill put the lid on and shake it good, this will make sure the mixture is well mixed....


Pouring and Smoothing the Smooth-It

Once you have mixed it up, you can pour it in between the paving tape. I usually start somewhere on one end of the road. I pour some of the mixture in, take my small Putty Knife and push the mix to the edges of the Paving Tape. Then ill go about 5" down the road, pour some more in a blob, and so on.... Don't pour to much Smooth-It, if you need more, you can always add a little more. After you pour the mixture in between the tape, take the spreader and start at the end of the road you began pouring the Smooth-It. Start the spreader on the paving tape and LIGHTLY drag it across the tops of the Paving Tape Edges. This is the part where you will notice where you need more Smooth-It or you have some chunks that need to be removed with the Putty Knife....

If you need more Smooth-It, pour a bit more where it is needed. If you have chunks that are making streaks in the pavement, take your small Putty Knife and with the corner remove the chunks. After put the Putty Knife in the cup of water. Also, some of the chunks might be stuck to the spreader, It is always good to clean of the spreader in the cup of water so you start smoothing with none of the mixture on the spreader again. Continue to work your way down the road, smoothing the Smooth-It between the Paving Tape, adding more where it is needed and removing any chunks that might be there. REMEMBER, this coat is only the first coat, and a ROUGH coat at that, it does, by any means, have to be smooth at all.

After you have finished smoothing the first coat between the paving tape and making sure that no layout base is visible between the 2 strips of Paving Tape, let it dry. I usually let it dry for at least 12 hours or until the first coat is completely white . After about an hour, you can remove the Paving Tape Edges. Sometimes these can be reused, sometimes they cant. If there still sticky, you might be able to re-use them on the next section, if not, just throw them away. You can also start to lay out the next section of road using the Paving Tape if you would like, just be careful not to mess up the previous laid section, a;though, it should be cured enough after an hour.

You can also clean up the excess Smooth-It that spilled over the Paving Tape on the first section. Use your Small Putty Knife and scrap it up and throw it away

I would also like to point out that it is at this time where you should clean your tools and make sure your Putty Knifes are dry so they do not rust. PLEASE, DO NOT CLEAN YOUR TOOL INSIDE, go to a hose outside and wash them over a drain, if you clean them inside, the left-over Smooth-It could harden and clog your drains

This is what my Highway looked like after the first coat of pavement. This was on the second section i laid for this Highway

Smoothing the First Coat

After the first coat has been laid and completely dried, you can take your small Putty Knife and gently scrap off any raised parts of the road/highway. This will make it easier for the second coat to further smooth the road

As you can see, i pulled up quite a bit and smoothed quite a bit of raised sections out from the first pour....

After this, make sure to thoroughly clean the area, I use my Vacuum to clean up the bits i scraped up


The Second Coat

After you scrap off any raised areas from the first pour, mix up a second batch of Smooth-It. This time make it a little thicker, this means less water. This Batch also can be a small one, just enough to coat the first pour with a thin coat to fill in any ruts and cracks....

Take your large Putty Knife, scoop some of the mixture out of the mixing container, and plop it at one end of the road. Begin to smooth it into the first pour. It is important that your mixture not be to watery at this point. If it is, let it sit there for a minute. After this coat, your road should be a little smoother. And if your happy with it after this coat, leave it, your done with the coats

The large Putty Knife really comes in handy on this step. All your trying to do is fill in those ruts and cracks. If the Smooth-It is too high on the large Putty Knife, take the smaller one and scrap it down to the edge of the large one.

There is a point where the mixture will become too sticky and appear to tear up the road, when this happens scrap the remaining mixture off the Putty Knife and throw it away and get some more and repeat

Here is a picture to show how i pour the mixture to smooth it:

This is what mine looked like after a second coat:

The Third Coat

If your road needs a third coat, repeat the process in "The Second Coat" above. Take the small Putty Knife and get rid of any raised parts like before. Mix the Smooth-It the same way and spread it the same way with the large Putty Knife

Here is what mine looked like after the third coat:

The Fourth Coat

If your road still needs another coat, repeat the last 2 steps above. This should be the final coat. Remember to take the small Putty Knife and get rid of any raised parts before you do the final coat. If your road still needs more smoothing after this fourth coat, repeat until you are happy. Remember, roads are NEVER truly smooth, and if there is still some small ruts and cracks, that's okay

After the fourth coat:

Painting the road

I chose to paint my Highway with a mixture of Woodland Scenics Asphalt Top Coat Paint and regular White Paint from a craft store. I mixed both of them together till i got a Gray color i was happy with....

And that's it, you now should have a nice looking road using the Woodland Scenics Road System

 

[Trucklover]

Now for part 2 of this tutorial.... As i mentioned in the beginning of the last tutorial, i do not have any construction pictures for making grade crossings as of yet, when i do do a grade crossing on the M&ET modules, i will edit this tutorial to include some pictures



Making Grade Crossings With Smooth-It


Tools

You will need the same tools as before. You will also need to get yourself a NMRA HO Scale Track Gauge (or whatever scale you are using) if you do not already have one


Laying out the roads

Refer to the tutorial about roads and highways and Laying the Paving Tape. Do just like you would do if this did not have a grade crossing, drawling the road around the tracks. After you do this, you can lay the Paving Tape.

Around the sides of the tracks, layer up the paving tape so that it is flush with the top of the rails. If i remember correctly it takes 2 or 3 layers of paving tape to reach the top of the rail so its flush. Lay a piece of paving tape across the ties between the rails as well.


Mixing the Smooth-It and the first pour

Refer to the tutorial above for mixing the Smooth-It.

If you do not already have a layer of Smooth-It down leading to the tracks, i would suggest doing this first to make the first pour for the grade crossing easier. Pour the mixture between the paving tape and take the spreader and level it out. Do the same for in-between the rails and the other side of the track(s). Make sure to clean the spreader off every once in a while so you start with a "new" spreader, the water on it helps smooth some as well, so its always a good idea to clean the spreader.

The layers of Paving Tape will act as sort of a ramp for the spreader to help you build the grade up to the rail tops on either side of the tracks. Make sure you smooth it out with your small Putty Knife in between the rails so that the pavement is not above the rails.

Wait a few minutes and then take your NMRA HO Scale Track Gauge (or whatever scale your using) and use the "Flangeways" Tool on the Gauge to scrap in between the rails. This will carve out a path for the wheel flanges on rolling stock and locos. Repeat this process until you have nice and clean Flangeways, making sure to wipe off the Smooth-It that is removed from the Track Gauge Tool. It does not have to be perfect, but you don't want to much material to dry in the Flangeways that could interfere with the wheels. DO NOT TEST RUN A TRAIN CAR THROUGH THE WET SMOOTH-IT! Wait for it to dry completely before running any train cars through it to test it. You really do not need to test it at all after this first coat anyways.

After the Road has dried for about an hour, remove the Paving Tape from in and around the tracks and rails. Let it completely dry till it turns white.


Pouring the Second Coat

After the first coat has completely dried, you can run a train car through it if you want to. If it jumps or sticks or anything, take a sharp hobby knife and pry looks the material that is causing whatever problem you might be having.

After this, take your small Putty Knife and scrap off any pavement that might be sticking up above the rails still. Also remove any raised parts from the grade up to the tracks as well. Be very careful not to dig to deep into the road around the grade. You can easily remove to much if you are not careful....

Repeat with laying the second coat from the last tutorial, a thicker mixture then the first pour..... It can be a little tricky around the grades to the rails to get it smooth, but if you work with it for a bit, you will eventually get it. Remember this is only the second coat and it still does not have to be completely smooth.

Fill in the Flangeways you dug out in the first pour, this will patch up anything that might have gotten chipped away. After, wait about 10 minutes and repeat with the NMRA Flangeways Tool as above in the first pour. It should be looking semi smooth by now.


Third Coat

Wait for the second coat to dry completely.

The third coat should be done just like the second coat, except this time do not fill in the Flangeways completely. You just want to fix and small bumps or dips or cracks that might still be in between the rails. Some Smooth-It will get into the Flangeways, don't worry about it, you can go through and scrap it out after a while with the NMRA Gauge...

At this point, after the third coat the grades around the tracks should be looking pretty smooth. As i said, it takes some patients and a lot of working with the large Putty knife to get it right. Remember, Grade Crossings, just like roads, are never completely smooth at all, they always have cracks, breaks, chips..... so if there not perfect, don't sweat it!


Fourth Coat

If you feel that a Fourth coat is needed, go for it and repeat the process for the third coat....


Painting and Finished Crossing

I chose to paint my crossing the same way as i did in the last tutorial. I just mixed Woodland Scenics Asphalt Top Coat with regular White Paint from the craft store to get a Gray color. Paint the crossing, don't be afraid to get your ties and rails covered in paint.... Just try not to get the ties on either side of the crossings. The rails can be wiped off when your done painting the crossing as well....

Here are a few pictures of my finished crossing that i did with Smooth-It on my old Shelf Layout:

 

[UP2CSX]

Very nice tutorial, Josh. Woodland Scenics should include it with Smooth-It since their instructions are terrible.

 

[Trucklover]

LOL thanks Jim

I dont think that i every even read the WS instructions fully, just for that reason, they were pretty awful. I kinda just went off on my own and did what worked well for me

 

[jmaxs]

Smooth-It another way....

This product( in my opinion) is the best way to make roads or concrete
surfaces on a layout.

However I have found additional ways to working with it:

1. I found the 1/16th inch thick Paving Tape makes too thin a surface
to work with. I use 1/8 th inch thich WEATHER STRIPPING (closed cell)
SPONGE TAPE. USE ONLY THE RUBBER- SPONGE TAPE. You could thicker sizes if you wish. I found putting
down a thicker layer first off works better.

2. I dont like the spreader included with the paving tape so I use
plastic TAPING KNIFES to spread and smooth. They come in
1-2-4-6 inch sizes AND they have a handle !

 

[TaeOH]

Very interesting, so bookmarking for the future.

 

[Trucklover]

This product( in my opinion) is the best way to make roads or concrete
surfaces on a layout.

However I have found additional ways to working with it:

1. I found the 1/16th inch thick Paving Tape makes too thin a surface
to work with. I use 1/8 th inch thich WEATHER STRIPPING (closed cell)
SPONGE TAPE. You could thicker sizes if you wish. I found putting
down a thicker layer first off works better.

2. I dont like the spreader included with the paving tape so I use
plastic TAPING KNIFES to spread and smooth. They come in
1-2-4-6 inch sizes AND they have a handle !

Thanks guys for the comments

Jmaxs, how much is that weather stripping tape? Is it cheaper then the WS Paving Tape?

 

[UP2CSX]

Josh, it's much cheaper than buying the WS tape. As additional bonus, it's available in several widths and thicknesses. If you get the right one, you just leave it in place when you're done with the pavement and your curb and sidewalk are already there, with some paint and weathering.

 

[jmaxs]

Paving Tape vs. Weather Stripping

Jmaxs, how much is that weather stripping tape? Is it cheaper then the WS Paving Tape?
_______________________________________________________________

The Paving Tape = $ 7.99 30ft roll (1/16th inch thick)

Weather Stripping = $5.49 20 ft roll ( 1/8th thick)

Prices vary from hardware stores to home centers.
Home centers would be a little cheaper.

jmaxs

 

[Trucklover]

Thanks guys for the replies

Ill check out Lowes (i used to work there, and the sad part is, i worked in Lumber/Building Materials where the Weather Stripping is and i never thought to use the stuff ) lol

 

[Trucklover]

Pictures have been restored to this thread

 

[gregamer]

Great tutorial and great looking roads. It's been quite a while since this was posted, are the road still there and how do they look now? Aging well?

Thanks,


Greg Amer
The Industrial Lead
gregamer.com

 

[tootnkumin]

How hard does this WS stuff set? Can it be sanded once dry like drywall jointing cement (plaster)?

 

[Davidfd85]

I have used the WS paving system on my first layout and liked the way it turned out. When I had to make some more roads and had used up the first kit I got I tried other materials also. Like Jmaxs said the weather strip tape works great, I did find that unsticking it a little helped in removing it. I just used shorter pieces, touching/rubbing the adhesive to lessen the stickiness some, it was much easier to remove then. I also tried using the dry mix dry wall joint compound. I found that it worked very nice and didn't crack. Don't use the premixed joint compound thinned down, it will crack badly. Yeah I tried it first. From the way it sounds I mixed it up and spread it about the same way. It worked out pretty good.

Took, to answer your question yes it does dry pretty hard and can be sanded. Just watch the pressure you apply to it and it depends on the flex of the base under it. You can crack it.

 

[tootnkumin]

Thanks for that info David. This sort of proprietry modelling stuff can get a bit expensive out here. Interesting about the premixed joint compound, although a few fine cracks in a concrete slab would look natural, so long as that's all there were. Luckily I've got a depot handy where I can get those items, so a bit of experimenting is in order and yes I plan on using 5/8" ply as my base, 1/2" just needs to much extra bracing to avoid dips and distortion.

 

[tlark]

timely thread, I know the WS works on the blue foam board but can you use if over a cardboard base. Have and small section I need to do and to bring the road elevation up about a 3/8th I thought I might laydown some very rigid cardboard so I don't have to make the road so thick. My initial thought is the moisture of the wet mixture into the facing but then again that would serve as a nice bonding. Any thoughts or past experience is welcome.