Woodland Scenics "Smooth it"

[MichaelWinicki]

What's the best way to weather thinned & tinted lightweight spackle roads?
I've been doing a few test sections, and powders seems to stick to harshly to the surface, and washes just tint the surface darker without any weathering action.
Anyone know some tricks?

I've run into that myself.  I haven't found a completely satisfying answering.  I've tried weathering powders.  I've used washes. 

I've had to repaint the surface a couple of times and restarted the process. 

[SkipGear]

I prefer sanding the surface. It tends to do a better wethering job than anything I have tried. I also rub dry dirt into the surface to grunge it up around corners and road edges where wheels would drop off so plain chalks may work well.

[MichaelWinicki]

I prefer sanding the surface. It tends to do a better wethering job than anything I have tried. I also rub dry dirt into the surface to grunge it up around corners and road edges where wheels would drop off so plain chalks may work well.

That's a pretty good tip Tony.

I just did that with one of my roads and that gave it a different appearance all together. 

I have one shade of gray laying on top of another shade, so the sanding takes off enough of the top layer so that some of the bottom shows through creating an interesting affect that I couldn't achieve through weather powders and washes.

[MichaelWinicki]

One thing I've been testing is using the Woodland Scenic's Asphalt Top Coat directly on the road, which creates a very dark surface and then sanding it back to a lighter color.  I then use weathering powders (light gray) to bring the color down a little more.   Using the weather powders this way seems to work better than trying to use weather powders to darken the surface– At least for Smooth-It/light weight joint compound.

[chuck geiger]

Funky Foam at craft stores:

http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=funky+foam




1.) Gray sheets, cut to fit roadway.
2.) Rub a piece over the track and cut away on the indentations. (for grade crossings)
3.) Glue with Tacky glue.
4.) Paint with washes of gray and black acrylic paints.
5.) Or dry brush on powdered black and white paints.
6.) Spray with mist of alcohol, it cause the paint to break up looking like road rot.