Søren's Model Railway Pages

About model railways in H0

NAVIGATION

Enhancing The Winter Diorama, Part 2

In the previous installment I leveled the area around the station house to make way for the new parking lot and road. Now the time has come to actually lay the road.

A model train
I will lay the road using the Woodland Scenics Road System

Making A Road

I have laid the plaster cloth and the plaster has had some time to dry. To lay the road I have bought the Woodland Scenics Road System Learning Kit (Woodland Scenics #LK952). The idea is really simple: You lay a special tape called Paving Tape, which is really some kind of high tape to form a mold for your road. Using a pencil I marked the area for the road and parking lot directly onto the plaster.

A model train
It is easier to visualize the road if you draw the contours on the plaster.

When the Paving Tape is laid I mix the plaster product from the Learning Kit with water. Woodland Scenics calls the product Smooth-It. It is a special fast drying (very fast drying) product that is perfect for roads, sidewalks etc. You have about 10 minutes of working time, so you need to be fast. I would advise you to practice a bit before using it on your layout. That is what the learning kit is for in the first place.

I separated my parking lot and road into managable areas to ease the paving proces. I really recommend using this technique because you can concentrate on small pieces at the time.

A model train
The first part of the parking lot is taking shape. The road outline turned out a bit too wide, so I narrowed the road a bit.

A little spreader is included with the learning kit, so you can get started without any tools. Don't worry about Smooth-It running out of the mold, just make sure that you have a bit of masking tape for easy removal when you are done paving. 

A model train
The road is taking shape.

The consistency of the Smooth-It is fairly runny because you will want it to get into every corner of your mold. Do not worry, it will dry very quickly (about 10 - 15 minutes of working time).

For the corner between the road and the parking lot I took advantage of the fact that the Smooth-It had almost dried. I simply used the already paved parts as the mold and only used paving tape where needed.

A model train
Use existing road parts as molds when you need to connect your small working areas.

Tip: Remove the paving tape as soon as the Smoot-It starts to set. That way you will not risk pulling any road parts up. If you wait until the Smooth-It has completely dried, you may rip of pieces of road.

The paving is done and the station house is put back in place. It does look kind of cool, don't you think?

A model train
The paving is done.

Tip: After the Smooth-It has completely dried, it can be sanded using fine sand paper or a sanding block.

The new and improved diorama is taking shape and I am already starting to like the way it looks. It is much better and more realistic looking than the old scenery.

A model train
Looking at this picture, I can almost feel the cold German winter, brr!

If you have not yet tried the Woodland Scenics Road System, I really think you should. I was amazed on how easy it was, and how great it looks. The Learning Kit also includes black asphalt paint.

In the next installment I will look at painting the road to give it an even more realistic look - and using a cool product from Woodland Scenics to create snow drifts and blending the new scenery into the existing one.

Happy Modelling!