I am getting ready to do some ho scale roads (cement) and mountains/hills and have products from woodland scenics for making them, but got to thinking…I just got finished finishing my basement and have a 5 gallon pail of joint compound left over. This is the lighter weight (blue lid) compound for mudding joints of sheetrock.
My question is would this also work for creating roads, hills, basins for ponds, river/creek banks and basically anything to be formed. It dries hard and is paintable so I was wondeing if anyone has successfully used this.
I have used joint compound and it did ok if I kept it around 1/4" thick. Areas that I got thicker had a tendency to crack. It’s easy to use: no mixing, fast drying, easy to sand and shape, and of course takes paint well. It’s good to use as a fill. I would suggest to keep it thin.
I use it to build up grade crossings , and I actually think the cracks that often result make it look realistic. After all, most roads over 10 years old are cracked in places.
One trick you can do is take small scraps of embossed brick sheet and tack them down in two or three spots in the roadway, preferably near your sidewalk curbs. After you’ve put down your joint compound ‘road’ and allowed it to dry, chip away some of it right over the spots of brick underneath (don’t forget where you put them or you’ll look like a drunk road crew trying to find a water main) and you get the look of old brick pavers showing through asphalt. You see it all the time in downtown areas where they’ve paved right over the old brick roads. You can even sink a piece of rail in the compound to look like old trolley rail that’s worn through the asphalt.
I used a combination of spackling compound, wood filler, and similar items on my layout. I have a very small layout (2 1/2’ x 5’), and I worked in small sections, so it was easier for me to use spackling compound where I could open up the container, use what I need, close the container, and clean off the spatula, instead of mixing up a small batch of plaster, and having some waste afterwards. I used wood filler in some places where I needed a harder, more durable surface (like on a sharp edges). And I also used spackling compound to make my asphalt roads, as it has the texture I wanted.
I can’t think of any reason why your stuff will not work similarly. But I would test paints and the like first. There were some paints that I used on a lightweight spackling compound, and they were not compatible.
joint compound is highly recommended for roads because it does crack…most roads have cracks and as long as the cracks are weathered it looks prototypical…I also use gray posterboard glued to cardstock and weather it with black chalk…the road striping is the 1/64" rub off decal striping from woodland scenics …to answer your question…i wouldn’t use it for anything else but roads…cracks in a pond or rolling hills could prove disasterous…i’d stick to the hydrocal or plaster of paris when doing the ponds or the hills…Chuck[:D]
Thanks everyone, Im pretty exited to do my “cement work” on my roads, sidewalks and parking lots and just needed a little boost to get me to try joint compound.
Our club uses grey or black plastercine and rubs real road dirt in it. Works well just make sure you get the fine particle dust and not the little pebbles.
No prob Antonio, glad I could help as so many have helped me here. Its funny but my son and I were messind with trains last night and I actually sneezed and as I looked up I saw that I had 1 full fresh bucket of joint comp. setting in the corner and the thought came to me! I thought then and there Ive gotta post this here-Funny how those things happen!
I’ve used joint compund before I liked the outcome a lot. I would suggest buying Woodland scenics paving tape. Product #785-1455 It comes with a spreader and it will mark out the road before you start and gives you an edgeline. Gives you nice straight lines and even streets. It’s raised soyou fill in the middle then smooth it out over the tape, so it’s eveen with the tape. It’s only like 5 bucks. you can use it for grade crossings to fill in between the tracks but i would suggest using styrene instead because it’s a lot messy. It’s hard to get all the joint compound off the inside of the rails. Hope this helps some.I had an MR express with tips on this technique.If you search for it it’s probably still on the mr page somewhere.
Andrew