  We show that smoothing of multiaffine surfaces that are generated by
simulating a crosslinked polymer gel by a frustrated, triangular network of
springs of random equilibrium lengths [G.M. Buend{\'\i}a, S.J. Mitchell, P.A.
Rikvold, Phys. Rev. E 66 (2002) 046119] changes the scaling behavior of the
surfaces such that they become self-affine. The self-affine behavior is
consistent with recent atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies of the surface
structure of crosslinked polymer gels into which voids are introduced through
templating by surfactant micelles [M. Chakrapani, S.J. Mitchell, D.H. Van
Winkle, P.A. Rikvold, J. Colloid Interface Sci., in press]. The smoothing
process mimics the effect of the AFM tip that tends to flatten the soft gel
surfaces. Both the experimental and the simulated surfaces have a non-trivial
scaling behavior on small length scales, with a crossover to scale-independent
behavior on large scales.
