Replacing prop texture

Hi, I wanted to adjust the value on a number of valve's props to match the color scheme of my map.

I went about this by removing the prop's .vmt and .vtf files using gcfscape. I modified the .vtf in photoshop as I wished, and then placed both files in my materials/models/props_mining directory as I would a custom texture - and matching the directory and name the mdl would look.

Running hammer, the textures showed up fine. However, once I compile the map, the old texture will randomly reappear. The same prop (cloned) will have about an equal chance of being assigned my custom texture or the original one. The props appear to have their material assignment changed after every compile. I also tried using pakrat to include only my own textures in the .bsp, but with no effect.

The only alternative I can see is decompiling each of the .mdls so i can adjust the .qc file, but this seems premature.

Is there any easy way to add my custom .vtf texture to a valve prop?

Thank you

thanks guys, a bit of news.

I recompiled the prop models with my textures. It turns that the weird value change is not a result of the textures, it is a trick of the lighting which somehow causes the value and hue of the props to match their original orange color.

On the plus side it turns out that custom textures will override the ones in the half life .gcf

On the downside, i still have no idea whats wrong.