Plaster cloth

I just had an epiphany about how to make a larger more expandable layout, but I would have to hang it on the wall on its side. So the real question is has anyone used the woodland scenics plaster cloth and would it hold up to being kept in a vertical position.
If not I may have to go back to my smaller layout idea in a suitcase.

Zac

sorry to keep posting so many questions I just want to do this right the first time and avoid some stupid mistakes.

Zac,
Not to worry about plaster cloth. It's great stuff, especially if it is laid down over foam frame pieces or solid foam. I usually only use one thickness but then follow up with a coat of Sculptamold which is like a paper mache sp? product and so much better for poking holes in to plant trees. Light weight and you can texture it to some extent.

Loren

Thanks Loren. That also answers the question that had been at the back of my mind for a while about plaster cloth. Not that I intend to store my layout vertically.

Zac, a belated welcome from me and don't worry about asking questions - answering them is one of the main aims of this forum. Something else to think about too - we can potentially learn more from our "stupid mistakes" than our little mistakes, if we're willing to.

No problems with plaster cloth. I had a hang up layout on my sailboat the plaster cloth was never an issue. Remember the directions say to overlap the cloths. If you do this to the 'letter' then only sitting on your layout will cause a problem. In fact I now reach under the "mountains" and take out the newspaper filler. Not needed after the plaster cloth has dried on static layouts. As for asking questions. That's what ZCS is here for. Cheers, Jim CCRR

Awesome, this has increased the potential size of my layout 3 fold. Thanks for the speedy responses.


Zac

PS Loren is that a Zbend Track layout in the picture?

Great photo for the subject at hand

Our large door layout will also be stored vertically. Loren has spoken about Sculptamold on a few occasions previously but I haven't used it yet.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what I could add to Sculptamold to change its colour from white(-ish) to a darker earthy colour?

I've worked with plaster of Paris on my micro diorama and when tree planting, I used a drill and small drill bit to make holes for trees. This didn't seem to be a problem except for the white dust that came out of the hole which vacuumed up quite easily.

The plaster sculpted beautifully and I as able to achieve great detail with only minor chipping. Will I be able to sculpt the Sculptamold in such detail as well?

I'm also thinking of using drywall mud (DM) instead of Sculptamold. I imagine that DM is very similar to plaster of Paris in its qualities of weight, drying time and sculptability. I will need suggestions about what to use to colour the DM during mixing wo it too is a dark earthy colour.

TIA

If you add a small amount of concrete "dye" powder to drywall compound or plaster, it will color both well without changing the consistency of the material.

Doc

Beverly, beware of drywall mud as it tends to shrink and crack as it dries, if applied too thick. It requires several thin layers, drywall tape can be applied to seams before coating to prevent cracking. And yes it can be colored, I use some acrylic paint for small areas.

Mr. White wrote:

Awesome, this has increased the potential size of my layout 3 fold. Thanks for the speedy responses.
Zac

PS Loren is that a Zbend Track layout in the picture?

Yes Zac, that is my 45 degree Z Bend module. Here you see it on my adjustable module stand.
Loren

Zac,
I forgot to say that this photo was fairly early on in my scenicking phase of construction. I had not yet added the A frame house and other structures that sit on the clearing of the narrow side, nor had I added many more trees which are now growing nicely.....without fertilizer or water.

I have a possible project to add to it later on.......we'll see.
Loren

Beverly, as noted, drywall mud (joint compound) shrinks and cracks. It is not flexible and, actualy quite heavy. Plaster (of Paris) is MUCH heavier than Hydrocal. Stay with the Sculptamold of these uses.

You can color the plaster cloth, Scultpamold and other water based products with acrylic paints or best, water colors (from art/crafts stores). The water colors (not acrylics or oils) come in various size 'toothpaste' tubes, You need the very smallest size as they are SUPER concetrated. They run about $3-$5 each. Raw and Burnt umbers, Siena's and Sepias plus maybe a few drops of any blacks or only a very little bit of yellow ochre (to make a tan-brown).

The great thing about the water colors over acrylics is they dry lighter than when wet so it is hard to 'over do' it and most of all, it does not seal the surfaces like acrylics ! If you use the acrylics, it will seal the surface (maybe better for outdoors) so if you don't like the color, you will have to repaint. With the water colors, simply spay on more or add more of a color. Remember, in nature, the colors are not the same everywhere.

Jeff
SF Bay Area Z

SJ-BAZ-man wrote:

You can color the plaster cloth, Scultpamold and other water based products with acrylic paints or best, water colors (from art/crafts stores). The water colors (not acrylics or oils) come in various size 'toothpaste' tubes, You need the very smallest size as they are SUPER concetrated. They run about $3-$5 each. Raw and Burnt umbers, Siena's and Sepias plus maybe a few drops of any blacks or only a very little bit of yellow ochre (to make a tan-brown).

Jeff
SF Bay Area Z

In regards to the water colors do you just add it to the water you're "painting" the plaster cloth with?

Zac

Zac, Let's take a deep breath for a second. First you don't brush on water on the plaster cloth. You actually dip the cloth, pre-cut, into a cake pan full of warm water then put it onto the layout and smooth with your fingers. You can color the warm water or do as Woodland Scenics, the makers of the plaster cloth, suggest and color afterwards. That is how I do it. Let me make a suggestion to you and others new to our hobby. Go to your local hobby/train store and purchase/order the Woodland Scenics SubTerrain Manual and their Scenery Manual. 95% of your procedural questions will be answered in these to books. They've work for me for 10 years. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

I guess dyeing would have been a more appropriate word. I'll have to find somewhere around here to get that book. I thought it was just more of an advertisement for their products. Thanks for the advice.

Zac

tealplanes wrote:

Mr. White wrote:

Awesome, this has increased the potential size of my layout 3 fold. Thanks for the speedy responses.
Zac

PS Loren is that a Zbend Track layout in the picture?

Yes Zac, that is my 45 degree Z Bend module. Here you see it on my adjustable module stand.
Loren

Hey Loren, snap!

I wondered if I was nuts trying to make a tilting module stand, now i know that if I am, I'm not alone!
My rock technique requires tilting the module, easy enough on the small layout but harder with a 4'x2' module, so I made this- seems to work so far...

Cheers
Phil

Loren,

Did you use the plaster cloth on your end module which has the moving cars?

Robert

Robert,

I did use plaster cloth over my pink foam because using hot glue on the foam would melt the foam a bit and I wanted a good surface to adhere the rock casting made from Bragdon Enterprises cast satin. I could have glued my rock casting directly to the pink foam, but it wouldn't have been quite so easy. Yes, it was kind of a double treatment and cost me extra, but only used a couple rolls of the cloth so it wasn't that big of an expenditure. BTW, Castle Crags is not an end module, but a Tee.

Here is a picture to explain a bit.
Loren

Phil,
You are not nuts to build a tilting stand. It makes it so much easier to apply grass and rock to the sides of modules.

I never paid for this stand which was a sample to my brother from a company. They said try it out and they never billed my brother for it, over two years ago now. I borrowed it and just kept it. Company never has asked for payment and I hope they don't because that commercial stand retails for $300.00

If you don't want to build some sort of stand or purchase a commercial stand, then there is the old stand by......blankets, boxes, pads, anything to hold the module in position.

Loren

I'm doing research on Sculptamold and can't find much information on it except that it's a cellulose or papier mache type of product. I went to Michael's craft store last night and found Celluclay, but not Sculptamold. Celluclay is also a papier mache type of product and I imagine Celluclay can be used instead of Sculptamold.

During my research, I also found an old thread that discusses a scenery modeling "Goop" . The "goop" was based on a product called Permascene , fwiw.

I'm thinking Sculptamold and Celluclay are pretty much the same product manufactureed by different companies. Since Celluclay is readily available, I'll give it a try.

FWIW, you can purchase Sculptmold online from the manufacturer:

www.amaco.com/shop/product-346-sculptamold.html