So I have 1 inch extruded foam laying on top of my train tables. To make hills I bucnhed up newspapers and covered them with wet plaster cloth smoothing it out with water as I went. Well I get a rough edge where the plaster cloth ends and the foam begins. You can clearly see where the plaster cloth ends even after painting and applying fine ground foam. Are there any ways to make that line not show up so it seamlessly blends from hill to flat land? Thanks in advance for any help!
Go to your local home improvement store and buy the following:
- Patching plaster(I get it in small 18 lb bags of the 120 minute set type)
- Some disposable brushes(1" will do)
I mix it up sort of ‘soupy’ and ‘paint’ it over all of my plaster cloth and onto the foam base. You can mix it up ‘thicker’ to fill areas as well. I get the 120 minute set - you can get 20-40-90 minute set as well. I like the setting delay, it gives me more control that the pre-mixed stuff you can buy in the small tubs. I usually cover everything with plaster cloth/patching plaster. You can buy medical plaster cloth on eBay much cheaper than the W/S stuff(and in bulk). I buy ‘seconds’ that did not spool up good, or are not full rolls.
I then paint it with a flat latex 'ground cover - I use Dutch Boy ‘potting soil’ for my Midwest farm area layout. Look at the area of the country you are going to model - and choose something close. Now you can use your ground cover.
Jim
I’ll second Jim’s method. I usually paint soupy plaster over my plaster cloth, although for mountains, I have also layered foam like wedding cake, then carved it with a rasp and covered it with about 1/2" of Sculptamold.
I, too, use the patching plaster, but apply it over window screen. Since some areas of my open grid layout are also on plywood, I simply carry the application out over that, too. Before it sets, I use a cheap 2" brush, dipped in water, to smooth out the transitions.
In the scene below, some areas are plaster on screen and some plaster on plywood. While most of the track is on cork roadbed atop 3/4" plywood sub-roadbed, parts of some of the sidings are atop plaster “ground”, and the river is also plaster, applied over plywood.
Wayne
While I have always regarded plaster cloth as just one of many foundation type materials, I can also understand how you got to a place where you have dissimilar products butting up against each other. The best solution may well be to pare back some of the ground cover work on your foam, then do two steps before reworking the ground cover: 1) apply narrow strips of plaster cloth over the transition area from the hills to a point 3/4" or so over the foam. 2) Coat the plaster cloth after it has dried in place with any slow setting plaster mix and feather this coating over a portion of your foam just like you might if you were taping and plastering wall board.
Once all is dry and solid again, then come back and refinish your ground cover. If you cover the width of the new edge with trees, bushes buildings, paint, dirt, ground foam, and anything else delightful that comes to mind, only the most discerning will ever know what you have done while working a bit of modeling magic.
If you get the plaster cloth wet enough, you can smooth the edges with your finger to blend the plaster cloth into the transition scene.
Rich
I’ll second Glutrains method. If you strip the area adjacent to the new area of ground cover before adding the plaster cloth, the seam is very hard to detect. I use the dry method to apply plaster cloth. I cut it to size, then smooth it into place with a 1"-2" wide paintbrush dipped in water. This makes much less mess and it’s easier to handle than plaster cloth that’s been dipped in water. Always brush from the center outward to the edges. I cover the dried plaster cloth with a very thin layer of plaster of paris, then paint with earth tone acrylic paints. While the paint is still wet, I sprinkle plain sand on it. This gives the area some “tooth” to help prevent the ground cover from running downhill later. I wait about 2 hours for the paint to dry, then paint with a 50/50 mix of white glue and wet water, then sprinkle on the first layer of ground foam. I start with the lighter colors, then add the darker. This is just my matter of preference.
Agree w/ Jim and others about recoating or at least working the seams of the plastercloth. Yes patching plaster, Durabond or as I perfer, Unical (veneering plaster- very long working time as plasters go). The plaster cloth is only a base, additional coverage of plasters or a mix of Ground Goop or Sculpamold can be used to add various definition to the scenery. This is the point where rock outcroppings, scenic details around water features, any abutments, etc should be placed. Once dry, can be painted your base “ground” tone and apply a layer of scenic material to the wet paint.
Area of base not completed, waiting for potal and cut work
Scenery changes to complete junction
A little tip, but an important one: always spray an area with any plaster or plaster-like product that has previously cured on your layout, and to which you wish to mate similar materials, such as in your case. The previous materials will soak up much of the water necessary for the added material to do its own curing. So, spray liberally and more than once before you begin to patch or to add more plaster, including layers of cloth for blending purposes.
Crandell
I skim-coat most of my scenery with Gypsolite. It, too, is a plaster, but it’s got a very gritty texture, so you end up with a rough surface. Once painted and covered with turf and ground foam, it takes on a very natural-ground appearance. If you’re modeling a golf course or a manicured lawn, use a smooth plaster, but for natural scenes I prefer the rough surface.
Gypsolite is naturally a light gray, but I add a few squirts of dark brown acrylic craft paint. The finished product comes out a light tan. I usually use a green wash of acrylic paint and create a camouflage pattern over that before applying the turf and ground foam.
Good point, Crandell, and also applicable when applying plaster over wood and plywood.
Wayne