There have been many different techniques used over the years from masking tape with paper towels or paper bags soaked with hydrocal or cloth mesh over raised pieces of wood, or chunks of styrofoam etc.
What technique do you use?
i’ve used them all and have found that the plaster cloth rolls work the best…they lay down smoothly and have no seams…my technique is to build a skeleton frame with strip cardboard, incorperate the pink and blue foam rock carvings within the frame and then cut the plaster cloth into 8 to 12" sections, wet them and lay it over the cardboard frame …once that dries, I paint it all a flat white color and then i’ll give it a spray of dilute india ink to make the shadowy areas stand out …after that dries, I stain it with dilute 50%/50% acrylic paint and water…using the lighter colors towards the top and changing to the darker colors towards the bottom of the mountains…once that dries , i’ll highlight the tips of the rock formations with a whisp of white paint…chuck
Funny that this thread should come up mow. I just got a 4x8 piece of 2 inch foam board for my birthday and I have built the mountian that I have been wainting for today. Used the cake layer technique and have put a tunnel thur it as well. Now I am going to put some celluclay on the foam to contour it a bit more. Then Ill paint. Then Ill senik.
J.W…pirate for hire
I use the old plaster and paper towels over cardboard lattice and crumpled newspapers. It is easy to rework, if you need an area to be removed just use a hammer.
Click images to enlarge
The area under the tank had to be “excavated” so I just beat a hole in the hardshell.
I think foam is overrated for the ability to make contours in landforms below grade. With a plywood sub-base just cut a section of the plywood out. That’s what I did for the stream.
And saved $27 dollars on a sheet of “snotty” foam. Visit our website we are builiding a railroad at:
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/
Thank you if you visit
Harold
Or, if you want to preserve much of what you have, but the rest is a bust, use chicken wire under the layered plaster cloth. You can swing a hammer up under the bad spots and start over, but if you hammer down throught the cardboard, you stand a chance of damaging surrounding areas.
All of em. Screen, tape, cardboard, newspaper. foam. I think I like foam the least.
I use foam as my “base” in flat areas, but don’t care for it going “upward” for hills, mountains, etc. For that I tend toward the old-school: cardboard strips or screen and hardshell over that. I like the plaster-cloth rolls, but they’re pricey, so I usually end up with the “shop towels” dipped in hydrocal.
I use hot glue and corrugated cardboard strips to form the basic contours. I like the cardboard 'cuz it’s cheap and readily available. Hot glue makes it go together fast.
Next I like to cover the cardboard strips with 2" wide masking tape. Again, it’s cheap and fast. In a pinch, I’ll paint the masking tape a light dirt tan color and have some instant scenery until I can get back to it later.
Then I paint on a coat of plaster scenery mix on top of that, then detail it from there.
(Click image to enlarge)
I discuss this and other “fast” scenery techniques in my online scenery forum clinic here:
http://model-trains-video.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157
And a very fine clinic it is, too, Joe. Thanks for the effort.
-Crandell
I’ve tried foam but I’m with those who have gone back to the old fashioned method of plaster soaked towels over the contour base. Depending on the size and shape I’m after, I’ll use screen, wadded up paper towels, or cardboard strips for the base. I’ve stapled my cardboard grid in the past but I’m going to give the hot glue method a try on my next scenery section. Another method I’ve used on a small scale is a combination of old school and new school techniques is to create profile boards with one inch foam and then fill the gaps with wadded up newspapers. Masking tape over the profile boards keeps the newspapers in place.
I like putting masking tape down over the cardboard strips because it’s inexpensive, fast, easy and plugs all the holes in the scenery countour for whatever favorite method you like to use later to apply the “plaster” layer.
The problem with using staples is they are steel and they rust around moisture.
The cardboard strips contour method is great because it gives me lots of control over the specific contour I want to build like no other method I’ve ever tried.