I soon have my shell ready for some rocks. How do I attach the rocks I made from rock molds to the shell? I have two questions: 1 - My shell is vermiculite mix (vermiculite, plaster, cement). Can I use regular plaster of paris as a glue? 2 - My scenery have lots of vertical rock walls. How do I attach the rocks while the ‘glue’ is drying? Must I stand there 20 minutes or so and hold them in place, seems very impractical. By glue I mean plaster of paris or something else that works for this purpose.
Use a hot glue gun. Works almost instantly and like a charm. Keep up the good work!
Plaster of paris, joint compound, 5 minute epoxy, CA glue, or the aforementioned hot glue gun all work. Really, just about anything that sticks one surface to another will work.
I’ve used hot glue quite a lot and filled in the “seams” with plaster cloth or foam vegatation. Also have used liquid nails. Ken
On occasion, I have to glue hydrocal castings to styrene. For this, the only thing that seems to work is silicone caulk - the smelly stuff. If nothing else holds, give that a try. It’s not a good first choice, first because it gives off noxious ammonia vapors as it cures, second because it takes a while to set, and third because you just can’t paint it.
A hot glue gun sounds like a very good solution. Thanks guys for your outstanding knowledge.
My shell is drywall mud over pink foam. I use drywall mud to stick my rock castings on. It’s sticky enough to hold the casting, but allows time to move and blend the castings together.
I also use non-shrink acrylic spackel to blend the castings together.
Nick
I use Sculptamold as a scenery base, so I usually use it to attach rock castings. An issue I had at first was the fact that Sculptamold and plaster castings absorb stain differently. Now I keep my rock castings close together and allow the Sculptamold near them only where I want “dirt” to appear. This is something to keep in mind whenever you use rock castings and whatever you use as a scenery base and to attach the castings to it.
I used hydrocal spread on and then applied my rock surfaces during the construction of my first layout. In retrospect, the borders of the rock surface, which were the hydrocal, were not easy to paint or to stain so that it looked blended or natural. Hot glue is better.
If your vermiculite base is solid w/o any loose foam vermiculite, the castings can be glued w/ liquid nail, plaster or hydrocal, hot glue or caulking. If the surface is very pourous a light mist of water will give a better bond if using plaster for the bond. If your base is a bit loose the hot glue or caulking may prove better.
I find that ceramic tile adhesive works fantastic for this purpose. This adhesive is cheap and easy to apply (use various cut shingle or spatulas) It has good initial hold stays somewhat pliable but holds like crazy. This will work for attaching foam to foam, plaster to foam, plaster to plaster, plaster to wood etc.
hey electro
in the build it video it showed “planting the rock”
in a spot when it was just starting to dry
if you bend the rock casting and it starts to crack the back its the perfect time to lay them down on the layout
the rock will confourm to the surface
hope this helps
K
I find that when I plant the castings as they just start to firm up, buttering up the back w/ a fresh batch of plaster will give a better bond. Have done this w/o the fresh plaster and had the bond break and the casting becomes loose. If the plaster is too wet when planted, some may run out of the mold.