Thanks everyone for the help.
Torn newpaper, paper towels, brown paper sacks, cloth dipped in plaster, plaster cloth over wireor cardboard striping; resin paper over cardboard striping covered in white glue; carved extruded foam and foundations I don’t even know about; all painted, plastered, ground gooped, puddied; they all work and have been used for years and each person who uses a given method swears by it. So do your own experiments on small dioramas and see what works for you considering cost, simplicity, your skills, convenience and availability of materials. Once its finished and sceniced no one will know what method you used anyway, unless you tell them.
Ray
I love making mountain scenery. I have followed the technique of using cardboard strips and hot gluing them in place. I make a lattice of the cardboard strips. Then, I use material used for casting broken bones. This, I lay in pieces over the lattice of cardboard. After it dries, I use sculptomold and plaster rock castings. I then paint the area with latex paint (brown/earth color). This gives you the basic mountain form. My mountains along the backdrop reach almost to the ceiling. I also, have built a mountain in the middle of an island. For this, I used some pieces of 1/8th inch masonite and screwed it to 1x3 wood risers to get the desired height. By first cutting the top of the masonite into “mountain like” form. Again, I used a hot glue and cardboard strips to make the lattice work. Followed the above mentioned cast material to drape over the lattice. Have fun!!!
I usually use the cardboard lattice with plaster gauze or foam board. But the last method I tried I read about from Joe Fugate. After getting the cardboard lattice in place I covered the whole thing with strips of cheap masking tape. This made the mountain really sturdy. I then covered it with sculptamold and finished the scenery from there. I am one that loves trying ideas others have tried and this one worked pretty good as I got to skip using the plaster gauze as it can get pricey with that stuff over a large area. Always use what is best for you and with the outcome you like.