Has anyone used paper mâché instead of plaster cloth to cover mountains and other scenery? I have a large area to cover and I’m looking for a less expensive alternative.
At the suggestion of my missus I used paper mache on my last layout. (newspaper and wallpaper glue) It was easy and formed a very strong shell. Unfortunately I cannot advise how easy it was to paint, finish or support other scenic elements as the layout was dismantled for a house move. In retrospect I have no reason to not try the same method again.
Dwayne A
Modeling has always been speed (time) vs. cost (money).
Plaster cloth is used when you want to build or cover your mountain fast.
The old method, which still works well, uses strips of paper towel dipped in a soupy plaster mix then applied to the cardboard lattice. The plaster to water mixing ration is one to one.
Red Rosin paper can be wrinkled up then glued to the cardboard lattice and wet down. Then you can ‘paint’ white glue on it. It makes a sturdy base for scenery work but is not a stiff as plaster. (I have used this method and applied plaster rock castings to it and it works well.)
You could also use an old bed sheet glued to the mountain form and paint white glue over that. The glue in either method takes time to dry. (a few days or so)
I have found plaster cloth for $1 per roll in quantity (40 rolls) at Amazon.
Save your used clothes dryer sheets – they can become plaster cloth by dipping them in watery plaster.
Personally, I prefer to use old window screen (free from the hardware store). Since I needed a free standing two foot high mountain to hide the rest of the railroad, and to Have five tracks below, I used reinforced plywood arcs to build my peninsula mountain. Since it has to have removable portals, to reach inside, I use Hydrocal plaster, to cover areas that will get rough handling, and sculptmold plaster, for less handled areas. This gives me a rigid mountain that I drill many holes in to plant trees. Bob Hahn 
Getting back to the original subject…
All your little six-legged friends have a name for Papier Mache made with the traditional paper/water/flour mix. They call it LUNCH!
OTOH, plaster-soaked paper towels lack that culinary appeal for insects. A bag of plaster from your local big-box home improvement center, and a package of the least-expensive paper towels from your favorite discount grocery, can cover your mountain for a fraction of the cost of plaster-impregnated cloth - just about the same cost as papier mache when you consider how thick the latter would have to be.
Unless you want your layout to be a battleground in the Bug Wars, plaster is the best way to go.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I agree with Chuck. No need to lay a smorgasbord out for the little beast. Take the sheets off the bed in the guest room or pilfer from the Tea towel drawer and dip them in a bucket of Plaster Of Paris. Lay over cardboard weave and away you go.
I put real (baked) dirt and static grass on top of mine.
Good luck.
Brent[C):-)]
LION used many different methods on his last layout. The best was to roll newsprint into logs and run them through the table saw until all I had left was dust. I used wallpaper paste water, and some coloring from the hardware store. Just go to the store, pick out the color(s) you want and let him put the dyes in some empty gallon bottles. Add water, that is your color base. Mix in the paper dust, paste etc, and apply. You will need a base net with holes not bigger than 1/4".
It will shrink and pull up a bit, and develop cracks. If it is too close to the rails it will reach out to derail a train., but this is ok, it is after all a base coat, and you will mount your decorations on top of it. For rocks, I just went outside and found some likely rocks, you can break them if you want an irregular rock face.
Anything that can absorb a liquid can be used to soak up plaster and be slapped down. Newspaper (from the freebie papers no one actually reads that they seem to give away in supermarkets everywhere), paper towels, old bed sheets, old t-shirts, used dryer sheets, anything except shiny magazine paper.
I would use old bedsheet torn into strips or paer towels dipped in Plaster of paris.
Cheap, easy quick. Using POP.
On my current layout i used extruded foam .
You can get plaster cloth relatively cheaply here, though:
single rolls:
8 rolls:
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Thanks for the input everyone. Much appreciated.