Poly Filla for Making Hills????????

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Just about to try and make a small Hill but would like to practice first and was wondering about POLY FILLA, (cellulose-reinforced, Gypsum based filler-basically used for repairing drywall) as I have some from previously fixing a part of my wall.

Seems like this would work, and I was going to use a Heaveir Paper Towel (Shop Towels) for forming and apply it over some foam or paper…would this work or should I look to be using something else…any help would be greatly appreciated…

Thanks…Cary

2

If you try it, then we will all learn something new. It sounds similar to my Ground goop without the paint coloring. Let us know how it works.

3

I don’t see why it would not work. I have been following Dave Frary’s techniques using a product called Gypsolite http://www.nationalgypsum.com/products/?query=cat:6&product=48 it seems like it might be a similar product. I purchased a 50lb bag of the stuff and it works well as a base cover for a relatively low out-lay of cash.

4

Absolutely, I’ve used it on a few layouts and am very happy with the result. It adheres well to stryofoam, wood, and dry is solid and can be shaped, drilled, painted, etc. It is cheap enough and readily available. I find plaster of paris to be more brittel and unless you are using a mold with fine details Polly Filla is fine.

I use it to coat my styrofoam shapes and carve it. I also cast rocks in molds I’ve made with liquid latex and hunks of slate with fine strata showing. Polly Filla makes fine castings too. I either paint it on directly (just make it a bit soupy and use a big brush or trowel it on). Or I soak paper towels. I use the blue shop towels as they are much stronger. Might be over kill but in N Scale I can splurg a bit on a few sheets of expensive paper towel.

I tint it with tempra paint (children’s paint cheap at Dollar store). That way any holes drilled or cuts made into the Polly Filla does not show as bright white. It is not brittel and handles well.

5

Thanks for the help and other suggestions, First time I tried it was to soupy and couldn’t shape it properly but 2nd time was perfect…used a bit of foam underneath and crumpled up newspaper to hold at first and then was easy to shape after a few mins of setting…Used the Blue Shop Paper Towels for Strength…

Cary