Has anyone made their basic landform using paper towels (or something similiar) in a thinned mix of Durabond 90? Were you satisfied with it? Did you think it was strong enough? Were you able to later apply rock castings? How was it for planting trees?
I know Dr. Wayne trowels a thick mix of Durabond 90 onto screen wire, but I want to use paper towels over a cardboard basket weave.
Thanks for your help,
Jcopilot
I’d guess that it would work well with paper towels, as it’s very strong once set. I don’t apply it all that thick on screen…perhaps 1/8" at most, unless I want or need to apply it thicker, but I’ve used it to fill holes in a wall and to skim-coat new drywall, too, and it stands up well in both situations.
For planting trees, you’ll probably need to drill holes and then glue the trees in place. I’d imagine rock castings would require a dollop of Durabond (or glue) on the back surface, but can’t imagine it would present any unusual problems.
As for strength, Durabond hardshell should stand up as well or better than that made with Hydrocal, and will likely be cheaper, too. My Durabond-on-screen is strong enough to support me leaning on it if I need to reach over the layout into a deep corner scene.
You can buy a small box of it to try out that technique, and if you’re satisfied with it, buy it in the 33lb. bag for doing your layout, as it’s a lot cheaper that way.
Wayne
I’m not sure if the Durabond thinned to that soupy mix will retain it’s properties in hardness after curing. Maybe someone has done this w/ the product and can help. I use Durabong regularly, but for it’s intended purpose for base coat for taping seams and corner beads in Drywalling. Even though it has the 90 minute dry, I have found working time to vary from bag to bag (generally about 10- 20 minutes before “going off”). Thinning too much could have drastic effect on those drying and “hard” setting properties. I would suggest you test a small batch and refine the technique and type of towels to use. The cheaper, coarser, shop towels will tend to work better for the scenery. I don’t know what you are using for the “base” (screening, cardboard lattice, etc) But this can also affect the workability of the soaked towels to gain the landforms.
Recoating w/ a thicker mix of the Durabond, plaster or Sculpamold as Wayne does will gain the “hardshell” to the base, so the actual stiffness of the initial coat bay not be that crucial. I use Hydrocal for this instead.
I, personally, prefer to use Hydrocal plaster. You can buy a large quantity at Home Depot, or other lumber yard, at a less expensive price per pound. Hydrocal can be used on top of wire screen base, that is reinforced with plywood arches, to build high mountains. I made a two foot high hollow mountain,(with removable portals), covering five tracks below, to hide the loop and make sense for the reason the rails are where they are, and a mine entrance and ski & skate resort. Hydrocal is also recommended for areas that get rough handling. Bob Hahn
Hi Dr Wayne,
I was hoping to get your attention with my post subject line, thanks for replying. Sorry, I didn’t mean that you apply a thick coat of Durabond to the screen wire, but instead, that your Durabond is relatively thick, thicker than the consistency used for paper towel applications.
I’ve checked Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace Hardware and True Value Hardware for Durabond 90 and only Home Depot carries it and then only in 25 pound bags. Home Depot and the others all carry the light-weight version of Durabond called EasySand 90. I’d be concerned that whatever is different to make it light-weight would also affect its quality as a scenery base.
So, I’ll be buying the 25 pound bag soon. Thanks again for your reply,
Jeff
Bob,
Unfortunately, in this area, no hardware store carries Hydrocal, not Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace or True Value, but Home Depot does carry Durabond 90 and Dr Wayne says it’s as hard as Hydrocal, if not harder. I think I’ll be happy with the Durabond.
Thanks for your reply,
Jeff
Bogp40,
I posted this question on this forum and the Yahoo Group Scenery forum. Someone over there says he has used a thin mix of Durabond 90 applied via dipping paper towels and it was just fine. They applied a second coat of a thicker mix for added strength.
Thanks for your reply,
Jeff
Jeff, good to know and to clear up any skeptasism on my part. I have no trouble finding Hydrocal which I am used to using, This will help others that can use the Durabond.or have trouble locating Hydrocal.
The Easy sand ( white bag) is basically powdered joint compound and doesn’t have the same properties as Durabond, may be OK if mixing your own version of “ground Goop” though, far greater working time.
I have used both Durabond and EasySand (not so easy to sand compared to ready mix joint compound) over the years and both work fine for hard shell scenery with both paper towels and news paper.