I’ve seen a lot about a wide range of materials (foam board, cardboard strips, paper wads, etc.) as a terrain base, but is anyone using aluminum wire screening effectively today? My benchwork is all classic L-girder and sub roadbed on risers and cleats so I’ve got a lot of area (volume) to fill in. Seems like it’ll take a lot of material to build up from my joists to the heights I need when crumpling and stretching screen wire across many areas and then applying plaster cloth over the screen would create a good terrain shell. Good or bad idea anyone?
I used sceen for years. When I started the current layout I started with sceen, plaster of paris and paper towels. Then I was introduced to Woodland Scenic Plaster cloth on crumpled newspaper. Better than screen in every way.
Then I discovered layers of extruded foam. Once I learned to carve that, it was WAY better than plaster cloth. There are those who still like sceen and plaster and paper towels, but I am not one. If you like scenery, my vote would be to look into extruded styrofoam.
It works well for large scenes. These scenes are all foam. There are more in “my photos”.
Plaster cloth is OK and a fast way to go if you can afford it. If you can’t, and you still want to do classic hard shell, you can go with interlaced cardboard strips, or screen. But instead of wire window screen, use fiberglass screen. (I have done it all ways.) If you use wire screen and want to change and tear out, the metal is going to make it harder to do. Fiberglass window screen material will work just as well but will need more support from the bottom, and won’t tear your hands up.
I use stacks of foam for small hills, but still prefer cardboard/screen for bigger scenery.
I use dryer sheets dipped in plaster over the screen and then did a thin layer of Sculptimold over that for some texture.
Thanks to everyone for your insight. Loathar, I see you used some ribs under the screen to create the contours you wanted. Great input - I sure hadn’t thought of that. (I would probably have found out the hard way when things began to sag). I’m okay with using plaster cloth over the screen. My LHS sells huge rolls of Scenic Express in bulk at DEEP discount. I’ve not had much experience using Sculptamold but I can see how you put that to good use as well. I always thought of it as just a filler, like putty or spakle, to fill cracks between different materials.
I used aluminum window screen and Joe Fugate’s ground goop formula for my layout. I just hot glued pre-cut sections of the screen to the edge of the box frame and the other side to the spline roadbed. Then I layered the goop. Worked very well. For support to get contours, I just crumpled newspaper into grocery bags and stuff them under the screen held up with slats.
I just used cardboard and a hot glue gun to hold it all together. Look on E-Bay for plaster cloth. There’s a couple people that sell odd size rolls of medical plaster cloth REAL cheap!
The ideal scenery base for you depends on a lot of factors. In the past, I have used plaster cloth and paper towels dipped in plaster across wire screen, fiberglass screen, foam, and other forms. Some of my findings (strictly my conclusions based on what I have done/seen) are summarized as this:
- stacked or layered foam - You already have an open top layout so covering it with foam isn’t quite as easy as making a closed top with foam from the beginning. I hear the talk of how foam makes it easy to have below track level scenery, but very few folks actually get around to carving their foam except in a few areas. The result is a flat table top with an occasional ditch, ravine or similar carved in. This is only a slight improvement over the traditional Plywood Pacific, IMHO.
- weight savings of foam are over-rated. The percentage of model railroaders who can directly shape foam to the point where all it needs is paint is suprisingly small - and it doesn’t include me. Everybody else needs a topcoat of plaster or similar to get reasonably realistic terrain - even Woodland Scenics does this on their foam layouts. Weight savings of foam get lost.
- foam is an excellent base for mounting structures and trees. If I were modeling a confined town/city area, I would use a foam base, because of its inherent flatness.
- plaster on screen wire is outstanding for modeling hilly/mountainous/rolling terrain, especially between tracks on open top layouts. I find it easier to visualize the shapes by putting the screen over the supports, and working it until I get the desired shape, as compared to carving stacks of foam.
- OTOH, plaster shell - especially on wire screen - is difficult to modify, change, mount structures into, and plant trees into. Fiberglass window screen is the least undesirable in this regard.
- the thin shell of plaster on cardboard or screen gives excellent access to hidden track from underneath.&n
Awesome, Fred. A very concise synopsis of how to proceed with my next phase of layout construction. Thanks.
Geoff
Fwiw, if one wants to use plaster cloth, get Activa plaster cloth. Much cheaper than the WS stuff, and you get much more. I.e, $5-6 for a 4" x 180" roll. Great product.
Available online.
I began building my scenery base a month or so ago.
I have about 250’ of generally 18" wide open grid benchwork. My layout is based in the Cascade Mountains
I decided to use 1" cardboard strips hot glued together which is common but I decided to use 2" cheap masking taped to cover the strips. Joe Fugate’s site is where I first saw this. It works very well. You can visualise the terrain with the tape on it. I leave mine for a while until I decide I like it, then apply plaster. It’s really easy to modify before plaster and not all the tough after either.
Joe has a special mix he uses but I jsut use Durabond which is a setting type plaster used for sheetrock. I put on a couple of coats. It cures very strong and has additives to prevent cracking since it is intended for drywall joints. I mix in some brown masonry color with mine so it has a decent base color even before painting.
So far I think it has worked well. It is really a neat way to do this as the tape completely seals the surface so when you put the plaster on there is no dripping.