I’m not sure why/how it struck me, but last weekend when I was ready to start building a webbing support for some hardshell scenery, my eye fell on a pile of 1/4" fan-fold foam in the corner. I’d used a couple “sheets” of it in various places on the layout, but still had a bunch left of the bundle. So “What the heck” I thought…
I cut it in strips about 1" wide and used it to make a woven structure - just as I’d normally have done with cardboard strips. Used hot glue to attach it all.
I’m thinking this is an improvement on cardboard. It’s definitely more rigid, less apt to ‘crease,’ seems to need less support from underneath, and totally water-resistant - no getting soggy like I’ve had cardboard do sometimes… Anyone else tried this? Any experience to share? I’ll probably get round to slapping some plaster-soaked towels on it this weekend, and see if I continue to be happy.
with a thickness of 1/4" I would be concerned about the areas with the latice crosses showing through the plaster cloth as steps in the terrain. this happened for me even with the cardboard lattice, maybe I’m too picky. Are you going to cover the lattice with masking tape to eliminate/minimise the ridges ? I’m sure that would help if it does become apparent.
I would be interested to know/ see your results, thanks for posting.
Good point, that. I’d sort of blown by it as no better/worse than with cardboard. I too have had that issue and dislike it, so I don’t think it’s “picky.”
In the past, I’ve typically used a thick enough “topcoat” of plaster once the plaster-soaked towel shell was fully dry, to cover up that “lattice” effect…
It’s perhaps less critical for me because most of my terrain has been (and will be) covered with foliage or rock castings: both the currently-under-construction and prior layouts primarily model river valleys with bluffs, so you have rather vertical sides up to more horizontal slopes covered with shrubs and trees. Very little “open ground” visible anyhow.
Regardless, I’ll post progress as I move along. Who knows? It may be that the best benefit of this method is the ease with which it can be ripped out! We’ll all learn together.
I don’t use plaster cloth but I have used several sorts of materials for webbing and covered with structolite (faster, cleaner, cheaper and better). Never had a problem and never an edge showing through. Since structolite contains plaster, I would think that plaster cloth should be OK too.
I have tried cardboard and other supports, and ended up using aluminum window screen. The aluminum screen does not rust and can be formed easily and held in place with a staple gun and office stapler to connect screen pieces. It is also not expensive. Give screen a try.
I’ve used screen in the past and found it to be too flimsy for my taste… Obviously not that it will tear or rip, but rather that it requires too much internal support - it doesn’t have enough stiffness or structure of its own. That’s a particularly critical issue for me in this layout: My biggest mountain peak is from 6-8 feet wide by 14 feet long and rises to a height of 7’ off the floor. Inside it is a revese loop, two wyes, the hidden portion of a loads-in-empties-out setup, and a 12’ long connector from the main layout into the separate staging room… About 90’ of hidden track all told.
So it’s important to me that it be a relatively clear space I can get into comfortably - not chock-a-block full of myriad supports. While I don’t plan to run the layout from in there, there’s an awful lot of track that’s only reachable that way - and I really don’t want to be crouching under the benchwork with an arm contorted up inside playing “touchy feely” to try and get a derailed train back on.
BUT, your comment about the screen inspires me. Why not put screen over the lattice? The lattice gives the relative stiffness and support I want, while the screen would definitely address the issue mentioned before of seeing the lattice “pattern” through the plaster…
So many ideas, so little time to try them all. Sigh.
I used both J-Cloths and aluminum window screen, and found that both required judicious use of some support while the goop is being slathered onto them and until they it hardens. I don’t see that as a problem…in fact, it requires you to studiously concern yourself with configuring the supporting material below them so form reasonable topography. I used the grocery bags filled with crumpled newspaper. It isn’t elegant, but it works nicely.
The secret to getting stable and robust hardshell is to vary the curvature of the resultant terrain. Anchor the screen or cloth using hot glue or some other strong adhesion, and then use lots of varied contours. In my case, the goop is about 3/8" thick, slopped directly over the screen or j-cloth, and it is plenty strong once it sets. If you make surfaces that are smooth and planar, I feel that they won’t stand up to repeated stout knocks now and then. Place dips and bulges in the topography, and you will find it not only interesting and realistic, but strong.
