scenery info

[newfiegod]

i am doing some mountains for my layout, covered foam with paper mache and now i'm ready for the final coats. what kind of material can you use for the final coats? i was told i could use drywall plaster which is great because i got a 20 litre pail just sitting around!! any advice would be great.

[kevin2083]

That would be a good start, as long as you keep the weight within the limits of the table. If you think it might weigh too much you could use hydrocal, which is like light weight plaster.

[the Bach-man]

Dear Newfie,
I use plaster cloth, available from micro-Mark or Woodland Scenics. I paint it with dull green paint and cover it with ground foam turf.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[grumpy]

You can also use the the material that casts are made from and it is usually cheaper from a craft store e.g. Michaels.
Don

[SteamGene]

Plaster cloth is also frequently available on eBay.  C heck shipping costs. 
Gene

[newfiegod]

I tried that plaster cloth.......works great, easy to work with and it sets up in minutes!!! I found it at Michaels,,,,pretty cheap actually, i got a 15 ft x 8 inch roll for 10 bucks with one of their 40% off coupons.

[grumpy]

Love those 40% off coupons.
Don

[ebtnut]

As noted elsewhere on the forum, in tight places you can lay in the plaster cloth, then spray it with water to activate the plaster.  A little smoothing with your fingers can help too. 

[Paul M.]

Love those 40% off coupons.
Don

Now ours has 50% off coupons....

Love those even more!

[grumpy]

Good birch trees at Michaels with 50% off .
Don

[rocknblues]

Thanks grumpy, I am searching for good looking birch trees, so far my search has come up empty. Actually, I havent been able to find any evergreens that look good either. Maybe my standards are too high, I live in the woods and so far have not really seen any HO scale trees that look good. In most cases the trunks of the trees are too thick for their heighth. I have been searching outside for natural type material to use for the trunks of trees. So far the dead twigs from a Potentilla bush looks to be the best bet for birch tree trunks. Of course I will have to paint them and add foilage. But I think they will work, as well as maybe some sprigs of a Spirea bush may provide a trunk with branches. Very small pinecones with the lower husks removed and painted a very dark green wih tinge of black make pretty good Colorado Spruce. The search goes on. - rock

[Woody Elmore]

Dry wall mud is really not the best choice for scenery. It is heavy and it cracks when dries. I've used the plaster gauze in the past and it worked fine.

While at Michael's, pick up some tubes of acrylic paint. You can dilute it with water and use it to color the plaster scenery. Try burnt umber, raw umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, yellow ochre, white and black. Experiment with mixing them and adding white or black to change the hue. Don't use them as is; these colors are much too strong and a little yellow ochre goes a long way.

[grumpy]

Just around Christmas Michaels will discount their Lehman Christmas display products .Lehmans make  some pretty good birch trees with much better quality and detail than Woodland Scenics.
Don

[newfiegod]

I have used the micheals plaster cloth the last two times and it worked great......my scenery looked awesome!!!! I was at a local hobby shop in edmonton and figured i would get some more and bought the woodland scenics stuff and to say the least .........it was garbage, it wasnt workable like the michaels stuff....you would dip it in the water and when you put it to your scene it was almost dry and not workable. I tried leaving it in the water longer then all you got was cloth. Long story short the michaels brand was the best for me!!!

[SteamGene]

As noted, lay it in place and then spray it with water
Gene