Plaster Tanks

[gr5gd]

I have had toy trains since I was five or six years old. We would set them up at Christmas time. Some years ago I built a 4X8 layout with rudimentary scenery. Now I have built a 10x12 layout and I am trying to make a mountain scene on the outer edge of the board. I am using some left over homosote and ceiling tile. I am also using crushed newspaper covered with a gauze that I bought at a hobby store. This gauze also came with what looks like tanks that supposedly contain plaster. I tried to open one to mix some plaster to cover the gauze to make a rock. The contents are as hard as a rock. What am I doing wrong or did I buy something that is useless?

[dwiemer]

It sounds like the plaster has been exposed to moisture.  Not a big issue.  Just get some plaster powder...it is inexpensive.  Make a batch of plaster in a pan (like a disposable baking tin).  Then, after the form has been set regarding the mountain ( I used either foam or screen), take the gauze and lay it in the plaster to completely soak it, take it right out and place on the mountain form.  Repeat till mountain is covered.

Dennis

[Taranwanderer]

Can't help you with your tanks, but along the lines of covering the newspaper with the gauze: that Woodland Scenics stuff is expensive, it adds up quickly if you have a large mountain to do. What I do is take your crushed newspaper, form it into the rough shape of what you want your mountain to look like, and then I use paper towels (the half sheets are easier to work with) and I soak these in a mixture of water and drywall spackle. It's cheap, everyone has a bucket of spackle in their basement or garage, it it goes a lot longer than the stuff you buy (cost-wise.) The only trick is getting the water to spackle consistency right, too watery and it won't stick. Then you can pull the newspaper out through your tunnel portals, and paint it however you want it to look.