How long do I have to wait until I can start painting plaster on hardshell scenery?
Wait until the plaster has set ("dried and cooled"). This will allow the paint pigments to be absorbed. There's little reason to be in a Tazmanian-Devil hurry. Sure hope you've got a book on how to make scenery. I recommend Dave Frary's book, but there are several others, as well as some good DVDs.
Edit -- It depends on the temperature and relative humidity. I'd wait several days, but you can probably stain (not paint) the plaster within a day or two in most all circumstances.
Mark
Hi!
I agree with the previous poster - take your time and wait til its "cooled and cured". Actually, waiting a day would be a good general time frame....
May I add two things about messing with plaster .........
First, if you mix in some latex paint or dry color (light brown/grey/green) with your plaster you won't get that "sticks out like a sore thumb" bright white spot when there is a chip in it later down the road.
Second, when painting rocks or anything "rocky & dirty", use a lighter shade of paint than you might at first want to use. The paints tend to dry darker, and like someone said, its easier to go back and make it darker as opposed to making it lighter.
By the way, I've traveled a bit in the good ol USofA and have marveled at all the various colors of rocks and soil. You really can't go too wrong with shades of yellows, reds, browns, greys, etc., etc., etc.
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
You'll have an easier time colouring the plaster if you apply the paint as a stain. I bought a gallon of the cheapest flat interior latex at Walmart, then thinned it about 50% with water. I then applied it with a cheap 3" brush - very easy to apply and no need to "work it in" anywhere. For my riverbeds, though, I used the paint un-thinned.
The stain is no good to use if you want to apply ground foam as you paint, though, as the thinned paint soaks in almost immediately. In my opinion, the foam is better applied using thinned white glue anyway, as you have more time to get the colour mix and coverage properly done.
Wayne
I'm definitely in Dr. Wayne's camp when it comes to using thinned stain instead of full-on paint. I use thinned artists acrylics as a wash over dried plaster and I very seldom have to go back over and 'fill in'. Study the colors of the ground in your area that you want to reproduce--ground color in the US varies wildly from area to area--and then mix your artist acrylics accordingly and just slap it on with a wide paintbrush. For instance, the area that I model--the Sierra Nevada of California--has a very thin layer of dirt and mulch over a lot of exposed clay, so the colors I mix are a little more 'vibrant' than if one was modeling an area of deep soil. I'd take photographs of the area you want to model and then work your colors in from there.
It's fun and quick and a little messy, but you'll be pleased at the results.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Agreed. Wait a couple/few days. Use thinned down craft paint as a stain, or add paint to your plaster mix. Browns and tans are best to use.