Hello all,
I've begun using plaster gauze over cardboard web to create basic scenic structures. What I've noticed is that the cloth web of the gauze is visible after the product has dried. As well, there are small ridges at the edges of the individual gauze strips. I have applied the gauze two strips thick, with the strips overlapping.
I recall (or maybe an old age hallucination) reading in these forums about 'painting' or covering the finished gauze forms with a liquid plaster to smooth, thicken and strengthen the finished landform. Is that a real memory or remnants of my questionable life choices?
If someone has advice on how to prep the gauze landforms before applying final textures I welcome your thoughts.
Thank you, and keep your stick on the ice.Dwayne A
Most of the webbing should not be visible if you used a good quality plaster cloth (it can be very inexpensive and still be of good quality, try ASW). You can just add extra plaster as soon as you have your shape but I have never needed any extra. How do you plan to finish it in the end, I used a form of zip texturing but experimented with other ways also.
Thanks for the reply. I don't know what is good or poor quality plaster gauze. I used product from three different manufacturers and all produced the same result. What is ASW? (If it's not available in Canada that is a show-stopper.)
Are you suggesting I cut out the landforms already created and redo them with a different product? I was hoping to avoid that eventuality.
Also, excuse my ignorance, but what is 'zip texturing'.
To answer your original question, mix some plaster about the consistency of thin pancake batter and apply it over the dampened plaster cloth with one of those foam plastic brushes. You can add basic soil or rock color pigment to the mix if you have it. It isn't necessary to cut away any landform unless the contours displease you.
Zip texturing is a method pioneered by Linn Westcott, which involves wetting the hard shell surface and sifting dry green-colored plaster onto it to simulate grass. A few specks of appropriate color can simulate clumps of wildflowers. Done right, it ends up looking soft and fluffy. Bigger botanical specimens will require other fabrication methods.
Chuck (Modeling the cedar forest of Central Japan in September, 1964)
A product I use at this point is Fusion Fiber, the more I use it the more I love it. Mix acrylic paint ( what ever dirt color you choose ) with it and spread it right over your cloth and then sprinkle your grass, rocks, textures and even stick in your trees and when the fiber dries its all in place, ten times faster than any other method and I have tried them all. By the way you did fine thats the way the cloth is, I usually brush it with a old paint brush when its wet to try and even it out more but yes the cloth shows through and the edges always show and you could go over it with a thin plaster mix if you think it needs more strength or just go right to the fiber!
I have had the same issue using just about any kind of plaster gauze. By the time I got the it painted with the base earth color, added several layers of texture material, trees, and other items whatever was visible was covered up. I just think it goes with the territory of using plaster cloth.
As to the ridges, the strips need to be smoothed out using your fingers. I have generally found there is enough plaster in the gauze itself to do this and if there is an occasional ridge, it gets covered by texture material.
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
HaroldA I have had the same issue using just about any kind of plaster gauze. By the time I got the it painted with the base earth color, added several layers of texture material, trees, and other items whatever was visible was covered up. I just think it goes with the territory of using plaster cloth.
Harold, I agree with you. It does go with the territory of using plaster cloth. The brand or quality of the plaster cloth makes no difference. It is all in how you apply it. It happens to me. What I do to cover the gauze is to dilute some Hydrocal to the consistently of yogurt and spread it thinly over the gauze that it showing, and that covers it up quite effectively.
Rich
Alton Junction
Yes, applying plaster over the gauze is an option. I've always used Sculpt-a-Mold as the material Io cover the plaster and gauze strips with. Where I am going to place rock moldings, I use Sculpt-a-Mold to adhere the castings and fill between the castings and carve into rock faces..
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
richhotrain HaroldA I have had the same issue using just about any kind of plaster gauze. By the time I got the it painted with the base earth color, added several layers of texture material, trees, and other items whatever was visible was covered up. I just think it goes with the territory of using plaster cloth. Harold, I agree with you. It does go with the territory of using plaster cloth. The brand or quality of the plaster cloth makes no difference. It is all in how you apply it. It happens to me. What I do to cover the gauze is to dilute some Hydrocal to the consistently of yogurt and spread it thinly over the gauze that it showing, and that covers it up quite effectively. Rich
Rich - Yes, applying dilute plaster is another option. I have done it before in some areas and it works well. One other thing that will happen with plaster cloth is that if it is rewet too much it becomes brittle. It's a great product but tt does have some limitations.
Scenery building has come a long way from the days we used aluminum window screen, snips and a box of bandaids.....been there, too.
Thanks for all the responses and ideas for dealing with this issue. I've done about 1/3 of the layout already so will try painting dilute plaster to smooth it out. On the future areas I will try to smooth it out while it's wet.
Thanks again. D.
When I did the screen cloth method,there was no Aluminum screen,,the gauze really is the same..A thinned mixture,of plaster put on with a paint brush..The gauze will not get that wet to harm it..
Cheers,
Frank
Sometimes I wonder if we need to we think a bit differently about the materials we use. If you drywall a room, there are still additional steps required to finish it, and each of those has steps within it if you don't want the outcome to be a mess. The plaster gauze shell is roughly the equivalent of the newly drywalled room. To achieve a smooth surface you should expect to have some additional plaster on hand to mix into a smooth coat. I usually apply a few coats with a brush, then finish up with a thicker one applied with my fingers to eliminate the brush marks. Paint and vegetation won't necessarily cover imperfections in the plaster surface.
In the photo above, the plaster at right is the base coat over the mesh material I use to establish a basic shell. Without further attention it doesn't look like anything you'll find in nature. The hill at left has received some final smoothing in preparation for paint.
Here's the same location with final ground cover added. There's no longer any hint of texture from the base plaster materials showing through except where rock has been modeled.
Rob Spangler
DA-1,
Failed to mention this before,,,but I'm guessing,you have not had any broken bones,,for if you did,you will find that the Doctor,covers your skin,with a soft like linen,then raps the area with the plaster gauze a few times puts on his rubber gloves and smears just Plaster all over the Plaster gauze,,,,same as in your scenery.. Have some Messy Fun,,,,hopefully you won't have a itchy nose,when you start..
zstripe DA-1, Failed to mention this before,,,but I'm guessing,you have not had any broken bones,,for if you did,you will find that the Doctor,covers your skin,with a soft like linen,then raps the area with the plaster gauze a few times puts on his rubber gloves and smears just Plaster all over the Plaster gauze,,,,same as in your scenery.. Have some Messy Fun,,,,hopefully you won't have a itchy nose,when you start.. Cheers, Frank
Frank, that is old school.
Yeah,,,I guess,having to scratch,your nose,is Old School......
Meanwhile.....back to the original topic. I use drywall joint compound as a topping over plaster cloth or craft paper to smooth the unnatural contours of the plaster cloth, paper, or cardboard webbing. Easy water cleanup, easy to apply with a paint brush, and easy to shape or contour with a damp sponge. There is no waste from mixing too much, and there is lot's of time to work it into the shapes you want (or change the shape) before it starts to harden. And it takes paint well, or can be tinted before application.
Wilton.
I generally use Gypsolite, a gritty, rough plaster, as my skim coat on top of plaster cloth. Here, I've dug out my swamp and coated it with plaster cloth. I used white glue over the swamp bed, because I wanted to seal it for the Envirotex to come later.
Gypsolite is naturally a light gray in color. I add a bit of brown acrylic craft paint to mine. In this shot, the Gypsolite has dried and I've painted the low spots black to add depth to the swamp.
Paint, Envirotex, turf and ground foam, trees and some moose and beavers later...
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.