Years ago, my wife brought home several bags of paper mache powder she rescued from our kids' school when they were just going to throw it away. When I started the scenery on my current layout, I first tried out a bag of ClayCrete (similar to Scuptamold) but was not entirely happy with the results as it shrunk a lot and remained soft enough to easily damage. One bag (about $8 or $9 if I remember correctly) didn't go very far either. Looking for a "better way," I spotted the bags of paper mache and realized I could make my own ground texture mix if I could just come up with some kind of filler material to add to the paper mache. Looking around some more, I spotted the sawdust catch bag I keep under my table saw. Grabbing a handfull or two of sawdust out of this bag and mixing it with the paper mache powder and water resulted in a nice "ground goop" that was relatively clean, easy to spread, easy to control the finish texture by adding or reducing water in the mix, sticky enough to stay put on sloped surfaces, and best of all, hard and strong once dry. I eventually found that the sawdust from a piece of a dense fiberboard product I had made the best and most uniform filler. However, the general use sawdust I originally tried worked quite well as long as you sift out the larger chunks of wood. I discovered I could sand this "ground goop" if I needed a smoother surface and if you let it overlap the front fascia board a little, you can sand it back flush. This mix also takes paint well and if you do manage to chip it, the cured mix is a tan color, not the stark white of plasters or Sculptamold/ClayCrete products.
I don't know what paper mache powder sells for these days but most of us produce a lot of sawdust building our benchwork. There are no unusual ingredients needed either.
Hornblower
heisler06 - Thank you for your answer. I suspected that to be the case but needed confirmation from someone out there. I plan to make small batches that will be used immediately, so Lysol will not be needed.
wdcrvr
I suspect the recipe is for your normal Lysol sold at the local store.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Concetrated Lysol comes on the Brown Truck.
https://www.amazon.com/Lysol-Concentrate-Disinfectant-12-Ounce/dp/B000P9WR34/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1465684937&sr=8-2&keywords=lysol+concentrate
I did not see lysol mentioned in the thread that was cited. I wonder how long the smell would stick around. Is the concern mildew? Doesn't seen likely even in the normally humid east coast basements.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Lysol is almost certainly added as a biocide. Unfortunately, Lysol as a product is a moving target and changes as regulations change. I was absolutely horrified to learn that indeginous people drink Lysol in Canada as the Canadian formulation contains a high alcohol content. I can not imagine drinking the stuff as I remember when it was formulated using chlorophenol. In looking up formulations it appears some contains hydrogen peroxide, some ethanol, some isopropyl alcohol and some alkylbenzonium chloride. A few drops of Chlorox would probably be just as effective and smell less obnoxious.
Lysol (as mentioned look in the cleaner aisle of your local store) is used to inhibit mold if being stored for a long time. If using it right away it shouldn't be necessary (unless you like that piney smell).
Rick
I would imagine "concentrated Lysol" simply means the bottled liquid, versus the spray cans. The liquid is put a bit into a claning bucket with water, thus is "concentrated". You should find it in the cleaning section (with Mr. Clean, etc) of any fair sized grocery store.
With a google search ("site: cs.trains ground goop recipe") you'll find other threads, a youtube video, etc. It may be explained in there. Here's one thread.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/46621.aspx
I'm guessing the Lysol is included to prevent mildew, as the vermiculite can absorb and hold water. After curing, it might still act somewhat as a sponge to absorb hummidity, but unless you're living by the bayou in Louisiana w/o air conditioning, I'd doubt it would mildew after curing, unless starting when quite wet during inital curing. Nonetheless, I'd include the Lysol (easy enough) unless folks here report deleting it successfully.
I procured the ingredients for the goop earlier but I started my scenery with some hills and used Sculptamold, which I like just fine. You've reminded me to try the ground goop when I get to doing the flatter areas, to see how the two compare.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I have been gathering the materials to make ground goop (Sassi) but cannot come up with a source to buy concentrated Lysol. Is it really important to put Lysol in the mix? Does it make a difference if you are just going to make a small batch at a time and use it right away? Is there something else more readily available that can be substituted for the Lysol? Thanks for any and all suggestions. This site is my lifeline for mrr. No one else around me that I am aware of.
Thanks