I have just started to use Sculptamold for the first time, and had a question about how long it takes to set and harden. I read in one of the MR books that it starts to set in about 30 minutes and would be fully hard overnight.
But in my first use, that's not what I am seeing. I have a 1/4" layer over a foam landform, and 24 hours after finishing putting in place, it is still very soft and feels quite damp in places. I certainly can't start to work with it or paint it.
What might I be doing wrong? How long is it likely to be before it sets hard? Am I missing something?
Thanks.
Paul.
Welcome to the forums. Your first few posts will be monitored, so may take awhile for them to appear.
If your weather is as humid as ours is today, it will take awhile to dry. I used it on my first layout and lliked it. It did take a day or more to dry, that all depends on the drying conditions. I did mine on foam also and I think that slows the drying time a little, as the moisture all has to go one way, can't soak into the foam
I made quite a large rock cut, using tin foil as a mold, it came out very nicely.
Good luck,
Richard
Macman44I read in one of the MR books that it starts to set in about 30 minutes and would be fully hard overnight.
to the forum. Maybe that happens if Phoenix. If you are in the South or Mid Atlantic, check back with us on Tuesday.
Acturally I love sculptamold vs hydrocal. The latter I find very messy though it does dry quickly and is strong. You can mix in cheapo craft paint from Walmart to give the sculptamold a basic color. The only thing I don't like is that you see fibers if you look up close.
My pics in the thread on depth of water are sculptamold castings.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I’m building a diorama for taking pictures and I’m using a little bit of everything. I’m also using ½” foam board as a base on top of ¼” plywood. The ground cover near the tracks is Plaster of Paris for making carved rocks. The Plaster of Paris working time is about 15 minutes, 30 minutes to carving.I used Paper Mache for the non carved ground cover and Sculptamold for the roads and river bed and river banks. Woodland Scenics large and medium Talus for river rocks. Parks Super Glaze for water.The slowest drying is the Paper Mache (Celluclay), sometimes three days. The Sculptamold usually takes a couple of day to fully dry. I try to keep the Paper Mache and Sculptamold under a ¼”, any thicker takes a long time to dry. When I’m using Sculptamold on top of Paper Mache it increases the drying time.The reason for using Paper Mache is for strength, at ¼” thick it’s as strong as plywood but can’t be carved and doesn’t except stains.I’ve made self 36” sanding mountains without any supports using Paper Mache.Like the others said if your humidity is much over 25% it takes forever to dry. The humidity here in Bakersfield today is 13% at 105° and drying time is longer than when the humidity is low. At 5% or 6% it dries pretty fast.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Welcome to the forums, Macman. If you ever have a chance, we welcome pictures of your layout, no matter what shape it's in.
I used Sculptamold over foam. Anything ¼ inch or more will take several days to dry. I really like it, though. It can be carved, sanded, and painted, and it's very strong.
York1 John
Macman44I have just started to use Sculptamold for the first time, and had a question about how long it takes to set and harden.
Hi Paul!
Welcome to the forums!!
Great question! I can't answer your question because I've never used the stuff, but I'm about to order some so I'm very interested in the answers.
Thanks for asking.
By the way Henry, how long did it take to train your chimpanzee to apply Sculptamold?!? I can imagine that the texture would be quite interesting
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Here in Florida it is seasonal.
In the Winter Sculptamold will dry in a couple of days.
In the Summer it can take a week.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thanks to all who welcomed me into the forum. I feel like I am among friends already.
We too are in the middle of a heat wave with incredible humidity (Ontario), and it seems like this may be what is affecting the setting time. The temperature in my basement train room is 20ºC (68ºF) and a relative humidity of 47%. I've wound down the dehumifier a bit to see if that accelerates the drying, but I'm 3 days in and it's still soft. I'll see what it's like after a week.
But it's good to know that my experience isn't too much out of line. I was possibly concerned that I had a bad batch of product.
This is why I use the old standby; plaster of Paris. For large areas, I add a little vinegar to the mixture. This slows the setting time, which gives me plenty of working time. Plaster of Paris also has better color absorption than patching plaster. Most of my rocks are made using rubber molds from Woodland Scenics.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Medina1128 This is why I use the old standby; plaster of Paris. For large areas, I add a little vinegar to the mixture. This slows the setting time, which gives me plenty of working time. Plaster of Paris also has better color absorption than patching plaster. Most of my rocks are made using rubber molds from Woodland Scenics.
I agree with Marlon, Plaster of Paris accepts Woodland Scenics Stains better than Sculptamold.
All of the rocks above were made using Woodland Scenics Molds and Plaster of Paris then stained with WS Stains.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Looks great, Mel!