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I had all these frustrations with hydrocal way back when, and it is why I do not use a hard plaster at all anymore. I remain befuddled as to why the stuff remains such a staple. I use a home-brew papier-mache based on Cell-u-Clay, which is essentially the same thing as newsprint shredded into fine particles. You can even make your own if you don't mind shredding old papers and ruining a blender. To this, I add a variety of color and texture ingredients, in addition to joint compound; varying the composition can produce vastly different finished textures. In the end, what I have is a much lighter-weight coating, with integral color and texture, which I can mix up in small dixie cups and work at my leisure. When it dries, it maintains some flexibility so you don't get chipping, and it is far easier to plant trees into (just poke a hole with an awl). The only drawback is that it needs support (it isn't "hardshell"), but for this I use expanding foam insulation which I can carve readily; other types of foam construction would work fine, also. For casting rocks, I don't: the papier-mache mix can be mixed to any consistency, and for cliff faces I just make it solid enough that I can carve it as it is placed. Certainly, it can also be carved once it is dry. By working with small batches and laying them up in horizontal layers, I get a natural-looking stratification, due to inherent differences in color and texture of different batches. And with an admixture of scoopable kitty litter (or any other granular material), I can easily create convincing rough stone surfaces, using just a plastic spoon to apply it. There may still be a place for old-fashioned castings, though. At the train show last week I saw some ready-made ones for sale, and WOW did they look good. One could easily incorporate such a casting (I am going to try to include real stones harvested from the Appalachians) into a spoon-troweled papier-mache scenic contour.
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