General Discussion (Model Railroader)

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 I have worked with plaster cloth for many years my current layout I have over 300 rolls with plans to use twice that and have never see any mold. I also live in the Northwest US Seattle area where it rains all the time and still no mold. I buy the plaster cloth for ASW they are 4 inch rolls 180 inches long and I buy it by the box that works out to $1.25 per roll.

Mike

Don't you wish the manufacturer would add brown coloring to the plaster cloth?  Unless you're doing a winter scene, the white is hard to cover up.

I've used the Woodland Scenics stuff before with fantastice results. Far as i know, it hasn't grown any mold. Tip: to avoid those nasty little holes that are so prevelent in plaster cloth, either overlap each sheet by half, or apply a whole second layer to your scenery. DO NOT REPEAT WHAT I DID. first time i used it, i applied only one layer to an area with a stream. a) it leaked the water resin through the holes and b) the stream bed had more holes than swiss cheese. Ugly!

p.s. i have rebuilt this area...

 I have worked with plaster cloth for many years - just out of necessity, because foam board was not available in those years. I don´t like plaster cloth at all, it is a dusty, messy affair and not even really cheap. For that very reason, i have used foam board exclusively in recent years and I like it quite a lot - easier to work with, cleaner...

Hmmm...In using plaster cloth before, I always dipped it in water, rather than putting it down dry and spraying it, for fear that the water wouldn't soak all the way thru to the bottom. Hadn't thought about it having all those holes in it that would allow water (particularly "wet water") to go all the way thru. I may try that on the new layout when I get to the scenery stage. I found on the previous one that the plaster cloth was easy to use, but also was pretty messy - especially when having to cut the pieces before dipping, which always left a white powdery mess. Be nice if it came pre-cut in 1' squares!!

TBat55:

Don't you wish the manufacturer would add brown coloring to the plaster cloth?  Unless you're doing a winter scene, the white is hard to cover up.

The army at one time acquired this stuff impregnated with olive drab coloring; I know because I encountered a couple of rolls of this tinted product in Germany in the early '70s. It was, remember, originally developed for cast material and that is still its prime purpose. I can't see why, instead of dipping the stuff in clear water, you could not impregnate it with a dye solution.

I have never personally used the stuff so I can't address the subject of mold; I do, however, have a now long-lost friend who came up with a couple of cases from Medical Supply at Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany in the early '70s--no! it was not stolen but rather another friend who was associated with Medical Supply had been ordered to dispose of it because of its age. My friend used the stuff to scenic one of those pre-formed N-Scale layouts being manufacturered in Germany in those same years. Upon rotation this friend shipped a dozen or more rolls stateside and he used it on a layout at Fort Sam in Texas but when I saw him some years later he had had to dispose of what was left because of humidity contamination. That Texas climate had not helped the fact that this stuff had set in the basement at Landstuhl Army Medical Center for about 20 years.

I did, admittedly, find the stuff less messy than paper towel-Hydrocal® hardshell but I'm not sure that that factor is worth the expense of purchase. A few years back a group of modelers from the Phoenix area divvied up two or three cases from a wholesale order; when purchased in bulk that way it was relatively cheap. Another friend who uses it almost exclusively checked at a medical supply house; it was far cheaper than purchasing from an art supply store or the like but it had to be purchased by the case which, I believe, holds 15 rolls and in addition had to prepaid on special order.

I have never had the occasion to use the plaster cloth.  Glad to hear there are more economical sources than W/S.  How water proof is the dried product?

I have used plaster cloth for many years and never had any mold problems. The most common brand I have used is from Woodland Scenics, but my main supplier is a medical supply house. Think this way: if it would mold, the hospitals wouldn't use it to set broken bones.  Good luck with your scenery.

duckdogger:

I have never had the occasion to use the plaster cloth.  Glad to hear there are more economical sources than W/S.  How water proof is the dried product?

... not at all, if constantly wet, it will slowly dissolve into a potatoe mash-like substance. If you live in an area of high humidity (over 90 percent) I would not use it....

 Hi gpharo: I have used a lot of plaster cloth on my layout. I use cardboard strips of the basic form and cover them with plaster cloth. This forms a base to be covered with a mix of Structalite/Gypsolite with some Scuptamold. The hard shell is water proof. I dipped the plaster cloth in clean water, no additives. My layout is in my basement, with a dehumidifier. No mold in 4 yrs. I cut the cloth on a piece of hardboard with pinking shears to keep the plaster that falls off in one place.

For coloring, I use concrete coloring bottles from Home Depot. I think it is about a 16 oz bottle, costs about $10. One bottle will probably do an entire layout, if not more.

Be sure and add it as part of your water volume for either plaster cloth, hydracal, scuptamold or anything else. I mix it into my water first as part of the total volume. ie if you need a cup of water, then mix the water and coloring together to get one cup. Otherwise, you will throw off the recipe - esp for hydracal or plaster of paris. I like it because it mixes well and doesn't seem to affect the setting characteristics and doesn't leave any glaring white 'oopsie' spots.