I am in the early stages of adding scenery to my plywood pacific layout. A large area along my layout is supposed to run along sandy beaches in Southern California. Thus, I need some kind of material to help me create the undulating terrain of sand beaches. I thought I could use Sculptamold but none of the LHS's in my area carry it. One shop had bags of ClayCrete which they discribed as being similar to Sculptamold. I bought a bag ($8) and quickly went through about half of it creating small sand dunes and other terrain in other scenes. I found the ClayCrete product to be relatively clean, it adheres well to plywood, and it can be easily shaped. However, I found the cured and painted material to be fairly soft and easily damaged exposing its snow white color. It also has a tendency to shrink a bit when drying. I also realized that I was going to need a lot of it for my 10' by 19' double-deck layout.
Looking a little closer at this stuff, I realized that all I needed was some form of filler material to mix with a binder. Several years ago, my wife (thinking I might have a use for it) brought home several small bags of papier mache powder that someone was going to throw out. Okay, I've got a good supply of a binder. Now all I needed was a filler material. Looking around my garage, my eyes landed on the canvas catch bag beneath my table saw chuck full of sawdust. Hey, that might work as filler! Mixing a few handfuls of sawdust with some papier mache powder and water gave me a sloppy mix that could be spread and formed using just my fingers into whatever terrain shape I needed (I could apply it mcuh thicker if needed, too). I found that this mix dried into a more solid surface than the ClayCrete, it maintains a tan color instead of the snow white of the ClayCrete, and it doesn't seem to shrink. I also discovered that I can sand the cured mix to smooth it or to match it to an adjacent surface (such as the fascia or a road surface). I can also add a top coat of plaster to smooth the surface, although that gets me back to the stark white color of the ClayCrete.
Further experimentation has shown that finer sawdust particles make for a more workable filler as longer and larger wood fibers are good for thicker applications but can stick out of the finished surface. I eventually found that the sawdust from particle board works best as it is more consistent in size and fiber length. A friend was going to throw out some large pieces of a fiberboard product meant to be used as a flooring underlayment. This stuff looked like a cheap, low density grade of particle board. I took this stuff home and spent about an hour at the table saw with an empty catch bag cutting pieces of this stuff up to make very uniform saw dust filler material. This sawdust proved to be absolutely perfect filler for my terrain mix. Looking at my remaining supply of papier mache powder and the number of pieces of this fiberboard material, I should have plenty of cheap terrain material available for the remainder of my layout scenery.
Hornblower
Using Durabond as a substitute for the Claycrete will work well also. Add your fillers to the consistancy you need. A bit of masonry dye can help to get a closer color for the overall base for added scenery material, sand, ground foams etc.
Hopefully Drwayne will post some of his pics and describe methods of mix, I believe his formula may be just what your looking for.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
There are eight and forty ways of creating scenic surfaces, and every single one of them is right. (With apologies to Rudyard Kipling.)
It sounds as if you've discovered a nice, inexpensive (for you) source of the ingredients for a useable form of ground goop. The only thing I would add is powdered coloring material to more closely match whatever the local base level dirt is supposed to look like.
Since I'm a long way away from needing to make final decisions on how to finish my landforms I'm collecting suggestions like this one. As for which one(s) I'll actually use, the jury hasn't even been selected yet.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - eventually)
Chuck, from a gaijin, I like your, answer!
Frank
I use bagged play sand available from the Big Box stores.
The type I use is dry and white and is easily poured into undiliating small hills.
50/50 white glue mix attaches the sand to the benchwork and with more glue the harder the sand hills become!
The sand will take thinned Latex Paint to act a a stain to color the mounds!
And at $4.00 a bag for 25 lbs - it isn't going to get much cheaper than this!
No magnetic particlas to worry about nor any critters as this stuff is supposed to be sanitized for kids play boxes!
Again the price is hard to beat!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
You're quite right Chuck about there being so many ways to do things. I just thought I'd share a method I found for my layout. Since most of us create a bunch of sawdust building our benchwork, recycling this waste into "ground goop" might turn out to be popular with some modelers.
I live in Southern CA too. Your local Dick Blick Art Supply Store will sell Sculptamold, that's where I got mine.
For sand, try sanded tile grout - Bone color. Home Depot sells it for relatively cheap.
For a cheap, rolling dunes base, wad up a little newspaper, shape it to your basic liking. Dip some sheets of newspaper in a white glue (glue shell) and lay the sheets over the lumps. When dry, paint it and sprinkle sand right into the wet paint. Add some grass tuffs.
Good luck,
Richard
you want to model so-cal....buy bags of paver or play sand from Lowes or Home Depot....filter out the sand to get rid of the quartz bits in there
One well known modeler here in Milwaukee as been using the interior foam from the Instapak foam packaging material (that comes in the silvery gray bags) that more and more electronics and other stuff comes packed with. It is easily broken by hand, easily shaped, is very light but strong, and has a texture that lends itself to scenicking. It also takes on interesting shapes as part of the expanding nature of the product -- expands to fit the item packaged.
Best of all many places and many people just throw it away (although it can and should be recycled).
http://www.sealedairprotects.com/instapak-foam-packaging.aspx
Dave Nelson
cmrproductsNo magnetic particlas to worry about nor any critters as this stuff is supposed to be sanitized for kids play boxes!
Until the cat finds it.
Cheap? Land? Hey, I got a whole field full of the stuff. Sift it out and bake it, and mark it with a "T"....
No wait, I was getting carried away there, But dirt, Rocks,, Trees, they can all be brought in from the back yard (assuming you have three square miles of backyard).
Crumbling brick dust from one of our buildings also worked well to.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Some times the city spreads fine gravel on the street because of snow. The gravel eventually finds it's way to the gutter. Some of it has been ground pretty fine from the cars running over it. Along with this gravel the grit from roof shingles makes it's way to the gutter from the down spouts that drain to the street.
Of course you need to wash and put it through a strainer and a magnet to be safe should be used.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up