Woodland Scenis Plaster Cloth vs... ? (eBay alternative)

[Anonymous]

I found this item on eBay:

(I hope this won't run foul of the "no advertising" rule, as this isn't my auction!)

25lb. plaster gauze

At a glance, $20 (including shipping) for a 25lb. box of plaster gauze seems very reasonable indeed (as compared to the Woodland Scenics plaster cloth).  Has anyone used something like this, and how does it compare to the Woodland Scenics stuff?

Thanks very much. 

[R. T. POTEET]

I found this item on eBay:

(I hope this won't run foul of the "no advertising" rule, as this isn't my auction!)

25lb. plaster gauze

At a glance, $20 (including shipping) for a 25lb. box of plaster gauze seems very reasonable indeed (as compared to the Woodland Scenics plaster cloth).  Has anyone used something like this, and how does it compare to the Woodland Scenics stuff?

Thanks very much. 

I actually have no personal experience with this product, however I do have a friend who did.

This friend and I met at an American congregation church in Germany in the early-'70s; we were both model railroaders, he in N Scale and me in HO.  He was building a model railroad at his government quarters while I was contenting myself to assembling die-cast locomotive kits from Hobbytown of Boston, Cary/Mantua, Bowser, and MDC but I assisted him in the construction of his model railroad.

One of the members of our church was in Medical Supply at Landstuhl Army Medical Center and he came up with a couple of dozen rolls of this plaster impregnated cloth which is used for wrapping casts.  My friend used this stuff for his scenery construction; the boxes these things came in were very clearly identified as 'Property of U S Army' so he had to dispose of it when he rotated and I inherited about eighteen or nineteen rolls of this stuff.  I never did use any of it myself and eventually it wound up in the hands of our K-Town model railroad club; most of this, I suspect, wound up in the hands of club members since the club was using a European derived gypsum plaster.

Of course my friend, in the interest of economy, when the source of free material dried up, never did use it again.  He never did develope an affection for the traditional hardshell scenery and when I lost touch with him a few years back the last time we talked he was using a cheesecloth dipped in a hydrocal solution getting roughly the same type product for an immensely cheaper price.

Not having used it and not having been interested in using it I had to look up what Woodland Scenics Plaster Cloth cost; unfortunately the Walthers' Catalog gives the price for an 8 X 180 inch length roll for a little less than $9.00 and I can't equate that to weight.  I don't know how many square feet you are going to get for your 25 pounds and your $20.00 so it may very well be a good bargain.  Plaster cloth is sometimes available from medical suppliers but usually only on wholesale accounts and building supply centers used to sell a similiar product which I have seen used and which was even cheaper than the Woodland Scenics stuff.

[reklein]

Looks like a very good price, even with the shipping. A WS package of that stuff is around$7-$9 retail. Thats for about 8 oz. I'm guessin.

[Anonymous]

Well I went ahead and bought two boxes.  $7.98 for two 25lb. boxes total, plus $25.70 shipping.  I'll report back how they are.

As a side note, I see that when I first posted, there were 186 boxes available from the seller, and a few hours later now, there are 174 available.  If any of you guys have bought them, please do report back here how they work out.

[Anonymous]

Well here's my follow-up report to my purchase.  The ordering went smoothly, and a few days after paying a hefty 50lb. box was waiting for me at the doorstep.   However, I just got around to using it in the past couple of days.

It works just like the WS plaster cloth--you wet it, then rub the plaster even to fill all the holes.  There are two differences I noticed:  As the seller notes in the auction descriptions, these are remnant packs--I wonder if that means, in practical terms, that these are plaster cloth for whatever reason did not pass the quality check process for appearance.  The only thing "wrong" with them that I can see is that towards one edge, about 1/2" of the cloth has frayed and is not covered with plaster (see picture below).  The second difference, and this is a big difference, is that these seem to be much more heavily "plastered" than the WS stuff (see below).

There are supposed to be rolls of various width; I've only dug one out of the 50lb. box and this is what it looks like.

(Woodland Scenics on the left, eBay purchase on the right) 

 

... and a close-up of the two cloths:

 

 

[MisterBeasley]

It looks like you got the ends of a roll, after the "high quality" stuff was sold off to the full-price retailers.  That's why it's called "remnants," and why the edge has no plaster.

I think you got a great deal.  That stuff is going to work just fine.  I get my plaster cloth at A.C. Moore, a craft supplies dealer.  It looks just like yours.

[loathar]

When you figure you paid about $35 and the same amount of WS cloth (based on 1# rolls) would have cost over $400 plus S&H, who cares about frayed edges? Great deal!

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, no complaints at all on my end, the frayed end and all.  I took a few more rolls out of the box, and they are pretty much all like the one shown above.  Very usable, and you really really can't beat the price!

[cacole]

I purchased 50 pouinds right after reading the original post.  It it basically various length rolls that are 3 to 4 inches wide.  They're not as wide as the Woodland Scenics plaster cloth, but are certainly just as good, especially since you usually have to cut the WS cloth into smaller pieces anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

I purchased 50 pouinds right after reading the original post.  It it basically various length rolls that are 3 to 4 inches wide.  They're not as wide as the Woodland Scenics plaster cloth, but are certainly just as good, especially since you usually have to cut the WS cloth into smaller pieces anyway.

 

That's interesting, the four rolls I've taken out of the box are all 8" wide (same as WS).  Have you gone through the contents of the entire 50lb. box?  Maybe I'll find the narrower rolls at the bottom of the box.

[rrebell]

Used to be when you made a cast for someone you did most of it with a lumpier roll and then the doc would finish with the smother stuff, don't know if that is still the case?

[dave9999]

Hyun,

You could always trim off the frayed edges. Might be a bit labor intensive, but for the great deal that you got a little work seems worth it.

 

If I weren't at a roadblock with my layout(we are considering a move), I would buy lots of it.

Good luck, Dave   

[Robby P.]

I was reading this topic a few days ago, and I went on and ordered me a box of the stuff.  It came today, and WOW. Its a good bit of cloth.  I thought about buying it before, but since I am redoing my layout I thought I would give it a try.  Mountains here I come !!!