Plaster Cloth

[Guest ___]

Most of my layout work in the past I have used the old paper mache method of building hill. This time around I'm going with the plaster cloth. So far I have only one layer down of the plaster cloth, though I hear some people use two. How many of you guys out there use one layer ver. two and why?

[CaptOblivious]

Two. Durability, mostly. A coat of water-based acrylic paint over the top also helps with the durability (it re-wets the plaster, and then mixes with it, making a very solid acrylic-plaster coating).

[Bernard]

I use two also besides durability it also helps cover the pores in the cloth. Remember to use your fingers to "smear" the hydrocal over the pores. Also get a box of latex gloves when you use the cloth, it's messy.

[Guest ___]

Discovered already how messy it is. Actually, I take that back, it was nowhere near as messy as I had expected.

 

I was planning to use a brown latex paint over the first (or second) layer of plaster cloth. I'm thinking two laters of plaster cloth.

[CaptOblivious]

I would strongly recommend acrylic over latex. Acrylic paint dries much harder than latex (yet, still with some flex), and is water-based, unlike latex. The latex paint will seal the plaster, but won't add strength. The acrylic, although it will be a bit harder to work with (You have to daub more than brush), will seal and physically reinforce.

[Guest ___]

I would strongly recommend acrylic over latex. Acrylic paint dries much harder than latex (yet, still with some flex), and is water-based, unlike latex. The latex paint will seal the plaster, but won't add strength. The acrylic, although it will be a bit harder to work with (You have to daub more than brush), will seal and physically reinforce.

 

The plan was that I'm going to place the ground over top of the latex paint while the latex is still wet.

 

Wait, Latex is not water soluble??? After checking Wikipedia it says latex paint is an acrylic paint. In fact, it redirects from Latex Paint. Also several other links states clearly that it is water soluble. Hell, I've cleaned quite a few Latex brushes already.

[CaptOblivious]

Wow, reading around a bit, I see that I have misspoken, at least a little.

 

House paints (what I would normally call latex paint), although often acrylic, still have a rubbery resin to them. When dry, house paint is, soft and stretchy, very rubbery. This is because originally latex paint was made with latex; now it uses polyvinyl or softer acrylic polymers instead. They are apparently water-soluble, I definitely misspoke about that.

 

Artists acrylics, like the cheap Americana kind sold at Wal-Mart, although also acrylics, have a very different character. They do not dry into a soft, rubbery material, but rather dry very hard, with very little shrinkage. This hardness of the artists acrylics (to be precise) is what I'm suggesting is very useful for reinforcing the plaster.

[Guest ___]

Plaster cloth = plaster dust.

[cteno4]

The reason for the latex (or now latex like polymers) in house paints is to let the paint stretch some as the house warms and cools. w/o it and the paint would easily crack over the seasons. the interiors tend to be harder with less flex than the exterior paints. latex house paints in the last decade have changed a lot.

 

latex house paint should work fine on a couple of layers of plaster cloth, especially since i think aaron has foam under his plaster cloth so its really well supported. I would actually think that a little flexibility might be good to prevent any surface cracking, but if he is putting ground cover over it all that will never been seen!

 

ive found plaster cloth to be pretty tough stuff. a final layer of thick hydrocal helps to fill all the mesh/pores and provides some ability for texturing if you want. i know i have used both cheap acrylic paints and latex house paint in the past and never had a problems.

 

the jrm club hills were done with plaster cloth over crumpled newspapers and foamcore for any vertical edge w/o scenery. after a couple layers of plaster cloth and i think matthew did one final layer of just hydrocal then to do a little texturing. the paper was removed to leave just shells we just plop in place. they are very strong and light and have held up for over 4 years now of transporting to shows. the first version ended up really heavy and started to crumble as he used some very old hydrocal that had apparently gotten moist (moral of that story is use good hydrocal, not something sitting in the basement forever that may not have been sealed well!)

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

Layer 2 is down. I got to buy some more plaster cloth on the way back from seeing the Progressive adjuster. (Stupid deer)

 

I used the Woodland Scenic today, and did not care for how this plaster cloth performed compared to the Scenic Express plaster cloth I used yesterday. The WS stuff seemed to wanted to bind to itself before I could get it to where I was going to lay it where as the SE did not. The SE was significantly less messy that the WS stuff was.

[cteno4]

Interesting there is a difference. i wonder if its something due to the age of the stock? hydrocal is really sensitive to sucking up moisture over time and cures oddly if it gets to damp before use. i have noticed in shops some of the bags do have nicks and tears in them which would make me wonder about moisture, especially here in the east!

 

did the product seem any different elsewise? wondering if either of them make it themselves or just buy it and package it.

 

did you whack a bambi? you should have brought it down for puccini, he eats venison dog food due to a skin allergy! its the most expensive dog food i think you can buy unfortunately!

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Guest ___]

Interesting there is a difference. i wonder if its something due to the age of the stock? hydrocal is really sensitive to sucking up moisture over time and cures oddly if it gets to damp before use. i have noticed in shops some of the bags do have nicks and tears in them which would make me wonder about moisture, especially here in the east!

 

did the product seem any different elsewise? wondering if either of them make it themselves or just buy it and package it.

 

The Woodland Scenics felt more powdery. A lot more dusty it felt to the touch. The SC I would have not even have guessed had any sort of plaster power to it at all. I definitely liked the SE more.

[CaptOblivious]

I used plaster sourced from medical supplies and WS, and found the same thing with the WS brand that Shashinka did---more powedery, thirstier, thinner and harder to work with.

[Guest ___]

I used plaster sourced from medical supplies and WS, and found the same thing with the WS brand that Shashinka did---more powedery, thirstier, thinner and harder to work with.

 

So far so good, it's getting nice and dry. Sadly my temps down in  the family room is hovering about 66F so I am guessing it's taking a tad longer to set up than norm.

[CaptOblivious]

Incidentally, and for the record, I am willing to publically admit that I was wrong about the relative advantages of artist's acrylic vs. "latex" house paint. Between the posts here, and the external reading I've been doing, I can see that I had a few mistaken notions. Just FYI :D

[Guest ___]

Incidentally, and for the record, I am willing to publically admit that I was wrong about the relative advantages of artist's acrylic vs. "latex" house paint. Between the posts here, and the external reading I've been doing, I can see that I had a few mistaken notions. Just FYI :D

 

Meh,all ya did Don was manage to confuse me between your info and Jeff :P LOL