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Post by mlehman on Nov 4, 2013 8:48:26 GMT -8
I just finished another project using a little dab of Sculptamold to dirt-in a foundation slab for my engine service area.  Still needs more details but Sculptamold helps me blend all sorts of scenery together in a plausible way. In fact, most of my scenic base is Sculptamold, usually over extruded foam. There's somewhere around 250 pounds of it on my layout. Yet I still meet folks who've never heard of it, yet who say that scenery is difficult for them. All I can do is introduce them to Sculptamold's many benefits: adequate working time, quick drying, holds a shape, strong, takes paint well, easy to form, light when dry. So I thought I'd start a poll here, as it's use covers virtually any scale. What's your opinion on the stuff? |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Nov 4, 2013 10:24:01 GMT -8
Great stuff, I've never used it as you did in your photo but it's a major portion of the scenery on my layout, applied usually over plaster cloth. I mix it with latex paint in the general ground color I want and water then apply it with a spatula and work the texture as I wish then after it's dry apply ground cover and highlights to the surface  |
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Post by mlehman on Nov 4, 2013 12:46:04 GMT -8
Karl,
Great rocks!
That's another aspect of the stuff. You can do all kinds of texture with it and end up with it looking entirely different, even if things are side by side.
BTW everyone, the final choice in the poll about the 50 Pound Club is that you've bought at least one. I remember three...and a whole lot of smaller ones here and there.
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Post by gasmith on Nov 5, 2013 16:53:50 GMT -8
Used it once on a diorama, it cracked too much drying. I use Elmers patching plaster (similar to spackle)for small jobs.
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Post by mlehman on Nov 5, 2013 17:33:06 GMT -8
Cracked? That's a new one on me. Never seen it crack when drying before, in fact it's resistance to cracking is generally rather remarkable. In fact, if it does crack, the thing to do would be to wet it and try to smooth it over, something you can't do with plaster.
The only time that's happened to me was when I tried to flex a long, skinny liftout I made with Sculptamold over styrofoam before it was completely dry. That was due to the physical flexing, rather than drying, though.It was pretty thin in a spot or two and cracked there. I applied some TiteBond glue and it was good. A little scenicking and it's not even visible now.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 20:05:12 GMT -8
What is it and where do you purchase it?
Second, what is the difference between this and Hydrocal?
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Post by fr8kar on Nov 5, 2013 21:31:50 GMT -8
I used to use it, but found it to be susceptible to damage on Free-mo modules, so I tried a couple other things to see what would work. I like Hydrocal for casting rocks, so I tried it in a couple "paving" applications and other places where it was thin, but it didn't survive any better than Sculptamold. In fact, it was worse.
Finally, I switched to joint compound, the stuff that goes on pink and dries white. That stuff is fantastic for thin layers and is quite durable. It also has a much finer grain than Sculptamold, so it sands very well, which is good for paved areas. It's not near as porous as Sculptamold, so it doesn't experience the issues I had with the wide ranging humidity around here (flexing/cracking/breaking).
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 21:39:20 GMT -8
What brand of joint compound do you buy?
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Post by mlehman on Nov 5, 2013 21:58:23 GMT -8
What is it and where do you purchase it? Second, what is the difference between this and Hydrocal? Jim, Sculptamold is carried by Walthers, but can be found in many art and graphic supply stores. Dick Blick carries it, for instance Sculptamold is a bit like a cross between paper mache and plaster. It has fibers, but isn't so sensitive to needing an exact amount of water. You can mix it thin or keep it pretty dry, depending on your use. You can shape it and it stays in place without the need for a form. Sculptamold doesn't set as hard as plaster and has a nice predictable working time. It can be worked with the right tools, wet or dry. It's much lighter when dry than plaster and resists damage better. It makes a good base for planting trees. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 5:57:53 GMT -8
What is it and where do you purchase it? Second, what is the difference between this and Hydrocal? Jim, Sculptamold is carried by Walthers, but can be found in many art and graphic supply stores. Dick Blick carries it, for instance Sculptamold is a bit like a cross between paper mache and plaster. It has fibers, but isn't so sensitive to needing an exact amount of water. You can mix it thin or keep it pretty dry, depending on your use. You can shape it and it stays in place without the need for a form. Sculptamold doesn't set as hard as plaster and has a nice predictable working time. It can be worked with the right tools, wet or dry. It's much lighter when dry than plaster and resists damage better. It makes a good base for planting trees. I can understand the lighter than plaster, but tougher than Hydrocal? Back before my friend had is bricks and mortar hobby shop, he used to to the train show shuffle. He was really the only dealer that had extensive scenery materials, and he hauled in a lot of dollars every show selling Woodland Scenics, Sweetwater and bunch of other scenery materials. One thing he did was buy 50 pound sacks of Hydrocal and break it down into either three or five pound containers. Now there are different types of Hydrocal and really only one is "right" for scenery. He made up a ball, slightly smaller than a baseball of solid Hydrocal to show how tough the stuff is once its completely dry. We'd take the ball drop at above head high and let it hit the concrete floor of the show hall. Maybe a tiny tiny little chip may have come off the ball. Twenty years later when he closed the doors on his bricks and mortar hobby shop, he still had his ball of Hydrocal. Other than a couple of little chips from being dropped now on the mall sidewalk or parking lot, the ball was still more or less perfect. I think he still has his Hydrocal ball. Regular plaster is fragile, but Hydrocal is damn tough. Too much Hydrocal and weight is an issue. |
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Post by mlehman on Nov 6, 2013 6:42:49 GMT -8
Jim, Sculptamold is carried by Walthers, but can be found in many art and graphic supply stores. Dick Blick carries it, for instance Sculptamold is a bit like a cross between paper mache and plaster. It has fibers, but isn't so sensitive to needing an exact amount of water. You can mix it thin or keep it pretty dry, depending on your use. You can shape it and it stays in place without the need for a form. Sculptamold doesn't set as hard as plaster and has a nice predictable working time. It can be worked with the right tools, wet or dry. It's much lighter when dry than plaster and resists damage better. It makes a good base for planting trees. I can understand the lighter than plaster, but tougher than Hydrocal? Jim, By resisting damage batter, I meant it is less likely to crack or chip. You can certainly cut it, gouge it, or otherwise cut it, but that's an advantage, too, over plasters in my book. With Sculptamold, you can cut our and refashion and area for something new pretty easily, then blend it all back together afterwards. That can also be done with plasters, but they tend to be messier and require a certain finesse. With Sculptamold, get it wet, slop it on, and shape and smooth to suit. |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Nov 6, 2013 6:46:11 GMT -8
A bit of a clarification, the rocks in my scene are plaster of paris made with Woodland scenics molds, hot glued to the plaster cloth. The rest of the scenery is sculptamold filled in around the rocks.   This scene is to left of the second and right of the first.  It's an Australian Alco DL-500. This part of the layout is about to become a BEFORE picture and fall to the Sawzall with major changes starting. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 6:56:53 GMT -8
I can understand the lighter than plaster, but tougher than Hydrocal? Jim, By resisting damage batter, I meant it is less likely to crack or chip. You can certainly cut it, gouge it, or otherwise cut it, but that's an advantage, too, over plasters in my book. With Sculptamold, you can cut our and refashion and area for something new pretty easily, then blend it all back together afterwards. That can also be done with plasters, but they tend to be messier and require a certain finesse. With Sculptamold, get it wet, slop it on, and shape and smooth to suit. I'm having a tough time understanding cracking and chipping in regards to Hydrocal. My now former train club's layout was modular that for over twenty years was dragged around the Midwest. The base of the scenery was originally Hydrocal over cardboard or mesh. As my friends farm modular unfortunately showed, if you put on too much Hydrocal, it gets very heavy. The newer modules before the layout phase II was rolled out, used Hydrocal over 2" thick pink foam insulation. Nothing every cracked or chipped and this was basically a portable layout that was loaded in and out of trucks, trailers, vans and minivans....for 20 years plus. So when it comes to cracking and chipping and Hydrocal, I'm puzzled. |
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Post by mlehman on Nov 6, 2013 7:03:42 GMT -8
Jim, By resisting damage batter, I meant it is less likely to crack or chip. You can certainly cut it, gouge it, or otherwise cut it, but that's an advantage, too, over plasters in my book. With Sculptamold, you can cut our and refashion and area for something new pretty easily, then blend it all back together afterwards. That can also be done with plasters, but they tend to be messier and require a certain finesse. With Sculptamold, get it wet, slop it on, and shape and smooth to suit. I'm having a tough time understanding cracking and chipping in regards to Hydrocal. My now former train club's layout was modular that for over twenty years was dragged around the Midwest. The base of the scenery was originally Hydrocal over cardboard or mesh. As my friends farm modular unfortunately showed, if you put on too much Hydrocal, it gets very heavy. The newer modules before the layout phase II was rolled out, used Hydrocal over 2" thick pink foam insulation. Nothing every cracked or chipped and this was basically a portable layout that was loaded in and out of trucks, trailers, vans and minivans....for 20 years plus. So when it comes to cracking and chipping and Hydrocal, I'm puzzled. I'm referring generally to plaster here. My only experience with Hydrocal was early in the layout when I used it to cast rocks, which I then embedded in Sculptamold. I still do rocks, but just use plaster from the big box. I know some of the plaster has chipped here and there, usually through tool clumsiness, but can't say whether they're Hyrdocal or regular plaster. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 7:19:14 GMT -8
I'm having a tough time understanding cracking and chipping in regards to Hydrocal. My now former train club's layout was modular that for over twenty years was dragged around the Midwest. The base of the scenery was originally Hydrocal over cardboard or mesh. As my friends farm modular unfortunately showed, if you put on too much Hydrocal, it gets very heavy. The newer modules before the layout phase II was rolled out, used Hydrocal over 2" thick pink foam insulation. Nothing every cracked or chipped and this was basically a portable layout that was loaded in and out of trucks, trailers, vans and minivans....for 20 years plus. So when it comes to cracking and chipping and Hydrocal, I'm puzzled. I'm referring generally to plaster here. My only experience with Hydrocal was early in the layout when I used it to cast rocks, which I then embedded in Sculptamold. I still do rocks, but just use plaster from the big box. I know some of the plaster has chipped here and there, usually through tool clumsiness, but can't say whether they're Hyrdocal or regular plaster. Okay, I can fully understand regular plaster. I tried regular plaster back in the 1970's when I was a kid(yes, I know I'm an old fossil) and it was soft, it cracked and chipped easily. When I got introduced and saw with my own two eyes the toughness of Hydrocal I was truly shocked. A 1/2" of Hydrocal on the Midwest Mod-U-Trak modules is tougher than brick outhouse. |
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Post by Christian on Nov 6, 2013 7:56:36 GMT -8
I'm having a tough time understanding cracking and chipping in regards to Hydrocal. Shelf life isn't great for hydrocal. Folks who buy hydrocal in Woodland Scenics packaging from their local hobby shop may be getting plaster that is too old. Fresh hydrocal is indeed a marvel. An eighth inch shell reenforced with brown restroom towels needs a hammer to break. having typed that, my next railroad will use sculptamold and other materials that aren't as messy as plaster and have some flex. |
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Post by mlehman on Nov 6, 2013 8:06:19 GMT -8
Not all plaster are created equal. Whatever it was I was using from the big box was tough enough, as it was made for casting, similar to Hyrodocal, but not that by brand name at least.
One issue with all the plasters is their sensitivity to the mix of water. That will definitely give you crumbly plaster, even if it's not supposed to be. I suspect that's why people have trouble sometimes with it, because they're not used to being fastidious enough to consistently hit the marks for a good mix. Then there's the messiness.
Which is not to say you can't get messy with Sculptamold, just that you have to work at it. And you can just slop in the water until you get the consustency you need with a little practice, no real need to measure. But I really am not trying to say that it's the best thing under the sun, perhaps more like calling attention to its versatility. It does a lot of things quite well. But for casting, yes, Hydrocal will give you finer detail and will be very hard once done. But you can get a surprising amount of detail with Sculptamold the few times I've done that. Lots of times, for general scenery, just texturing and painting does wonders and looks like rock, so I tend to save the plaster rocks for where I want to call attention in a scene. The contrast works well.
There is an issue with the difference in how plaster and Sculptamold take up stains, if you're using those with plaster of any kind now. The Sculptamold does takes stain, just not the same way, as it seems more sealed to the stain penetrating. So what I do is group the plaster castings together closely and avoid getting any Sculptamold smeared on the front of the castings as I embed them together. No need for separate glue on the castings, the Sculptamold will stick them in place just fine on the sides and/or back.
One last thing about the toughness of Sculptamold to better describe it. It's hard, but resilient. Yes, it will crunch if you hit it hard enough, but it takes ordinary bumps like a champ. It doesn't spring back, although as I noted it is easy to patch and repair.
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Post by mlehman on Nov 6, 2013 8:08:49 GMT -8
I'm having a tough time understanding cracking and chipping in regards to Hydrocal. Shelf life isn't great for hydrocal. Folks who buy hydrocal in Woodland Scenics packaging from their local hobby shop may be getting plaster that is too old. Fresh hydrocal is indeed a marvel. An eighth inch shell reenforced with brown restroom towels needs a hammer to break. having typed that, my next railroad will use sculptamold and other materials that aren't as messy as plaster and have some flex. I used the tail end out of a 50 pound bag for 6 0or 7 years after the last big scenery push on the layout. I keep it closed and dry under the layout in a relatively dry basement, but didn't have central AC back then. It worked just as well at the last as when I opened the bag. Shelf life is a definite advantage to Sculptamold. |
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Post by fr8kar on Nov 6, 2013 13:54:01 GMT -8
What brand of joint compound do you buy?  |
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