Drill marks in cliffs
into the middle layer of the latex to give the mold more strength. After the final coat was properly cured, I peeled off the finished mold and mixed up some plas- ter for the first test copy.
I felt like Thomas Edison waiting to see if the latest light bulb would work or not. Fortunately, it does not take long for plaster to cure, so I did not have to worry about growing old while waiting. The results were better than I expected, as the cliffs looked pretty re- alistic after they were painted. As ma- jor scenery is just in the early stages on my current layout, finding a spot to try out the new castings was not a prob- lem. Two of the larger castings were stacked one on top of the other on a newly created hillside. The scene does need about 75 to 80 more trees and more ground cover to be called complete, but I could see that I was on the right track.
As a “how to” guide for duplicating these molds, here are my suggestions. Drill the holes about ³/₈″ apart. In scale, they should be closer, but they don’t show up as well from an observer’s per- spective. I tried several spacings before settling on this. Secondly, I used a ¹/₈″ drill bit because the smaller sizes were too short to reach through the lumps of coal I had. These holes would be more in scale if they were smaller, but that would depend on getting bits that were longer than standard length. Smaller drill holes, of course, would not be as noticeable, either. The lumps of coal I used were three to four inches thick. As of the writing of this article, I found some four-inch drill bits which were ³/₆₄″ in size on e-Bay, but alas, this was too late for this project. There is also the possibility that smaller drills might break under the stress of drilling the coal. Still, the overall look is quite appropriate for use on a model railroad. Viewed from a distance of about 24 to 30 inches ( average bench work width), the spaces between the holes and their size, seem to shrink to a more realistic looking diameter.
I should mention here that, while in this stage of creative endeavor, I also did an experiment with a block of plas- ter poured into a brick-sized wooden mold. After letting it cure for several days, I drilled lines of holes in it just as I did with the lumps of coal. While it did crack and make a fairly decent cliff, I did not like it as well as the ones made with the coal. It was too uniform and lacked the random voids and cracks that the coal lumps contained. Perhaps this method could be used on real rocks or some other material, but for me this job was done, and I was happy with the molds made from the coal.
So, between using my new cliffs and 56
The prepared master has been given its first coat of liquid mold-making latex (top). After dozens of applications it will start to have some strength. Cheesecloth strips embedded in it will help that (above). The molded plaster pieces are ready for painting (below).
the rock molds made last year (about 15 of them), plus some rock commercial molds that I have picked up over the years, I now think I’m covered for al-
most any scenic situation that I need to build for my layout. Now I just need about a million trees for the hills, but that’s another story.
MAY 2012
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