Making mountains


I'm currently making my mountain on my layout using the cardboard strip method and covering them with plaster infused gauze. My question is, do I need to cover the plaster cloth with plaster in order to paint and fill my mountain with scenery or can I paint over the cloth
 
I covered mine with plaster of paris. It gave me a better finish coat and more to work with.
 
you don't have to cover the plaster cloth with plaster, just water ... but covering it with a thin coat of plaster will give a smoother surface to work on .
 
If you don't mind the waffle look, go with the card board strip method. I used blue foam board for the my mountain base then covered most of it with screen then the plaster spread over that.

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To get rid of the gauze texture on the plaster cloth I used spackling paste. I wore disposable rubber gloves and just globbed it on, then dipped my fingers in water and smoothed it out. You only need a thin layer. It works well and isn't as heavy as drywall compound or plaster. The brand I used is Red Devil Pre-mixed Vinyl Spackling.
 
Foam is probably the easiest ,personally I don't even bother with plaster , just a nice thick coat beige or med brown latex paint , the open cell foam gives it some texture.

I have used plaster and web method and it works , The thing that gives the best results if probably craft paper , you wad it up and then stretch it back out and lay it over the web/ substructure . It gives a nice random rocky effect.

I quit using plaster because you end up white bits everywhere and it drives you nuts trying to cover it all up.

A lot depends on the area and terrain you trying to model as to which technique to use.
 
I used the card board stuff on a previous layout and after a few years the cardboard started to rot and made a bad smell in the basement.
 
An unsolicited tip: pour some cheap tan or grey latex paint into your plaster as you mix it. Should the plaster chip you won't have a white spot in your scenery and the chips look like talus.
 



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