Plaster Question

[Doc Holliday]

After a long hiatus, work on the BAD Western has resumed. Track work and wiring is done. I used WS inclines and risers for elevation changes and I'm starting to build up the remaining areas in preparation for plaster cloth. I've got a whole bunch of white beaded styrofoam (the only kind available in my area) and am thinking of using it instead of weaving cardboard strips. My question is will the plaster cloth stick to the styrofoam?

Thanks in advance,
Doc

 

[MasonJar]

Does it matter? Once the plaster layer is hardened, it should be ok. If you pin the styrofoam together underneath with hotglue or skewers or something, it should not move.

Try an experiment (and take pictures!) and report back!

Andrew

 

[ezdays]

Doc,

The white stuff's major problem is that it is messy when cut and doesn't cut too clean. If you're going to layer the stuff I'd glue it together using white glue. Once you cover it with the plaster cloth it will bond as good as it will to the blue or pink extruded foam, which is about zero in either case. But as Andrew says, once the plaster hardens, who cares? Any bond will come from some of the plaster geting into a crack or hole in the styrofoam and that's more likely to happen if you use the paper towel soaked in plaster method rather than the plaster cloth.

If you're concerned about the flakey edges of the white foam, you might want to try sealing it first, but I really don't seen a need for that.

 

[nachoman]

My layout is entirely the white beadboard. I have a wooden stucture underneath, so the foam only needs to support itself and strength is not an issue. It is a bit messy, but not prohibitive. I use a cheap sharp knife to cut it, then cover the surface with celluclay. The celluclay sticks to the foam quite well. My scenery is quite strong and very lightweight.

kevin

 

[60103]

Doc: when hardshell scenery first came out, the method was to crumple up newspaper and lay the plaster towel on that, then remove the newspaper wads (or not) when it hardened. Precise contouring was done with more plaster on the hardshell. Unless you have visitors who will try to pick up the scenery, it shouldn't actually need to stick to the foam.

 

[Relic]

I have a frame of 1x3 on two foot centres with 3 inches of beaded foam covered with cheesecloth & plaster ( it's Polly Filla really but it seems not many have heard of it) Anyway I can lean on it pretty hard (layout is 4 ft wide in places) without damage

 

[jim currie]

Doc strips of a old bed sheet dipped in a bowl of plaster mix is cheeper than the plaster cloth.