First hydrocal stonework

A

aartwmich

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Nov 30, 2002
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SW Michigan
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Inspired by Caseys stone wall..and my cubemates experience with same inspriation....I finally took the plunge and attempted some stonework!! I need a tunnel portal for a diorama I'm working on, so I tried that.

I used a corrugated cardboard cutout that I used on the diorama and wrapped crinkled then flattened heavy duty aluminum foil around it and just kind bent up the 'sides'.

I mixed up some lightweight hydrocal, which ended up being damn near set (VERY thick) cause the bowl and fork I used had a little bit left on it from another batch...it's true what I read about 'dirty utensils' thickening the mixture, and had to push it into the mold.

I was able to peel away the foil mold after about 5 minutes and start 'carving' with a finish nail. Then I played with WS pigments thinned to a wash. I ended up 'wiping' the surface cause it was too dark and uniform in shade.

Doesn't look bad huh?? The best part is I finally got my hands busy actually making something instead of looking at other peoples work!!:D Thanks to everyone for the inspiration provided by this forum!!
 

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Excellent tunnel portal!!

The darker mortar lines really worked well :)

I was also inspired by casey's work and have just finished the
carving for a seawall at my docks. I've learned a few lessons
that I thought I should share! :)

First.. I must apologise for not having a digital camera.. hopefully
someday soon I can show you the results of my carving

1. I used foamcore for the base of the wall and then made quite
a thick tub of durabond90 (its all I had). after lathering it on the
foamcore in a fairly thick layer I took a stubby brush and stippled
the surface, its maybe a little rough for 'N' but this is mean't to
be a pretty weighty seawall so I think It'll look ok

2. I unfortunately got waylaid and that durabond90 set hard, its
*REALLY* tough stuff so I've spent 20 mins here and there all
week on the carving. I used a small V bladed carving tool. I'm
not sure I'd recommend letting this stuff set up fully but I did
notice one advantage, I didn't have to brush the rock surface
at all, the dust was very fine and the mortar lines kept a very
nice shape.

2.5 While carving i found it useful to lightly spray a black wash
over the face, this helped me keep track of where I'd already carved.

3. After doing about 18" x 3" of wall my wrist is pretty worn,
I think this is a good project for doing a little at a time.

I'm now going to re-read casey's article and try the painting
with diluted tole paints as washes.

Thanks for the inspiration Aartwmich and Casey!

Graham
 
That looks great! Nice job. I've had success with using foil as the mold too. In case you had problems getting the foil off I found that pre-spraying the foil mold with cooking spray worked for me. Very nice effect you've achieved with the dark lines.
Ralph
 
Thanks Casey, I used WS Stone Gray in various thinnesses (is that word?lol) I just kept playing with the mix and finally, lol when it got too dark, tried wiping it which really gave me what I was looking for.

Thanks Val....it did work well but....see on the right where I crushed the wrinkles a bit? Lost some texture there, gotta watch that ;)

Thanks Ralph..I didn't have any problem peeling the foil away, but I did peel it off while the hydrocal was still rather damp. I used spray olive oil, sprayed then wiped, on rubber rock molds. That worked good and didn't seem to repel waterbased paint wash.

It was FUN!! This could be addicting..but most of you know that already...lol
 
That looks FANTASTIC Ima!!
:cool: :cool: :cool:
I'm glad to hear you're building a diorama...they're great learning tools, they're quick, & relatively inexpensive to build, they don't bog you down with a lot of technical headaches, & they are wonderful little pieces of 3-dimensional art!
Can't wait to see your progress! :)
 
Good work aartwmich
Anyone like you that tries to make your own models instead of buying a ready made one is a real modeler in my books.
Instead of your logo as a wannabe modeler you should change it to be an experienced modeler.
:)
 
Hydrocal

aart:
We had a night where the scenery experts were out doing rock molds with hydrocal.
The first batch was setting up in the time it took them to move from the mixing bowl to the layout.
The second batch seemed never to set.
I think we had two different (very different) bads of hydrocal.
 
I just finished the wall casey, the diluted tole paint worked
really well, although I think you need more washes to get
darker colours.

As you suggested, I washed about 25% of the individual stones
with either a burnt umber, dark grey or (some) ellow wash, then went over the whole thing with several black washes. It was
amazing to watch the black wash run into the mortar lines,
the whole wall just popped right out. So.. right now its looking
good, maybe a little on the light side, but I can always darken
it. I'd certainly recommend the tole paint, they're a nice
cheap alternative.

Graham
 
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