Building mountains using wire lathe and drywall compound

Use a product called structolite over the metal lath, it is WAY lighter.

can you get this at the Depot or lowes?  premixed or do you buy a bag of powder and mix it?  does this set fast or do you have time? 

thanks I lever heard of this and I do all sorts of home improvement stuff. 

im a goof.  I buy the lightweight stuff premixed all the time.  haha  I looked up the name and I thought, Ive used this before.  LOL,  haha

Chris

of course that is drywall compound (lightweight).  your referring to the plaster material? 

You must consider gents, too much metal lath will totally screw up signals possibly for dcs or legacy systems... they work as signals therefore metal can mess you up especially if you use a lot of lathe. Check me out on this but I am sure there is some merit to it.

Chris,

The Structolite will have more strength than a drywall compound, particularly for a mountain that will be moved occasionally on a temporary living room layout. It is available at most Home Depots. The trouble is it comes only in 50 lb bags!

For smaller projects, Gypsolite is available at hobby shops in smaller quantities, but with exactly the same properties. Both are slow setting plasters. For those small projects, Hydrocal will also work if you prefer a faster setting plaster (also available at hobby shops in small quantities).

The metal lath could be a factor with command systems. Hardshell techniques (dipped paper towels, etc.) will produce a very strong tunnel with Structolite, Gypsolite, or Hydrocal without the need for a metal lath base.

Jim

I used chicken wire for my mountain and have no problems with DCS because of the wire mesh.

Hi most of my mountains made from foam. I get most of it from job sights were thay building new homes. out of there dumster  there usaly glade to have you take it.

 gives them more room in there dumster for thash.

the wire mesh would pose a problem if running legacy or TMCC.  You will need to earth ground the wire mesh.

Having said that I would take the suggestion above and forget the wire mesh.

I forgot about the 2" foam core.  I used this in the garage a few years back and tossed the scraps!  darn.  good idea with the dumpster Diving!  ill check some of my job sites!  thanks ! 

Did you smooth plaster or compound over the foam?  or what did you do? 

thanks to you all for your ideas.  the lathe I did not think with the DCS and I am about to buy that.  I will not be doing a ton of mountains, but boy if that happened, I might have taken the DCS back and said there was something wrong! 

thanks alot guys, I think the foam might be the thing to do, plus my 4 year old can beat the dog with the scraps!!  hahaha!

Chris

YES

I have made a few things with plaster, like USG hydrostone. Most of my

scenery and viaduct cast from it. Mold pre when casting important,

need to be clean and spray with soapy water just before casting. The hydro

stone gives me 10-15 min work time then hard in 1 hour and can demolded.

I make my own rock molds or buy from bragadon, latex molds. As you see in pictures

wood frame cover in wire, then burlap cover in wet plaster. Then add rock details

fill in gaps with a speciel easy to carve foam I found in insulation industry. I sell

this foam to. Then using dry wall compound found at HomeDepot to fill, shape, and

sand to affect. I like having time to work with the slower stuff then simply put a

fan on area to excelarate set time. Move to another area and press on. It takes

time but the results are very real and impressive.

 Also my layout is large 26' x 55', and mountains nearly all the way around

with this type construction, no problems with wireless DCC. Been operating

for last 2 years.

          Bob Spaulding        AltoonaModelWorks.

hmm,  got plenty of paint, maybe Ill do that then use spray adhesive and then apply the green and brown's and grass material.   and my trees will stick better also with the foam.  I might use the 3/4" pieces on my upper level to build the area up also to build the pond and river.  some great ideas here.  I have to write all this stuff down! 

Thanks

Chris

Chris,

The foam is definitely the way to go for portability. It can be plaster-coated if you like or just given a good thick coat of flat latex house paint. 

These portable scenery modules were built for our club's traveling layout. Just foam, paint and some ground cover - no plaster products. The foam is glued to a thin 1/4" plywood base for durability, but that would not be required for home use.

Jim

I had used wire befor and had problems with the legacy. We had coustomers that had same problems. went and checked there layout out and found out that mountains were made of  chicken wire. Were the  engin went throught tunnel it lost the signal.

 You can do a lot with foam and plaster

drywall compound will be a pain in the caboose, it's dry way to slow. 

ModelMaker1 again

am using NCE for DCC wireless, no problems but maybe on other types.

As for dry time, drywall compound is faster than you think, the fan is the trick.I like having time to smooth and texture dry wall mud. If over 1/4 thick yes will take till next day and my get shrink

cranks. No problem just another light coat, it textures bueatifully with stiff brush. But when working on large layout you simply move to

another area while areas dry. Trust me once you profect technics drywall is best bet, for finish use latex paints and static grass. Also i like brummies ground rubber textures, all shades and sizes. The key is going for it, do samples first before the real thing. Heres

more pictures. All the mountains first make up in cardboard, then cut in plywood like

roof trusses, attach chickenwire. If tracks inside cover up while coating with plaster and burlap. Once dry add rock castings then reslop around them with foam. Sand to desired shape then mud in with drywall compound. I fit rock casting together as tight as possiable then use drywall mud in voids. Again first sweep or two my crack some but will take after few sweeps with putty knife. At finishing point use stiff brush for texture, while wet even add fine rock for additional texture. Notice all track is on 3/4" plywood spline then homsite road bed. Very quiet and smooth system, then fill in gaps with foam and contour. As last picture building bases being installed. Keep the buildings clear till scenery is complete then set them on foundations.  Need more detail feel free to contact me.

          Bob,          AltoonaModelWorks

Personally, I don't recommend the use of regular drywall mud for scenery work. It is not made to be applied in anything but a thin coat, and takes forever to dry. There is a product called Durabond which comes in a variety of setting times. I've used Durabond 90 many times over metal lath and it works great. The 90 refers to the approximate working time in minutes.

http://www.usg.com/sheetrock-d...-joint-compound.html

It is also good for carving and takes color well.

I can get Durabond, i'll  try that  great suggestion.  I never thought of the thickness factor and it taking 100 hours to dry!  dealt with that before on repairs. then it cracks. 

many thanks to all the suggestions. 

Im still playing around with the benchwork.  I have to decide on the final platform configuration thats the tough part.  then design the track configuration and make sure my premier Dash 9 can make the turns. thats always the fun part. 

But I think Ill do the foam, and use the durarock 90 as suggested.  that way the DCS will not have issues.  I hate to foul something up. 

thanks a bunch guys!

Chris

I don't use drywall compound specifically, but something made for drywall. 

I use Dap Spackling and have for, oh, maybe 20 years and three layouts.  I put a wood strip form or metal lath form as fits the need, cover that with a couple or three of layers of randomly applied stripes of brown paper soaked in 50/50 white glue and water, then when dried coat thatwith spackling about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  I can "mold" slight featurs like sedimentary layer edges, etc, into it and it dries overnight. 

Used it last weekend to complete my revision of my layout (3 rail forum "Moved my layout 500 miles southwest" thread).  Below is all spackling.