Covering imperfections in plaster cloth

Why not lightly cover your mountain with Sculptamold or Gypsolite?  I think you'll like the additional texture you get along with the benefit of hiding those seams.

Good suggestion. Any idea if I might be ab;e to find them (or their equivalents) at someplace other that a LHS? It seems as though shipping would be expensive and we don't have a LHS here in Ithaca.

George

I always cover most of my mountain surfaces with various mixtures of ground foam, sawdust, coffee grounds, random weed fragments, tiny stones, real dirt, etc. You really don't want a completely uniform color or texture. These will serve very well to hide your imperfections.

Good point. Maybe I'm worrying too much about it needlessly. I just thought that there might be an easy fix, so that i wouldn't have to worry about covering the imperfections up, and I could put ground cover just where I want it, not necessarily where the imperfections demand it.

George

Plaster of Paris may be a consideration.  Once dried, it is very light.  You could mix a small batch in a plastic cup and apply it by hand or with a putty knife etc. to the sections of concern to you.

Lowes carries it in small boxes to large bags.  Once painted and scenery applied, no more issues.

So, I had some leftover Hydrocal and mixed it with water to make a very thin paste. I painted it on everything. it really covered up the holes. It didn't do much to cover the seams, but I'm quite pleased with it. Following Pete's suggestions, I'll let the ground cover camoflage the seams. Thanks for all your suggestions.

George

If you ever find need to try Sculptamold it can be found from art suppliers and Gypsolite can be found in the plaster section at the big box home stores as "Structolite".

Thanks for the info. I'll look for it.

At this phase I like to drop on plaster of paris and paint it about with various size chip brush like 2" or 2.5", This is a great way to add "features" to your build that you didn't see before. Once the plaster starts setting you can just use a wettish bruish and brush over top to smooth it out if one prefers.  25LB bag of plaster of paris at lowes is $11. The structolite works well also.

Good luck with your build and show us some pictures!

I have used joint compound for the last 9 years & never had any problems .