Casting plaster, making buildings, walls, etc. Anyone done it?

I would suggest doing heavy look into the model railroad realms for ideas. These guys build entire cities, using just about every form of material you can think of.

Hi Zok,
I do quite a bit of casting of plaster for building walls, etc, I usually use the Duplo building blocks for a form, and pour plaster in it and let dry. I usually add some liquid tile grout colorant to my water before adding to the plaster powder, it adds strength to the plaster. Once done, I draw a quick design and go to work. for recessed brickwork in areas where the wall is all plaster I take a flat gouge and scribe out an area, and scribe in the bricks. Here's a couple pics of what I've done...the first is all brick work, and the second is a completely scratched house made from plaster and balsa, you can see the recessed brickwork I was talking about.

Kelly - Great looking work, man! The Lego/Duplo idea is great. Do you use anyting to reinforced the plaster, i.e. toothpicks, wire?

Kelly, in the second pic, is the remaining plaster on the wall added on to the brick wall after you've done the bricks, or is it left over after you've scribed them? Thanks.

zokissima:

I will be attempting this type of process on the weekend (hopefully, my wife will allow) lol

The process of casting your own buildings, sections etc. etc. is fully described in a book (my wife bought for me bless her little heart) MODEL BUILDINGS MASTERCLASS by Roy Porter. This book covers step by step how to make your own molds and cast sections of buildings etc.

I would strongly suggest picking up a copy. It's a handy little reference to have.

Until you do here is a sample of the "How to" I have learned from its pages.

Form a mold box (I use "acquired" LEGO from my nephews) in the size of the finished panel to be cast.

Line the mold box with plasticene and smooth it out and spread evenly.

Impress into the plasticene the shape of the "brickwork" you want the panel to have. Be sure not to press all the way through.

When finished lightly spray with PAM cooking spray onto the plasticene.

Mix your plaster to a Cream consistency and pour evenly and slowly into the mold

Allow it to harden (when you're tempted to pull it out leave it 15 more minutes)

Remove the panel and take a look at your work. If it doesn't "look" exactly right don't throw it out use is as rubble for another diorama idea.

That's the basics of it, but you really should buy the book. There is alot more information inside that is too long to discuss here.

Best of luck. If you need more information reply to your post and I will be happy to help.
I see that you are in the GTA you might be able to locate a copy of this at the Ajax show this weekend (Check the FSM list of shows here on the website) Or you could try ordering at your local hobby shop or Chapters.

Cheers;

Gregory

zokissima:

Here is the link to the book I was writing about above.

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?Item=978185915063&Catalog=Books&Ntt=%22roy+porter%22&N=35&Lang=en&Section=books&zxac=1

Cheers:

Gregory

Thanks for the link, Gregory. Looks like a keeper. I wonder if I should get it used...

Buff/Hannaman,
thanks for the comments! For the "recessed" brickwork for the second pic, it's real easy. At first the whole building is just one flat surface. I then took a hobby knife, and carved out som jagged lines here and there. Then I took a 6mm wide flat edged hobby knife, and gouged out the area, about 1 or 2 mm deep. Kind of like carving a pumkin. I then started scribing the brick work. For me it's kind of a reverse process, alot of people think/ask the same thing about the buildings, wether or not I scibed all of the brick work, then added a skim coat overtop. When I tell them the process I just explained, they get that "oh crap, why didn't I think of that" look LOL
Gregory, I tried a method similar to what you described, but ended up in disastor. I've really simplified my method, and that's using the big lego blocks to make my form, then put a sheet of was paper over top of a piece of plywood, put the form on top and add my plaster mix. Gently rock back and forth to level everything out, and wait to cure. Once the form has been removed, I usually let cure for a week, as I add tile grout colourant to strengthen the plaster, and it takes a little longer to dry.
When fully cured, I sand all the edges, removng any of the little bumps that are caused by the spaces between the lego blocks. I'll then scrape/sand the top surface to remove any air bubbles and to level out the piece. I then draw what I want on the plaster and take my dremmel tool and carve out the shape. WEAR A MASK while doing this, it gets VERY DUSTY!!!! Then you can start doing brick work or what ever you want. I'm fortunate enough to have a big compound mitre saw with a big blade, so cutting and squaring off the piece is a cinch.
OH, don't throw away any of your cut offs, or for that matter, any left over plast from your initial pour. Save it, and take a hammer to it, and bag it to use for rubble. Hell, I'll just make up a sheet of coloured plaster just to make bags of rubble! Good luck!!

PS - no toothpics or wire to support the plaster, just mix, and pour!

Thanks for all the input everyone, this is exactly what I was looking for.
gburdon, thanks for the tips, Kelly_Zak, you too. I did think of using Legos to make a mould, so good to see that I won't be far off the mark.
Now, as for making the brickwork, I think I'll stick with the method described by Kelly_Zak, by actually carving out the bricks. We used a lot of plaster in some art classes I took a while ago, and it was quite easy to carve, so this seems like the easier way.
Also, one more question. When making the mould from the Legos, should I put anything between the legos and the plaster, or will I just be able to remove them fine when the plaster is set?

Thanks, Kelly. I appreciate the tips.

Hi Zok,
you don't have to put a thing inbetween the lego the plaster. The legos are really smooth, so once your plaster has cured for like an hour, you can disassemble the legos, and they'll pop away from the plaster, you'll just have to clean up the edges a bit. Man, dispensing all this info makes me want to go out and do some more casting! LOL

Oh, scribing the bricks is super easy, all I really do is take a ruler and draw the straight lines across the plaster and use the back edge of a hobby knife to scribe. Once done, take a air can or your compressor and blow off the excess, and you're ready for paint! I just recently acquired some old dental scribes from a friend, so I'm itchin to try them out on my next project!