Anyone ever used plaster of paris?

That sounds like plaster impregnated gauze, although that dries hard too, but not P of P. That is a pretty good terrain model material, but it's expensive. If you are modeling terrain, I'd use a base of layers of foam board carved to shape, then covered with celluclay, sculptamold or even white glue and sawdust. Much lighter weight than plaster.

plaster of paris is a bulk powder sometimes called 20 minute casting plaster.

What you described is plaster bandage used to make casts in the medical field. very small rolls can be found in craft and hobby stores.

I use 6" rolls of extra fast drying because that is what I have from work. It worls fine. You can make a frame then lay the wet plaster over the frame as it drys it gets cold then after 20 minutes it has set and after 24 hours it will be hard

 

 

Plaster has myriad uses for the diorama builder. Frank Spahr has just about perfected it for water in 1/350 and 1/700th scale, I use it for small items I need to set up fast. It is a catalylized agent, though, and gets very hot. For cold applications that don't need to set up as quickly, you can use thin coats of drywall premix compound.

True casting plaster sets up in five minutes or less, and can burn skin...be a little careful with it.

For an inexpensive casting/forming agent, it is hard to beat !

cthulhu77 wrote:

Plaster has myriad uses for the diorama builder. Frank Spahr has just about perfected it for water in 1/350 and 1/700th scale, I use it for small items I need to set up fast. It is a catalylized agent, though, and gets very hot. For cold applications that don't need to set up as quickly, you can use thin coats of drywall premix compound. True casting plaster sets up in five minutes or less, and can burn skin...be a little careful with it. For an inexpensive casting/forming agent, it is hard to beat !

building supply houses carry 20 minute {standard is 30, the specialty is the really fast stuff} if you want it to go off faster, throw some salt in the bucket and use hot water { this will go off like a rocket} the other thing you can do, instead of using plaster bandage, mix the 20 minute thin then soak cloth strips in the plaster and lay it on the diorama 

 I use plaster of paris (powder) routinely for dio groundwork. It's cheap and readily available from hardware stores, but because of its fast setting time ( a few minutes) it can be tricky to use. There are a few things I do to make it easier:

-mix small batches at a time. You can always add more later on, even when set

-add some black poster paint while mixing, as the white colour is bound to show up through the groundwork in some places

-add some white glue to stop it cracking once it has set

-pour it only in thin films over contours built up with polystyrene foam. It is heavy when used in large amounts, but that can be a bonus if you want to add stability to your base.

Other than that, it's quite versatile. You can drill, sand, engrave and glue it easily. Leftover pieces can be crushed up and used as debris for the terrain.

does getting plastered in paris count?

DURR wrote:

does getting plastered in paris count?

ah, yes but for a different reason