Monday, 7:30pm at Highland Baptist Activity Center, 34th and Quaker. Ice cream social. Nancy Reed, Jan & Ron Kutch will also present a program about the Lone Star Region Convention.
William Withulm - curator of the Smithsonian Transportation Museum. Topic is "Railroads and People - Colonizing the American West". In the Kline Room, 2nd floor, Sunday, July 26 at 2:00 P.M.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jackseay . E-mail jackseay@sbcglobal.net jackseay@usa.net, . If you want to write a newsletter article, give it to me at the meeting, email it, or call me: H 785-0068, W 792-6512.
We have a display at the Mahon Library until the end of July. Get there quick if you haven't seen it yet. If you have items on display, you need to remove them before the end of July.
Tuesday, 7:30 P.M., August 18th, at Patrick Pritchett's house.
Bob Moulton has an index on his computer of articles in Railroad modeling magazines. Call him if you want a printout of a search on a topic you are interested in.
Last year Bob Batson gave an excellent clinic on constructing rock work on his N-Scale layout. His mountains were on the "small" side - appropriate for his scale and his layout. This article describes the construction of larger mountains (floor to the ceiling if desired) typical of Colorado narrow gauge country.
Supplies required: cardboard boxes, box cutter, staple gun and/or hot glue gun, clothes pins and perhaps Styrofoam or wood risers.
Mountains formed of plaster can get very heavy. A support must be created to shape and hold the finished scenery. I use cardboard strips cut to a width of about one inch. I tried different types of wire screens but found them much too difficult to manipulate. I cut out the cardboard strips from old cardboard boxes with a box-cutter. I originally used a staple gun to attach the strips to each other and to the wooden framework, but that was before I "discovered" hot glue guns and clothes pins. Begin by bending a short (about one inch) gluing tab on one end of the cardboard strip and attaching it to the wooden framework with the hot glue gun (actually for attaching the cardboard to the wood, a staple gun still works well). I space the strips about six inches apart. The proceeding construction will depend entirely on what the mountain is going to look like. If it will be very large or tall, I support the cardboard strips with towers of Styrofoam or even 1x3 wood risers. If you want the mountain to have a lot of irregular curves, it will be necessary to add flexibility to the cardboard strips so you can bend them into the desired shape. Do this by crushing them between your thumb and forefinger, or run them forcibly over the edge of a solid object. Once crushed, they are very floppy. When most of the more vertical strips are in place, I add horizontal bracing strips, also about every six inches. This is where the hot glue gun really comes in handy. A small dab held in place with a clothes pin will enable you to make about six joints/minute. When finished you will have a lattice work of cardboard strips with six inch gaps and the general outline of the finished mountain.
Supplies required: a bucket of water (room temperature is fine), drop cloths for the floor, Johnson & Johnson Specialist Fast-Setting Plaster Bandage, squirt bottle with "wet" water ("wet" water is water with a few drops of dishwashing detergent in it to act as a wetting agent), scissors.
To the cardboard must be attached a layer of plaster impregnated sheeting that is strong enough to support the weight of the plaster castings to come later. Most articles describe the use of plaster soaked paper towels. I have never tried this method, but except for being very messy, I am sure it works well. I think plaster casting material is much easier to work with. I use Johnson & Johnson Specialist Plaster Bandage (Fast-Setting), available from medical supply houses. The kind I buy is four inches in width. (There is a company called Scenic Express at 1001 Lowry Avenue, Jeannette, PA 15644, 1-800-234-9995, which offers a catalog describing other sources of plaster wrapping material. Woodland Scenics also offers this product. I have not compared the different prices). After placing the drop cloths in place and the bucket of water at a convenient height, cut several strips of plaster bandage from the roll, about one to two feet in length. Drop them in the water bucket and let them sit for about five seconds. Pull one out and let it drip drain. Drape the bandage over the cardboard meshwork and smooth it in place with your fingers (this is the most therapeutic part of mountain building). I overlap strips by about 1/2 inch. When the first layer is complete, I go back over the entire mountain with a second layer. If the first layer has dried, wet it first with a squirt bottle filled with wet-water. To be strong, the second layer must be in intimate contact with the first layer. This is why orthopedic surgeons spend a lot of time rubbing down a cast. If you know that some part of the mountain will need to support extra weight (will you be leaning on it for some reason?), a third layer is indicated. The plaster will usually set in about 5-8 minutes. When finished, check to be sure there are not any weak areas that give to finger pressure.
Before moving on to rock castings, it is important to anticipate any other scenery or structures that will be part of or abut the mountain setting. Any road needs to be well demarcated by now. The road should be slightly wider than you really want it because the rock castings will take up some room. Track or future roadbed should be in place so you can judge clearance for rolling stock. Any tunnel through the mountain must be roughed in by now and the portals in place. Structures must have their footprint anticipated and preferably set in place with a piece of plywood. Bridge abutments must be set in place so that the rock work can be brought right up to them (ditto for retaining walls).
Supplies required: Molding plaster, a source of running water, latex molds, large bucket for rinsing the molds, two measuring cups of the same size, mixing bowl, rubber spatula, chisel (and hammer).
Rock castings require a rock mold. There are many commercially available and they are listed in the Walther's catalogue. Also, the Scenic Express catalogue mentioned above has a large selection of latex molds for sale. You can make your own (the potential topic of another article). I have a large collection I would be happy to lend to anyone who wants to use them.
The literature is replete with articles about using Hydrocal plaster for rock molds. I have never located Hydrocal in our area and it is very expensive to buy from scenery distributers. I use 100 pound bags of Molding plaster (I buy them from Bowman's Lumber at 82nd and University). I believe it is just another name for Plaster of Paris. Apparently Hydrocal is exceptionably strong plaster, and Plaster of Paris is not. So, if you plan on hiking on your mountain, consider locating some Hydrocal.
If you read articles about mixing plaster for rock molds, it advises mixing the plaster and water to the consistency of pancake batter. I have never made a pancake in my life and have no clue as to what pancake batter is supposed to look like. It is much easier to mix one part water with two parts plaster. This always worked well and required no cooking skills. Mixing the ingredients 1:2 is the reason two measuring cups are required. I use the measuring cups contained in boxes of Tide Free (39 oz box). My wife informs me that essentially all boxes of detergent come with a measuring cup in them. What a great country! If price is no object, you can buy two identical sets from the store. One cup is used for water and one for plaster. Mixing them will create a real mess. Wet the inside of the latex mold with tap water and shake it out. Some of my molds are large and I support them on wads of crumpled newspaper so the plaster does not run out. I know some narrow gaugers who place the molds in boxes of kitty litter for the same reason.
Into the mixing bowl pour a cup of water from the tap and two cups of plaster. I don't think it matters in which order. Mix the plaster with the rubber spatula until all the lumps are gone. You can use the spatula to mash the lumps and clean down the side of the bowl. They are very handy for this type project. Pour the plaster into the mold until full. Judging how much plaster to mix for your mold takes some experience. If you did not mix enough, you will have plenty of time to mix some more before the original pour sets. While waiting for the plaster to set, go back to the mountain and wet down the hard-shell base with the squirt bottle. You should apply the plaster casting to a wet surface. Judging when to apply the casting also takes some experience. You want the casting to be soft and pliable, but not runny. I usually wait until I can bend the casting and see barely perceptible cracks form on the plaster surface. Take the casting to the hard-shell and press it into place. Be sure that the edges of the casting all contact the hard-shell. Don't worry about oozing - this will be fixed later. Hold the casting in place until you can no longer indent the ooze with your finger nail. Use a third hand if you have one available! The casting will start to get warm - do not fear, this means it is setting. When the oozing plaster is hard to your nail, remove the latex mold. Rinse the mold in a bucket of tap water. I would not advise using a sink since plaster can set under water!
The ooze can be chipped away with a chisel, although some may be left in place if you know you are going to cover it up with an adjacent rock mold. It is easiest to do this before the plaster really gets hard. I try to finish the chipping within a few hours of removing the molds. With a little practice you will develop a rhythm to the molding process. Wet - pour - chisel - press - wet - pour - mix - etc. It can move along pretty fast once you get the hang of it. Prototype photographs are invaluable to determine the patterning of the molds. Overhangs are dramatic, but not common in nature. The same with stone arches. Breaks in the mountain are acceptable to be filled with rip-rock later. A stratified layered rock casting should run in the same direction as its neighbor. All the edges on the casting need to be chiseled down to meet their neighbors in a natural way. When finished, the seams between castings should be invisible.
Supplies required: Muffin tin, wet-water, detergent, 1/2 inch and one inch brushes, squirt bottle, black shoe dye, one pint rubbing alcohol, Liquitex Acrylic Concentrated Artist Colors (2 oz.) as follows; raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, raw sienna, yellow oxide, red oxide, taupe, Venetian rose.
For me, the most enjoyable part of mountain building is the coloring of the rock castings, probably because it is almost impossible to mess up. I like to let the plaster casting get completely dry before and between the coloring process, so I wait one week after casting before I start to color. The plaster should be bone white in color by then. Coloring casting is done in a four-step process, with a week in between. Plaster is stained - not painted!
One color is designated as the main rock color for the mountain. This color should roughly match the color of the dirt ground cover. On my layout that is raw umber. I mix up a very dilute solution of raw umber using about one inch of pigment and eight ounces of water. The exact proportions are not important, but keep in mind this is a stain, not a paint. I completely cover the entire surface of all the casting with this stain. When finished, it still will look like plaster, but with an umber cast to it. White plaster will still show through because you have not actually painted the rock work. Wait a week.
After the plaster is completely dry, prepare the rock pigment stains. A muffin tin is great for this. I have one I have used for years and I actually have labeled each "muffin" with its own color. Into each "muffin" place a small dab of Liquitex (about 1/4 inch), a small drop of dishwashing detergent and fill the tin with water. Do not mix the pigment and the water. Obviously more colors than listed above may be used. Grays or browns are popular depending what area of the county you are modeling. With a 1/2 and/or a 1 inch brush, pick up a tiny amount of pigment and mix it around in the water in the well. Then apply to the rock work. Be careful not to apply straight pigment to the plaster as it will be much too dark. If you do by accident, hit the spot with wet-water from the spray bottle to dilute it before it drys. Use pigment from all the wells in a random pattern. Think HETEROGENEOUS (Webster's defines heterogeneous as consisting of dissimilar or diverse ingredients or constituents: Mixed). If you look closely at rocks, you will be amazed at the variety of different colors present. I should probably use more different pigments than I do. To help create this diversity, try picking up different amounts of pigment and mixing it around to different dilutions with the tip of the brush. Colors from different tins can be mixed together. Hit a color spot occasionally with a blast from the squirt bottle. You can create quite a palate with these eight pigments. Wait a week.
When all is dry, go over the entire mountain once again with the basic color to match your dirt. For my layout, this is raw umber. If you have a large area to cover, you can put the stain in a squirt bottle and just spray everything. Wait a week.
Prepare a weathering stain as follows: into one pint of rubbing alcohol place two level teaspoons of Kiwi black shoe dye (not polish, use only leather dye). Some people use India ink instead. Mix well and apply liberally to the rock casting. Allow the black color to run down into the crevices and cracks of the rock work to accentuate the shadows.
Ground cover is not within the scope of this article, but can be applied anytime after the weathering stain drys. Colorado mountains have lots of vegetation, trees, dirt, and ground cover on them. They are not really bare rock.
Although not like the Rockies, Texas does have mountains. Give it a try! The fact that working with rock castings is in general rather unexacting make it a very relaxing, low stress part of our hobby. Good luck!
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