Re: [wt?]Woodland Scenics

On Wed, 22 Sep 1999, Donald Hosford wrote:

> Say terrain building dudes...I was visiting my favorite local hobby
> retailer, and I saw something interesting in the train terrain area. 
I
> have spotted some "rock" moulds.  Made of rubber, you pour plaster (or
> somesuch...) into it, let it harden, pop it out, paint it, and presto!
> Rocks with a realistic texture and appearance.  There seemed to be
> several varities of the "rock moulds".

These're very nice molds, very detailed and made out of a tough material
that will stand up to more rock-casting than any wargamer will ever
need;
I think they're designed for model railroaders who want to rebuild the
Rocky Mountains in their basement...

You do use plaster - any molding plaster will do. Woodland Scenics sells
that too, but you can get it WAY cheaper elsewhere, probably in the same
hobby shop. Ask about Hydrocal - if you can get it, it's a plaster
variety
that's stronger and a bit lighter than the usual stuff. Great for
wargame
tabletop scenery, in other words.

You can also make your own molds, using latex rubber painted onto a real
rock. Lots of layers, reinforced with medical gauze between the layers.
These homemade molds can be very detailed if done carefully, and they'll
stand up to moderate amounts of use. I've still got several knocking
around that I made six or so years ago, when I was still into model
railroading. Several of the miniatures casting FAQs mention latex
rubber,
if you're looking for more information. It's not great for
metal-casting,
but it works for plaster.

Hope this helps, and if anyone wants more info, contact me and I'll
cudgel
my brains for more, or dig up some URLs if I can find them.

Brian (yh728@victoria.tc.ca)			      
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		   - http://warbard.iwarp.com/games.html -
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