Why not stack 2" (or 1") thick Styrofoam to the rough shape you want. You
can use a hot-wire cutter, if you have one, otherwise, any knife, shaper,
rasp etc. will do. After that, cover everything with a layer of Woodland
Scenics' plaster cloth (might need two layers) and then use WS's rubber
molds to make your rock faces. Sometimes, I do insert round toothpicks
through the plaster cloth, into the Styrofoam, to work as supports for the
vertical surfaces. I make my rock faces and let them dry right in the mold.
To secure them in place, remove the molded face, saturate the back of the
molded piece and the face of the plaster cloth where the mold is to go.
Spread a layer of drywall compound on the wet back of the mold and stick it
to your mountain. If you made the two surfaces wet enough, the molded rock
face will stick in place. If not, the dry plaster will wick all of the
water off the back of the mold and then nothing will stick. You can redo
the method if the plaster is too dry by removing the compound from the mold,
rewetting everything and doing it again.
If you don't want to buy the moulds, you could make your own moulds or just
carve the plaster; it really is not that difficult.
By the way, plaster cloth is nothing but the stuff hospitals use to make
casts for people, except that it is not sterilised. If there is a medical
supply house or company near you, you can buy unsterilized plaster cloth,
from them, a lot cheaper than the WS stuff.
Warning: if you use a hot-wire cutter, adjust the temperature so that no
smoke is produced. Styrofoam doesn't really burn but it gives off a thick
black smoke that is toxic. It really doesn't take much of that smoke to
kill you. After your layout is build, and, heaven forbid, there should be a
fire in your house get the h--l out before the flames reach your layout!
Manfred L
London, ON
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