Ok will get some next week if i think of it, where you get it from then?
Phill

phil
the site link is

Casting Plaster, Plaster-Of-Paris Supplies, Casting Powder, Life-Casting, Stone powder, Life-casting Materials...

this has just come down in price :D  10kg bag works out at £15.68 including postage 8)  i paid 20 odd quid :twisted:
the plaster is hurculite no 2

from the site

• • •  Product reference: 10HE -

Herculite No.2 casting plaster.
A dense, strong plaster-of-paris. Ideal for all models, sculptures and reusable moulds, etc, where good definition and durability are required. Suitable for figurines, giftware and any objects that are likely to have frequent handling and perfect for life-casting. Dries to a cool white (sometimes very slightly greyish). Slower in slip moulds but greater definition than lighter plasters.
See tables on this page for uses, strength, setting time, etc.
[Pack sizes of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25kg on this page].

Good link Matt, another one for the Index.

Jeff has put together an excellent guide on what to do once you have your casting. this will be added to the guide above. if anyone would like this in a word doc just PM me with your email and i will send you a copy.

Basic Instructions for Painting of Castings

Careful painting is the key to transforming the casting into a realistic addition to your model railway. With a little practice and patience the average modeller will soon enjoy adding his own personal touches.
The dry-stone walls, for example, can be finished in the colour scheme appropriate to the individual's chosen setting and weathered to the required standard of repair.

Most of the items you will make from the moulds enclosed can be easily painted in a few minutes, plus the drying time required in between the steps.                                                                       
Due to the porous nature of the castings drying time is greatly reduced compared to other mediums, and can be further accelerated by placing the castings on a radiator. The paint will be dry in a few minutes, enabling the painting to continue.

Prior to painting, remove any minor blemishes from the casting. Although all moulds are checked prior to dispatch, due to the hand pouring process slight flash or "bubbling" may occur.               
Carefully file off any flash and fill any “bubbling” and allow to dry.                            
Care should obviously be taken when handling the castings, especially with small delicate parts.
Painting can be carried out using enamels, acrylics or even using wood dyes (if you are painting something that’s suitable for wood dye colours).                                                                                              Both types of paint should be thinned, as the technique is one of a colour wash rather than a thick paint coat, but ensure good colour coverage is still obtained.                                                              
Wood dye of the appropriate colour can be used straight from the tin.
Test by painting the unseen flat surface of the casting if required.   
Due to the colour wash technique the risk of white plaster showing through any 'missed' areas on the finished item is greatly reduced.

For stone or brickwork, first use a base coat of thinned paint to cover the entire surface area before picking out individual stones or bricks in suitable complementary or contrasting shades.                              
Once the stonework itself is completed and dried, pointing can be added by first wetting the casting with water containing a spot of washing up liquid, which will settle in the gap between the stones.
Cover the casting with a thin wash of water based paint in an appropriate shade of grey, which should then be wiped off the surface using a clean brush or a dry rag, leaving the grey paint between the stones or bricks to represent pointing.
Some of the paint will remain in the fine detail on the surface of the stones highlighting the texture and providing a realistically weathered appearance.                                                                                      The darker and heavier the application of the grey water wash, the more weathered the final appearance will be.                                       
It may be necessary to repeat the process on some areas for an even finish.
After painting base colours, techniques such as dry brushing can be used to highlight detail further as desired.                                         
As mentioned above, the use of a very thin water based wash can also help highlight detail.

Using an alternative method, the face surfaces of the stones can be painted individually in the colour you want, leaving the "cement" free to absorb a subsequent thin wash in the pointing colour of your choice.                                                                                                 A final thin wash of a suitable dark colour will then be required to achieve a weathered finish.                                                       Although this method of painting will take slightly longer, you may like to try it and see which method you prefer.

Been playing about with the tunnel this week. the sides were cut then joined to the tunnel using plaster. i then got out the dremel and hacked away at the stone work. the paint job is a quick going over until i get a feel for what effect i want.

That looks really good Matt.  I like the kind of "random" effect of the stonework in the corners and the colouring.

Petermac

Very very realistic Matt,and the colouring is excellent,really like it :D  :D

That looks stunning Matt - just like the real thing I would say.

Very effective Matt.

That looks great Matt  :)

Nice job!!

 Mike

good job there Matt, very neatly done.
Phill

this is an old thread dragged up from the past;-) this thread may interest HP. the conclusion on the latex was it is workable with larger items and far to flimsey. i looked at RTV silicone for making the mould and resin for the item. the silicone and resin got put on the back shelf awaiting a rainy day. that day eventualy came. when i built my urban arches i decided to test my idea. scratchbuilding is fun but when you are building something like an arched wall that repeats itself surely a simpler less exspensive and less repetative way is needed. now i am no master scratchbuilder so please take that into account. i first built a master wall using
slaters walling
wills arches
foam board
plasticard
the idea is to build a single wall that can be added to an adjoining wall and can be duplicated until you have the required length.





the next job was to make a mould of the master, this was done by making a box around the master using foam board leaving a gap of about 1/2 cm around the edge and the same above. i used PVA and duct tape to form the walls so it can be dismantled after the mould has set.





the next job was to cast the first wall, now this was the first time i used this stuff so it was trial and error. the first attempt was binned as i didn't use enougth hardner. the second time went better but the resin shrinks slightly while setting and gets quite hot. you can see by the first wall the bow that accured. this was resolved by using duct tape around the mould to prevent the pould from curling up at the corners.



another problem was the resin getting to the corners, this as i have learned can be resolved by filling the mould 75% and then using a small stirrer to work the resin into the corners and the filling the mould.

the third attemp went better and the walls fit together well



you can see how the detail has worked out none of the walls have been cleaned up so they still have some flash in places.







now how they fit together





the moulds work out at about 50p each so they don't break the bank. if you work out how much scratchbuilding materials cost or card and ink for a printer then i think this has a lot of potential.  i think once they are cleaned up and painted they will look quit good. the moulds do look better than the master as any small gaps have been filled. as always fire away with any questions and comments good or bad are welcome.                             

Matt,

Forgive me if this has been suggested and I've missed it, could you mix some cheap poster colour powder paints with your stone moulded walls when pouring them to give a basic stone colour to work from?

It may prove more effective to weather a stone coloured ground rather than paint a weathered stone coloured ground from the white?

Matt I reckon these resin walls are really clever :doublethumb  The brickwork shows up well.

 Guessing you'd need enamels or oils to paint them….?


 Mike

Matt

very well made you seem to have got a great deal of detail using the resin i will havw a closer look later as i have to go to work now

cheers Brian

Matt,
From my working in fiberglass days, I can tell you that when we had trouble getting the air out of tight corners two different methods were used.

1. We placed the mould on a vibrating table during the pouring cycle, up to about 1/4 of the curing time, then turned it off. The vibration caused the air to rise in the resin.

2. We mixed up a flexible resin into a somewhat thick paste and wiped it into the tight corners with a brush, then immediately (before the flexible resin can cure) pour in the final resin.

Just some thoughts, maybe it will help.

Wayne

    Wayne
thanks for the tip, I tried a colour mix but this seemed to effect the hardening time, I will leave the resin as is and use an airbrush and a primer for the base coat. 

I wanted some cabling runs along the track of the new part of my layout I am building, I also had some bits and pieces laying about like barrels, bins etc. so I have made up a couple of moulds as a quick how I rather than a how to. I find that when I cast a wall in resin I end up with some left over so having a couple of moulds of smaller items I can use the left over rather than it going into the bin.

The first pic shows the master glued to a flat surface with 3 walls glued around the master. The detail of the master must point up so the silicone will rest on the detail. For larger castings like the wall above you need to leave at least  0.5 mm around the master. With smaller items this can be reduced.



this pic shows the masters glued to the plastic surface. Any flat surface like plastic, glass or plasticard can be used. When the silicone is removed you can use the surface again. I use foam board for the walls and duct tape to seal the corners.









this pic shows the mould ready to go before casting. I use the off cuts from the spares box for the walls, you don't have to be accurate with the mould walls but you need to ensure the silicone will not leak.



I will add the silicone and show the removal of the mould on the next update.  

Fascinating!

Very interesting Matt, Keep the info coming.

Wayne