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Scenic base advice

Hi all. This time I'd like some recommendations for clay (or clay-like) material to form my scenic bases with. I've tried various things, with varied results. Plaster works decently, but is messy to create and I almost always end up making far more than I need. I tried some auto-drying clay, and while it does pretty good during the molding process, it shrinks a lot when it dries, and this change ruins some of my efforts. My hope is to learn about something I can use that will be easy to work with, then retain its shape when dry. Because my interest is in creating scenes for 1/72 figures and occasional armor, I don't need to work with much quantity at a time. As always, I welcome your input. Take care, and best wishes.

Randy IPMS Houston

We're living in a world that's been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth. Where are you, white rabbit?

Reply to
Randy Pavatte
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My two favorites:

Celluclay

A&B Epoxy Putty

(I have even used a combination of the two, kneading the dry Celluclay "base" into the A&B Putty.)

And as an extra "tip", add some brown tempera paint powder into your "ground material" before you apply it to the base. Any future "chips", and it will still show "brown".

:o)

Reply to
Greg Heilers

The epoxy putty suggestion is good, particularly if you only need to cover small areas. Milliputt is excellent, and it comes in three different grades. It is very sticky, but can be shaped with any tool dipped in water. The finest grade ("White Milliputt") is suitable for repairing china. Another brand, Knead-a-tite, has a consistency like chewing gum, which makes it good for figure sculpting, but probably too thick for ground cover. Beware of some off-brand epoxy putties from the hardware store, as they can have wildly varying consistencies. For large areas, I like a different product, Durham's Water Putty, sold in hardware stores. It has a longer working time than Plaster of Paris, and is beige rather than white, so you don't have any glaring white specks where you missed painting the surface. If you sprinkle dry Durham's powder onto a wet mix, it will soak up excess water and add a nice gritty texture to the surface. GPO

Reply to
Lafimprov

"Greg Heilers" wrote

I would pretty much abandon Celluclay by itself as mixing and applying it without shrinkage/warpage is a lot of work.

The epoxy putty should also be purchased at a hardware store or the like for the best value, not a hobby shop.

What exactly is this, and why do you do it?

KL

Reply to
Kurt Laughlin

I have never had a problem with shrinkage/warpage. Then again, I also mix in quite a bit of white glue, or carpenter's wood glue, into the mix. (I don't know, having never actually *read* the Celluclay instructions, but what do *they* tell you to use?...lol)

It was just an experiment; as I am always mixing different types of epoxy putties together, or mixing things into them...in order to see if I can "discover" any new properties. I found that adding the dry Celluclay, made "a little bit of A&B go further" (pretty obvious); as well as gave it a texture that seemed, to me at least, a little "nicer" to work with, when using it as ground material.

Reply to
Greg Heilers

In 1/72 you could probably get away with using something like FIMO modeling clay - FIMO is one brand, there are others. The stuff comes in various colors, if that's useful...it's fairly firm (FIMO in particular is one of the firmest at room temp) but softens as you knead it and get some hand warmth into it...like wax. Then you bake it (in a typical household oven) and it becomes rock hard. At this point you can carve, paint, and/or glue what ever you like to it.

It's available in most art supply and/or craft stores.

Reply to
Rufus

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