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The wonder of Sculptamold

craigwelsh

Entry posted by craigwelsh

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I'd read a couple of threads on here about using Sculptamold as a scenic cover and a bag was duly ordered by someone in the group for a trial. Previously tile cement had been used on the layout in rather industrial qualities. Not only was that very heavy but it had cracked when put over white polystyrene and wasn't providing the robust basic scenery the layout wanted for exhibition travel as well as sitting in the club room in prime 'leaning on' position!

 

Sculptamold has been a revelation once we got some out of the bag to trial on a small offcut of spaceboard as shown below.

 

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Following advice on rmweb we added PVA to the basic mix so it was 2 part sculptamold, 1 water and one PVA, later covering added some black powder paint hence the grey hillside! It is much lighter than the tile adhesive when applied and even lighter once the moisture has evaporated out. The test piece was hit against a table a couple of times with no damage and it takes a bit of real effort to pierce the surface, the PVA does make a slight difference here.

 

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Now that the initial corner has been done our centre board is having spaceboard cut to fit around the canal bridge for what will form a removable section at the moment. It will make the front of the layout much more presentable though by hiding all of the wiring from viewers at least. A signal box will sit on the embankment to the left of the bridge controlling the junction.

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The canal bridge has now gained a nice finish to the brickwork and the completed wing walls. The previous attempt at the layout had the water level under the track much lower, land height will be built up to the bottom of the new bridge though there will be locks in the foreground.

 

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An overview along the trackwork showing how it will be elevated on the embankment. The goods yard will probably have a retaining wall behind it for a length before it meets the goods warehouse. Further scenic tests on the far board will be to determine the correct cess to embankment relationship while point motors still have to be installed on the main board. The yard is also being finalised as a warehouse will sit over the one siding with wagons visible through arches in its front. The running lines disappearing around the back of the warehouse will help hide the trainset curve into the fiddleyard from the front boards to a degree. Note the terraces being experimented with, there will also allow a nice viewpoint up to the warehouse and hide the edge of the layout from front viewing.

 

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Sculptamold is available on Amazon for £6.50 (as of 12-2011) and if used as thinly as we used it should provide good coverage.

Spaceboard was bought from B&Q for £7 a sheet though is now in short supply as it was gov't subsidised insulation. Other types of extruded poly are available though.

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Jon020

Craig, did you lay this over the foam board, or was it used to fill in the area in photo 1... which looks like a big gap to fill.. or did you layer some board as in photos 2 and 3 first?

Thanks... Jon

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craigwelsh
Craig, did you lay this over the foam board, or was it used to fill in the area in photo 1... which looks like a big gap to fill.. or did you layer some board as in photos 2 and 3 first?Thanks... Jon

Photo 1 just shows the test piece I did posed on unfinished embankment. That embankment will need another layer adding before sculpting and covering with sculptamould.

 

The foam was landscaped before the covering shown in the other photos was added.

 

HTH

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Mike G

That has made quiet a difference to the feel of the layout. Expensive stuff? and where from?

Mike

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craigwelsh
That has made quiet a difference to the feel of the layout. Expensive stuff? and where from?Mike

I've updated the bottom of the post to reflect the info, i've also discovered its sculptamold not mould!

 

£6.50 for a bag and we only used 6 handfuls so far so I don't think its that expensive as a means and even if plaster bandage were cheaper this is much lighter for an exhibition.

 

It does make a difference to visualising the layout I think.

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buffalo

I'm with you on Sculptamould, even to the level of the typo. It really is excellent stuff, both strong and light and takes paint very well. I used it for rock faces on this small layout. In all, I used one and a half bags to create the landscape on both boards, overlaying it on expanded polystyrene. I brushed dilute PVA over the base before applying the Sculptamold and used much less PVA in the mix (about 1:5 PVA:water).

 

I'm now about to start using it again on another layout, this time using the same space board for the base as you are using here.

 

Nick

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