Plaster Cloth over Pink Foam Scenery

Greetings:
I am working on a railroad project and I would like to place plaster cloth over pink construction foam board.
Will there be a problem with this method? I have seen both types of methods used but not these two used together.
Any guidence would be most helpful.
Thanks in advance....

Jerry

You really dont need both when useing a hot knife,but yes you can as I did before I bought afew different types
of this tool,I didnt use anything special other than copeing saw blades to semi shape the foam board then casting
cloth and a wet brush,all depends on how much detail you want to see

I like to put a layer of plaster cloth (or plaster soaked papere towels) over foam I have shaped down... I have also done scenery right on top of the pink foam. But first, I seal the foam with dark brown latex paint so no pink shows through.

I have done both as well. You should have no worries with this approach.

From recent developments in the hobby (five years?), I think the use of plaster and cloth with foam is an unnecessary redundancy.

Considering you can SCULPT the foam into virtually anything, why not shape the foam as desired, rather than get involved with plaster and a royal wet mess?

This GENIUS uploaded his techniques to YouTube, an entire series you can download and bump back to back on a DVD if you want, about creating world-class scenery by carving extruded foam CHECK IT OUT;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1D4KBB_GC4

You can trade in a potential wet mess for a dry mess, easily cleaned up in minutes with a shop vac. The series is easy, he shows you all the tools you need (knives, various blades and files), and you will be amazed with the results.

D/

I'm with Dieter--plaster cloth isn't necessary. Sculpt the foam the way you want it to look, paint it brown, sprinkle on ground foam and done. See example below from my layout. That's a rock mold by the tunnel portal. Otherwise, it''s just painted foam.



John Longhurst, Winnipeg

The big O-gauge layout in the basement of Willis Hobbies uses a variation of plaster cloth and pink foam boards. There they mount the boards on edge and cut the desired profile on them. Then they span the area between the profile boards with pink insulation sheets. Over that they add the plaster cloth for stiffness. Then they use colored sculptamold for texture and the base color for the scenery. Whats nice is that there is less mess and waste as opposed to laying the foam boards atop each other and carving them in bulk.

Stuart

My experience:

You only need to *prime* the pink foam with acrylic latex paint, then you can use rattle-can spray paint, without melting the foam.