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Why did Zip Texturing "die"?

I'm puzzled as to why Zip Texturing died.  Especially since Ground Foam is the wrong material to use for things like dirt and even most kind of grasses.  Sure the water soluble method and ground foam was a welcomed addition to scenery materials, but I would have thoguht it would supplement, not replace a technique that seems to better replicate the real outdoors.  Any thoughts as to why this happened?

Ken L

Zip texturing done wrong can be a mess

Ken:

My theory is because zip texturing done wrong can give you a crumbly filthy mess. Ground foam and glue is more predicable. With zip texturing, you do need to not overdo the thickness of the dirt layer or the plaster won't set up all the way through and then look out.

Great article! I just

Death to Plaster?

Dear Ken,

I suspect the "Zip Texturing" methods as described died because many modellers are trying everything they can to get away from using heavy, fragile plaster.

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

When is the funeral?

About the only good thing that I can say about building land forms from plaster is that subjectively it has an elemental feel to it.  Viscous material turns into rock.  You are vulcan, the creator of the land.  Other than that, it's heavy, it cracks, it chaulks, it gets destroyed when modified, it's hard to plant trees in and therefore I just don't like it.

But if you want a zip type texture, try tile grout.  It is pre colored in dry form, available in at least thirty earth tones (dependant on the manufacturer) and either sanded or unsanded.  Paint your land forms with latex paint and sift dry grout into the wet paint.  After the paint dries, mist it with water to set any remaining grout.

Most tile stores will give you free grout samples for the asking.  These are little plastic strips that are color matched to the grout.  I use to keep a set in my truck to compare with the real world.

Proper mixing of pigments with plaster

Joe,

I started using this technique a couple years ago after you recommended it on another forum.  One problem I have had is with the dry pigment not mixing properly with the plaster, giving me a mottled brown/black/white color when the dry texturing is closely examined.  My method of mixing has been to place the plaster/pigment in an empty plastic food container, close the lid, then shake vigorously.  I'm guessing that this method just doesn't break the plaster/pigment into their individual grains which prevents them from blending smoothly.  Any handy tips to get a better mixture?

Thanks,

Tom Hillebrant

You might try running the

You might try running the plaster/pigment mixture through a kitchen flour sifter - the kind with a crank on the side. Run it through several times and everything should be well 'atomized'.  Or get an old Cuisinart food processor at a garage sale for a few $$ and use that - DON'T use the one your wife uses in the kitchen (for obvious reasons).

Charlie

Charlie that's right Nobody likes a Dirty Margareta w/real Dirt!

Personally I use Zip texture, Real Dirt, Real Rocks, Home made Rock molds, Foam, Dry brushing with Latex paint, Joe's Dry plaster with "Rich Art Fresco Power Tempera Paints, and a number of other processes so depending on where or what type of terrain and what I have on hand or think will work is what I use.

My main base coat on everything is 1part Indian Ink to 10 parts water as a spray, a wash, or applied with an Eye droper and allowed to run down the cevises of Plaster formed Rocks to deepen the shadows and help give depth to the rock structures.

I also use an old food processor I got at a yard sale for $5.00 to make ground cover out of small dryed sticks, bark and grasses. Best $5.00 I've spent in the past 20 years.

My advice is try all the types and styles of Mountain and terrain covering out there and use what you find to work best.

Dan

Vertical Texturing

A couple of things I want to mention about Joes Vertical Texture method.

First: This works quit well But make sure your wearing safety glasses when doing the blow procedure as the Tempera will blow back into your face if you blow too hard so use caution.

Second: I found if you spray the water at a 45 degree angle from above the vertical surface because most dust and dirt doesn't stick to the bottom of vertical surfaces and rocks but there are instances where it does as in a totally dirt face or on the bottom of what will have some grass texture added from above.

Everyone should read this article!! This article is one that you will come back to time after time and for both the Beginner and pro is a great read and something every Model Railroader should learn. It is definitely the New and improved ZIP Texturing method and I believe will be a new standard in model Railroading scenery basics taking Linn Wescotts Zip Texturing from 45 years ago one giant step forward.

Dan

I seem to recall that Lynn

I seem to recall that Lynn Wescott was an advocate of coloring his plaster base before texturing, even to the point to tossing the remains of his tea onto the plaster when It got too cold to drink.

Jeff Fry  

Great article

Great article Joe.

As a student with little money, inexpensive ways to do things helps a lot to my budget. I will for sure dry this method out when I start the scenery.

Suits me to a tea!

Wonder what the various effects would be of Tetley's British Blend, red-bush tea, camomile, and the various mint teas?  Might need a sage tea tint for my long-planned eastern Idaho railroad.

Using tea to color plaster

All of this talk abhout Lynn Westcott's pouring cold tea into plaster while mixing it gaved me the thought that I night try doin that with left over Snapple or Nestea bottle contents. Anyone ever try this before either by intent or by accident?

Now I've got this crazy idea of putting  Snapple labels (of reduced in size) on some unmarked tank cars.

Irv

Beware the tea

I've never tried tea, but I once used coffee as a scenery colorant. It looked nice, and even smelled nice, until one day I discovered it had grown moldy! And the mold looked nothing like fuzzy grass, in case you're wondering. I'd probably mix it with something to make it "dead" if I tried it again.

Coffee grounds and tea leaves

Coffee grounds and tea leaves go in the composter; but the tea itself (or coffee, I guess) would simply be a weak dye. I've also heard old tales of dyed sawdust attracting hungry critters to model railroads.

The less organic the better

Yes, the less organic the better.

I'm having these visions of B-grade science-fictions ... I see someone using organic materials on their scenery plus doing real water to boot - and then opening up the door to the train room later and seeing a virtual jungle that's sprouted while they slept ... (VBG)

Lynn Wescott used day old plain hot Tea left in the train room!

What I remember is The first time he used un sweetened tea that had been setting on the counter in the train room over night. He looked at the plaster and wondered what would happen. He at the time had been trying stains and paint powders to darken his plaster so if it was chipped at a later date it would remain brown and not the bright white of normal plaster.

Snapple Tea has Sugar, lemon and who knows what's in it that will help grow mold, but if you brew your own tea or coffee it should work because Coffee & tea that has been brewed and has no milk, cream, sugar, or honey in it is basically just a stain once it's dry. I just wouldn't use it hot as it will super speed the hardening time.

I remember reading the Lynn Wescott article years ago. I also remember putting to many scoops of ground coffee in my Moms percolator and too much water, I also remember getting grounded for two weeks for making the big mess in the kitchen. For all the time and trouble I never was able to try the mix myself as I believed my life depended on not trying it again and forgot about it until reading this. But plain tea or coffee should make a good lite colored stain for plaster and until you try you just won't know. When you do try it be sure to let us know how it works.

Dan

Homogenous color ...

When I was making an earlier layout (my 1972 attempt - no, not the era, the year I did it), I used brown RIT dye (the kind used for fabric) mixed in with the PoP. That worked pretty well to avoid the stark white resulting from chips and also allowed for sculpturing while dry. The powdered RIT dye can be mixed pretty much like the powdered Tempura dyes. A little bit of purple dye, I'm thinking, might enhance that haze for the mountains to give the distance illusion.

(Gotta git my 2 cents worth in!)

Bill I remember the Rit Dye Days very well

I had purple, Forest Green and yellow fingers for weeks. I'm sure glad the that the coloring techniques have improved over the years and the invention and availability of latex gloves.

Dan

weathering powders mentioned in article

I was reading over the article and wanted to be sure I was clear on what you are using when you say you mixed weathering powders with zip texturing.  Do you mix the zip texturing mixes you made with the tempera pigments with weathering powders such as those sold by AIM or when you mentioned weathering powders are you referring to the plaster mixes you are discussing in the article?

Weathering powders are zip texturing as well

The weathering powder mixes are zip texturing as well, they are just more intense as to color versus plaster - and they tend to be used in very small quantities on structures, rolling stock, locos, etc.

No "commercial" weathering powders in sight - these are highly economical for that reason, since you're using plaster as the binder - and you can get a lot of plaster for $5.

zip texturing

I've been using zip texturing since the early 1970s -- with limited success.  Yes, it looks good and is simple to use --provided you mask things you don't want coated with plaster, such as trackage.  However, I've always found the results prone to one serious problem -- a soft surface that is easily marred by being touched -- regardless of the amount of water used in efforts to bind the plaster.  If anyone has alternate techniques for fixing the texturing, I'd love to hear them.

Minimum thickness for zip texture

I've been messing around with making a dirt surface using different techniques because I have a ton of it to do. I decided to try zip texturing and it seems that there are more problems with putting it on too thin than too thick?

If I wet the area then sift on just enough to cover the area and then mist it again to make sure it is wet throughout it seems that a lot of the time (most of the time) I get a powdery surface that will rub off. If I keep sifting it on until the powder is basically dry then rewetting thoroughly and sifting more, building up a surface maybe 1/8" thick I get a much more consistent result. Does anyone else experience this? It makes sense in that it is a chemical reaction with water that hardens the plaster and if you don’t have enough plaster it wont generate enough heat to start/maintain the reaction where as long as you keep it thoroughly wet as you sift it on it would make sense that you can put it on quite thick?

I'm really interested in this but I'm having trouble getting consistent results and I'd like to hear if others have the same issue.

Phil Keppers