Whatever works for you Rick

That looks fine.  How are you going to cover the masking tape? I hope you can slip some kind of non-absorbent barrier behind those hills to protect that sweet backdrop while you're finishing the scenery..

Jerry

Great idea!

That's a great idea for a small area, Rick. It's fast, relatively cheap, clean, and, as you note, easy to modify/shape as you desire. 

It would work well for diorama's and modules too as it doesn't add much weight, although that might depend on what material is now added over the form, I suppose.

I'm undecided on the next coating

Thanks guys for your comments.  I haven't decided what I'm going to cover the tape with as of yet, but I will be sure to protect the printed backdrop!  I may use Sculptamold (I have a 25 lb box), plaster cloth, "Goop" (as used by Mike C.) or something else.

Plaster....

You would have to be careful around the backdrop but plaster of paris retarded with lemon juice is what I use to "skim coat" my scenery.  I mix it to about the consistency of latex paint and apply it with a cheap brush. If it's retarded well enough, the plaster will not set up in the brush and I can wash it out and use it again. It makes a smooth surface though and I still have to go back and use rock molds and/or carving. Sculptamold may well be the better choice but I thought I'd throw my method out there anyway.

I like the idea of the tin foil, at least for small areas. It would be really useful when trying to form small hills  and landscpape features near track side.  I'll have to file the idea away for future reference!

Michael

Rick it looks like a new industry

Rick it looks like a new industry is in the works with all that tin in the ground. You can now mine for tin and have a concentrator in the area and add a rolling mill to make those nice sheets that the Reynolds wrap people love.

Just kidding, nice durable under structure. It is very likely to be impervious to most things, does not burn, is light weight, easy to form, you may have something there. As an added plus it looks like it will work very well next to the backdrop so that should you desire to make changes later you do not mess up the backdrop.

Thanks for sharing

Rob in Texas

Between a hill and a backdrop

A trick I have used when putting on window trim is wax paper. I tape it up before applying the trim so it sticks out beyond the width of the trim. This allows me to stain the trim or paint the wall. When done I cut the wax paper next to the trim board.

How does this apply to a backdrop? Same way, protect the backdrop with the wax paper, build your foreground scenery, plaster, paint etc., when done slide out or cut off the wax paper and, Voila, a clean backdrop and dirty wax paper to toss in the trash!  Simple, clean and neat.

Thanks, Bing!

I really like the wax paper idea for protecting my backdrop.  Thank you for the idea.

picking a nit

Rich, if you add an extraction industry there, it better be an Aluminum smelter, not a tin smelter.  Otherwise the crew will not make much money owing to the mineral composition of the hill. 

Phil H - I'm showing my age....

My parents used to call aluminum foil "tin foil" and the refrigerator the "ice box" and I guess it kind of stuck! - plus "tin" is much easier to say than "a l u m i n u m".

easier to spell too

The blogs are an immense trove of good ideas, the waxed paper idea is a good one as well. I would suggest using long sheets with the long dimension horizontally oriented and overlapped by additional layers from above like shingles so that no liquid can run under the sheets. Hopefully Blue painters tape or some similar low tack paint will allow it to be held in place and easily removed.

Rob in Texas

Looks like a good idea...

Maybe wrap the aluminum foil around wadded-up newspaper to cut down on how much foil you have to use. 

Randy

Overheard

"Hey, Loretta - I bet them sneaky gummint types got 'em a top secret mine under there!  The foil will protect 'em from aliens and Russians snoopin', and the natural-type stuff on top will hide the whole durn thing from everybody else."

"Come in off the porch, Buck - you're drunk!"

Too funny, Rob!

That sounds exactly like something Buck & Loretta would say!  Well done!

NSA Will Not Be Able To Listen

The foil will block all the signals. GREAT SIMPLE IDEA.

Buck was wondering how that line got up there on the hill

  Here's the answer.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTvc-bEP35I

  DaveB

does the final top material stick?

title says it-- so If you put plaster of Paris, sculptamold, hydrocal over the "tin" foil -- does it stick and hold well -- being tin foil it seems like it's very smooth surface -- or is it that the "crunched"  area holds well and and then holds those covering the smooth areas are held by "default" or should we maybe put some cloth material in with either of the 3 coverings to make sure that it all "binds" together --

Just thinking out loud - but with more crunching and pulling you can get some delicious looking rock formations- with really deep crevassing.

 Nice "Tip & Trick"

DaveB - good one!

That answers the question!

Testing Sculptamold on the aluminum foil hills

As I mentioned earlier I have a 25 pound box of Sculptamold that I've never used and today I tested some using it on my foil hills.  I first made a test hill by using the same procedure of hot gluing crumpled aluminum foil to a piece of 2" extruded foam.  Next I covered the entire foil surface with 2" masking tape.  I used a screwdriver to punch holes all over the taped surface to give a better gripping surface for the Sculptamold.  I then mixed the Sculptamold per the manufacturer's instructions and added brown powdered concrete colorant.  I covered the hills with an approximate 1/4" thick layer of the Sculptamold and waited 15 minutes before smoothing the surface with my wetted fingers. 

Here's picture of the test piece:

Once this dries completely I'll evaluate the finished product to see if this is the process that I want to use moving forward.

Foil + Masking Tape + Sculptamold it is!

After seeing how easy it was to color and apply Sculptamold along with how the finished product (dried) looks and performs I am going to use it for the "top coat" to my masking tape covered foil hills.  I'll post more pictures once I start working on the hills on the layout.