Seems good to me

Looks like great progress to me. Wish I was as far along as you. Glad to know I wasn't the only stealing some time to get work on the layout down. Keep up the great work hope to see the continuing posts.

Kevin

Funny...

You wish you were as far along as I am and all I can think about is how far I've got to go!!

Michael

Plaster "skim" coat....

Today after work I came home and decided to do a "skim coat" on my plaster cloth.  My technique is to mix up plain old garden variety Plaster of Paris  but I use lemon juice as a retarder. I mix the plaster and water to an almost paint like consistency and add  a little bit of lemon juice. Then I take a cheap paint brush and literally paint the plaster on the surface.  This fills all the holes in the plaster cloth gauze and when dry it stiffens everything up and gives a good smooth surface for further scenic treatment. You will find that if you use enough lemon juice as a retarder that  you can work with the plaster quite a long time and it's even possible to get the brush clean for reuse. This is also, a very neat and " mess free" way to apply plaster if you're careful with the brush. Heres a couple of more pictures of the "ridge"  and the "lake" after the skim coat has been applied. I took an "aerial view"  of the lake this time to get the whole thing in and try to give a better impression of what it looks like.

Michael

Lemon juice

I just might have to try that, Michael.  Having it nice and thin reduces overall weight and the plaster cloth would still provide strength, and you could control the application better with a brush in tight areas.  Thanks for the idea.

Be aware....

that over retarding plaster weakens it, or so I've read and been told anyway. I never worry over it in this application though but when making molds or doing more extensive scenery work than just my brush on technique one might want to be a little careful with how much lemon juice they add.  Right now I just turn the bottle up and let it dribble out in the bowl of water for about two to three seconds or so. I'm not very scientific about it.  White vinegar will also work as a retarder. Based on my research, just about anything acidic in nature should.

Michael

For sure

It isn't going to work in all situations, but for those "fine" areas where a glob of plaster isn't going to work nice, it would be a really good option.

Progress and Nostalgia

Michael - The naming of your locations (Westcott, McClanahan) gives a clue to your age I guess 

Back in the 60's I was absolutely inspired by Bill McLanahan's "Scenery for Model Railroads" book. Still got it to this day, along with "Bridges and Buildings", "How to Wire your model Railroad" (Mr Westcott!) and "Practical Guide to Model Railroading".

I never got round to building anything significant back then and its only the last 5 years that have provided, time and budget to go railroading.

Anyway - nostalgia over with : your progress looks great and good luck with your scratch built trestle. The basic design of Widows Veil trestle on the C&A came from an E.L Moore design on pages 23-25 of the aforementioned "Bridges and Buildings" book; Nothing new under the sun I think............

Rob Clark
Cornhill & Atherton RR

I'm almost 51....

so yes, I grew up with the influence of a certain group of modelers.  "Scenery for Model Railroads" was one of the first model railroading books I ever owned and not only did it have the timeless wisdom of  Bill McClanahan and Linn Westcott, it had a picture of "French Gulch" on the Gorre and Daphetid.  To me, guys like John Allen, Bill McClanahan, Jack Work and Linn Westcott were and still are  "The Masters" and I hold them in a great deal of reverence. They have had a great deal of influence on me and my modeling choices. Much more so than some of the guys who came along later that many here will cite as their influences.

Michael

Lemon juice in plaster

I think mixing lemon juice into plaster is a risk, at least for anything where the plaster has to keep its strength. Plaster cures by a caustic process and the acid in the lemon juice will counteract it. Not a problem if you use only a little, but if you use too much, the plaster won't set right and will be weak and crumbly.

Instead, you may want to consider mixing it with ice water. That would give you a little more working time without affecting its durability.

Although I haven't tried it, mixing in some white glue and a little bit of borax would probably work, too. Plaster isn't my first choice of material (working on a transportable module, not a permanent layout), so I guess I'll have to try it myself and see.

Just a safer option, in my opinion.

Anyway, thanks for the progress report, Michael. As a beginning modeler, it is usually very helpful to see the process.

--Ed

Plaster & Glue

Don't know about the borax but do have extensive experience with PVA glue in plaster. Used a lot of this mixture on scenery for a slot car track years ago. Needed the plaster to tolerate high speed impacts from slot cars without chipping. Massive doses of PVA in the mix was the ticket. Virtually indestructible.

I did point out....

that over retarding plaster can weaken it.  However, in this particular case, the strength of the plaster is not really an issue because I'm using it over the top of plaster cloth which is supported by light cardboard webbing. I guess it's possible to use so much lemon juice that the plaster mix would not set at all  but I think you would have to just about spill the bottle in your mix to cause that. 

I use plaster of paris in all my modeling work because it's readily available in most hardware and building stores and even Walmart. There are no hobby shops around here and it was only recently we got a " Hobby Lobby" craft store. The biggest drawback of P of P  is it's rapid setting time so I have experimented with several additives to retard it.  I used white vinegar for a time but lemon juice was tried in a pinch when I had no vinegar and I've found it to work quite well and had no adverse effects on the plaster  either in this application or in using plaster soaked paper towels to form a scenery shell. I don't add a lot.  I might add that in the case of making bridge piers, rocks or building foundations from molds that I don't add anything to retard the plaster because I find I can get it mixed and poured into the mold in ample time.

Michael