I've been working on my landscape forms after getting good tips from this website as well as watching multiple YouTube videos. It's all new territory for me, so I've got a test bench where I can try various techniques before applying them to the real layout. I've settled on paper towel strips painted with white glue over aluminum mesh screen as my landform base.
This works really well for me as it allows some adjusting of the landform contours after the glue dries. I've been brushing either Plaster of Paris and/or HydroCal over the hardened mesh as a top coat. My problem is the plaster mix always hardens too quickly to become easily workable (5 min or less), even if I only mix small batches. Do any of you have any experience using plaster retardants, and if so, what do you use? A little Googling turns up using vinegar, cream of tartar, or one of the commercial products for that purpose. What do some of you use to avoid that problem, or do you just work REALLY fast???

Also, I've been resurrecting some old Faller and Volmer models I built 50-ish years ago. I'm using Faller "Expert" glue and another liquid brand for repairs. Maybe I'm just too old to remember correctly, but I don't remember glue taking so long to set up. I think I used Testors back in the day, and I remember holding parts in place for maybe 5-10 seconds and I was good to move on to the next part. The new stuff needs more like 20-30 minutes to set, for each part. It would take forever to complete a whole model that way. Am I just not remembering correctly, or have things changed? I heard Testors changed their formulation, so perhaps isn't as good as it used to be, either. My wife asked" "Why not just use super glue?" It's a valid question, but I haven't tried that. Any thoughts from the group think? TIA.

- MR

Thanks for the response and tips, Kimball. I've been doing similarly to hold things in situ. Sometimes challenging for small pieces :-)

- MR

Fallers Expert sets quickly and allows you to continue building with in a minute. Wont be completely set but enough to keep going. While one part is setting the next can be sanded and prepared and ready to go. Faller does not take 20/30 minutes to set or we would never finish a large model.
If doing windows I prepare all the frames etc then apply light glue to the house side and then fit the frames. You are then ready to do the glazing on the frames the same way and there is no delay for the glue to set.
I have made hundreds of Faller models so it is just a matter of experience.

For plastic buildings (styrene) the solvent I use is Dichloroethane. See info down this page:

https://www.marklin-user...sts/t27449-Glue-question

As far as I know (and also what others have stated) the Faller Expert (and also Super-Expert) is not a glue in traditional sense but it is a solvent that slightly dissolves the styrene that the plastic kits are made of. When the solvents in the "glue" vaporize the styrene hardens up again and the parts are locked together.

So the problem you're describing must be with the old kits, not the glue.

As Purellum has stated several times, you can add vinegar to the your gypsum-mix, which will slow down the curing. (I suspect any acid would do, but in any case I use apple-vinegar which smells "less" bad...)
Even though there are many advanced modelling materials better than gypsum, it's just so damn cheap and easy to come by that I keep using it.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions. Powdered retardant is surprisingly difficult to source right now, so I'll experiment with some of the hacks displayed on YouTube: substitute 1/8 cup of vinegar for some of the water, ice cubes in water for colder water temps, etc.

I think Copenhagen might be onto my problem: The kits I'm working with date back to the late-sixties and early-seventies. Very likely the "plastics" used then were a different formulation.

- MR

Re plastic solvents.

I have used the thick glues, they are miserable things to use. They should be hung, drawn and quartered! The 99+% solvents (laboratory grade) are so mush easier to use. Just get some one way or another, bribe with a case of beer if necessary! Plus quality Sable brush & dispenser.

Capillary action takes the solvent into the joint. If there is some excess on the surface it evaporates quickly, you can blow on it to speed evaporation up before it changes pre painted surface finishes.

See link in above post (down page) on my use of solvents.

You can try Sculptamodl...see 14:30 here:



Regrads
Carlos

I like the video. The magnets are a good idea. Never though of using them that way. I have a few spares from designing a custom GPS mount for the car.

Neodymium magnets are very dangerous, watch your fingers or you will do some serious damage. You can also get North South pairs which are handy if they are ones you need to screw or bolt on.

In Australia I got them from AMF Magnets.

I use a thin steel wire (from a guitar) that I push into the tube, when I bring the flame of the lighter under the tube I push the wire all the way into the glue and squeeze. This frees the passage of glue.

Thanks again to all above who graciously offered suggestions and sage advice.

I think I've finally found a workable solution to my plaster application woes, after much experimentation and more than a few failings. I settled on Fix-It-All patching plaster because patching plaster has somewhat greater working time to begin with than either Plaster of Paris or Hydrocal. Plus, it's cheap and readily available. The trick is to use VERY cold water (I keep a bottle in the fridge for this purpose), not overwork the mixing, and to make the slurry more watery than seems reasonable at first. I mix 1/3 cup cold water plus a generous tablespoon of plain white vinegar, and blend that into 1/2 cup patching plaster using a 1-inch putty knife just long enough so the consistency is smooth and runny. I then use a 2-inch tapered paintbrush to apply over my dried white glue/paper towel/aluminum screen mesh landform. I tested adding a teaspoon of baking powder to this witches brew, but that didn't really make a difference other than making the plaster mix fizzy (??!!), and I worried it might compromise the plaster strength when cured.

This method takes several coats to complete because the mix is so thin, but provides good working time and allows me to address any defects in the previous coat as I go. Working with small batches simplifies cleanup between batches. So far, so good. Plenty strong when dry and no noticeable vinegar smell. Perhaps not the most modern method, but works for me :)

- MR

Would love to see that, Eurobahnfan. I have only begun to think about how small dioramas can be made to insert into a modular layout instead of just making a building and plopping it on the square your prepare for it, and then have it shift around. The mountain we built on our last layout was detachable but a biggish section at some 3x2+ feet. So starting to think about attaching the building to the base of the small detachable diorama, or landscaped section. You mention a need to transport your layout, do you bring your layout to train shows?