Casting a stone wall.

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Mornin' all! Thought I'de jump right in with my 1st question here on the Blue since I've been elsewhere. I am working on a church scene on my layout and would like to replicate a stone wall that would border the property. The wall must be of a New-England style and be somewhat decorative. Not just a pile of random rocks. After searching around for a commercially available one to use, I have not been able to find one that suits my tastes. Therefore I will try to cast my own in plaster. I have not attempted this task before and am looking for a quick "how-to" with some tips...Thanks in advance!

Matt

[cnw1961]

Hi Matt, welcome to Big Blue! If you are looking for a how-to, you will find some answers on these sites: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cccrow.com/main-pages/how-to.html">http://www.cccrow.com/main-pages/how-to.html</a><!-- m --> and <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/pcoquet/scratchbuild_article.html">http://www.trainweb.org/crocon/pcoquet/ ... ticle.html</a><!-- m -->. Casting hydrocal is not much of a problem, making the mold is another matther. I used Woddland Scenics Hydrocal for some of my structures and it worked pretty well (you can see them on the first page of my layout thread <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=169">viewtopic.php?f=46&t=169</a><!-- l -->), though to get good results I had to mix 1 part water with 3 parts hydrocal, instead of 1 part water with 2 1/2 parts hydrocal as it says on the package.

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Thanks Kurt! Your website is very nice and gave me some good ideas. I'll see if I can make my walls turn out better than a drunken mason could make. Cheers!

Matt

[nkp_174]

The laborious approach of carving a master in either linoleum, plaster, or extruded stryene (using dental picks or an x-acto) yields good results.

Then create your mold using latex rubber and cast away.

[Bob C]

Matt, Hello. Just wondered if your search for stone walls included this company; http://nebrownstone.com/. I'm not affiliated or compensated, but have seen their work at shows and on another forum. Might want to look, though I'll be the last guy to stop you from crafting exactly what you want. Will be following your thread to pick up what I can and applaud your work. Bob C.

[iis612]

This is a matter of interest to me as well. A parking lot that is adjacent to my main line has a stone retaining wall. I had considered using the woodland scenics precast cut rock wall and hand painting the stones, but the idea never really grabbed me. I wish I had a suggestion, so I will be watching closely.

Matt

[MasonJar]

Matt, Hello. Just wondered if your search for stone walls included this company; http://nebrownstone.com/. I'm not affiliated or compensated, but have seen their work at shows and on another forum. Might want to look, though I'll be the last guy to stop you from crafting exactly what you want. Will be following your thread to pick up what I can and applaud your work. Bob C.

The owner (unfortunately I cannot recall his name :oops: ) was a member of the last incarnation of The Gauge. He sent me some "rejects" with which I could not find any problems . The detail is beautiful - very crisp and sharp. The modular parts fit together so well that you'd be hard pressed to see the seam once installed and finished.

Andrew

[Sumpter250]

I am working on a church scene on my layout and would like to replicate a stone wall that would border the property. The wall must be of a New-England style and be somewhat decorative. Not just a pile of random rocks.
Matt

Matt,
Unless you intend to build a long, or completely encircling wall, or sell castings, that would justify the casting effort, you would be as well off to simply build the wall ( the master ) in place, and be done with it.

"Not just a pile of random rocks"...... Most "New England style" stone walls that I remember seeing, were, in fact, random rocks. They weren't "just piled", but arranged to produce a reasonably straight and level (although not too high) wall, that required no mortar to keep them in place. ( I tried that at the house where I once lived, in Lisbon Falls, Me., I learned very quickly that I did not know how to build a "New England style" stone wall! ). In most cases, the rocks in these walls came out of the community's tilled fields. When someone says "stone wall", that is what I think of first, especially if "New England" is part of the description.
Higher walls, or stone walls as part of a structure were build in much the same way, but mortared. there wasn't much stone cutting involved.
Pete

[BR60103]

Matt (and everyone): do you have pictures of what it should be like? Is it a whole church wall you want or fence size?

[ocalicreek]

Yes, there are so many varieties of 'stone walls' out there...how about a pic or two?

If you're going for round stones, then here's a thing to try:

Buy stones from a pet store (often graded & sized well) appropriate to your wall.

Cut a strip of card stock the height of your wall minus the size of the average stone.

Glue stiff wire to the ends of the cardstock (vertical) and a few points in between to serve as mounting pins.

Glue tiny rocks in place until you see them in your sleep - first one side, let dry, then the other.

Be sure to reserve nice stones for the cap to hide the card stock.

Paint the wall a basic stone color appropriate for your layout's geography, then wash with a dark wash and highlight with dry brush a shade or two lighter than your base color.

Plant the wall and blend into the ground with turf.

Galen

[Russ Bellinis]

Yes, there are so many varieties of 'stone walls' out there...how about a pic or two?

If you're going for round stones, then here's a thing to try:

Buy stones from a pet store (often graded & sized well) appropriate to your wall.

Cut a strip of card stock the height of your wall minus the size of the average stone.

Glue stiff wire to the ends of the cardstock (vertical) and a few points in between to serve as mounting pins.

Glue tiny rocks in place until you see them in your sleep - first one side, let dry, then the other.

Be sure to reserve nice stones for the cap to hide the card stock.

If you pick out the natural looking stone from the pet store as opposed to the pretty colored stone, you might not even need to color it.

Paint the wall a basic stone color appropriate for your layout's geography, then wash with a dark wash and highlight with dry brush a shade or two lighter than your base color.

Plant the wall and blend into the ground with turf.

Galen

If you look for the more natural looking fish tank gravel instead of the brightly colored stuff, you might luck out and not even need to paint it.

[doctorwayne]

Are you speaking of a mortared stone wall or to what is sometimes referred to as a dry stone wall, that is, one made without mortar?

The former should be easy to do by casting the basic shape in plaster (sheet styrene can be used to make simple moulds), then carving the detail into all of the exposed faces. You can then paint or stain to suit your tastes.

The latter generally has more irregular surfaces, with deeper divisions between the individual stones. The aquarium gravel glued to a solid form will probably be your best choice for this type, and again, fairly easy to do, but equally as tedious as the carving required for the other type.

Wayne

[Saltwater Cowboy]

Thanks for all the replies and links! I will be checking through them this week a little more deeply. (work is crazy lately) To better answer some of your questions, the wall I would like to make would probably be more like a more decorative style approximately 5 scale feet high and border the property. The pictures shown next show a shot of a type of wall I am contemplating but not 100% set on. This type of wall is used generically in other areas of the country, but would give a "New-Englandy" (is that a word?) feel to the scene anyway. The under construction shot of the church show a pile of pebbles I placed in a row just to get a feel of how the finished scene would look. There will also be a similar wall that runs from the edge of the road along the driveway and end at the cemetery gate. I think I am probably better off making a wall in place as someone mentioned. I could make a frame with stripwood and pour in hydrocal I suppose and then hand carve once set up. This could be done on my work bench and then glued in place once stained/painted. This is the methodology I am leaning towards at the moment.

Matt

[doctorwayne]

Matt, many of the old MDC/Roundhouse 3-in-1 kits included a number of stone wall sections which, appropriately-painted, might be useful. They're long out of production, but occasionally pop up. I finished mine as a fieldstone wall, put together with un-raked high-lime mortar, but a different paint technique could yield a totally different look.


Wayne

[jim currie]

plastruct has sheets of cut stone in several scales a O or G scale sheet might be the size you want , but you would have to peice the top to the thickness you want .
jim