Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Some land forms - Part 3

 Well, almost the whole gang came over last night to a work session to put the final coat of Structolite on the plaster cloth. Jack Brown is putting the brownish Structolite on the east end of the Narrows. You will notice that jack is only one who poses for the picture!
  If you are wondering what Structolite is, it is a US Gypsum product that is used to make stucco.
 Here is Ed Rappe also working to put the coating up. We mix it until it is like mayonnaise and then trowel it on. You then go over it with a brush to introduce some striations like earth forms


 Paul Cierzo, who is working on the hill to Mt. Carmel, is mixing a new batch of the material. I bought 2 fifty pound bags last week to have the material for the project. Based on the consumption rate, I will probably have to buy two more to finish the layout.
 Here is the finished product in the Narrows looking west. The white color is from an earlier batch that did not come with the brown tint.
 Here is the Narrows looking east.

Alan Balma, a newer member of the work group, is working on putting the plaster cloth on the hill to Mt. Carmel. You can see that Alan puts up a dry piece of plaster impregnated cloth, then sprays some water on it, then brushes it with a small paint brush to blend the wet plaster together.
Paul, when he finishes mixing his new batch of Structolite, will follow behind him and put that up while the cloth is still wet. It takes less water that way so it is less messy.


Here is the finished product of their work. Once we get this backside hill finished, we can start on the hill in front of the tracks.