I have NEVER had good results with celluclay. I have tried many peoples advice. Cracks, warps, curls,seperates, and shrinks. What I am looking for is a medium that is very stable. That will hoid a track print when first applied. that will not seperate from the base. Please help.

Sculpt-a-mould is what I use, and have never looked back. It's properties far exceed celluclay and it's cheap and readily available at Micheals

Yeah im having the same problem with my Normandy Dio at the moment, I bought this molding stuff at Michael's and it has cracked on me not very happy. I'm gonna try the stuff Matthew suggested thanks mate.
David

For groundwork try a compbination of styrofoam/foam/packingmaterial built up then a coating of joint compound or spackle. You do have to apply it in thin coats it will crack in thicker coats.

I used Celluclay for my first dio, and it cracked hoorribly. I endedn up with a 1/4 in wide crack running across the base. I have heard that Sculptamold is much better.

When I first used Celuclay, I got the same problems, cracking, lifting from base ect. Now I spread PVA glue liberally over the area I'm covering and as I spread the Celuclay, the glue mixes with it and seems to have fixed the problem.

I have only used celluclay mixed with LOADS of white glue. I still get lifting around the edges from time to time though. I am very curious about this Sculptamould though. Celluclay is kind of a pain in the rear! How long does sculptamould take to dry? Does it take paint well? Does it need to be applied in layers? what are it's pifalls? If there is a better medium than celluclay I would gladly buy it but sometimes the devil you know is better than the one you don't.

Hi Scott, I agree with Slodder about using joint compound or spackle. Joint compound has more moisture in it and takes alot longer to dry than spackle,it also will shrink more than spackle. Both are easy to sand until they are primed. If your applying joint compound directly to a wood base you should seal the base to prevent it from warping......Hope this helps,Vince

Hi Greg,

If not for Shep Paine's diorama book, I doubt anyone would be using this stuff. I foolishly tried a Celluclay-like product call Claycrete and it was a waste of money and time.

I now build up the terrain with pink foam board (building supply store), sand with 80-120 grit to allow Liquitex Light Modelling Paste to 'key' to the foam. Any art store will have some brand of modelling pastes. 'Light' paste has the consistency or margerine and is easy to spead. 'Heavy' paste is also available. Depending on thickness, it dries overnight. And, it remains flexible so no chipping. The paste is acrylic, so you can mix in some acrylic craft paint (way cheaper!!) to pre-colour the white paste.

Here are a couple first attempts at ground work that used the foam and paste:

http://home.interlog.com/~khartlen/kits/tamiya/35245/pics.htm

http://members.aol.com/kwhcoaster/Schwimm/Schwimm.html

Good luck.

Ken

Hi Art,

I have used Sculptamold for several years now and have never experienced any warping, shrinking, lifting or cracking like I did with Celluclay. Instead of using just water, I use a combination of white glue and water, and it dries rather quickly, especially when applied in thin layers. It takes paint well.

The stuff is rather cheap, too. I think I paid $12 for a 5 pound bag (been a while since I bought some). You can get smaller bags as well, so give it a shot. I think you'll be a convert.

Steve

I use cell-u-clay but mix it with 90% dry-wall paste and about 10%- water.
Never had a cracking or lifting problem.
I try to make the cell-u-clay 'layer' as thin as possible though. I rough all the height variants with styrofoam etc.
If the cell-u-clay has to be real thick I will sink screws into the base plate to give the material something to lock it to the base once dry.
Any areas that I'm not happy with I tidy up with dry wall paste.
Just before it is dry I 'pat' the surface down with a scotch pad to give texture.

Cheers,
Charles

Try Durham's Water Putty, a plaster-like material that comes as a powder in a can. Apply a fairly wet mixture to your base, and then sprinkle on dry Durham's straight from the can--it soaks up the excess water and forms a natural looking gritty surface, It takes impressions for tires and tracks and such, and it can be drilled as well. It is a light tan color, not white, and can be colored with dry pigment or water-based paint while wet, or painted after drying. For large elevations, build up your terrain with styrofoam, and apply the Durham's to it.
Available from hardware dealers in North America. Very inexpensive.

Steve,
Next time at Michaels I'll Pick up a bag and try it out. Thanks!

Thanks for the advice. I will try the suggestions out. Greg.