I'm a newbie here, and I did a base of celluclay recently (.5 to .75 inches thik) and when it dryed it lifted up at the corners from the wood base. I'm trying a fix by clamping it back down and glueing it to within an inch of it's life. Hope it works.

I've used celluclay before in greater thickness without problems...

What am I doing wrong ?

Thanks

Peter you need to add a generous amount of white glue to the celluclay to curtail the shrinkage. 30% of the mix should be white glue.

You are applying a very thick layer. I try to keep mine at less than half an inch, probably maxxing out at a quarter inch. . Build up the countours with styrofoam. As mentioned, added a liberal amount of white glue. Another way to help is stay on the base is to drill 1/8 diameter inch holes into the base to give the mixture more to cling to. The mixture should have the consistency of very thick oatmeal. I throw in some brown acrylic craft paint for overall color and model railroad ballast for added texture.

Hey Peter,
I have use several other tricks to secure the celluclay to a diorama's wooden base:

1] Scuff and rough up the top of the wooden base, it gives the celluclay more surface to grab and adhere onto,

2] Screw in a bunch of flat head screws, especially at the corners and edges of the base.
Then apply the celluclay onto the base over the screws, the screws provide something for the celluclay to hang onto,

3] Apply a thin layer of celluclay onto the base and then staple some window screening over the celluclay while it's still wet.
Press the screening down into the celluclay and then apply another thin layer of celluclay down over the screening on your base.
Press the celluclay and screening together and let it dry, it should hold it all down.

I got the idea for the last one from looking at a friend's garden, his new lawn had turf that was held down with a interwoven mesh.
Hope that helps.
Cheers

jjumbo

Thanks for the quick replies, everyone !

You've given me alot of good suggestions to work with for next time. I just hope I can salvage what I have. It would be a drag to do it over, espcially with all the plants, etc., that are already attached

thanks again !

Do you have any superglue? Zap-A-Gap has a nice long neck container that will allow you to get the glue under the Celluclay and reattach it. That shoud salvage what you've got.

Thanks, Al !

Currently I've put a bunch of wood glue into the gaps and am clamping it it all together so that when it dries hopefully it will be relatively right.....We shall see.
thanks again

Peter

use sculptamold instead , no lifting at edges, but still add white glue for a better bond to the base. it cost about the same as celluclay and you can useually find it at the same store.. its white instead of gray but i just add dry tempura to the mix so i dont have to paint when its dry[it also drys faster to ] just a wash and dry brush.