Hi all,

I have some left over joint compound from re-finishing a bedroom. I was wondering if this joint compound (drywall mud) would be good for modelling terrain in dioramas. Any advice would be greatly appreciatted. Thanks alot.

Jount compound works well as groundwork. One caution, don't put it on more than about 1/4 inch thick, or it could crack when curing. Other than that, it is great, I have used it many times.

Gino's right....... don't do mre than 1/8 to 1/4" at a time....... or it will crack. It will cover abount anything. You could use some of that rigid insulation baord as a base.

It's a great medium for all kinds of things, I use it for ground work, touching up plater pieces, covering clay blanks to I can carve walls etc.

Be creative.

One of the best ways to use drywall compound as terrain is to mix it with some dry tempra (poster) paints. That way if you get a crack or chip it won't be as obvious as the colour will go right through the medium.

I appreciate your help, I'll give it a try. Thanks.

Howdy km,

A warm welcome to the site! As you've already seen, the gang here is the best!

To your query. Being in the construction business I discovered 'mud' a very long time ago. And it is a superb medium for groundwork. As the very helpful members have already pointed out, it does crack when applied in overly thick layers. But, I have used this to my advantage many times. When doing a North African Campaign dio, you can actually apply it in that fashion (thick), and allow it to crack to it's heart 's content. Then after a couple of days of drying, apply white glue along the cracks. The glue will fill the cracks, but shrink enough that the 'impression' of the crack is still there, giving you the appearance of many parts of North Africa. This also applies to Russian steepes, Siberian ice-lakes, and PTO environs. Just something to think about.
...kind of a 'Lemonade' thing.

Tread.

Something else it might be good for... Keep a trowel of it handy when you are modeling... When your wife walks in, stand up and pretend to be "doing home improvements!" LoL Building models... No.... Of course not honey!... Should work every time! :-) Where in Ky are you?