How I Make Rocks for Model Railroads

[@melkitson]

Hi Jimmy. I was horrified at the cost of rock molds so found some nicely textured rocks locally and used some old silicone sealant to cover the rocks and make moulds. I am delighted with the results. Most homes probably have the remnants of a tube or two of sealant left over but it is cheap enough anyway. Great for other things like creating moulds of the one or two shipping containers that you might have.

[@4everdc302]

I'm a foam carver but that ain't for everyone.Still watching James🚂🇨🇦🇺🇲

[@robertheroux2402]

Wet water is a great mold release also

[@flpedal2metal]

Also add black or dark grey wash on top the rocks to make them even more realistic

[@goodrails]

Nice! I'll watch a couple of times.

[@TimberSurf]

For large vertical areas, pre coat the base with PVA then stick the sculptamold on. For rocks, after painting grey, use a dark wash to fill the deep/low areas, then drybrush

[@dragonite0067]

Building a small N scale layout on a table for my grandpas office based on the PRR GG1 era. The railroad will be a mountain with a mine scene and a few tunnels. I was incredibly nervous about creating the rock faces but this video really helped inspire me. Thanks!

[@medwaymodelrailway7129]

Very good upload today. Hope there more to come.

[@loispadgett6306]

I love learning techniques on making rocks and painting. I have so enjoyed watching the new layout build. My brother has rock molds from years ago when he did World War 2 diarmas. Was glad to learn about the spray release for the molds. Can't wait to see what's next. GOD BLESS 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖

[@Maurice00PA]

Nice video. I was lucky and found my rock molds second hand at a flea market. Unfortunately, they didn't come with instructions, so I never knew to use mold release. Still, I didn't have any problems getting the castings out of the molds. When painting the rocks, I found a black wash brings out the cracks and crevices. Cheers and stay safe.

[@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204]

Good video jimmy keep up the good video thanks lee

[@HumancityJunction]

That dad joke at the beginning was pretty rough, but the remainder of the video picked up on the content :) For me it is painting and airbrushing. I was terrible at it as a kid and it still haunts me.

[@oldman5139]

That ROCK'S! See I did there?

[@ATrainGames]

Howdy, Jimmy. Thanks for sharing your work. As a fellow NS modeler I love the rock outcroppings commonly seen along the lines in southern West (By God) Virginia and in the Appalachian Region. My buddy and I build modules, where minimizing weight is critical. We developed a technique to use the molds as you have, but we make the rock faces with Woodland Scenics Plaster Cloth. We cut the plaster cloth into 1" high strips the full width of the roll. We may add a little hydrocal into the deep crevices of the mold, and then we do an alternating action - wetting one strip of cloth, pressing it into the mold, then adding another DRY strip half overlapped with the first one. We continue this process, working whatever direction we want on the mold, and build out the rock face from the middle. Once we get to the edges, we leave 1/2" dry area as a frame. We use a hair dryer to accelerate the drying process in the mold, but don't dry it completely. Within 10 minutes or so can remove the plaster cloth rock formation. It will not be fully cured at this point, so it is flexible and allows us to apply it around curves on the scenery base (typically extruded foam insulation). To apply, we just wet the edges and gently press them in where we want, then let dry. We can touch up any problem areas, or cover any gauze that shows through, with a little extra hydrocal. Once dry, the rocks get a base coat of paint, then a dark India ink wash to create shadows and depth. Then we work outward with lighter colors to highlight edges and erosion, or strata within the formation, and can later glue in bits of foliage that may be growing from cracks and crevices. The advantages are light weight, ease of application, and you can work the molds in different directions to create different appearances of rocks. Give it a try some time!

[@RabidWombatz]

I just use a bit of detergent in water as “release agent”. Try to avoid bubbles though. I use plaster of Paris instead of hydrocal. It’s cheap and works perfectly.

[@charlesmcclure5994]

Yes Jimmy you definitely rock and roll 😂

[@mattguey-lee4845]

I use the woodland scenics molds with various plasters like you did in the video. Sometimes I used multiple smaller rocks from the mold to for a larger face. Then I use patching plaster out of a can to stick the rocks my scenery. I find this makes the scenery very durable for my t-trak modules. As for painting I use similar acrylic paints but cut then down with water to get almost a water color consistency and then brush it on in layers with a soft bristle brush.

[@terryhammond5692]

LOOKS GREAT!

[@davidf9630]

Hey Jimmy… great instructional video. I have found that using extra pieces of foam boards and shaping them with a sanding sponge. Then giving it a realistic texture by heating/burning it with a lighter to make the shape more random. Finish up with some fancy painting techniques like yours.

[@Slurgical_3D_Terrain_Channel]

Thank you for your video.

[@stanleym2679]

Great video

[@greeneyedggirl]

Very cool Jimmy! Great job!

[@turboseize]

So far I've only modeled slate rock and granite (the reddish type with mostly roundes shapes, created by the ice age glaciers that you find in Scandinavia). For both I just mixed up plaster and put it on the layout. For the granite you determine the form while it is still wet and mushy. Wait until the plaster just starts to set off and then carve the drilling holes for blasting in the cuts. For the slate, wait until it is about starts to set off, then drag a knive though surface to create the layered effect. Use some metal tool with a sharp edge to hammer away at the edges of the layers from different angles. This takes ages, but it's worth it. I think that one piece of rack kept me busy for several weeks. The next time-consuming step is painting. For the slate I layered about 347 different washes in varying shades of grey, blue, greenish blue, red, black over each other. For the granite, I painted a strong coat of very reddish brown (terracotta) acrylic. Then let it dry and tried to dull it down with various grey, green, black, and light greyish washes, which did not quite give me the desired effect. The solution was to mix blue-green-gray watercolours with a lot of opaque white. The opaque white gave it enough grip to "stick" to the rounded surfaces, and it provided the minimal texture (this type of granite does not have the big cracks and crevices of slate or sandstone, but is rather smooth. I let this coat dry, then washed it away partially with another wash and tipled it on again with a sponge. This finally gave the clour variation that I was after. It seems to be that modeling rocks seems to be the thing that I like most. Better than "green stuff", and much more fun than buildings (I've done to many of those in architecture school). But I also like ballasting, so maybe i'm kind of weird... PS: you can modify the hardness of the plaster by adding either some dishwashing detergent (makes it softer) or PVA glue (makes it harder) when you mix it.

[@uptownphotography]

Great info. Nicely done. Phil Jersey Shore Area

[@DinsdalePiranha67]

When does a joke become a dad joke? When the punchline is full groan. ;)

[@andrewlaverghetta715]

I'd really like to see more people do videos like this, but actually carry it out further. Sure, you've got some rocks that are attached to a hill thingy, but how do you blend everything else in? What options are there? Just put grass and flocking etc all over the outside of the rocks? How did you finish off the blasted rock part? I'm doing a bit of modeling and thought about incorporating some of that too, but I wanted to get the effect of where they drilled and inserted the explosives. I'd also like to see more shadow through maybe a wash on the rocks. One thing that I'd like to see more of as well is people using items that aren't necessarily for model railroading. For example, I've done some tabletop crafting for games like D&D. I've used Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. It's something that I was suggested in place of wood filler, since that's so much more expensive.

[@johnsherwood5102]

Nice video. I am at the end of my rope trying to color rocks. I have, six times, carved beautiful rock faces from hydrocal then painted. them...all were ripped out and into the dumpster. I am very talented but I cannot. do this. The entire half done layout may wind up in the dumpster soon as this is total stress. I get your procedure..I think...but the final result is the nice tannish colored rocks of Colorado I am looking for. I am just really lost how you got there from the grays you were proceeding with. Hope you can walk me through this as I am frustrated beyond belief. Thanks.

[@lynnmccurdythehdmmrc2561]

To save money, I spray the molds with Windex first, for a releasing agent.

[@mattprobst2321]

Hi Lynn!! How ya doing!? Hope everything is well out there in the wild west! I spray molds with "wet" water and don't worry about mold release. Have heard about Windex working well too. Cheers!

[@lynnmccurdythehdmmrc2561]

@@mattprobst2321 things are cold and windy (normal) here. Well windy anyways. Little tired & sore from yesterday, seen my latest You Tube? Yea someone told me about Windex, and almost everyone has some. Worked for me.

[@oldgrumpyhunter]

Great information Jimmy. Have you tried using real rocks for your outcroppings?

[@Phoenixknight79]

Making rocks worries me as well, but what I'm needing ur help is. You did a dollar find, and found this tape that is similar to woodland scenics pavement tapes.. was wondering if you could give me the name of that stuff.

[@cameramanconor1715]

Can you use sculptamold in a rock mold?

[@ericcoughlan]

I have found that I can get great rock cuts by waiting until the Sculptamold has dried solid and then run the edge of a trowel over the rock face until I get the rough strata look that I want. Lots of mess that needs vacuuming up. Then I apply a black wash over the whole thing ensuring that the wash gets into all the cracks and crannies. Then it is time to do the dry brush exercise. I find that Sculptamold by itself does not give a really realistic rock look.

[@stevengibbs1378]

I have had good success using tin foil for a DIY rock mold.

[@donaldkormos5529]

Nice video Jimmy! Does the mold release agent interfere with paint adhesion? Ask because oftentimes with plastic model kits primer is used first for better paint adhesion.

[@DIYDigitalRailroad]

I did not have an issue with paint adhesion, but hydrocal will absorb some of the paint.

[@andrewharrison5983]

I personally would not use any branded name of modelling moulding plaster, as in the UK many Pharmacies and DIY stores sell Plaster of Paris which is exactly the same product, or even better, but at a much lower cost, Check you local Drug Store in the US!

[@andrewlaverghetta715]

Yeah, there are many different types of plaster. I got a huge bag from Amazon that will likely last a while. The sculpt a mold is one of the things I'd like a replacement for. I'm thinking about trying some of the "Group Goop" designed at first by Lou Sassi. Does something different than the plaster though.

[@videobruceb8879]

Why not tint the rocks first?

[@electricgaming9914]

The thing with molds is that you can’t have custom shapes

[@carlschnier4089]

Just bust up chunks of plaster and glue to your base

[@sdr868]

You and your cordless tools.😅