Crumple Rock Foil Red Sandstone (80 x 60 cm)

What it is

Rock foil with sandstone relief which you crumple in your hand and open out again; the breaks, edges and crevices keep their shape once stretched out and the area turns into a rock face. This piece measures 80 x 60 cm, that is 4800 square centimeters or 0.48 square meters. The large format has one substantial advantage over a smaller one: you will put a continuous face together from fewer pieces, and so there will be fewer joints to hide. Red sandstone gives a scene a warm rusty tone with visible horizontal beds.

Where you will use it

• a long wall of a cutting along a line or a road
• the wall of a quarry and a tall rock massif
• a slope above water and a varied bank
• several smaller outcrops from one sheet

How to work with it

Prepare the rough shape of the rock in advance, so that the foil has something to rest on. Cut a piece with an overlap, crumple it and open it out; repeated crumpling coarsens the relief and sharpens the edges. Then lay the foil in dry, press it against the surface and only at the end glue it with a glue suited to your surface, having tried how it behaves on an offcut first. With a large area work from one edge and press as you go, otherwise air will be trapped under the foil and a bulge will form. Run the joints along a bed, never straight across a face.

Color fine-tuning

Over a large area it pays to vary the tone, so that the face does not read like wallpaper. Leave the base rusty, draw a thin dark glaze into the hollows, go over the edges with a dry brush and a pale ocher and merely suggest some places with a grayer or, on the contrary, a more saturated shade. Add debris of the same material at the foot and a hint of green in the crevices, where moisture holds.

Terms of supply

The package holds foil measuring 80 x 60 cm. The glue, the paints, backing material and other accessories for a scene are not included, unless stated otherwise.