Rock Face Mold

A rock face cast in one piece

The mold captures a vertical face with a pronounced pattern of layers and cracks, so a casting comes out as a single piece. On a diorama no regular joint then arises between several smaller stones, the kind that gives away every time that a drop is assembled from little pieces. The stated size of 26.6 x 12.7 cm is enough for a coherent part of a slope or for a whole side of a terrain cutting.

Yielding walls, many copies

The material of the mold is flexible, and so a set casting comes free even where the relief undercuts slightly and a rigid shell would break. It is meant for repeated use, so the number of copies is limited only by gradual wear. The plaster mass, paints and terrain filler are not part of the delivery.

A procedure that has proved itself

• Prop the mold up into a horizontal position, otherwise the casting will set with its layering on a slant.
• Pour the mixed mass in from one corner, the air then has a way out.
• Take it out at the moment the mass has set but is not yet completely dry through.
• A damp casting can be broken off further and adapted to the outline of the terrain.

Copies from one mold do not repeat as conspicuously as might be expected. It is enough to turn a casting upside down, break it into two parts or sink its edge into a modeling compound and the face gains a different silhouette every time. Paint does the rest: a darker glaze runs into the cracks, a dry brush draws the sharp edges out and finally a fine scatter settles into the joints. A vertical face is precisely the part on a layout or in a display case that the eye falls on first, and it pays to devote more time to it than to the level area below it.