Using Clay

I used plaster to shape and paint "asphalt" grade crossings on my layout. I'm about to start over with a new layout. I found plaster to be very messy and it cracked a lot. In the future, I will only use plaster as a last resort. I had some novice success using Panacer floral clay from Joann's (http://www.joann.com/panacea-products-floral-clay-brick-6-oz/3989217.html) to taper my river banks. I'm not modeling a river this time (other than a swing bridge over an "imaginary" river), but I have plans to attempt to use clay for the grade crossings this time. I have plans to visit Joanne's again soon and I'm wondering... can anyone recommend a good clay (that won't be baked) for model railroading? From what I can tell, the Panacer floral bricks only come in green but I need black and gray instead. For those who may be interested, the Panacer floral brick was "paintable"... at least for me. I painted it green like the rest of my layout before apply ground cover. It doesn't get very hard though so I'd like something that gets a little harder over time, without baking of course.

The rest of this has nothing to do with using clay, but in other news, I plan on making one final run on my current layout late this afternoon, taking pictures, and possibly making one last video before I begin dismantling it minutes later to start on the new layout tomorrow morning. Bitter/sweet. Also, for those who have been keeping up with my "Repairs/Decals Recommendations" thread, I'm about to take my 4-8-2 to the post office to ship it to Bachmann for repairs since nothing I've tried has worked. Bitter now, but sweet when I get it back.

- Brandon

 

I uued the spackling, sanded reapplied and then used the joint compound (thin stuff) for the final.
Low stick tape works real good over your crossings, to keep them clean of plaster and paint.