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  • #1

    Hydro-cal's other sources

    Guys,

    We got into a discussion tonight at our PMRA meeting tonight about sources other that Woodland Scenics for Hydrocal white plaster. It is a US Gypsum product but they have so many. I had a 50 or 100 pound bag of the stuff and gave it away for someone to use before it got wasted. Now several of us need it for our scenery. I can't for the life of me remember which product it is. Does anyone here know the name of the stuff supplied to Woodland Scenics for their plaster? Is it Hydrocal White?
    Bill Shanaman

    New Haven RR

    Hartford Division

    in Colorado.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Hi, Bill --

    I know this isn't really responsive to your question, which is specifically about Hydrocal, but...

    A lot of excellent modelers, including Dave Frary, will tell you that ordinary plaster of paris, available in 5# boxes from Home Depot, works just fine. (At Home Depot, for some reason, they stock it in the paint department.)

    FWIW,

    Don

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    • #3
      Floor leveler at home improvement stores is an equivalent to hydrocal.



      Harold

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      • #4
        I think Jeff at Motrack Models sells small bags of fresh hydrocal per a podcast show with him on The Model Railcast show. You can call Jeff at (813) 476-4784. If memory serves me correctly, he is selling true hydrocal, not the mix with paper mache like the Woodland Senics product.
        -- KP --

        Life is to short to build all of the models I want to.

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        • #5
          quote:

          Originally posted by hon3_rr

          I think Jeff at Motrack Models sells small bags of fresh hydrocal per a podcast show with him on The Model Railcast show. You can call Jeff at (813) 476-4784. If memory serves me correctly, he is selling true hydrocal, not the mix with paper mache like the Woodland Senics product.

          So does Rusty Stumps![:-bigeyes2]

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          • #6
            If you can't get hydrocal locally shipping cost will kill you! The stuff is heavy. Jeff, on the Model Railroad Podcast, said that while he can't list it offically he will mail a flat-rate USPS box of 4 or 5 pounds of hydrocal for some fee (I don't recall what he said he'd charge) - http://stores.ebay.com/Motrak-Models/. Try sending him an email. The Model Railroad Podcast is at http://www.modelrailcast.com/ specifically show http://www.modelrailcast.com/MrcBlog/Show84.asp. I recently looked up hydrocal and found a bag for $20 ... with $50 shipping cost! In any case I think I may try Harold's floor leverer.

            Joe

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            • #7
              Question: what is the real difference between Plaster of Paris and Hydrocal? Both seem to produce the same results.

              Peter

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              • #8
                Sorry Walt - if I knew I would have plugged you first.

                Joe

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                • #9
                  If I recall, plaster of paris is a softer material and hydrocal is much harder when dry.
                  Dave Mason
                  On30Kits.com

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                  • #10
                    Plaster of paris is definitly softer and not good for casting things like walls because fine details tend to break. I have however successfully used it for rock work.

                    Joe

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                    • #11
                      quote:

                      Originally posted by mabloodhound

                      If I recall, plaster of paris is a softer material and hydrocal is much harder when dry.

                      That's correct, Dave. Hydrocal B was originally developed by U.S Gypsum for making industrial molds, where strength/hardness were prime requirements. (I still recall an article by Rob Corriston in RMC back in the early 80's, where he had cast some structure walls in Hydrocal. After baking them in his oven, they were so hard he could barely carve the stone faces and mortar courses.)

                      Plaster of paris is much softer, more easily carved/shaped when dry, and takes paints/stains differently than Hydrocal.

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                      • #12
                        Dave, Joe and Mike

                        Thanks for the explanation. Lots of DVD's these days are using Plaster of Paris for rock castings and scenery work. The one note everyone seems to make is: don't intermix the two as said, due to how they accept stain.

                        I'm tending to lean towards the plaster of Paris route for my upcoming scenery work, if I ever finish my 1;1 work and move into the new trainroom.

                        Thanks again

                        Peter

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                        • #13
                          As I have always Hydrocal, but it is my understanding that it will give better detail than what one can get with Plaster of Paris.

                          If I had known that Walt at Rusty Stumps sells Hydrocal, I would have noted him as a supplier in my earlier post... Sorry Walt.
                          -- KP --

                          Life is to short to build all of the models I want to.

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                          • #14
                            I need to update my Christmas layout thread -



                            this is Plaster of Paris rockwork that I have done for the little Christmas loop I'm buiding for my son. So far that is just a brown paint wash. I spread the plaster on roughly like I wanted it and then let it set for 30 minutes or so when I began to carve and shape it.

                            Joe id="navy">

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                            • #15
                              When hard-shell scenery was a relatively new idea, Hydrocal wasn't available everywhere either. Brands mentioned at the time as worth trying were "Ultra-Cal" and "Structolite".
                              James

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