What rock mould for welsh quarry

[Gixer]

We’ve decided to turn one section of our layout into a Welsh quarry like Llanberis.
I’ve been looking at the rock moulds from Woodlands Scenics and wouldn’t mind giving them a go. Problem is from the photos is hard to work out which one would look like a Welsh quarry.
Which one would you go for?
The section we are turning into the quarry is curved, can you bend the moulds slightly when you use them?
Thanks

[Steve M]

No, you can’t bend them. They have to be held level while casting or the plaster will run out and plaster is a rigid and brittle medium. Ideally you would need a number of moulds to avoid repeating the pattern. They complete casts can be cut to fit and you would infill the gaps with more plaster carved to match the larger cast pieces.

[Gixer]

Thanks for the swift reply.

I thought if I used a thicker mix I might be able to curve it but I guess I wouldn’t get the detail then. The moulds do seem quite small so as you say, it would take some fiddling not to get obvious repetition.

I’ve used the foam insulation to good effect so far, might stick with that. I might buy the rocks mould though as that looks useful.

Thanks again.

[bulleidboy]

I used the WS Rock Moulds and found them very good and easy to use - no you cannot bend them. If your hillside/landscape is made of insulating foam sheets, as was mine, I found that by putting a couple of 1.5" galvanised nails, head first, into the soft plaster, when set, the nails enabled the rockface to be positioned where you wanted it, and it stayed in place. I studied the WS Tutorials on finishing the rock with washes made from heavily diluted water paints. The particular rock shown in the first picture is about seven inches long by about three inches high.

IMG_0755 by Barry Clayton, on Flickr

IMG_0756 by Barry Clayton, on Flickr

[teedoubleudee]

That's very effective Barry, well done.

[bulleidboy]

Thanks Terry - seems a long time ago I was making rock face.

[Gixer]

Thank you Barry,
I did see your images on another thread and thought it looked really effective.
The area I have for the rock face is about 6in high and about 24in long. Do you think you could cut them so you hide the repetition. I can’t see any in your images.
Ever get the feeling you’ve bitten off more than you can chew

[Steve M]

Yes, you can cut them and break them after scoring - I used an old hacksaw blade. Turn the pieces to different orientations to get more variety and fill in the gaps with plaster that you can then carve to match the moulded sections.