Big rock for the table

While taking the son to a model train show I picked up some rubber moulds for making rocks made by Woodland Scenics (part no. C1234 and C1240).  I got two moulds, one a single large rock and the second has three smaller rock moods.  It is suggested to use the Woodland Scenics lightweight Hydrocal (plaster of paris with cement) but I thought standard plaster of paris would be fine as the rocks would be sitting flat on a table, not stuck on the side of a hill.

Bare plaster and base

The moulds need to be wet down first with soapy water (to help with plaster flow and mould release) and then the plaster is poured in and tapped to settle.  The best way to do the wetting is with a spray bottle.  After the rock is pulled from the mold the base is sanded down with some coarse grit sand paper.  You can be a bit faster and use a belt sander but it will be like you dropped a bag of flour for the next 30 minutes.  Best wear a dust mask.

The detail on the rocks is fabulous.  Great stratification of the rock which will really show off a good paint job.  In the past my technique of doing rocks has been to paint the whole thing one colour (mid grey of course), wash with a darker shade and then dry brush up.  Simple but when I looked at the terrain setups at the train show their rocks actually looked like rocks.  Some learning was needed.

Great levels of detail

Luckily Woodland Scenics are very good at supporting their products.  They have an extensive video tutorial library (of the "here's one I prepared earlier.." type) on their web site and on youtube.  I checked out their tutorial on painting rocks and was amazed at the result they got.  Real looking rocks with a very simple leopard spot painting technique with washes, followed by a black wash.  I recommend viewing these videos as the results look great.

However I went for a slightly different approach.  I first painted the whole rock with Vallejo Game Colour Earth.  I used an airbrush to do this as the coverage is much better for such large areas.  Following this I applied a wash for Army Painter Strong Tone (25% dilution with water) followed by a wash for Army Painter Dark Tone (50% water dilution).  This was then put aside to dry overnight.  Then the rock was dry brushed up with Vallejo Game Colour Khaki and Model Colour Iraqi Sand.  Depending on the dry brushing I would then put down another diluted coat of Strong Tone to tone everything back together.

All finished

Since the rock is made out of plaster of paris it can't be used as it.  The edges will chip very easily.  Instead I attached the rock to a piece of white coat masonite with PVA glue.  On the base I applied a mixture of scatter, static grass and grass tufts.  On the rock itself I used an olive green scatter to represent small plant growth.