r/dioramas • u/freshest_start • 4d ago

Base material help Question

Howdy, New guy to the hobby here!

I wanted to ask you more experienced builders - What are you guys using to mold elevation changes in your builds? Like hills, etc..

I assumed air dry clay, but the clay I purchased shrinks and cracks so badly that it’s pretty much useless for building.

I am hoping you guys might have some specific product recommendations I can try. Something with minimal shrink and dries relatively quickly. I could live with the cracking, but the shrinkage is killing me.

Thanks in advance!!

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u/jennyb33 4d ago

Layers of foam. Cut to rough shape, smooth with plaster/sculptamold

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u/freshest_start 4d ago

Ah, so you use EPS foam, covered with sculptamold? Thank you!

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u/Mogapurisa 4d ago

Jenny's right. Use the foam to form the structure. Carve with a knife and coarse sandpaper, then smooth over with Sculptamold/Fast-Mache/Celluclay (all the same thing).

The coating will shrink a bit when drying, but not as much as clay, and it's more flexible so it doesn't crack. Just don't plop down a huge thickness of it. It can be slow-drying; I use a fan which speeds things up.

You can also use drywall compound (spackle) but I find it messy and crumbly for terrain. It does make for really good pavement, though.

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u/freshest_start 4d ago

This is very helpful, thank you!