Thank you for your selfless service and good advice. I’m not sure you will get this ( I need technical support with online stuff too!) but here goes:
I have a job to make some ceiling decorations with a shamrock leaf theme that will be attached (screwed for security) to a plaster board ceiling. They need to be light and strong, to look delicate with ( 2-3cm thick) stems curving away from the ceiling and be compatible with a strong adhesive glue as well as emulsion paint. I’ve cast plaster before but think it would be too brittle to transport (and too heavy on the ceiling?). I’ve have been told that jesmonite won’t take emulsion paint.
Would Polyurethane resin with fillite be the lightest and strongest? Would it take emulsion paint? As a second best would it resemble plaster if I used a white PU resin?
Yes, I think polyurethane resin with fillite is exactly what I would use for this .. nothing better, lighter and stronger! But once cast the surface would need to be primed (using a plastic primer such as Simoniz white primer or similar from RustOleum). Then if need be they can be painted with white emulsion. PU/fillite drills well too without fear of cracking. I don’t think white PU with fillite would give enough plaster whiteness.
having costed for PU resin I’m looking again at jesmonite and have discovered it’s fine with emulsion. If I used fillite to lighten it would it loose strength? I’d like to make the stems narrower – 1cm diameter but would they snap? What could I strengthen them with?
Thanks for any suggestions you can give.
Hi Cara,
Yes, PU resin is much more expensive than plaster, or Jesmonite even, but I suppose I was assuming that with the resin/Fillite mixture you could make not solid but ‘shell’ casts (say 2-3mm thick ..guessing only) which would still be strong, reducing the cost .. though taking longer to do. Adding Fillite to Jesmonite works but certainly makes it weaker, no doubt, but just how much I don’t know. ‘Noblite’ might be better, perhaps less weakening. In my ‘Fillers for resin’ in Materials/Casting here I mention plaster casting too i.e. chopped glass fibres may strengthen Jesmonite but they don’t make solid casts any lighter though.
Hi David,
I follow and read your blog regularly. Thank you very much for sharing idea and techniques. I found always interesting ideas for my miniatures railroading activities even if it’s a little bit different.
I know that the Aves Apoxy can be painted in the freshly mixed state and still cure normally. Can Miliput as well? Another thing. I tried the Magic Scupt (I’m in the US) and didn’t like it very much. I find it hard to work with. I stick to Miliput and Aves.
davidneat 
Hello David
Thank you for your selfless service and good advice. I’m not sure you will get this ( I need technical support with online stuff too!) but here goes:
I have a job to make some ceiling decorations with a shamrock leaf theme that will be attached (screwed for security) to a plaster board ceiling. They need to be light and strong, to look delicate with ( 2-3cm thick) stems curving away from the ceiling and be compatible with a strong adhesive glue as well as emulsion paint. I’ve cast plaster before but think it would be too brittle to transport (and too heavy on the ceiling?). I’ve have been told that jesmonite won’t take emulsion paint.
Would Polyurethane resin with fillite be the lightest and strongest? Would it take emulsion paint? As a second best would it resemble plaster if I used a white PU resin?
Hi Cara,
Yes, I think polyurethane resin with fillite is exactly what I would use for this .. nothing better, lighter and stronger! But once cast the surface would need to be primed (using a plastic primer such as Simoniz white primer or similar from RustOleum). Then if need be they can be painted with white emulsion. PU/fillite drills well too without fear of cracking. I don’t think white PU with fillite would give enough plaster whiteness.
having costed for PU resin I’m looking again at jesmonite and have discovered it’s fine with emulsion. If I used fillite to lighten it would it loose strength? I’d like to make the stems narrower – 1cm diameter but would they snap? What could I strengthen them with?
Thanks for any suggestions you can give.
Hi Cara,
Yes, PU resin is much more expensive than plaster, or Jesmonite even, but I suppose I was assuming that with the resin/Fillite mixture you could make not solid but ‘shell’ casts (say 2-3mm thick ..guessing only) which would still be strong, reducing the cost .. though taking longer to do. Adding Fillite to Jesmonite works but certainly makes it weaker, no doubt, but just how much I don’t know. ‘Noblite’ might be better, perhaps less weakening. In my ‘Fillers for resin’ in Materials/Casting here I mention plaster casting too i.e. chopped glass fibres may strengthen Jesmonite but they don’t make solid casts any lighter though.
Hi David,
I follow and read your blog regularly. Thank you very much for sharing idea and techniques. I found always interesting ideas for my miniatures railroading activities even if it’s a little bit different.
Regards
Franck
Great. Thanks!
I know that the Aves Apoxy can be painted in the freshly mixed state and still cure normally. Can Miliput as well? Another thing. I tried the Magic Scupt (I’m in the US) and didn’t like it very much. I find it hard to work with. I stick to Miliput and Aves.
Thanks for the info. Yes, that would work with Milliput also, but I can only vouch for using water-based i.e. acrylic.
Thanks, Dave. That’s the info I needed. Take care.
Thanks for the thanks Scottie! .. but it’s ‘David’, just that I have never ever felt like a ‘Dave’!