2 hours, 8 hours later

Today I decided to make one large rock casting to fit between the two tunnel portals on the helix. That short piece of exposed track on the door side of the helix. I purchased some heavy duty Reynolds Wrap and used that to simulate the rocks.

While trying to make the first casting the plaster setup before I was done with the pour. Seems I could not remember the water to plaster ratio I had used before and could not read my writing that documented it.

Back to the train room and another Reynolds Wrap mold. This pour went better and I made two pours the second to reinforce the first. I pulled the casting from the first attempt and it was better than I expected but broke while I was handling it. The second looked pretty good and I finished the detail. After it had setup a while I took it up to the layout room and started fitting it in place. Seems my curvature was not accurate enough and it broke during fitting. That was OK though because I had decided the first casting had better rock reliefs and had already decided to make a third casting.

Another Reynolds Wrap mold and a fourth pour and fifth pour. By now the garage was a mess. Remember I thought this would be a one pour and done process. While waiting for the third attempt to setup I decided it also did not have enough curvature and in the process of fixing that broke this casting.

Back to the train room for another Reynolds Wrap mold and a sixth and seventh pour. This time with the curvature of the helix used as the base of the mold. This one came out fine and I finished the detail and cleaned up the garage. It is now in the garage setting up. If it has enough curvature and doesn't break while fitting it should be fine. If not, then I will try carving the rock face in place.

What I though would be a 2 hour process has been about 8 and I am still not done! I love scenery! At least I have more than enough raw material for talus!