How to make a moonscape

[Wolf Knight]

Ok, its been a while since I promised to show you this, so here it is 

First of all, depending on the surface you want to create, you're gonna need a lot of newspapers...It took me three times this pile of newspapers

for my Playmospace Diorama http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=9954.0

Next, you put the papers through a paper shredder and the shredded paper in a big tub... then you pour hot water in it and start mashing the paper... depending on your mood, you can leave the paper to get very wet for a day or so, or you can start mashing it immediately.

After you have your mashed paper pulp, you can squeeze it to get rid most of its water, but it must not be too dry other wise it wont be easy to spread on the surface you want to use...


You can start applying the paper pulp on the surface you want and evenly spreading it out to any direction. If the pulp is too dry, it wont be possible to spread nice and ease...

You can place a nylon if you want on your surface, so that your surface won't be affected by the water... and be sure to also make small ''craters'' with your fingers once a satisfactory area is covered.


You can use various pastes to create different size craters. I used this laminate paste. Mix the paste with water...




and be sure you have some shaping tools to give the paste any shape you want...


I used a snowball to spread out the crater edges evenly...


You can make the craters while your newspapres are getting wet, or before you even begin the mashing process, but make sure the craters are dry and stable when placing them on various positions on your surface and then apply the pulped paper around them.
You can also make smaller rocks out of the pastes, by the use of moulds that you can find in hoddy shops.




When your portion of pulped paper covers a satisfactory area, use a watery glue on the paper...

when the paper dries, the glue will help the paper stick together and won't fall appart, thus avoiding cracks, or big chunks coming off...


This pulp, took a week to dry... but humidity was quite high that week, so maybe on a sunny weather the pulp will dry quicker. In fact, it took about three weeks to complete, as I was not sure how many newspapers to use, and how long each bunch will take to dry...


But eventually, the whole thing dried out

and I could now just paint it...


Also used some modeling sand and train coal, which I also paint, for the rocks my klickies were collecting

Well, hope you find this interesting and usefull folks!!! 

[tahra]

Thanks for the tutorial! Really useful

Do you do your spraypainting in the varanda? It's not.. messy?

[Lindama]

A great tutorial - thanks very much 

[Giorginetto]

Thanks Panos !!! Very useful to  know how all this is done  and bravo !!

[Tiermann]

Very interesting Panos, the paper technique is a good one I will have to remember

[Bill Blackhurst]

Excellent instructions, Panos! If I was into the space theme, this would be very good to know!

[Wolf Knight]

Thank you for your feedback guys 

Do you do your spraypainting in the varanda? It's not.. messy?

There are occasions when you need to cover the surroundings, but depending on the spray and colour, after a certain range the spraying is so wide that disperses to air and not laying of surfaces. Over 40 or so centemetres theres little if any damage to another surface.

[tahra]

There are occasions when you need to cover the surroundings, but depending on the spray and colour, after a certain range the spraying is so wide that disperses to air and not laying of surfaces. Over 40 or so centemetres theres little if any damage to another surface.

Ah.. Thanks

[bonniebeth]

Thanks for the detailed how-to, Panos! I'll probably never need to make a moonscape, but I love seeing behind the scenes how things are done.



How many times did your neighbors come outside to "water the plants"?