Perfic Panels:While rummaging through my local model train shop I came upon a product named Perfic Panels.It is a polystyrene clad panel with a polystyrene foam core that is water proof, weather proof, etc. In other words,it behaves exactly as Gatorboard. It comes in 1/8 inch thick 16 inch squares.

Here is their home site: http://www.appliedimaginationinc.com

The material canbe cut with a knife, bent into round shapes,and is reasonably priced.

Pooh

Gatorboard: Go to http://www.gatorfoam.com/main.htm Click on Find a distributor.This will give you a list of stores in your area that carry the product.

Kay / Ottawa,Canada

Marbleizing: I use a base coat of matte acrylic paint in the desired color. After it dries I use a very fine-pored sponge and dab on bits and streaks of lighter and darker shades of the same color. A small feather works for applying veining in the color of your choice, usually a darker shade than the other colors. Experiment on samples and when you have the effect you want, let the paint dry well and then spray with clear sealer or apply a liquid gloss acrylic such as Mod Podge to give the piece a polished-marble shine.

Susan at the White Rabbit's House

FAUX CRACKLE...

Step 1: Paint base coat on surface in an earth tone.....grey, green, brown, dark red....your choice, in a semi-gloss acrylic. Let dry. You can use a hair dryer if you like.

Step 2: Paint on even layer of Hide Glue (dilute with water to paint consistency) over entire surface, cross hatching as you go....meaning; paint over surface in both directions. Hide Glue is available at a good hardware store, furniture restorers use it for lacquer work. ) Let dry, very important! ok to use hairdryer.

Step 3: Now the magic! paint over entire surface with latex paint.... in a light color, such as white or cream....you can use small roller for best results.....now watch! craaaaaackle! let dry overnight.

Step 4: polyurethane or spray varnish to seal. You can test entire process on piece of foam core first, experimenting with different colors write your "recipes" on the back.

Sde Forest

Another way to create "marble": An old trick from Girl Scout craft projects....(from an old Girl Scout)....You'll need oil base paints, preferably enamel, which can be hard to find.

But the paint used on models may work. Just don't try it with water-based paint (because it will mix with the water.) Paint the object the base color you want and let it dry thoroughly. Fill a small throwaway container (large enough so your object will fit) with a couple of inches of water. A foil baking pan will work. Drop blobs of two or three colors of paint into it. Use a toothpick, craft stick, coffee stirrer or something similar to swirl

the paint around on top of the water until you have a pattern you like. Don't cover the surface of the water completely, leave spaces with just water between the colors. Then dip one side of your object, just touching the surface of the water enough to pick up the paint. Repeat with the other sides. (You may have to let one side dry, then do the others, depending on how your object is shaped.) If the colors get too thin, you can add more paint and swirl it around some more. I tried this once years ago with tube oil paints thinned with linseed oil and it works, but not as well as the enamel did.

Nancy in Indiana

Plaster moldings: This would be very authentic for Victorian architecture. Many of the "wood" cornices and such were "wood grained" plaster. For miniatures, Hydrocal is finer and retains more detail than ordinary plaster of Paris. In the USA it is usually available through model railroad suppliers. Look into purchasing in quantity - it is much more affordable than the small bags which are simply repackaged and marked up ridiculously.

For molds, RTV works well if poured carefully over patterns well coated with mold release. Everybody has their own favorites so check your local art supply and (again) look at commercial quantities as a possible way of saving over the long run though most RTV does have a relatively short shelf life even unmixed.

For my plaster moldings, I "paint" the first layer into the molds to assure no surface bubbles, pour about half way and then add a strip of precut gauze for added strength before pouring the remainder. Slightly overfill the molds and then sandpaper away the excess after all is very-very thoroughly cured. Do not use wood or metal stiffeners as the widely different coefficients of climatic expansion and recession will cause cracking and separation with time.

Installing plaster cornices (for example) I usually glue to the wood shell or right over wallpaper with Elmer's white glue. Cope and overlap/underlap at corners rather than mitering. Paint AFTER all is in place but allow at least a month of cure time after casting prior to any glue or paint.

Mel K. Las Vegas

Wonderunder-foamcore: I have not used WonderUnder on foam core, but I have used a product called "Heat and Bond". I attended an event that we build a box that looked like a present - but one side dropped down to use as a floor for a room. I built the structure and glued it together and then ironed on fabric with Heat & Bond. I assume that I did not have any warpage because the structure was already built and it adhered to the foam core quite easily without the iron being on it for very long. The product is used for appliqués on fabric. It's can be bought by the yard at fabric stores, Wal-Mart-- or also purchased in 5 Yard packages. It comes in regular and "lite" - I used regular, but I'm sure lite would work just as well. You just iron it on to the under side of the fabric, remove the paper and iron the fabric on the foam core.

Patty Johnson-- From beautiful Campbell's

Wonderunder-foamcore: I've done it to "brick" a building with an iron (a Sweetheart kit bashed with foamcore addition). Worked fine, but I do recommend that you follow the directions exactly for temperature and pressure, and practice on some foamcore scraps first to get the technique down. That's about as explicit as I can be; it's been a few years since I did it. Subsequently I've mostly done "stucco" houses with fleckstone because it's even quicker and very pretty.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Wonderunder-foamcore: - all I can tell you about trying to iron Wonder-Under onto foam core is that when I tried it, I warped my foam core. Perhaps the iron was too hot - but it made the foam swell.

Jeanette in Wisconsin

Wonderunder-foamcore: Here's a tip using Wonder-under. I have been ironing it to the reverse side of print or plain fabric, and then ironing it right on to the foam-core that forms the outer box for the projects that use a picture mat and forms inner and outer boxes for a framed scene, like the ones that Cat Wingler (One of my favorite Artists) taught at the Nationals in Ky. last Summer. It works great, just don't hold the iron in one place too long, and make sure it is pressed to the fabric before you iron it to the foam-core. I iron it completely around the box, and make it look like a gift package, and any loose edges, I add some Bond-Grip glue.

Jan

Wonderunder-foamcore: We did this in a club project several years ago...a member was teaching a wonderful, 1/2-scale 'tree house') the house sat atop the trunk! We used wonder-under to apply fabric 'wallpapers' to the foamcore before assembling the house...I only remember that we needed to use a lower heat setting, because high heat would melt the foam. Maybe you can practice on a few fabric and foamcore scraps to get it right?

Laura in OKC

Using acrylic paint:

1. Make sure you are using the best quality paint available. You didn't say what you are painting. Furniture? Walls?

2. If you are getting brush strokes, you are applying too much paint at a time. Put some paint on a palette and add a little water by dipping your brush into your water basin and mixing it with your paint. Do not overload your brush with paint.

3. Get an assortment of high/artist quality brushes.

4. I have never gotten away with only one coat of paint. You can assume that you will be using at least two THIN coats. I always lightly sand between coats using very fine sandpaper (800). After the last coat, a light sanding with a piece of brown paper bag gives the piece a satin finish. The more thin coats you apply, the deeper and richer the finished project with be. Make sure the piece is allowed to dry completely between coats of paint and sanding!

Kathy in Wisconsin

Ceiling: You can use joint compound or you can use a fine grain sand ceiling texture, either one works good. The joint compound will give you a more smooth appearance while the ceiling texture more rough texture. Both can be painted.

Joni

Ceiling: I bought some white wall paper that had a small embossed (textured) design and glued that to my ceiling. The roll was on their "sale" table (probably the last of that line) and was not expensive. That worked well for me.

Viola

Paper Ceilings: Someone asked what could be used. I had some embossed white wallpaper (partial roll from a yard sale) , the kind that can be painted or left white. It's fairly durable and the pattern is swirley - you can pretend it's plaster. It took paint really well. I was able to cut the pattern out so that it was centered. I painted mine Buttermilk.

Theresa again, from MD

Ceilings: None of my ceilings is plain. I use all shapes and colors of picture mats over paper lace or textured paper to create interesting ceilings. Some are one with wood slats (like the ones we had in the house I grew up in). If there is a ceiling fixture, there is a medallion or centerpiece around it. Sometimes I use mirrors!

Karen

Ceilings: my favorite thing for plaster looking ceilings is paint mixed with Skid-Tex. Skid-Tex is the stuff used to make painted surfaces non-slippery. You can mix in as much as you want in your paint to get the look you want and it doesn't flake off.

Carole Pierce in TN

Ceilings: we usually put stucco on our ceilings and they look like the popcorn ceilings in so many houses today. We've even used it in old-style houses and it looks fine there, too. We like to do the ceilings before we start building the houses. If you try to do it after building, cut V's in the ends of a large cardboard carton, put the house in it upside down so you don't have to stand on your head to do the ceilings.

Dottie in Tucson

Glittery Ceiling: There is hairspray on the market that has a glitter in it. Maybe you can spray your ceiling with that.

Dorothée

Inlay Strips: You may want to check out http://www.constantines.com for inlay strips. They have a pretty good variety of assembled veneer inlays. Free catalog also.

Brian