Plantings: You can use GE Silicone II, Brown, for your planting base. It is soft, easily pliable, and when it sets up it is firm (hard). But the best thing is that it will not shrink or crack as many of the other caulking products on the market do. After you place it, you can spread your "dirt" or "grass" and it will adhere very nicely. Remove the excess by vacuuming (carefully). Place your plants and flowers using tweezers.

Sir David

Footprints in the sand: For the footprints in the sand, I would recommend coating the entire surface, a small workable area at a time, with Dap caulking in almond color. Spread out the surface and pour sand over it while the caulk is wet and then press the footprints into the sand covered caulk. The caulk will not show through the sand since it is close to the same color. If it oozes through in spots, just sprinkle it with a little more sand. When it is all done, turn it over and the loose sand will fall off. This is a good technique for sandboxes, too. You can imbed sand pails and other toys, or children in the sand.

Marilyn

Spray foaming stuff: I think the foaming landscape stuff you are looking for is an insulation material. I use it for landscaping around my dh and roomboxes. It comes in a tube like caulking compound or liquid nails and you need a gun-type applicator to apply it. It goes on as a foam and hardens into a Styrofoam type material. You can then poke holes in it like they did for the wreath project on TV. It's actually used for insulation in areas like around pipes and in cracks, etc. It is available at any hardware store or a store like Walmart or K Mart.

Judi

Different Materials Available for Water: I guess I've used just about everything there is out there for water now and have had good results from it all. The "Easy Water" (the beads you melt) is really fun to use and because my water areas are supposed to be dark and murky (example river banks and such) it's fine if it discolors. Just be aware it's very hot and trying to stand a clay figure up in it can be a bit tricky because it will soften the already baked clay and he will collapse. I find it easier to mix more accurately doing the half and half bit with the Envirotex than adding a few drops of hardener to the resin. (I'm just a bit measuring impaired I guess) I've also used the wonderful stuff in a tube that Lady Bug has and for small areas (ponds/birdbaths) it is just absolutely the best. You can also have it drip as with fountains very easily.

Jane Ratcliffe

Clear caulking; To avoid bubbles; examine each cartridge through the glass-like side of the cartridge. If there are any bubbles in the caulking pick another one. If you are going to use a caulking gun, squeeze slowly. I never made a waterfall from the stuff but Ahhh the ever present but... After I was finished using the caulking gun, I put it aside and the next day I noticed that a drip of about 2" was firmly hanging from the spout of the cartridge. So I say yes there are great possibilities for the waterfall.

Bob in Delray Beach FL

Making hills - Get some 2 inch thick foam insulation board at a home improvement place like Home Depot. This is used for insulating real houses and comes in a 4' x 8' sheet for about $20. It is easy to cut with a sharp kitchen knife and can be glued together with Liquid Nails, a construction cement that comes in tubes. You'll need a caulking gun to dispense it. Also get some bamboo skewers to hold everything together till the glue dries.

Cut the foam to the general shape and glue it. Final shaping can be done after the glue dries. When you have everything shaped, you will want it cover it with a thin layer of Clay Mache. When that dries, I use Creative Paper Clay to form the rocks and strata and the stream bed. For water, I use Enviro-Tex Lite, a two part resin and put it on in thin layers of about 1/8 inch. Before the last layer is completely set up, I texture it to look like moving water and use a little white paint after it dries for foam.

For ground cover; grass and small plants. You can use either AMSI ground foam or Woodland Scenics foam. I prefer AMSI since it doesn't deteriorate with age.

Rik Pierce

Bunkum. oakum? For log cabins. Here in the US we have a substance called oakum which I'm sure is the same thing as bunkum. It is oiled (tarred) hemp fiber that is used for caulking boats and in plumbing. In the navies of the world it was used on the old wood decked ships to pound into the seams of the deck (and hulls) to seal them up. It was also used in a tight twine to wrap life lines before wrapping them with canvas. In plumbing it is uses to pound into the bell of a cast iron pipe joint before melted lead is poured in to make the joint tight and secure. You can still buy it at hardware stores in a little coiled rope about 1/8" in diameter for wrapping old faucet stems as a packing. If you want to use it for miniatures don't get the product that has lead or graphite mixed in it. It is messy and hard to use for minis.

Bill Hudson

Foam core for building: I do not know what size your scene is.

If it is larger than a standard sheet of paper I strongly recommend you reinforce it. You may gently insert rods made of wire coat hangers or glue a wood cross brace to the underside or frame the piece (see #3). I remind you that we live in Florida and foamcore absorbs moisture. Please reinforce so your project does not warp.

Edges may be finished by sealing with caulk applied directly from the caulking gun and smoothed with a putty knife-lightly sand when dry-stain or paint as desired or glue a coat of the same groundcover you are using in your scene. I do not recommend hot glue for the edges of foamcore. It will melt the foam and damage the strength of your edges.

When building architectural models, we simply seal the edge with a thin strip of poster board.

I often use picture frame molding. This makes a great "frame" that makes it easier to pick up the piece and move it.

Becky

Chinking for Log cabins: when I chinked my loghouse I bought caulking made by "frost king" it looks like a solid roll but actually its a strip that pulls apart in 1/4" strips, just place and push in seam then using a slim flat paring knife go along both edges and it smoothed out evenly and flat. Made a big difference in appearance.

Alice Prosky

Log Cabin Chinking: HBS sells logs made of pine that are perfect for facing a dollhouse shell.

When I put together a log cabin room box for the catalog, I made the chinking but cutting 1/4" strips of foam core. I painted them with ivory enamel paint, glued them with the foam facing out between the logs and then pressed them with the flat end of a cuticle stick. The foam compressed and the edges spread out unevenly and it had just the right look. My e-buddy, Pat Townsend, came up with a better idea: She used real caulk and squeezed it out into lines on wax paper and let it dry. She then was able to peel up the lines of caulk and press them between her logs. She said it looked great.

Sally Cook-Thomas

Chinking Log Cabins: Of course each region would use a slightly different mixture according to what is available at the site. Mostly it is a combination of clay or soil, grass or straw or even tree leaves and small twigs. Sometimes dung was added for stability.

The cabin I grew up in was chinked with clay mixed with straw. When that dried it was coated over with a plaster of pure clay. Then planks of bark were pushed into the wet clay so it acted like mortar to hold the bark in place. The bark acted like shingles keeping the rain (It rains a lot in Oregon) from washing away the chinking.

Chinking in miniature can be done using paintable caulk available from local hard ware or home improvement store. The caulk comes in several colors, Off white, brown, white etc. Cut the end of the tube off at an angle and as small as possible and still get a good stream of caulk. Run this between the logs. Smooth the caulk out with a wet finger then to add realism sprinkle with dirt or model rail road dirt. Some of the Eastern and even Southern log cabins were chinked with white (Lime) as was used in plaster.

Bill Hudson

Board Materials: Matte Board is a heavy card stock used to mat pictures. It is not meant to be painted or glued. Illustration board is a heavy card stock that is meant to be used for posters, signs or graphics and is meant to have paint, ink or glue on it. Foam core is two pieces of lighter card stock with a layer of foam between them. It can be painted but will warp easily. Gator board is a plaster type board with a fine foam between them and it used by museums and graphic artists for signs etc. It is meant to be painted, inked or glued so it will not warp easily. Obviously, illustration board and Gator board are best for building. Illustration board comes in two thickness’ and so does Gator board. The late Gail Vaughan used foam core which is cheaper than Gator board when she made a wall that was meant to look like adobe type building because she covered it with a layer of joint compound which strengthened it.

June in London Ontario Canada

Resin casting info: Please checkout the products at http://www.smoothon.com. They have a very good white casting resin that is water-thin (no -bubbles) and an easy to use silicone r TV kit that is mixed one to one and doesn't need to be de-aired. They sell both items packed as a sampler. It's a really good deal and it includes a good how-to manual. The previous digest dealt with fireplaces. I've done miniature stonework for about 15 years. Check-out my website at http://www.vintageminiatures.com for samples). For a fireplace, plaster white glued to a wooden block or box, then carved when dry, gives the most realistic effect. It can be textured with a wire brush and carved very accurately with dental tools or chisels. I also like Durham's, but it is hard to work when dry and must be worked quickly even with vinegar or milk added to slow the set-up. An easy material to work with is Das Pronto, an Italian paper clay that air-dries. I roll out an even slab, white glue it to an armature and let it air dry. It carves nicely when hard, but is softer than plaster and somewhat flaky. It can be rolled on a mold for texture and drapes well over odd shapes. Thanks for listening and for the good info I've seen so far.

Mark Motich

Clear caulking for water: I know where you can get that perfect clear bathtub caulking! It makes fabulous water and waterfalls. Sue Thwaite is the source for it! LadyBug can handle your request. Her website is

http://www.ladybug-fairies.com

Her email addy is lbug1124@erols.com She's in and out cuz this is the mini show season, so if she doesn't get right back to you, you'll know why. Her husband is monitoring her email and will make sure she gets it. I'm not sure about the price (its one of the supplies that isn't on her website yet) but I know its way under 10.00. This stuff really works! I squeezed the stuff into a waterfall last March and its clear and wonderful. If you "tease" it a bit while it's drying (read: stir it up), you get a nice natural looking ripple effect.

Carrie McKinley

Non-yellow Water Caulk: Sue Ann Thwaite (LadyBug) carries some great clear caulk in a tube on her site. http://ladybug-fairies.com

Anne Gerdes

Wiring Foam Core Boxes: When I wire in foam core, I make a long needle from some stiff wire with the end bent into an eye. I thread a piece of wire through the eye and run the needle all the way down through the middle of the foam, down a wall, and run the other wire in its own place, no need for insulating what is in the wall that way. You can do the same thing with the drill bit someone mentioned, just two holes instead of one.

Please remember all joints should be soldered and any joint that might be able to touch another bare joint should be insulated with shrink tubing or silicon caulk. Electrical tape is of such poor quality these days that I don't recommend it, and it is bulky besides.

Barb Jones

Wiring Foam Core: I hard-wired my half scale house. The house is shown on p.58 of the current issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene Magazine (website is www.emfpublishing.co.uk). The problem is how to get the wire through the walls. For this I used a long drill bit which I believe is called an "aircraft extension" for some reason. It is an 1/8"bit with a long shaft, probably about 6". I used a cordless drill which is not as powerful as a corded one, and drilled through the foam wherever I wanted a wire to go. If the wall or ceiling is held up to the light, the path of the drill can be seen. In my house all the wires exit the walls or ceilings under the staircase where they are hooked up to barrier strips, and the lead-in wire joins on the other side of the strip.

As for fire, it is not any more dangerous than plywood. Regular Foamcore, which is covered with a paper, might be dangerous to wire. Gatorfoam is covered with a plaster-like material. If two wires do not touch it is unlikely there would be a fire. To add more wire to a lamp or bulb, for instance, stagger the solder joints. By this I mean to cut one wire shorter than the other and that will mean the joints are not near each other. Then insulate the joint. This can be done using silicone sealer to surround the joint, or use shrink tubing from an electronic supplier. Use a transformer that is rated for the number of bulbs being used. Count a fluorette bulb as 3 bulbs. If the transformer is not rated as having a thermal protector then it is safer to install a fuse holder in one wire of the lead-in wire.

My house was shown in La Musee de la Civilisation in Quebec City for a year with the lights on all day six days a week and only two burned out in that time. At least, I presume they are burned out as I haven't had an opportunity to check them.

June

Resealing the caulk tube. I have tried the nail trick with less than satisfactory results in the past. Don't know what type of nail I used but it rusted and discolored the caulking. Now I use an electrical connector like you use to connect two wires together. Get the right size and screw it on tightly. I learned this on the House Doctor show on HGTV and it really works!

Linda in Georgia