Review: Shaper Sheet from Woodland Scenics
The exhibition layout is progressing and I have started to add scenery to my modules. The scenery base is made from Woodland Scenics Shaper Sheet (Woodland Scenics #C1179 18").
Shaper Sheet is a great product for your scenery base. It is self supporting and when covered in plaster it forms a solid shell for your scenery.
Shaper Sheet comes in rolls. One roll is either 22.5 cm or 45 cm wide and 182 cm long (9" / 18", 72").
Shaper Sheet is made from some sort of flexible metal covered with a fabric layer that is meant to blend with the plaster.
Woodland Scenics recommends that you use Shaper Sheet Plaster (Woodland Scenics C1180) with the Shaper Sheet. I bought some of the Shaper Sheet plaster and it is really great. It flows very well and comes into every crack and corner of your Shaper Sheet base layer. When dry you have a rock solid terrain shell.
Shape Your Terrain Base
You simply shape the Shaper Sheet into the form you want your landscape to be in. The Shaper Sheet will hold this form. You can change it as many times as you want until you are happy with the result.
When I am happy with the result I glue the Shaper Sheet to the wooden frame using a hot glue gun. The manual say that you can also use the sticky part of the Shaper Sheet for this purpose, but I found it to be too unstable. Hot glue works every time.
Shaper Sheet has a sticky side. This allows you to put more pieces of Shaper Sheet together. You simply peel back the fabric to reveal the sticky side. You may have to scratch a bit with your finger to release the fabric.
When the fabric is loose you can come in with another piece of Shaper Sheet and put the two together. The sticky side creates a firm bond, so never throw away larger scrap pieces of Shaper Sheet since you can always use them together with other pieces.
I usually turn the sheet around and smoothen it from the metal side.
Since the Shaper Sheet is self supporting it makes the module very light weight and I do not have to mess around with supports or other annoying wood work.
When you have attached the Shaper Sheet to your layout frame you can cover it with Shaper Sheet Plaster or use plaster cloth.
Note: It is crucial that you follow the intructions with the Shaper Sheet Plaster. You mix it in ca. 2.5:1 ratio, meaning 2.5 part Shaper Sheet Plaster to 1 part water. This is very important. If you mix it too strong you will not get as much out of the plaster as you otherwise would. The terrain shell also becomes extremely hard and there is no way you can punch a hole for a tree or similar.
You have about 20 minutes working time with the Shaper Sheet Plaster.
Give Shaper Sheet a try on your next project. I think you will be happy with the result!
If you like what you saw, please feel free to check out my other reviews, tips and tricks on Woodland Scenics products.
Happy modelling!