# Drying time for plaster bandage



## ianb26 (Dec 29, 2014)

Hi there,

I have a problem with plaster bandage not drying properly. I had a "lone blank area" to fill and thought Iwould make a lake scene. It's quite a small area that I had to fill. One side was elevated about 50mm and the other side varies from about 40mm to 15mm. The 50mm side is the elevated side of the layout. I packed the area under the elevated area with screwed up wet newspaper and let it attempt to dry out for about 2 hours then I laid the plaster bandage over it - the paper was still damp at the time. This was about 4:00pm Saturday afternoon, and it is now midday Monday (I'm in Australia). A majority of it stills feels damp.

I thought it should have dried after at least 24 hours. Would using a hot air gun or hair dryer help without doing to much damage. I am attaching a couple of photos of the area concerned.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

FWIW. The layout is located in one half of the garage.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

The wet newspaper and the dewpoint is slowing the drying time. I've never had it take over 24 hours. Sometimes it's still cool to the touch because water is still evaporating, but it's solid after 24 hours.

I've never used a hair dryer and I don't know if rapid heating will cause it to crack.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

I would give it some help with a heat gun.
If it happens to crack you can just patch it up.
When I use the plaster cloth I use Sculptamold to fill in the little holes that are left.
A thin coat over the top of the plaster cloth fills it in, and if you want you can form in some rocks with it.

This stuff, Amaco Sculptamold | BLICK Art Materials

Sometimes mine will take a while to dry but like said 24 hours should be enough time.
One thing I didn't do was wet the newspaper, after the plaster dries I pull out most of the crumpled newspaper.
The way I see it is that you don't need it there anymore? 
And it could be a fire hazard in certain areas of the layout?


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## flyboy2610 (Jan 20, 2010)

The wet newspaper is slowing the drying process. It will dry, but it will take more time. Patience, young Padawan!


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

A heat gun might be too much, but I have successfully used a hair dryer on Sculptamold, which is similar. The problem is both the added moisture from the newspaper and humidity in the air.


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