How to Make Rubber Molds for your Diorama

One of the most realistic things you can add to a diorama is rocks and wall formations. But they can be a bit of a challenge. You don't want to sculpt them yourself. You do have some options though. You can buy pre- made wall formations which look really nice for castles and various structures. But they can get quite expensive - especially if you need more than one or two of them.

You can also buy rubber molds of rock formations which are great but you are limited to the rock formations that they have available.

Your best option for creativity and for looking great is to make your own rubber molds. This means you can make a mold of just about anything you want to put in your diorama. It can be interesting rock formations that you find or it can be a piece of stone wall that you find or that you purchase one of. You buy one wall formation, make a mold then you can cast as many of them you want in Hydrocal or Plaster of Paris.

Here is a quick overview of how to do it:

The picture above shows everything you need. On the left is a bottle of Latex Rubber. This is made by a company called Woodland Scenics. You simply brush it onto what you want to make a mold of. Let it dry then brush on another layer. Let that dry then do a third layer and you are done. You can do more layers if you want your mold to be more durable. Three layers is the recommended minimum. If you want to make it really strong you can add a layer of cheese cloth or thin bandage material after the second layer dries. You brush the third layer of latex right over it. It seals into the mold and makes it very strong yet stays flexible.

Latex Rubber, 16oz

You can see I have brushed the latex rubber onto a castle wall formation. That's the big square glob! That castle wall I am making a mold of is very similar to the white wall formation you see on the left of the picture.

The yellow/brownish looking thing is a rubber mold that I have already made. Now it is ready for me to pour the Hydrocal or Plaster of Paris into. I can use this mold over and over again and make myself lots of castle wall.

Of course it works just as well for rock formations and in the picture you can see some rock molds that I have bought (they are black)

Safety Note: Some people are allergic to Latex Rubber so exercise caution and wear safety gloves and don't let it come in contact with your skin.