Thread: Mausoleum Painting Question

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I have two questions that I am hoping someone can help answer.

1. I am building a mausoleum out of pink foam and wood. There are a few pieces of wood that will be visible. I would like to have the mausoleum look like stone. What kind of paint should I use that will work on foam and wood that will provide a stone like texture. I am looking for a subtle stone texture like granite. I know there are stone texture spray paints but that would be way to costly to use on this. I know lots of people use dry lock on their tombstones but I am not clear if that has a stone type texture to it as I have never used it.

2. Once the mausoleum is painted, I will want to weather it. I have looked at the tutorials on weathering tombstones. Would I use the same techniques on the mausoleum or is there a better approach for so large a prop. The tombstones techniques look great but they seem like it would take a really long time to use these techniques for the whole mausoleum. There may not be a good short cut that will still look good, but I thought I would ask.

Thanks for your help!

Use drylock, you can get it in white or grey. The white you can tint any color.

Thank you for the info on drylock. I will use that. Does anyone have any feedback on my second question?...Once the mausoleum is painted, I will want to weather it. I have looked at the tutorials on weathering tombstones. Would I use the same techniques on the mausoleum or is there a better approach for so large a prop? The tombstones techniques look great but they seem like it would take a really long time to use these techniques for the whole mausoleum. There may not be a good short cut that will still look good, but I thought I would ask.

Thanks for your help!

First off, to make wood not look like wood, you have to coat it with something to fill in the grain of the wood. That means a filler of some sort. I recommend getting some wood filler or wood putty like this:



Use a 1" or 2" putty knife and work the filler/putty into the grain. Cover it all. Don't worry about whether you need to sand it down to smooth it over, cuz old stone shouldn't be smooth!

Some more ideas you can use to help make things look more STONED, heh heh... monster mud! Get a bucket, pour in 1 gallon of exterior grade latex paint (check the mistint clearance table at your store) and mix in drywall compound mix. You'll basically be making a latex based mortar. Smear it on with whatever. I usually use nitrile gloves and smear it on by hand, then use a putty knife or spatula to flatten things a bit and work the mud.

Heat guns and old junky soldering irons work well to shape and sculpt and carve the foam. If you want cracks, try actually cracking the foam apart, roughing up the cracked surfaces, then gluing back together. It almost always looks more realistic than a handmade crack.

A squirt bottle filled with acetone works quicker and stronger than using spray paint to age the foam and rough up the surface. Remember that after you're done shaping and sculpting, do a base coat of paint to seal the foam, before you use spray paints again.

I used three gallons of Kilz 2 on my mausoleum this year. Though it was my first year making one it is huge! I did two coats, inside and out to keep out moisture. I used all cheap plywood so you prob. will not have a big an issue with foam. Then I used two gallons of exterior latex flat paint over the kilz. It took about three weeks for everthing to dry between coats and to assemble.

Thanks for the additional feedback. Myrealm you suggested using drylok. I did a little web research and I have a follow up question. Do you recommend I use the standard drylok to achieve a stone like finish or do I have to use the Designer Drylok? The designer drylok seems to be made to provide a granite like finish which is great. However, the cost per gallon for the designer dry lok at Home Depot is $45.99 a gallon. I would hate to spend $45.99 a gallon if I don't need to.