First we have a nice simple little project to get things rolling here. There are not many places in the UK, or from what I have seen around Europe, where you wont find old stone water troughs, either in use as ornamental features or for putting decorative plants in around the garden or in village streets. So this seemed a nice little project to start with. Here is a pic of the mainly finished item, I will then go on to show how I did it.
I do have a problem with objects of an irregular shape, most things I make seem to come out too square and even, so I looked around for a material that would not be too stable or hold it' shape too well. A scrap of corrugated card seemed to fit the bill quite well, so an open box shape of approximately 1.25" by 1" by 0.5" was cut out and stuck together, like so.
Once set, a combination of toilet tissue and PVA glue was used to cover it, round the edges and cover the holes in the ends of the card where the corrugations are. This gave a nice irregular shape, as though it might have been carved from a solid block of stone.
Now the next stage still has some room for experimentation. I took the easy route and used Greenscenes textured paint to cover it, the same stuff that I used for the stonework on the building. Once set, this stuff is rock hard and although I havent tried it yet, I think this trough would actually hold water.
I quite like the look of it, but I feel it has a bit too coarse a texture for a trough that could be hundreds of years old. I did apply the paint with a paintbrush, but with hindsight, think laying it on with a spatula or similar tool, might have worked better, maybe I will try another later.
Thinking of other materials for those who cant get the Greenscene paint easily, I think it should be possible to make up something similar from ingredients we already have. A mixture of plaster, PVA or white glue and latex/emulsion paint, should give a similar result, I would think, maybe even Papier Mache could work. If anybody has any further suggestions, dont be afraid to say.
One final pic, for the moment, it just has some greenery from Woodland Scenics Foliage Clumps placed temporarily in it, until I can work out how to do some pretty flowers

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Comments, feedback and suggestions welcome, I hope this becomes an interactive thread with input from others, for the benefit of all.