I did everything with washes, trying to follow Dave Frary's book. I used Fusion Fiber on cardboard to hold the castings. I did have trouble matching the fiber color to blend in. I tried some with Sculptamold, but I found that it does not color with a wash like plaster. I think paint would be fine. I used cheap artists acrylic from WalMart in dilutions suggested by Woodland Scenics. The base color was just 2 tsp. India Ink in 16 oz. of wet water. Let me say that I am not even close to Dennis Brennan or Dave Frary, but if you don't get to close.........