Darjit                  

Darjit for Cooler Areas!

By Jennifer McGee

 A heavy duty 1/2’’ drill and mixing blade

(Mud Paddle) is what I use to mix the Darjit.

 You should be able to find this mixing blade

 in the sheetrock department of your

hardware store.

     Darjit can also be mixed in a

stucco/concrete mixer.

(Whatever you use, mix VERY WELL!)

Here is an example of a wire bench armature made out of hardware cloth,

I will cover it with the Darjit mixture in a two coat system.

Later I will mosaic portions of the bench and attach small sculpted birds perching on it.

(Rebar can be added for extra support)

Here is another example of a wire armature,

A hippo head that I will later cover with the Darjit mixture and then turn it into a bird feeder.

Recipe for High strength plaster for exterior use and wet areas "First Coat":

1-2 parts fine plasterers sand, 1 1/2-2 parts cement, 1 part darjit,1 small handful Polypropylene fibers per 5 gallon bucket, 1 1/2-2 quarts of acrylic adhesive.

 I prefer to use old recycled acrylic paint; it keeps it out of landfills and is usually free.

(Do Not use metallic paints in the mix)

 In a 5 gallon bucket add your Darjit, then sand, then your cement and then your paint.

Add some water to your mixture in the bucket, slowly mix with your drill, then add a little more water at a time, if needed, to your mix until you have achieve the right consistency( cookie dough/ smooth peanut butter). Putting you foot on the lip of the bucket will help secure it and help keep the bucket from spinning, but watch out because it can get messy (Don't where your good shoes or clothes).

As the mixture slake (sets up) it become thicker and sometimes is hard to work with, so you might need to add a little more water. Be careful not to add to much water, you want to be able to smooth it over your form/armature, without it falling off. You will have a little more than an hour (depending on the weather) to use up the mixture in the bucket.

If you do not finish the first coat, or need to complete the first coat in stages, or if the Darjit (first coat) become dry, wet the area well where you plan on adding/ continuing the Darjit mixture.

(I use a concrete adhesive liquid to dampen the area I plan on attach to)
asterers sand, 2

Here is an example of the first coat of Darjit, on this goat armature. As you see the Darjit doesn't need to be thick, but it can be up to 3" thick on the vertical (if you need to build it up more you can wait until the Darjit stiffens up and add a little more(just be careful not to add to much where it falls off).

I did not use polypropylene fibers in this application.

Here is an example of the first coat of Darjit on this bridge.

Poly fibers were added to increase the strength.

The first coat is thicker than the goat armature and built up in areas.

On this side of the bridge it has the finished coat of Darjit. It has color oxides added into to finished coat, it was applied be sprinkling the oxide power on top on the mixed Darjit in a 5 gallon bucket and then plunging the mixing bit up and down a few time in the bucket, then a quick spin with the drill to incorporate it.  Next we applied the Darjit mixture with a metal rib to create a marbling effect.

The Recipe for Second coat

1 shovel of Darjit, 1 Shovel of sand, 1 large shovel of cement, 1 1/2 to 3 quarts old latex paint and some water. (The more paint the more weatherproof it will be)

MIX VERY WELL!!!!

Some water will need to be added to get to the consistency of smooth

cookie dough/peanut butter.

You can mosaic over Darjit, as shown here with the fish.

Darjit can also be painted or you can leave it in its natural state.

Mosaic pieces can be pressed into the Darjit while still wet as shown here on this happy bird.

A large piece of mirror was placed in the finish coat of Darjit, to create a secret garden effect. 

This Lion waterfall was created with oxide, wire and cement armatures.

Mirrors were added to give an illusion of holes in the wall, looking as if a secrete garden were on to other side.

                        This is a waterfall that was created with a wire armature and Darjit.

 I will later go back and add color with oxide powers and acrylic paint.

The whale tail has already been colored by black oxide powders.

Flooring can also be created using Darjit.

For an added precaution, you may choose to add a concrete seal to exterior applications to help prevent cracking that some times comes along with extreme weather (freeze/thaw) conditions.

Thank you for your interest and support!

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