Herb you could have fooled me, this looks great. It does appear older looking, but it also looks more like stone.

Cheers Jando

I'd say that looks PDG (pretty darn good) Herb.

Hi Herb! all your lantern are fantastic. My hypertufa pieces are very weathered looking and moss can grow on them very fast in our wondreful liquid sunshine! What was you recipe for the hypertufa? I tried many different, your looks very nice. Andrea

Thanks everybody!

I haven't decided which mix I like best. Measured by volume I find 3 parts Vermiculite, 1 part sand, 1 part Portland cement & 1 1/2 parts water O.K. This gives a crumbly mix that barely sticks together when squeezed in my fist, and that has to be pushed into the mold.

What I absolutely avoid is a mix that's gone muddy.

I'm also going to try mixes with more Vermiculite. I think they may need a hint more water.

The next lantern's going to be between 12 and 14 inches high, but that's a few weeks away. I'm still working on the molds for it.

Here's a picture of a smaller one (about 10 inches high) sitting out in the garden waiting to see if it'll grow moss.

Small, hypertufa Misaki lantern

Sorry the picture in that last post got deleted. Here's a later version.
This one's just over a foot high & it's made of 1 part Portland cement, 1 part peat moss, and 2 parts Vermiculite (all by volume). I've since put it somewhere shady and am waiting to see if it grows moss.

Click here to see it