finishing plaster on an irregular surface

[RKB]

OK, I know I may be going out of my depth here, but here goes.....
I'm refurbing a cottage, and am pretty efficient at applying skim plaster to either base coat or plasterboard. My problem relates to a chimney breast that needs a cottage appearance, i.e. not regular. The problem I can't get my head around is what tool do I use to finish the plaster? A steel float is no good, as it can't follow the hollows. I think I need a flexible "thing" to follow the contours, but strong enough to move the plaster around.
Can anybody put me out of misery on this?
Thanks

 

[oilman]

Using lime plaster will be a lot easier than modern (and inappropriate) materials. You can use a wooden float, and round the corners so there are no sharp lines . There is lots of information about lime palster, and it's easy stuff to use, though a bit time consuming perhaps.