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08-05-2010, 09:27 AM
| #1 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
|  False Rocks?
Down here in Fl, it gets pretty warm, as well as wet. We'd like to be able to crawl despite what Mother Nature is in the mood for. I have some indoor space, but not allot, and I'm wondering if there's some sort of false rocks(plastic, I dunno, something lighter and easier to deal with than actual rocks) so I can build something to play on, preferably reconfigurable so we can keep it interesting. I've seen plenty of false rock waterfalls, but nothing beyond the border of a small pond. I've seen rock climbing walls indoors, there was a Patagonia store in town with one. So is there a product that resembles rock and rubble that would be fun to crawl on? Something friendly to being indoors.
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08-05-2010, 10:01 AM
| #2 |
| RCC Addict Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Tyler, TX
Posts: 1,619
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I have seen people using polyurethane foam to make rocks. You could also make plaster castings using card board and plaster cloth. |
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08-05-2010, 10:15 AM
| #3 |
| Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Who's asking?
Posts: 343
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There was a great post on here about a year ago by someone making light weight rocks out of old trash (cans,boxes, etc) and burlap strips soaked in thin set morter mix. Also check out the tutorial on the Axial website. |
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08-05-2010, 10:39 AM
| #4 |
| Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 29
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You can also use Great Stuff expanding foam on a couple sheets (or half sheets) of plywood. They will stack against a wall when not in use, and you can paint them if you want them to "look" realistic. You can vary the climbing angle to increase difficulty. Brian |
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08-05-2010, 11:01 AM
| #5 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
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Awesome! Thanks for the suggestions, keep'em coming. Nice to know there are some "Efficiently Priced" options to build a nice crawl course. Great Stuff foam is EVIL! lol Its ok as long as its dry! I like that idea best though, we can create all sorts of shapes and features, and then just paint it gray. I saw the Losi Micro crawler course, looked like a messed up fast food drink holder. I wonder how easy it is to mold something like that. I could take a big sheet of "something" to this place and make a few impressions:  |
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08-05-2010, 11:08 AM
| #6 |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: roland,ar
Posts: 5,981
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ive got a couple of these.. http://www.dekorraproducts.com/AllRocks.html #101 103 110 these are thick!  wont buckle,awesome detail. i found mine on ebay alot cheaper. get some 3m spray adhesive,fine sand. spray the adhesive,let set,shake out sand lightly. shake off excess. repeat. then spray it with color spray paint. |
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08-06-2010, 09:31 AM
| #7 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
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Well, after discussing and sorting options, we're gonna try something like this:  We(there are 4 of us that crawl here locally) each get a 4x8 sheet of plywood, and GO NUTZ with paper mache and a couple cans of construction foam. Then, we only have to line up hinges on each side, so they can be reconfigured any way we want. In that pic, you can see that with hinges and a couple saw horses, you can make endless variations of the course by lifting and lowering, moving and leaning the pieces. Four 4x8 sheets would make a nice sized course; indoors, and collapsible for storage. I'll take pics once we have something to look at. |
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08-06-2010, 09:50 AM
| #8 |
| ~THE SCALE SHOP~ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: KILLEEN TX
Posts: 10,056
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FLEECE + resin. cheap and easy.
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08-06-2010, 10:46 AM
| #9 | |
| Quarry Creeper Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Barrie, Ontario
Posts: 296
| Quote:
Has anyone tried this? I would love to see some pics. Our club is trying to come up with ideas for the winter months. We have some space at our local indoor track but the course has to be able to be put away after use. Last edited by Shaggy5050; 08-06-2010 at 10:47 AM. Reason: typo | |
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08-06-2010, 01:08 PM
| #10 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
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I do have two gallons of marine grade fiberglass resin, but it takes forever to dry. I think we'll have an easier time of it if we're just spraying stuff from a can onto a 4x8. We plan to try all this tomorrow, so I'll report back what I find, with pics.  We're faced with the same issue, it must be able to collapse and store away.
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08-06-2010, 03:43 PM
| #11 | |
| I wanna be Dave  Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,236
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Resin is expensive! I was going to try that route but now i think i am going to just use some concrete. Sure it wont be as light but im ok with that. You can get a big bag for like $10. Dont forget that you will have to reinforce if you use the fleece and resin. Sure it will hold up to a crawler but if you (or a friend who doesnt know) step on it it will crack for sure. Quote:
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08-07-2010, 01:36 PM
| #12 |
| Pebble Pounder Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 108
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I'm in the same situation, living in FL in an apartment. I went with a 3'x6 section of my balcony and lined it with landscaping block, then filled it in with chunks of broken concrete, plywood ramps, and cardboard boxes with balled up newspaper ducttaped to it. It ain't pretty, but it fulfils the need. I don't imagine it's more than 400 lbs total weight.
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08-07-2010, 05:46 PM
| #13 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
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Well, we got started on it today. It was raining, so that pretty much killed any shot at crawling on the real rocks. Here's what we did: http://z6.invisionfree.com/Bug_Bite_...?showtopic=837 We plan to build 3 more sections. This first was a couple things. Its an experiment to see what works, how far each can of foam goes, etc... So far so good, so if you want to check our progress just check bugbiteracing.com |
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08-07-2010, 05:56 PM
| #14 | |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,236
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08-07-2010, 07:19 PM
| #15 | |
| Newbie Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 29
| Quote:
What you can do is spray some spots on the plywood, and let it set. Then if you need to add more, you can easily do so. Acetone will eat Great Stuff quickly, but it's hard to control for shaping. Brian | |
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08-07-2010, 10:58 PM
| #16 | |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
| Quote:
 I forgot about that. Its our team forum, here are the pics:  The bucket was just there to hold the cardboard in place:     | |
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08-07-2010, 11:03 PM
| #17 | |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
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 We're gonna mess with it tomorrow too, so I'll have updated pics and maybe even vids. We plan to make it look allot better. We have several different earth tone and rock colors to shade and paint it. Its really funny looking right now... like a giant alien sneezed on it.  | |
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08-08-2010, 07:28 PM
| #18 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ft Walton Beach
Posts: 11
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We pretty much finished it today. I got a quick video, will have more pics soon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSTL6OGV8GI |
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08-08-2010, 07:32 PM
| #19 |
| Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Tulsa
Posts: 38
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Looks good! One thing i found on my little course i made is that of you find a place that needs a touch more traction use some fleckstone spray paint.
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08-08-2010, 07:39 PM
| #20 |
| I wanna be Dave Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: ...the burning end of the rope.
Posts: 5,013
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find a local STUCCO guy or company to spray the hole thing with outdoor use rubberized Stucco material and youll be golden
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