My take on a DIY artificial scale course

[ZiG]

Well I decided I wanted something I could put in the basement that would have a decent amount of space, be reconfigurable, easy to store, and most of all, CHEAP!

First thing I did was set out around the house to find suitable materials. Found a bag of tile mortar that I figured would have the perfect rock texture, but not much else. Ok, time to set a budget. I figured I should be able to come up with something half decent for under $50, so $50 it is.


First thing I needed was some kind of base. I decided the best way to do this was to make a bunch of pieces that are more or less flat, but I can pile them up on top of other things and change the difficulty by making a steeper slope, sharp turns, etc. Went to Home Depot and picked up these foam panels for $6.38. Perfect size, cheap, and lightweight.

Next thing I did was grab 2 jugs of fiberglass resin for about $30. I was going to scounge some fabric from home but couldn't really come up with much. Last time I did fiberglass work I just used bedsheets from Value Village but that was kinda nasty, so this time I just went to the fabric store and got the thinnest fabric I could find. Spent $20 on a decently sized piece, about the same size as a king size bedsheet.


Ok, now I have my supplies, time to go to work. First thing I did was set out the foam panels and cover them with stuff. Balled up newspaper, cardboard, even used some old clothes because they seemed decently bumpy. In hindsight that was a bad idea because they didn't provide rigidity, so if anyone tries this I would recommend sticking to solid stuff only.

Anyway, here they are, with a bunch of junk taped to them. At least I don't have to take out the recycling anymore!



Once I was happy with the arrangement, I mixed up the resin and tore the fabric into sheets just a bit bigger than the foam. Wearing gloves (and make sure you wear thick gloves, not latex gloves like I did) I dipped the fabric into the resin, squeezed it a bunch to work it in, and then draped it over the panels. Be careful here to make sure the fabric follows the contours of the shapes, but don't spend TOO much time on it because you can make up for a bit of that in the next step. Let it cure overnight and you should wake up to a nice hard shell.



Ok, now that that's done, time to mix up the tile mortar. I didn't include this in the budget because I had it laying around from a recent bathroom reno, but you can get yourself a bag for $20-40 depending on what kind you go for. Mix it up a little bit on the watery side, and use a trowl to slap clumps of it onto the forms. Then take a paintbrush and spread it out. Be careful not to leave brushstrokes, don't want to make it look like it was painted on. If you need to go thicker in some spots you can, and this makes it really easy to change the dynamics of the terrain you're creating. I left it a bit chunky when I mixed it, which also added to the realism.

Time to let it dry again. This can take a while (2 whole days for me, because not only did I make it watery, I laid it on THICK. Used all of what I had left, which was almost a whole bag.

Now we have something like this.



Can't seem to get a closeup pic because it keeps getting blurry, but it looks pretty decent and feels like rough cement. LOTS of traction here. If you want a bit less you can always spray it with a bit of clearcoat paint, or you can add traction by sprinkling sand on it before it dries. Try to look at the peaks and edges, think about where you want high/low traction. The possibilities are endless.

Then I took them to the basement and laid them out in the storage room where they would be out of the way. You may notice I have one less panel in here than I did in the last picture.. Yeah, well, word of the wise, if you lay something out in your wife's side of the garage to dry, TELL HER BEFORE SHE COMES HOME. These things are no match for a 1:1 Subaru Forester.



And here's my Dingo enjoying her new trail.



As you use it, you fill find a few chunks breaking off here and there so just mind that you don't grind them into carpet or whatever. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the result. I went a tiny bit over budget because I overspent on the fabric, but oh well. I think this type of course would also be great for a mini/micro crawler/TR. If you don't have a well ventilated place to do fiberglass work (it really stinks the place up) one other option is plaster. The best thing to do in that situation is buy something like screen door mesh, lay it over the shapes, and slather it with the plaster. It'll be a bit heavier that way, but honestly they're so light anyway it doesn't matter. Total time commitment was only a couple hours, not including drying time.


Anyhow, figured I'd share. Hope it's helpful to someone.

[MikeChino]

Thats looking nice, i have been using the spray foam method, i like the way you can change it up GJ