Movable rock crawling course

[tjcrawler]

Just throwing this out there. I play with my Nylint's on and off but I really don't have a place to crawl them. There aren't really any rocks around here and I don't feel like hauling them in to my yard. I am getting kinda tired of crawling laundry piles and couch cushions.

I searched around but couldn't find anything about homemade rock courses, I was thinking of maybe a plywood bottom with chicken wire or some other frame covered in paper mache, plaster or something light, then maybe glue a bunch of sand to it for traction. Maybe even do 4 or 5 smaller sections so you can mix them up and change the course around. Just throwing this out there, I need something I can setup in the den and then put it away in the garage when I'm done.

Anybody done something like this or want to? Sorry for the super long post and I'll shut the hell up now.

 

[murdock]

maybe you could look for big blocks of foam and cut it up, and spray paint it, the spray paint eats into the foam so it will make holes and textures ect. or hot glue glue sand pebbles, or sticks to it.

maybe spray foam... ?

 

[tjcrawler]

That's thinkin'. Maybe I will start to experiment and see what happens. My wife is a school teacher and she's always doing crap with arts and crap.....ur....craft. Maybe it's not so stupid after all...........nah.

 

[trickedoutTLT06]

for the traction thing...get it sprayed with rhino lining...it wont crack or chip off

 

[tjcrawler]

That's a good one too but it wouldn't be cheap. Now that rough-@$$ herculiner crap might work since it seems more like 4 grit sand paper when it's dry. Keep the ideas coming, maybe I'll start a project soon and post some pics. Right now I'm trying to get my 1:1 rig ready for a run on the nd of August.

 

[clod booster]

dude, this sounds perfect! reinforced plywood base, chicken wire w/ wood supports, carpet foam, then some foam you can maybe sand and dremel into the way you want, spray it with some glue put on some stics and dump on sand.

for a rocky texture use a spray in bed liner then spray paint it gray or brown for a dirt or rock color.

im really supprised i havent made these yet to sell.

 

[Jeepernick]

make a course out of ply wood, concrete, and foam

lay sound the wood

mount the foam to it

cut out the course

and pour on the concrete

my dad and I came up with this idea... didnt do it though,... just a dream for say

 

[tjcrawler]

Yeah I'm all excited now, I was going to make one big one out of a 4x8 but now I might make like four 4x4's so I can make them all different and swap them around to change up the layout. Plus 4 smaller pieces would be easier to put away than 1 huge one. If anyone tries it before I do let me know what you do. Right now with school, work and the 1,342 other hobbies I have I'm going to have to die to have some free time on my hands.

 

[tjcrawler]

make a course out of ply wood, concrete, and foam

lay sound the wood

mount the foam to it

cut out the course

and pour on the concrete

my dad and I came up with this idea... didn't do it though,... just a dream for say

Concrete = heavy

That's what the big boys use for their "man made courses" but I'm thinking about indoor stuff. It rains like every other day here and plus the mosquitoes here are like Pterodactyls.:shock:

 

[Jeepernick]

take it or leave it



NOTE

U dont have to make it 10inches thick

1/4 would do

1/8 would do

just covering the foam would do

and why couldnt u take it inside?

now I want to build one inside, just like i said above.... I have a big room

 

[tjcrawler]

take it or leave it



NOTE

U dont have to make it 10inches thick

1/4 would do

1/8 would do

just covering the foam would do

and why couldnt u take it inside?

now I want to build one inside, just like i said above.... I have a big room

Nothing against your idea, I'm probably wrong but at the scale I'm thinking of, even 1/8" thick seems heavy. I have a rather large 2nd livingroom also and most of the time it would probably stay in there. I would just like to be able to remove it if possible. Concrete by far is the best material to simulate "real" rock and may work great in some instances.

 

[Jeepernick]

make it is peices that hookt together?

takes a little more work but it would be lighter and fit through doors

 

[tjcrawler]

Yeah I'm all excited now, I was going to make one big one out of a 4x8 but now I might make like four 4x4's so I can make them all different and swap them around to change up the layout. Plus 4 smaller pieces would be easier to put away than 1 huge one. If anyone tries it before I do let me know what you do. Right now with school, work and the 1,342 other hobbies I have I'm going to have to die to have some free time on my hands.

Yeah that's what I was going for here, I like the idea of different layout possibilities.

 

[rbryant4]

wood frame, cover in spandex and fiberglass. rough texture for sure. and easy/quick to accomplish. this is what ill do in a few weeks.. if i get time. because all i have is a few concrete blocks and bricks laying around. fun for a while. then i just end up digging holes and piling rocks tryin to get higher off the ground and more obstacles. then i get bored of the same few blocks over and over

 

[tjcrawler]

Fiberglass might be cool, although I hate working with it:x .
BTW, I've been off the board for a while, when the hell are the 1/18th jeeps going to get super cheap like the biguns? I want to buy a few for farting around when I don't have room for the 3 big ones I have but I can buy a 1/6th for the same price right now. I'm waiting for the 1/18th ones to hit like $15-20 or so. Sorry just didn't want to start a new thread for a stupid quesiton.

 

[OniTora]

Oh, I didn't know this was in discussion... I've got yer answer. I've done it. I'll take a pic when I get home.

Take a thin sheet of pressboard.

Use yer chicken wire to get your basic shapes of obstacles, and screw down to the pressboard.

Use the insulation foam in a can- Stuff's great. Just coat about 1/2"-1" of the stuff over the chicken wire. You can mold it, and apply it differently for all sort of different semi-real looking effect.

Let dry, and further shape with razor/dremel/more foam.

Slap on a couple coats of the 'fleck paint' stuff, the spray paint that looks like rocks.

Go over that with a couple coats of clear acrylic.

Looks pretty damn real, light as hell, durrable, good traction, and fully customizable.

When all is said and done, a 4x4' section costs you about $25.

-=Nash

I'll take a pic when I get home. I haven't done anything elaborate, but it's been tested.

 

[TxCruzr]

Spray insulation foam, looks like a can of spray paint with a tube on the end or a can of fix-a-flat. Spray it and then use a utility knife to cut your course. Paint some herculiner on it (i think it is walmart or target that just lowered the price on it :lol or some grip paint....has sand mixed in for flooring in high traffic industrial kitches (lowes carries a few types).
The one thing I have against the foam is that it is usually brittle and may start to chip from tire spin....that could make a mess you wife would not like ;-). The spray foam is pretty hard for a foam and even when you cut it, the inside is not as brittle as styrofoam. It also expands as it dries so you can make some huge mounds.

 

[scalecrawler]

Im not sure were but a long time ago they had people making them with wodd chicken wire and paper machay, and sometimes with foam, im not sure i think that was with the really small scale crawlers like 1/24, but i dont see why it would work for the bigger ones!

 

[OniTora]

...Yeah, like I said. The spray insulation foam, painted with the fleck stuff... lol

Just coat it with clear acrylic. Not only is it now water proof, nice looking, and still grippy- But it doesn't tear up if yer tire spins.

-=Nash

 

[GreenCJ]

Styrofoam -(cheap & light) you could use large blocks, packing peices or whatever. Cut it shave it to the shapes ya want then cover it with whatever traction freindly stuff ya find.

my .02