...who wrote:
"I tried to ask you a question about how to make the fake rocks, but got a message back that didn't make sense (a bunch of random letters). If you could give me the "shopping list" and directions it would be greatly appreciated."
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Odd. I've used the forum contact option a million times before. Oh well. Here's a copy of what I sent:
I have to use "ordinary (white) styrofoam, which comes in 3/4" thick sheets x 24" x 48" in packs of 6 from Lowe's (building supplies). There is no good source for thick chunks locally, (VERY expensive) so I stack the sheets up like pancakes, bonded with hot glue between the layers and rough shape the stack for the rock "need" I have in mind. I don't know how well my personal technique will 'transfer', since I use die grinders with a large structured carbide burr for freehand shaping and an industrial belt sander for the gross removal of excess material and smoothing. Now the cool way to shape the stuff is with a "hot wire" foam cutter, which CAN be made up at home (plans on the net somewhere LOL) as this is WAY less messy than my brutal hacking. There are inexpensive hand tools that would do the same shaping chores with a bit more elbow grease....I'm thinking a sure-form rasp type of thing, fortunately the material works down very rapidly, and the rougher the finish (within reason LOL) the better the mortar will bond. After I get my shape roughed out, I tape a heavy trash bag over a thick glass sheet (anything flat will work of course) andspot glue the foam core lightly to it with the hot glue gun. That will let you release the mortared "rock" instead of having it permanently cemented into place where you make it, but give you some stability while you slather mud all over it for effect. I have used a variety of mortars with good results, but I prefer a "thin-set" mortar (sold where ceramic floor tiles are usually seen) also from Lowes, in my case. It comes in gray or white, I've used both depending on what color I want to end up with for the rocks. There is a masonry dye or coloring agent availablealso, the colors I use are terra cotta, buff, and black. I end making a mix of the three dyes since none of them look like anything I would want right out of the bottle. Ghastly pink is easy to get...WARNING!~ There is really no better way to describe HOW to do it other than some general advice... Try to keep the coating thickness around 1/4 to 3/8ths inch thick, make sure you don't leave any very thin or uncoated spots (easy to do), let it CURE fully before you screw around with it (minimum of 24 hrs) and one thing I like to do is 'fling' some playsand against the mess when you have finished the coating. Makes it look more like natural sandstone and you will find some cool texture effects are possible as your fling technique progresses. I usually get a couple made in an hour or two, and the good thing is the materials are cheap, so the best teacher is to just get on in there and make a mess! Even my first really stupid ones were "useful".
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DC
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