Another project I started working on today. I been sharing some of my beginning stages of landscaping. And on a couple occasions I mentioned the rock ledge leading down to the river, but all that was seen is pink, and/or white plaster for a rock ledge. Well, today, I got tired of seeing that, and started to make me some rock ledges to install... Who needs commercial rock molds? I sure as heck don't, because like I always encourage, I recycle, or just use what I have. For rock molds, I used this time, old used tin foil I kept from the wife making biscuits this morning. Rock mold, FREE. I have been collecting some examples of rock from our trip down the mid west to Texas. My fictitious town is buried in the Midwest, and I love the red rock you see along the rails, and ribbons of highways. To me, it is just a rich, beautiful color to model. It contrasts the bright green spring and summer vegetation, and to me awe inspiring to look at. So, my rock will be that iron rich, red, orange, tan and brown rock formations seen across the Midwest. Here is how I ROCK.. Find the rock you want to model.. Lay it on the side you want to model on a piece of tin foil, then tightly wrap the sides up and around it, leaving the other side of the rock exposed. Press the tin foil all over the side and edges to form the foil in and around the rock face detail. Remove rock. You might have to loosen up the foil a bit to get the rock out, but that is ok, and easy to do without ruining your surface.. Take your tin foil mold, and fill it with plaster. I tint my plaster with a few drops of paint so it isn't SO white. This makes it easier to cover and paint later IMHO. I also take the fiberglass mesh tape that is normally used for sheetrock work. It can be found cheap at any hardware store. I place a piece of the fiberglass mesh in the plaster to give the rock some strength from breakage once it is cured. Once it sets up, remove your fake rock, and it is ready to paint to whatever color you want your rocks..
Tudor has a tutorial on making rock molds. It allows us to have more variation in the modle rocks than just the standard commercial products. Very nice and thanks to Tudor. Additional search terms: scenery grass stone stain acrylic paint
