I’m dissatisfied with part of my Yuba River Sub–the scenery on Yuba Pass, which passes under the Sierra Buttes and is largely built on a huge granite shelf. Right now, it has an ‘ice-cream’ look to it, with only a few rock castings. In the Feb. issue of MR, I saw an article that used ‘Rubber Rocks’ from Cripplebush Valley Models, and after getting on their website, I was really impressed with their product.
In order to improve Yuba Pass, which is an area about 8’ long by 2-3’ high, I’d probably have to use tons of time-consuming plaster casts, whereas these ‘rubber rocks’ look like both a very realistic and time-saving alternative.
My question: How many of you out there have used these ‘rubber rocks’ and if so, are you happy with the results? Like I said, the photos I have seen look pretty darned impressive.
Their website is: www.cripplebush.net if you haven’t seen their product. I was thinking of using their Granite and Santa Fe Canyon rocks, as they look perfect for my needs.
I’ve used a similar product by Mountains-in-Minutes (called Flexrock). I think they’re great. They look much better than anything I got with plaster castings. Plus, they’re clean, lightweight, flexible, and won’t chip. They’re fun to paint.
I haven’t used them, but I saw some at a train Show this last weekend. They are pretty raw, but painted I could see how they could have potential. I don’t see it quite as easy as the MR article showed, but with a little work…
I think it is one of those if you do your part type things.
I haven’t used them, but I did see them last year at the Springfield, MA, train show. They were pretty impressive.
Another thing to look at the foam-casting stuff from Bragdon Enterprises at www.bragdonent.com. This is also a high-quality product, but it is still a casting and it will require making each mold individually. Sue (“gearjammer”) is using this for her mountains, and it’s pretty good stuff. I saw this at another show, and I had to touch it to see if it was real rock. Yeah, that good.
It just so happens that my order from Cripplebush Valley arrived yesterday. It took just 16 days to arrive after I mailed them my check. I won’t have time to install or color them for a few weeks, but taking them out of the box and looking things over has already left me satisfied with the quality of their product.
My layout is sort of a deck-and-a-half along one wall, with my narrowgauge branch climbing, with the back run of my standard gauge dogbone hidden under it. There are close clearances, because I really had to squeeze things together in this area, which is about 12 feet long. I always planned to make some removable terrain through here. In fact, it’s the last part of my scenery that is not yet roughed in.
I need something that is lightweight, removable, and detailed. I thought about using as thin of hydrocal castings as possible and attaching them to a styrofoam understructure that would allow me to lift out pices of it for any required access. But even thin plaster castings can weigh a bunch – and I have places that will need 10 to 11 inch high sections. I knew getting them thin enough was going to be a problem, so the very thin rubber rocks are the act’s pajamas for this area.
I was also concerned about the weight and thought about doing some paper mache’ or Scupltamold over an understructure of styrofoam instead, but this would not have the detail of plaster.
I saw the story in the Feb. 2007 MR and realized the Cripplebush Valley rubber rocks were exactly what was needed. They are thin, but tough castings in a very flexible rubber compound. This makes it easy to get the exact curve I needed, a critical factor in the tight space I am working with.
Hot glue is recommended for assembly to your understructure, which can be other stuff than the styrofoam I plan to use. You can also use latex adhesive such as Liquid Nails. Acrylic paints, and other coloring methods can supplement the factory color wash. There’s more info about this o
Mr. Beasely: I have used the Bragdon chalks for weathering, and they’re great. I watched a demonstration of their foam rock castings at the last Roseville MR show, and impressed as I am, they involve chemicals that I can’t afford to to work with, healthwise (I’ve been diagnosed with COPA, which means I can’t even Spray-paint anymore). But I’ll say that the results I watched at the clinic made me blink! Really terrific looking results.
Mike: Thanks for the first-person information. I think I’ll go ahead and order the castings. If they’re as flexible and easy to work with as it seems, they should be the answer to the scenic problem. I know they’re more expensive than just using casts, but I think the results will be just what I need.
These are really nicely crafted items. Loathar is right, they are more expensive than plaster, but then I’m not using them for some place where plaster is the best option or even a really viable option. I need something that is thin, flexible, and easy to construct into a relatively specialized, functional scenic item. In my case, it’s a series of liftouts.
Believe me, I have plenty of plaster elsewhere on the layout. I model Colorado, so there’s lots of rocks. The Cripplebush Valley Rubber Rocks work where conventional scenery methods don’t work very well.
I can also imagine other uses. The tight spot that visitors – and you – are always bumping and breaking? Make it a Rubber Rock. Module with lots of miles to go? That good looking rendition of Cumbres Pass stays flexible with these, instead of crumbling. For those whose health prohibits using certain methods. Sounds like a solution for that, too.
I doubt that Rubber Rocks will replace standard scenery methods except for a certain subset of applications, but I’ll bet they will find uses we don’t yet imagine, just like other new techniques. Plaster will always be cheaper. But they do make possible very nice scenic effects, in places and with ease of use that compensates in many cases for the difference in cost. It has for me.
