John J
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 | | 05/25/2008 11:37 AM |
| If you were going to make fake rocks for a canyon do you think it is better to dye the concretemix or paint it later?
I am going to use a mixture of stucco mix with portland cement mix. Do you think I should dye the mix or just put it on and use outdoor paint later.? | |
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Duncan
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| | 05/25/2008 12:45 PM |
| JJ,
I'd start with dye in the mix, and then touch up the accents with paint... | |
 Duncan Thomson
Sun Dancer RR-Gilbert,AZ
SA# 52
Life isn't a journey to the grave, intending on arriving safely in a pretty and well kept body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, loudly proclaiming,'Wow! Whata ride!
(Embracing the Dimside. Let the Farce be with you. Dimness is what you make of it. Make mine Dim.)
This could get interesting... | |
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Rod Fearnley
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Mid Norfolk. England
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| | 05/25/2008 3:00 PM |
| Another way JJ is to have a sprayer bottle full of Ferrous Oxide (Azalea plant food) on hand, and when the mortar mix starts to go off, spray it on . It will look green at first, but will dry to a sandy red. It will look garish at first, but weathers down.
Rod | |
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sheepdog
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N.E. Hoosierland
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| | 05/25/2008 3:31 PM |
| Ummmmm....... Errr.... Ron, please explain 'goes off'. 
Craig
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I got down with my bad self....
Now I can't get up. | |
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astrayelmgod
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Ventura CA
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| | 05/25/2008 6:41 PM |
| | Paint, definitely. Plain old latex house paint works great. Also artist's craft paint works well. | | | |
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toddalin
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| | 05/25/2008 8:51 PM |
| Dye in the mix followed by spray paints. 
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Rod Fearnley
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Mid Norfolk. England
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| | 05/26/2008 1:37 AM |
| Craig when the mortar/cement starts to harden up. I suppose it depends on the temperature where you are/ here i would leave it for about 3 or 4 hours. Although I have left it longer.
I t will give an over all cover, then you can go back and highlight with other mediums.
Rod. | |
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John J
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| | 05/27/2008 9:37 PM |
| Hey Tod
Thanks for the Pic's They are a really great help. You gave me a couple Ideas with your rocks. They look great. I am inspired
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pimanjc
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Jim Carter - Wichita, KS
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| | 05/27/2008 10:08 PM |
| JJ,
First put dye in the concrete, then use some flat tan, green, brown, and black to add interest. Here is a fake rock I have.
Embankment with concrete.
JimC.
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"Never promise more than you can give. Always give more than you promise." ~JC
"You don't stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing." ~AU
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toddalin
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| | 05/27/2008 10:18 PM |
| Posted By John J on 05/27/2008 9:37 PM
Hey Tod
Thanks for the Pic's They are a really great help. You gave me a couple Ideas with your rocks. They look great. I am inspired
Thanks. In addition to the colors mentions, I use various greys and I use red primer to match the red lava. I also paint the real lava to blend it. This shows after it weathers somewhat. I usually give it a shot of color every few years.
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Richard Smith
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Port Orford, Oregon
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| | 05/28/2008 8:24 AM |
| Or....
You could plant real rocks.
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John J
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| | 05/28/2008 7:51 PM |
| Hey Richard.
Real rocs is what I am doing. Except in some places I need a long sting of rocks like in Tod's pic's Home depot only had Red Tan brown Dye
Lowes had a whole bunch of color dye. So I bought two bags of everything from both places. I am going to experiment mixing color t his weekend.
It's a shame they just dont have Red Blue Yellow and Black dye...It would be much easier for me ( working in the printing industry) to mix the exact color I want. | |
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toddalin
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| | 05/28/2008 8:26 PM |
| Posted By John J on 05/28/2008 7:51 PM
Hey Richard.
Real rocs is what I am doing. Except in some places I need a long sting of rocks like in Tod's pic's
To do the ridgeline, I used a hand spade to cut the existing slope to a verticle slope. I then pounded stakes into the ground along the ridge and attached 1/2" wire mesh to the stakes. I left about 1" between the soil and mesh and after mixing dye into mortar mix, scooped it into the space between the hill and the mesh.
I held crinkled up aluminum foil up to the outside of the mesh and let the mix squeeze through the holes into the crinkled foil. Make sure the mesh is covered and let it dry for a bit and pull the foil off. In some areas the foil may pull away some of your mortar leaving a rought finish, but this makes the most natural looking rock. | | | |
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John J
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| | 05/29/2008 3:07 AM |
| Teee heeee Teee Heee
I am off to Cosco to get Industrial Resturant Foil. The heavy stuff. | |
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pete
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canton ohio
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| | 05/29/2008 4:46 AM |
| John i read a article about using alum foil and the writer said he spryed the foil with a cooking spray like pam before placing it over the cement. We are going to try and make some mts this summer on our layout useing the chicken wire method with strips of burlap soaked in the cement mixture. Then you apply morter over the burlap and do your molding as the morter starts to setup. Say what you are going to do and doing it are one thing but doing it is another anyway we are going to attemp to make some mts and fake rock walls. Good luck with your project | | | |
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tj-lee
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Central California
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pete
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canton ohio
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| | 06/17/2008 11:48 AM |
| | Tj we started our fake rock wall this morning. we put down some chicken wire covered it with burlap soaked in gulapata. Gulapata is a mixture of ready mix mortar,fire clay,hydrated lime and portland cement it is a mixture that i read about in garden railway mag. Jack Verducci wrote the article.We only had time to do about four or five ft. If the weather holds out we will try to do the sculpting tomorrow. We are taking pictures of our progress and as soon as i learn how to post them i will show what we are doing. PS my back is killing me and we have just started. | | | |
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tj-lee
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Central California
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| | 06/17/2008 1:01 PM |
| Pete,
> Tj we started our fake rock wall this morning
CONGRATULATIONS! Getting started is most important step in any Large Scale project. I'm familiar with Jack's "gulapata" although I've not worked with it myself. Since in my area plastic cement is readily available I decided to stick with that and forgo having to mix different stuff together.
I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures of your progress!
Best,
TJ | |
http://sites.google.com/site/garden-railroad/ | |
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pete
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canton ohio
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| | 06/17/2008 6:56 PM |
| | Well we worked on the base coat that being we finished putting the burlap soaked in the gulapata the one problem that i ran into was that the amount of ingredients that he used was on a large scale. By that i mean he used 60lbs of mortar mix with the other ingredients. I was making the gulapata in a very small amount compared to how much jack made in one batch there for i had to guess ah mate how much of the different ingredients to mix together. Tomorrow will tell what i end up with. | | | |
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tj-lee
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Central California
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| | 06/18/2008 1:47 PM |
| Pete,
> the one problem that i ran into was that the amount of ingredients that he used was on a large scale
Yah, that was my problem with Jack's method. I found Gary's method easier but for that you need plastic cement and it's not available in all areas of the country.
Good luck! Looking forward to your posting pictures of your efforts.
best,
TJ | |
http://sites.google.com/site/garden-railroad/ | |
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