radcore
Newbie
I recently made some mud for my crawler course and I am pretty happy with it so I thought I would share how I did it.
I was aiming to get greasy mud that holds water fairly well like at the place I usually take my 1:1 hilux.
That meant that I needed clay.
My track is in a small courtyard on a concrete slab, so all the dirt is potting mix and sand that i have added. It drains really well and doesn't make proper mud when wet.
Not knowing where to get clay I googled for ideas and found that for gardening some people use kitty litter, dissolve it in water and water their gardens with it to gradually introduce more clay into overly sandy soil or something.
There are a few different types of kitty litter, but only one type is suitable. Luckily it seems to be a fairly cheap type. The ingredient you want is 'bentonite clay' so check the back of the bag and choose the one with the highest %.
The cheapest bag at my local supermarket was 100% bentonite clay. It cost me $2.50 per 3.5Kg bag.
You will need:
- Kitty litter with bentonite clay
- a container to mix the mud in
- water
You may want:
- Coloured cement oxides
- Sand or soil
- gloves
I'm sure you can all guess how it goes from here;
Put some kitty litter into the mixing container
(Optional) Add some coloured oxide - a little goes a long way
(Optional) Add sand or soil
Add some water - better to add a little at a time
Mix it up, add more water if required
Place the mud where you want it
(in this photo I am using the clay as a surface to a road of sorts)
You may wish to dig into the ground or wherever you are putting the mud if you wish to make a mud hole, then just pack a layer of clay about a couple of inches thick over the top. I find it best to start with a fairly dry mixture as it is quicker to build up a thick layer. You can then finish with a runnier layer if you wish.
In the end you will end up with something like this (if you didn’t add oxide to the mixture)
I added oxide later to this as I wasn’t happy with the colour. It is better to add it first though.
Experiment with mixtures of clay and sand to get different consistencies.
I have used pure clay for the mud hole. But have mixed it about 50/50 with sand for the upper road section. I plan for the upper road to remain dry and hopefully crack like this:
I might hit it with the hair dryer tonight to encourage it to dry out and crack.
I was aiming to get greasy mud that holds water fairly well like at the place I usually take my 1:1 hilux.
That meant that I needed clay.
My track is in a small courtyard on a concrete slab, so all the dirt is potting mix and sand that i have added. It drains really well and doesn't make proper mud when wet.
Not knowing where to get clay I googled for ideas and found that for gardening some people use kitty litter, dissolve it in water and water their gardens with it to gradually introduce more clay into overly sandy soil or something.
There are a few different types of kitty litter, but only one type is suitable. Luckily it seems to be a fairly cheap type. The ingredient you want is 'bentonite clay' so check the back of the bag and choose the one with the highest %.
The cheapest bag at my local supermarket was 100% bentonite clay. It cost me $2.50 per 3.5Kg bag.
You will need:
- Kitty litter with bentonite clay
- a container to mix the mud in
- water
You may want:
- Coloured cement oxides
- Sand or soil
- gloves
I'm sure you can all guess how it goes from here;
Put some kitty litter into the mixing container
(Optional) Add some coloured oxide - a little goes a long way
(Optional) Add sand or soil
Add some water - better to add a little at a time
Mix it up, add more water if required
Place the mud where you want it
(in this photo I am using the clay as a surface to a road of sorts)You may wish to dig into the ground or wherever you are putting the mud if you wish to make a mud hole, then just pack a layer of clay about a couple of inches thick over the top. I find it best to start with a fairly dry mixture as it is quicker to build up a thick layer. You can then finish with a runnier layer if you wish.
In the end you will end up with something like this (if you didn’t add oxide to the mixture)
I added oxide later to this as I wasn’t happy with the colour. It is better to add it first though.
Experiment with mixtures of clay and sand to get different consistencies.
I have used pure clay for the mud hole. But have mixed it about 50/50 with sand for the upper road section. I plan for the upper road to remain dry and hopefully crack like this:
I might hit it with the hair dryer tonight to encourage it to dry out and crack.
