hrddrvr
Pebble Pounder
I'm not sure if this is the right location for this thread, but I decided to follow the lead of others, and this is where I've seen the most micro courses 
I am at the very beginning stages of setting up a micro mountainside crawling spot for micro rigs. There will be a section more for scalers, with some tough lines to challenge them, and then a section that will be nearly impassible even for comp rigs. The idea is to have it set up natural looking, but with elements to be fun crawling at all levels. I want beginners to be able to take my capable rental scale rig and get around the course, but I also want it to be challenging enough for high level crawlers to need winches on their best rigs
I started out by laying out some foam boards to get an idea of how I wanted the terrain to flow.
You can see on the left where I was using a couple of different materials that I had on hand to test strength, working time, and durability. Stucco works better than sheet rock mud, but s far more expensive. Plaster of Paris turned out to be a better buy, and has been very easy to work with.
I didn't like the slope of the foam bottom, so decided to remove it and stack cardboard boxes to achieve the desired contour. Having the bottom sloped made it where you were always riding at an angle, but not ever climbing....if that makes sense at all.
My first section after plaster.
I used a plaster cloth to shape and mold the small details. It was very easy to work with, and made plaster application a cinch. It was a little expensive, and I have decided to only use it where completely necessary.
In the second section I used the same box method, but used newspaper, and some plastic to mold and shape. It was much cheaper than the cloth and held its form/shape nearly as well. The problem was, it was harder to smoothly spread the plaster over it, so some of the finish work is a lot more jagged, and choppy than the first section. I am cool with this, as it offers a slightly different terrain, and even the flat areas are hard to pass if you aren't paying attention to tire placement.
You can see the two sections together here.
Here you can see the third section being plastered, and the fourth section being set up for filler and plaster. I am building up from left to right (across the four sections), as there will be a climb form the lower level to the upper set of shelves where the mountain will continue on.
As the right side was nearing completion of plaster, I decided to start moving forward with the painting on the left side. I am trying to do it methodically in sections, so that some of it is always usable, but also want to finish in somewhat of a timely manner.
I used a tan base, and three different colors of textured "sandstone" paint. I am not that artistic for shading and what not, but I think I did okay with making it look natural. I think I will accomplish what I want once i start adding some real rocks, and some greenery and other details. Hopefully I can do well enough on those to mask my lack of paint skills.
I just moved form left to right with the paint, as I did with the plaster until all sections were covered.
Each section gets a little more difficult with more elevation change, and tougher lines to follow. The right side is kind of a prequel of whats to come on the much tougher upper level.
It's tough to show the depth and detail in pics, but I tried with this shot. Some video will help me show that off much better....which I may go ahead and do, instead of waiting til completion.
I have had a few customers come out and give me feedback on the lines, quality, and challenge of the course, and it is getting great reviews. I have been loaning my crawler, and the store crawler out for my regular customers to try their hand at off-roading (most of them are on-road racers in our MiniZ group). Every one is giving me positive feedback, and I've sold a few trucks since the start of this (9which is the goal!). That gives me motivation to go forward and keep making it bigger, better, and tougher!
In the mean time, I took a couple of rigs out and hand-placed them for a couple of photo-ops. None of them turned out as good as I hoped, but I think having trucks in the pics helps you guys to see the depth and scale of the project. I couldn't decided which to post, so here are all of them, lol.
The comp rig giving the hummer a little help up the cliff hanger.
I still have a LOT to do. I've got quite a few more sections to build, plaster, and paint, and then I have the whole thing to detail. There are certain locations where I will be adding in land bridges, as well as scale man-made bridges that will make from some cool suspended climbs, as well as making some head room clearance issues. I think eventually I will incorporate some picnic areas with some tables and grills, and maybe some bathrooms for looks. For functionality, I'd like to add in some cool looking scale winch tie-off points, and maybe some lighting for the rear areas that are shaded by the upper shelves. It isn't nearly as dark as it looks in the pictures, but being able to see better can not hurt I'd really like to do something that fits with the course. My first thought is something like what is used at outdoor sporting events.
I think I could rig something up like this, that could look pretty cool.
Let me know what you guys think! Questions, comments, and criticisms are all welcome.
I am at the very beginning stages of setting up a micro mountainside crawling spot for micro rigs. There will be a section more for scalers, with some tough lines to challenge them, and then a section that will be nearly impassible even for comp rigs. The idea is to have it set up natural looking, but with elements to be fun crawling at all levels. I want beginners to be able to take my capable rental scale rig and get around the course, but I also want it to be challenging enough for high level crawlers to need winches on their best rigs
I started out by laying out some foam boards to get an idea of how I wanted the terrain to flow.
You can see on the left where I was using a couple of different materials that I had on hand to test strength, working time, and durability. Stucco works better than sheet rock mud, but s far more expensive. Plaster of Paris turned out to be a better buy, and has been very easy to work with.
I didn't like the slope of the foam bottom, so decided to remove it and stack cardboard boxes to achieve the desired contour. Having the bottom sloped made it where you were always riding at an angle, but not ever climbing....if that makes sense at all.
My first section after plaster.
I used a plaster cloth to shape and mold the small details. It was very easy to work with, and made plaster application a cinch. It was a little expensive, and I have decided to only use it where completely necessary.
In the second section I used the same box method, but used newspaper, and some plastic to mold and shape. It was much cheaper than the cloth and held its form/shape nearly as well. The problem was, it was harder to smoothly spread the plaster over it, so some of the finish work is a lot more jagged, and choppy than the first section. I am cool with this, as it offers a slightly different terrain, and even the flat areas are hard to pass if you aren't paying attention to tire placement.
You can see the two sections together here.
Here you can see the third section being plastered, and the fourth section being set up for filler and plaster. I am building up from left to right (across the four sections), as there will be a climb form the lower level to the upper set of shelves where the mountain will continue on.
As the right side was nearing completion of plaster, I decided to start moving forward with the painting on the left side. I am trying to do it methodically in sections, so that some of it is always usable, but also want to finish in somewhat of a timely manner.
I used a tan base, and three different colors of textured "sandstone" paint. I am not that artistic for shading and what not, but I think I did okay with making it look natural. I think I will accomplish what I want once i start adding some real rocks, and some greenery and other details. Hopefully I can do well enough on those to mask my lack of paint skills.
I just moved form left to right with the paint, as I did with the plaster until all sections were covered.
Each section gets a little more difficult with more elevation change, and tougher lines to follow. The right side is kind of a prequel of whats to come on the much tougher upper level.
It's tough to show the depth and detail in pics, but I tried with this shot. Some video will help me show that off much better....which I may go ahead and do, instead of waiting til completion.
I have had a few customers come out and give me feedback on the lines, quality, and challenge of the course, and it is getting great reviews. I have been loaning my crawler, and the store crawler out for my regular customers to try their hand at off-roading (most of them are on-road racers in our MiniZ group). Every one is giving me positive feedback, and I've sold a few trucks since the start of this (9which is the goal!). That gives me motivation to go forward and keep making it bigger, better, and tougher!
In the mean time, I took a couple of rigs out and hand-placed them for a couple of photo-ops. None of them turned out as good as I hoped, but I think having trucks in the pics helps you guys to see the depth and scale of the project. I couldn't decided which to post, so here are all of them, lol.
The comp rig giving the hummer a little help up the cliff hanger.
I still have a LOT to do. I've got quite a few more sections to build, plaster, and paint, and then I have the whole thing to detail. There are certain locations where I will be adding in land bridges, as well as scale man-made bridges that will make from some cool suspended climbs, as well as making some head room clearance issues. I think eventually I will incorporate some picnic areas with some tables and grills, and maybe some bathrooms for looks. For functionality, I'd like to add in some cool looking scale winch tie-off points, and maybe some lighting for the rear areas that are shaded by the upper shelves. It isn't nearly as dark as it looks in the pictures, but being able to see better can not hurt
I'd really like to do something that fits with the course. My first thought is something like what is used at outdoor sporting events. I think I could rig something up like this, that could look pretty cool.
Let me know what you guys think! Questions, comments, and criticisms are all welcome.
