# Making rock molds



## fulsom56 (Sep 18, 2015)

Hi, I'm in the process of making rock faces on the sides of the mountains using Woodland Scenic molds. I bought 7 molds & so far it seems to be going the way I intended. Now I'm to the point where I'm afraid I might duplicate my rocks which I do not want. I guess I could turn them in different positions to disguise this but I'm also thinking of making my own molds.
Woodland Scenic has latex rubber but in 16 oz. bottles which seems like it would not make many molds (expensive). Will any latex rubber work for making rocks? I see you can get it by the gallon through EBay.


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## fulsom56 (Sep 18, 2015)

Opps, I didn't see it on EBay. I was looking at Aero Marine Products site. It comes in quart, 1/2 gal., 1,5 & 55 gal. barrels. I think I'll go for the 55 gallon barrel if it works!!! :laugh:


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

If you want to make your own molds, have at it. But I wouldn’t be too concerned about using duplicates of the same mold casting. Like you said, you can turn them in different directions. You can also break them in pieces and carve them. In this shot, there are at least five copies of the same casting. To my eye, you don’t see the duplication unless you really study it.


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

I have made a few using the latex rubber and gauze. It is a process that takes a few days from rubber then gauze and more rubber then wait for a day and repeat. I think I did 3 layers of gauze which might have been overkill and I started with a quart can of the stuff. It works but finding the perfect rock is hard to do.


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## fulsom56 (Sep 18, 2015)

Lehigh74 said:


> If you want to make your own molds, have at it. But I wouldn’t be too concerned about using duplicates of the same mold casting. Like you said, you can turn them in different directions. You can also break them in pieces and carve them. In this shot, there are at least five copies of the same casting. To my eye, you don’t see the duplication unless you really study it.
> 
> View attachment 278209


Very good, time to sit back & put a little more thought into it. You did a nice job as I cannot see duplicates. I'll still make up some molds just for verity sack. Thanks.


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## J.C. (Dec 24, 2016)

one hint I'll give is if you make your own molds whatever you use give it a coating of some brand of spray wax or light oil like pam, used diesel on some coal that I used for molds and it worked ok but mold stunk of it for ever, however coal burned well in stove.


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

When I made the rock facing for my mountain a few years ago about six different WS molds were used to create the rocks.
By strategic placement and turning upside down, it's impossible to tell there are repeats of the same mold.
Further, using ground cover in the "cracks" and different shades of coloring takes away any possibility of duplication.
You would have to sit there for hours to see any two alike.
Have fun,
Bob


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

While it is certainly possible to make your own molds using latex and some form of reinforcing material (gauze is a popular option), i am of the opinion that it is more trouble than it's worth. 

It's certainly fairly simple to disguise the castings by staining, breaking, joining castings with plaster or Sculptamold, carving, and the judicious use of ground cover and vegetation.

Also, no one says you have to use ONLY cast rocks. You can selectively use real rocks -- if you have access to ones of the right color -- or a few commercially made rubber, foam, or resin rocks to break up the patterns even more.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

You can make them out of aluminum foil. It will be difficult to make two exactly the same!







You can use your rubber molds as a guide if you wish. You can make formations to apply or set the mold against the backdrop and pour the plaster in behind it. When forming the mold just remember that you are making a 'negative'.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Another way*



Dano said:


> You can make them out of aluminum foil. It will be difficult to make two exactly the same!
> View attachment 286090
> 
> You can use your rubber molds as a guide if you wish. You can make formations to apply or set the mold against the backdrop and pour the plaster in behind it. When forming the mold just remember that you are making a 'negative'.


Dano;

There are many ways to make rock faces. The cliff in these photos is made of tree bark. I bought a huge bag of it at Home Depot's garden dept. for $3.

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Tree bark, whoa thunk.
I just might give that a try.

Magic


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