Portable Crawling Base

[BJoe]

What have you guys found that works well over that pink insulation foam for a sturdy crawling surface that is also light weight? I just built a transportable crawling surface and would like to find something that'll work to reinforce and protect the foam. Here's what I've built





The Losi works great with it, the Axial is ok, but if I'm not carefull, the WK tries to rip it apart:lol:

SOfar the main goals have been to make it light enough that I can carry it with little to no hassle by my self (doing good so far"thumbsup"), it fit's in the back of my '98 XJ with the f/s spare in place and the back seat folded down (done and done!), and can twist the living hell of what ever tries to drive over it (so far, so good!) Any advise will be appreciated8)


before I forget, that section right in the middle is made specifically to fit my Losi Crawler all the way to the bottom

[AddictedtoNITRO]

I would say sakrete but then you would need help to carry it. The great stuff foam is good but it gets torn up pretty quick by the tires so I'd stay away from that.

[BJoe]

I was thinking about using some of the plastercloth from Woodland Scenics for the model railroading layouts to put over it, but I'm just not too sure how well it would work with the Wheely King.

I've also taken a pic of how it fits in the back of my Jeep.......and yes, I realised a few days ago that I can go wheeling "in" my Jeep with actually having to take my Jeep off a paved surface or go mall crawling

[firesprink281]

spray on bed liner.

[Jetboat]

I tried foam coat from hotwire foam... that was a waste of money! The biggest drawback on bedliner is price. Stucco might work, you can put it on thinner than sakrete but I still think its a "2 man lift". Another drawback to any kind of plaster/crete is the rigidity, it will want to crack if dropped.

[Brian_BigSquidRC]

Hey BJoe, nice build so far. I just posted up a poll over on BigSquid to see if we can get a bunch of people to build some portable stuff we could use over at Leisure Hours for some indoor action this winter!
The bedliner is the toughest stuff, but it's big $! Maybe time to take a trip to the hardware store, see what else we can use.

[rusty savage]

how about plasti dip? maybe mix some sand or other texture in. I know you can get it through mcmaster carr by the gallon.

[Krosenqu]

how about plasti dip? maybe mix some sand or other texture in. I know you can get it through mcmaster carr by the gallon.

Maybe, but you'd definatly have to spray that down with some of this:

[BJoe]

I picked up some Woodland Scenics plaster cloth today, have to see if I can cover it Monday so long as the weather holds out.

[Jetboat]

Ive actually already built a 3x6 course with similar technique... hence how I know the foam coat stuff was crap. The make it stone stuff is just basically specled spray paint, doesnt harden it. Im going to go ahead and put a light layer of sandmix on mine and see how that works.

[Krosenqu]

I picked up some Woodland Scenics plaster cloth today, have to see if I can cover it Monday so long as the weather holds out.

That should work pretty good. Just get a painters trey and fill it with luke warm water. You dont want it too wet or it'll make a mess and the plaster will run off. I did my model train setup with that stuff and it worked out pretty good. I gotta get back into that... its been unfinished in our basement since I moved two years ago...



I used newspaper instead of foam:

[mikeh]

I think paper mache. Cheap! Light! Then lots of coats of paint.