"SoftRocks"/"FRocks" history
Dear Ty,
I'm guessing your friend who showed you this was aussie Mario R? Some background on the technique:
- Circa 1992-95 : Aussie Mark Fry develops "Soft Rocks" using aussie materials having seen the basis of the idea espoused in a US magazine (Malcolm Furlow?).
http://www.modvid.com.au/html/body_mark_fry.html
The core principles of foam-rubber + caulking layer + coloring creating a stays-flexible realistic-looking rock surface, which was lighter and far-more "wear resistant" than common contemporary methods, were clear in the source article. However, down here in Aust, the US-chemical/materials simply were not available.
Mark adapted the principles, using Selleys "No More Gaps" acrylic caulking as the caulking layer,
http://www.selleys.com.au/fillers/flexible-gap-filler/multi-purpose
and actual decomposed sandstone to create South Coast NSW sandstone rocks. These rocks were dubbed "Soft Rocks". The "rock" stayed flexible, with no flaking, cracking, or shedding of the texture/color material. the weight saving over plaster was obvious. Such rocks, which could be repeatedly flexed, bent, twisted, squashed, and deformed after construction were perfect for wrapping around room obstructions such as wall corners, support pilings, etc. (which was one of their earliest proving grounds).
Another key application was as layout fascia, where passing visitors would tend to rub/bump up against the layout. Soft Rocks took such impacts with ease, did not take or impart damage, and did not leave plaster/zip-texturing mess on the visitor's clothes.
Oh, the ability to deform a "dry rock" was also a boon for those modeller who swore blind they had no "artistic talent" and therefore "couldn't build a rock". If the rock they built didn't "look right", it could be twisted/bent/deformed until it did, with no detrimental effects to foam, acrylic, or texture surfaces or appearance.
Thru research, Mark also discovered that the coarseness (or "fine-ness") of the texture material significantly affected the end appearance. By substituting greys/white/black ultra-fine tile grout, the same techniques could emulate hard-surface slate and granite, which are other common rock types found in the South Coast NSW area.
Circa 1995, Mark built the show layout "Swans Crossing", a HO/HOn3/HOn30 aussie logging layout, 20' long in 6 pieces. One of the "things to eliminate" in this layout build was the un-natural dead-straight front-to-back module-joint "geological fault lines" typical of modular/sectional layouts. Soft Rocks were materially helpful in avoiding such issues. With the Soft Rocks hotglued to the modules, with a degree of overhang over the module edge, the joining of two modules pressed the softrocks together, thus forming a visually continuous (and visually different-every time) rockface which did not betray it's "module joint" underpinnings.
From 1996 thru 2004, "Swans Crossing" attended shows along the East Coast of Australia, with a bag of "Soft Rocks" one of the mandatory "show and tell" items for the crowds to look-at/feel/touch/squish/throw-at-each-other. This group of demo Rocks included the first Soft Rock Mark ever made, which had prior to being a rock, spent 12 years as a wash-sponge for Mark's car. That rock survived it's initial life as a seat cushion, washing cars, over 8 years as a "demo show Soft Rock", and currently sits in a scenery crate in my model supplies "warehouse"...
Around 1999, "Broughton Vale Tramway" was built.
http://members.optushome.com.au/jdennis/broughton/frameset.html
Taking many cues from the scenery lessons of "Swans Crossing" (and a healthy dose of Mark F's personal touch), Soft Rocks were naturally deployed around the trestle and cutting scenes.
http://members.optushome.com.au/endpoint/broughton/24.jpg
http://members.optushome.com.au/endpoint/broughton/29.jpg
http://members.optushome.com.au/endpoint/broughton/30.jpg
/> (all pics by John Dennis)
- Circa 1998 : Mario Rapinett meets Mark Fry, and is introduced to the "Soft Rocks" concept. Mario uses his experience in the building game, and adapts the techniques with different materials, specifically Joint Compound or "Topping Coat" as used with Gyprock/Plasterboard wall sheeting. Mario dubs the resulting variant "FRocks".
http://www.modvid.com.au/html/body__frocks_.html
Joint Compound mixes with water and paints-on in much the same way that Selleys No More Gaps does. However, the resulting layer is a semi-rigid layer which does not resist damage when flexed. This can be both a good or bad thing depending on the aims and usage:
- Micro-fissues/cracks in the Joint Compound layer (press/release the dry rock surface once only) can create startlingly realistic "scale" rock crevices and cracks, esp in slate and similar rock styles. These can be highlighted by flowing black india-ink + Isopropyl washes into the fissues
- That the joint-compound layer cracks soo readily is the clue that such rocks do not work as well for interferrence-fit situations such as "hiding module joints", surface-wearing situations such as layout fascia/viewer-rubbing applications, or situations where constant vibrations and shocks may be incurred (touring show layouts).
- Flaking and crumbling of the joint compound and texture layers may result in mess on viewers clothing, and visually apparent damage to the layout scenery.
Now, please don't mishear me, both techniques result in model rock formations which are easy to produce, and can emulate many variants of rock structure/type/material. However, "Soft Rocks" and "FRocks" are significantly different animals, with markedly different featuresets and practical usage limitations.
Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr