# Replica Rock Casts



## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

So I finally got around to actually casting out the rocks from the molds I've been working on and off for the past few weeks. Thought you guys might want to drool over them.

Yes, they will be available for sale sometime in the next month. I've got to determine how I'm going to do shipping and all that jazz but for now it looks like almost everything is falling into place thus far.




















Total weight of all rocks shown is 6.1 lbs.














































Why YES I do have rock hard abs.











Its 91 degrees in the garage, so yea, I look like hell. But the rock is light! Less than 3 pounds, casted from a rock that was insanely heavy.











Just for size comparison sake.





















Now imagine taking your can of GS and filling in the back volumes. Next filling dirt into the holes created by the rocks, and planting it. And BAM. Instant awesome rocking cage. That weighs NOTHING. Even a total novice could do this and without using any grout or styrofoam or epoxy. And, yes, as a matter of fact, these rocks DO look better than 95% of carved foam/grout rock backgrounds made by those us on here. Myself especially included. HX is not. He rocks. He is my hero.


These are what I've made just recently but I'll be making some more with some of your comments you've made in here: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/54017-need-your-input-yes-you.html : in mind. Like mushroom ledges. But for now I think I'll be focusing on making individual rocks and wrappable flexible backgrounds for all of us DIY guys out there. I mean I can, and have made drop-in backgrounds but fewer people buy them at shows than ask for individual rocks, so thats what I'll focus on first.

I'll be making these two tanks into something pretty sweet sometime in the next two weeks so check back later.


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## SunSchein89 (Feb 28, 2010)

Really like the look of the rocks. How do they feel exactly? Is it more like great stuff or the straight stryofoam backgrounds? Also, what shows would you be planning on attending in TX?


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I am curious about what show you will be attending in TX as well.
Like the beer in the picture, is it for scale or were you getting ready to drink it. 

-Beth


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## MichelleSG (May 1, 2010)

They don't fell like either, they feel like foam. Very similar to buoys, you know, those orange things? I think he's planning on selling stuff at he show in Houston end of July but mostly he stays close to San Antonio. We went to the show in Austin last Saturday but he didn't have any stuff to sell so he didn't get a table. He won't have enough by this weekend tomget a table at the San Antonio show but if you want to see some of what he has In real life I'm sure he can bring some along.


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## MeiKVR6 (Sep 16, 2008)

Those look great - keep up the good work!

edit: Any plans on building those attached to correctly sized sheets for ZooMed & Exo tanks? I'd bet those would sell like crazy.
Sort of like the exo/zoomed backgrounds - only 10X nicer looking...


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## wimvanvelzen (Nov 1, 2008)

That is looking really awesome - congrats!


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## Logqan (Sep 24, 2008)

Yeah that looks amazing. I can just picture it with a nice waterfall running down. It would look like a slice of atelopus habitat.


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

The detail on the cast Heineken bottle is amazing.  The rocks look great too.


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## slipperheads (Oct 17, 2007)

Nice job, looks very real! What kind of pricing are you looking at charging?


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## JoshH (Feb 13, 2008)

How inert is the foam rock, have you had a chance to test out the color retention and potential toxicity issues in a wet environment? Also, whats the back look like? I can't tell if its hollow or solid.....

The rocks look amazing BTW! The oxide colors look 100% natural, good job!


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## MichelleSG (May 1, 2010)

I don't know about the inertness but they are essentially hollow. Some parts are thicker than others and the wall thickness is about 1-3 inches. They are very sturdy, a big frog (not a dart but like a Pacman) wouldn't cause it to smoosh down. You can still smash them into a shipping box and they'll bounce back to their original shape once unpacked.


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## Manuran (Aug 28, 2007)

Beautiful product you have there. I did have a few questions for you though. I'm not sure if it is a process you'd like to keep to yourself, if it is I can respect that. Here are my questions anyway. 

First, do they hold water or get waterlogged? 
Second, Is the pigment painted on? Or is the foam itself holding some pigment? 
Lastly, (I know this might be a long shot, but since you are from Texas, I thought I would ask) This isn't gro foam is it?

Good luck with your product.
Thanks a lot.


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## postskunk (Jul 19, 2009)

there phenomenal! they looked really great in the first few pictures but when you showed the size in the ones with you and the beer the impressive level raised ten fold. I'm sure you know all that but in my book recognition never hurts.

great job
-Matt


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

These casts were solid. They were not hollow. They will probably be hallow in the future as there is really only a few reasons for them to be entirely backfilled with foam. One being ease for me, and two being I can add in means for people to attach them to glass via suction cups/magnets easier if its backfilled. However, for most of our purposes there is no reason for it to be backfilled other than to make it a lot easier for me. I backfilled it at first just for trial purposes. Of course the less material I use the less it costs to make and the less I have to charge for them, so I'm going to try to avoid backfilling if I can. I'm trying to keep costs as low as possible so you can get a bunch without having to sweat it. 

The one I'm holding near my head is hollow, however it is made from a different type of foam.

As it is right now I'm working with 4 different casting mediums. Two types of foam and two types of resins. I'm getting good results with all of them but each have their own specific properties and costs. I'll be making a video sometime in the future explaining in detail down to the chemical structure of each, what I'm using, and what other options you have out there including other established companies. My stuff is not necessarily better than other companies, but different. And a heck of a lot cheaper. THAT I can attest to. For one, there won't be any middle man making $ off my work just for reselling it you. So for those of you who do decide to purchase my designs will have each piece hand produced by me and me alone and won't be paying for some retailer's markup.

As for specifics on cost, I'm still working on all that as I'm trying to make sure I account for all of the million and one costs that are involved, but so far, its looking like its going to be around or just less than the wholesale price of other companies' designs.

Basically I am looking for all of this to pay for itself, and a little extra to put away for graduate school.

As for painting, I don't use paints. I've never used paints on my work and don't intend on it unless I think it will greatly add to the look. If I do, I'll post the exact type/style/colors I do use. The color you see comes from two places. Iron oxide pigments added into the mold pre-casting and colors added into the foam. I do all of this by hand so each one comes out a little different. This is one of the way other companies achieve some of their colors. But again I'll be going into all of this when I produce the videos.

As for potential toxicity, that is not going to be an issue. For one, the foams are just derivatives of the canned Great Stuff. Its all polyurethane foam. The difference is how it is reacted and cured. The caned one part PU foam (GS) is cured by the moisture in the air mixing with the isocyanate making Co2 (why it expands) while I use PU foam that is cured by the water in the polyol part. The rigid foam is a closed cell containing Co2, while the flexible foam is an open cell that does not. Again all of this will be discussed in length in a video.

I have no idea what gro foam is. But it may be the same thing. Polyurethane foam is pretty darn ubiquitous. Chances are your sitting on some right now.


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

Very, very nice.


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

Thanks for the transparency and the efforts to keep the cost down. Hollow sounds like the way to go. I don't really have a lot of knowledge about this, but it would seem to me that the foam wouldn't be the hard part. It seems like the hard part would be getting good robust cast that you can reuse forever. Have you been able to address that?

When I first saw these, I thought they looked awesome, but that I would never buy one...But it sounds like you are really making efforts to keep the costs down and now I want to fill all my tanks 

Keep it up! They look great.


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## DougP (Feb 9, 2010)

*They are stunning.* Let me know as soon as you have some for sale. I am working on a 24" cube now and would love to add some of your "rocks" to it. I would be more than happy to use some of your test pieces as long as they are inert. Drop me a PM if your interested if not I will just use them in another project at a later time.

Doug


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## carbonetc (Oct 13, 2008)

This is easily the best rockwork I've seen on the board. I'll definitely be buying some in the future.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks for the praises guys. 

I've just finished casting out that same set again last night using a different method to with good results. I hope to showcase in detail what options you guys will have sometime in the near future. Its looking like its going to be where you will have three options per rock design. Rigid foam, flexible foam, and rigid urethane plastic. Each will have different costs and properties but it all looks like its going to not be a problem with degrading or rotting in the wet-setups. The only major hurdle I'm facing right now is UV stabilization but as I've started adding UV stabilizers to the foam it looks like that will be a reduced issue. (Basically if you leave them in south Texas sun for a week will discolor slightly. But this was prior to adding the stabilizers so that should help increase the time it takes for that to occur.)

Other than that its coming along pretty good. I hope to have the first few trial pieces mailed out at the end of next week for a few of you guys to look and tell me what you think.

Also if any of you will be in town at the SA herp show this weekend and want to come by and check out some of the stuff in person, you more than welcome to. I got behind due to shipping delays and wasn't able to get enough stuff made for the show this weekend, so I didn't get a table like I originally planned. So for any of you who want to come by just send me a pm. I should be available most of the weekend except for sat. morning as I'll be checking out the show.


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

What have you come up with, price wise? Anything specific or do you have a price range?


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## rusticitas (Mar 25, 2007)

Am looking forward to these being made available for sale!


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

Yea me too.

Just about there.

Trying to finalize a lot of the last few details.

I've sent some early production casts out to some guys on the board here and hope to hear back from them about their opinions so I can adjust/tweak the product to better fit you guys.

But so far aside from not having enough time in the day, its all coming together. 

Price is going to be still being determined but the area is somewhere around 6-10 for the small ones, about 12-16 for the mid sized ones, and 20-30 for the larger ones. The large one I'm holding will probably go for about 45 or so depending on what material is used to make it. As I perfect the casting techniques and all that jazz I'll have it narrowed down for you guys on a per rock basis. I'm hoping that when I begin to offer these up I'll have somewhere around 15-20 different ones to choose from. Then as things sell and I can regain some of the mold costs back, I can then make more to better improve what’s available.


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## Bre (Nov 23, 2005)

So, we can start ordering when?? LOL


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## jpstod (Sep 8, 2005)

Stop teasing and Start pleasing

Sale Sale Sale..

my bet is you won't be able to keep up with demand.

I wish I had the skills and patience to do this kind of stuff. Every rock I see I visualize making a casting and turning it into a


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Those look FANTASTIC! I want some...


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Got some earlier in the week. Really amazing, look completely real. My only question is whether they can withstand exposure to water as in having them serve as a barrier for a water feature.


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## MichelleSG (May 1, 2010)

I have mine with the waterfall going over them and they are partially submerged in my tank too. Scott made it a month ago. The water is filtered with just carbon and it'svery clean. I have 2 water plants in it too and they are doing well. Baby tears and red tiger lotus. I can up load another picture of it when I get home.


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## VivariumWorks (Feb 27, 2008)

I've used all three materials (rigid foam, flexible foam, and resin) with excellent results with water features. As for being submerged underwater you do need to silicone/foam it in really well to keep them from floating.

The flexible foam rocks are an open celled foam which does allow for water to move through the material. Its like a VERY dense sponge. However in most cases I backfill the flexible foam with rigid foam which is a closed cell that does not allow water to move through it. I like the flexible foam as it takes a much greater beating than the rigid foam does. It has a much better UV resistance even before the UV additives, takes a lot more work to tear/cut from the animals perspective (claws wont scrape it up), and its flexible so you can push/shove it in past your trim if you have to. The issue with it in regards to water features though its that it can hold water like a sponge. However, it doesn't mean the water won't move over it like a rock.

But yes if your planning on using the flexible foam rocks as a water barrier it might allow water to move through it slowly. I would stick to the rigid or the resin for this purpose. Although I haven't tried this myself yet so I don't know if the water will in fact move through the flexible foam after it has been backfilled and then foamed into place.

I'll be addressing much of these specific properties in the video I'm going to make. Hoping I can get to it this weekend.

Thanks for those of you who I sent trial pieces out to for your feedback. This really helps me out a lot. I should have fixed most of the issues you’ve mentioned before I start sending these out.

And yes, I know many of you are eager. I am too. I'm running out of room... I should be having the first ones available in the next week after the videos showing what everything is in detail.


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## pet-teez (Oct 3, 2007)

These seriously look fantastic! Great job.


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