This is easily the stupidest thing I've ever built, but I'm determined to see it through. See, when the Volcano Viper/Lava Pod was announced, I thought it would be awesome to build a super-villain style volcano base for them to populate. Then they were canceled in this country. But I still wanted to make the base. So I built, and built, and realized I needed parts I didn't have, so I got those, and kept building, and only then did I realize that this thing is REALLY EFFING HUGE and I don't necessarily have the space available for it. So I'm going to have to clear some stuff out to store it, and it's not even done yet (right now it's just a facade...I plan on working on the interior soon).

At any rate, here are the WIPs, starting with when I was just piecing it together, to where it is as of yesterday:





I threw a Neo Viper in there for scale (you can also kinda see the bottom of my Terror Drome in the last pic, if that gives you any idea of size). This is my first experiment with using foam, and I'm fairly happy with how it turned out.

_________________

I really like what you have started here. I was looking at the pictures wondering how you made the black rock sides and then read the foam part and realized how genius that is. If you elaborate on the foam building process I'd be very tempted to try something similar on my own.

_________________

One man's stupid is another man's AWESOME.

Am I biased by my love of supervillain lairs and secret bases? Probably. But the concept is rad and I'm looking forward to seeing interior shots...

It is really super, super easy

1) Go to Lowes/Home Depot and get a big sheet of insulation foam from the building supply section (I got a giant sheet so big I had to break it in half in the parking lot to get it in my car for $8)

2) Get a vague idea of the shape you want to build. Start using a craft saw to cut layers out in that shape. Don't worry about being exact, in fact, try to avoid making too crisp of cuts (try making shallow cuts with an Xacto and then breaking on the slices to make a good, rough edge which looks great for a rock face).

3) Hot glue your layers together

4) Cover the foam in some form of plaster. I used cheap patching plaster (about $4 for a bucket), some people use plaster bandages, some people get really really fancy and use bondo and fiberglass. All you really need to do is make sure all of the foam is covered, due to the next step.

5) Spray paint. If you don't cover the foam, spray paint DOES dissolve this stuff.

_________________

How about a smoke machine, or fill the bowl with water and drop in some dry ice?

_________________

I thought about those, but it's a little much to keep maintained. I am going to put lights in, though.

_________________

Wow, I had no idea it was foam board. I was thinking it was that spray foam insulation stuff that you just sprayed and shaped as it hardened. I'm way more impressed now and I was really really impressed to begin with.

_________________

That spray foam stuff may be useful for you too. Creating a natural looking flow.

_________________

Dig it.

Much awesomeness!

_________________

Agreed. Amazing so far.

_________________

I think this is great and makes the Cobra Mountain playset worth having. Now I wanna try it. You have an excellent vision for finished projects and I'm not sure there is anything you could do joe-wise that's considered stupid. Great work.

_________________

That is awesomely done!

When I wanted to simulate the spray of volcanic activity, I used a product from LeMax that was called "Shimmering Tree". What it basically is, is a bare limbed tree with tiny limbs with fiber optics ran throughout the structure. When you put the batteries in, it causes a cascading show of tiny orange lights that when the lights are dimmed look very much like volcanic embers. I form fit it around the top of a volcano I made by recoloring one of those Christmas mountains that are snow capped. Added the lava trails, ash covering, and flow on the bottom piece that when I give it a touch of the UV or black light, all the laval accents glow.

_________________

That sounds interesting...I was just going to try to find a cheap fiber optic light, but that might be worth tracking down. The lava on this one should react well with light...I made it by painting silver trails, then going over that with hot-glue, then painting the glue with transparent orange paint. The silver under everything kicks light back pretty nicely.

_________________

This is a great idea! I may have to log this away for future use. It turned out very well, and the lava looks like you planned very well. Great dio! Any inside shots?

_________________