Scale Models
(click on images to view enlargements)
Scale models are typically the very first step of any major project that we create. This, is how we like to work; as it is a good place to work through any technical problems as well as take your drawings to the next logical level and make them tangible. Most of the three dimensional design work is done during the scale model stage of development. You can expect to invest, perhaps, $5,000 for a small table top scale model, if we work from your drawings. If we design it from scratch, your investment will be more. We can also work from pictures of any geologically formed rock, or rock and water elements you see in nature or find in books or the internet.
| The image to the right was our scale model for the city of Louisville's Waterfront Park. The original design (shown here) was to have a waterfall cascade down from the rock walls in the hillsides as the public spectators meander up the walkway. The water then, was to be caught in catch basins and flow on down to feed the pond at the bottom. |
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The scale model to the left is our design for the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum. Represented here are the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountain ranges, with the Shenandoah River running in between. The primary elements involved are: a lookout point; a flowing body of water; and a footpath-complete with talus break, to help suspend the viewer's disbelief and as an aid to the convincing qualities of the large scale installation outside their newly constructed building. |
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| Above is a 1/12th scale model of an interior Crevice Cave that we made for the Arkansas State Park System. Because this piece was designed for indoor installation, with weight being a factor, it was suggested that our lightweight rock system be used. With installations like this, it is most cost effective for us to produce the piece in our Louisville studio and truck the pieces to the installation site for assembly. Note that the tops of all five elements are flat-designed to butt directly against the ceiling of space in order for the illusion to be more effective. | |
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| The image to the right shows the children¹s entrance (the cracked away portion between the two main artificial rock elements), in detail. Audio visual monitors are implemented on either side for interpretive and educational information on endless loop tracks that are activated by motion sensors. Also note the use of Lichens and artificial moss and fungi for a more convincing overall Rockscape. |
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This is a stock rockscape with optional logo and water feature. Your corporate logo can be cast in place on the side of this exact rock sculpture with or without the options shown here (running water, for example). The logo portion (triangular shape at the top right of the rock feature) is the only area that changes - easily and affordably. |
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To the left is a 1/12th scale model of a sculptural indoor fountain for a corporate headquarters in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The actual piece is 7 1/2 feet tall, eight feet wide, and 4 feet deep. It weighs about 30,000 pounds.
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| We cast the full-scale piece on site, in place, right on top of the water supply line using our cast-in-place mold system. Casting-in-place affords us the luxury of materials closest to actual rock - intrinsically colored (not painted) concrete! Only our cast-in-place system allows us to do both at once - get the look and feel closest to natural rock and simultaneously keep the cost down, because we avoid having to physically handle each piece! | |
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Fossilrockwalls™
Flexible Panel |
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| The image to the right is a 1/12th scale model of an outdoor public restroom for the Bureau of Land Management in Arizona. It was cast-in-place using a miniature version of our rubber form liner system. This system utilizes one of the materials used on the Russian space station Mir. Note that each section is not interrupted by a seam line, but instead each incorporates our patented semi-circular drill bore mark. This is very similar to what we are all familiar with seeing on our country's interstate highways - a core drill mark left by road crews after they drill and blast natural rock with explosives. |
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To the left is an actual detailed photograph of our cast artificial rock. Note the intrinsic, not applied, coloration which, incidentally, can be layered in graduated colors. There is no other system of artificial rock more convincing. The cast colored concrete can be layered in graduated colors. It is of a sandy grit texture and cold-to-the-touch just like sedimentary rock! |
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| The image on the right is one of the cap blocks of our Fossilrockwalls™ System. Note the fossils. Many of the fossil compositions are comprised of casts taken right here near Louisville on the Ohio River, at one of the oldest existing fossil beds in the country. (Special thanks to the geologists and park rangers at the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center, Clarksville, Indiana.) |
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Fossilrockwalls™ Versatility |
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The image to the left is an overall shot of a 1/12th scale model we typically prepare for our clients prior to the construction process. We usually insist on this prototype stage. Any problem solving can be done inexpensively and effectively. We consider this sort of an insurance plan. It ensures that there are going to be no unexpected surprises and usually pushes the creative decisions much further than they would otherwise be pushed. |
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| Because the panels are interchangeable and flexible, a variety of forms, combinations and subcombinations are possible. The image at right illustrates three different versions of our cast-in-place Fossilrockwalls™ Systems. They are the Facial (in the foreground); Strip Molds (curvilinear form); and a typical Box Mold (middle left). |
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Naturalistic Rock Statue Bases |
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The image to the left is of the maquette or small scale model for the larger-than-life Lincoln Memorial on the Ohio river. The sculpture of the rock that we cast in place for Ed Hamilton's Lincoln statue was created using nearly 60,000 pounds of intrinsically colored grout. |
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The image to
the left is a 1/12th scale model of a cast-in-place cliff-like
rock feature that will serve as a base for a life-sized bronze
statue in downtown Louisville.
It was determined that the bronze statue's theme, exploration of "The Great Frontier", would be strengthened by mounting it to our cast-in-place rock base rather than an ordinary mundane geometric shaped base. |
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