# rock wall first attempt



## bundy07 (Nov 6, 2013)

I have finally decided to make my own rock wall, so far Im using a chipboard base with foam and expand foam, did a bit last night but as you can see in the first pic didnt get very far, turns out I need more than one can, second pic Ive shaped and sanded a bit am thinking once Ive got the shapes I want I will cover with some runny cement and then paint and seal with pond sealer goin for a pilbarra red dirt look for me stimmy, would love to hear some feed back and any tips you guys might have or ideas.


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## thomasssss (Nov 6, 2013)

one tip , do not paint it unless you are extremely confident with painting and in going for the red pilbra look in particular , i only say this as i put heaps of effort into a large background with the same idea in mind ( pilbra for my woma ) i failed  it turned out looking kinda fluro and really red after i added the pondsealer 
its just really hard to find the right reds and oranges in water based paints 

what i recommend you do instead is go to bunnings and find the coloured oxides that you mix with the render cement , they come in a much more natural range of colours , ive been experimenting with a few hides using the marigold ( kind of a real earthy orange) , reds and yellows 

i did a under coat of plain render then another of red , then covered that in marigold and then used a 50/50 mix of render to oxide colours to highlight some areas the same way you would with the dry brushing technique when using paint , then you can then gently scrap away some of the top coat of marigold to expose the red in cracks etc as you please but be careful not to expose the foam 

anyways hope that helps if you still want to paint it then try some test areas before you do the entire thing but ive found the oxides to be much more natural looking


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## bundy07 (Nov 6, 2013)

yeh I was thinking oxides would be better I will go down that route and then add black for shading and depth


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## Lawra (Nov 6, 2013)

thomasssss said:


> one tip , do not paint it unless you are extremely confident with painting



Aw don't say that, painting a background is a lot of fun, especially whilst inebriated!

Although I think I fluked mine too


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## DeadlyDanny80 (Nov 6, 2013)

thomasssss said:


> one tip , do not paint it unless you are extremely confident with painting and in going for the red pilbra look in particular , i only say this as i put heaps of effort into a large background with the same idea in mind ( pilbra for my woma ) i failed  it turned out looking kinda fluro and really red after i added the pondsealer
> its just really hard to find the right reds and oranges in water based paints
> 
> what i recommend you do instead is go to bunnings and find the coloured oxides that you mix with the render cement , they come in a much more natural range of colours , ive been experimenting with a few hides using the marigold ( kind of a real earthy orange) , reds and yellows
> ...



+1 for the oxide coloring... Mixed with render works a treat... I used one teaspoon of oxide to one cup of render... Can mix different coloured oxides at different ratios for different effects... Looks quite natural...


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## bundy07 (Nov 6, 2013)

oxide it is, i have another drama, what do you guys think, the ledge on the left is going to be about 20cm below my light do u think that is too close I can lower it now just dont want to finish and find that the ledge gets too hot. in the tank I have at the moment its about 35 cm from the substrate but as this is going to be directly on the ledge and no subtrate am unsure if it will heat up too much, Im goin to have the thermostat for the light on the ledge so thinking it should be ok


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## DeadlyDanny80 (Nov 6, 2013)

bundy07 said:


> oxide it is, i have another drama, what do you guys think, the ledge on the left is going to be about 20cm below my light do u think that is too close I can lower it now just dont want to finish and find that the ledge gets too hot. in the tank I have at the moment its about 35 cm from the substrate but as this is going to be directly on the ledge and no subtrate am unsure if it will heat up too much, Im goin to have the thermostat for the light on the ledge so thinking it should be ok



That distance will depend on what your looking to house in their... My experience is mostly with lizards... A majority of lights are best rated within 30-40cm especially MVB's... You can easily increase/decrease the wattage of the bulb to attain correct basking temps..


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## bundy07 (Nov 6, 2013)

what im hoping to achieve is to have the ledge as his main heat source but also keep the tank at temp and have a hide down below on the bottom of the enclosure the dimensions of enclosure are 700x500x roughly 500 give or take with vents top and bottom left and right


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## bundy07 (Nov 7, 2013)

bit more done todayView attachment 300094


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## Woma_Wild (Nov 7, 2013)

I used acrylic paints from Bunnings.
some colours I worked with were: burnt umber, burnt sienna, yellow ocre.
I also used oxide in my last coat of render to give me a base colour of an earthy orange. I did mix colours together and I worked with a dry brush, not one soaked in paint. 
If you go over the same spot several times you intensify the colour. Should you wish to lighten or if you think it doesn't look right, quickly dip your brush in water and work the paint out. 
I don't have a camera and my phone doesn't show the effect so I can't put pics up to show you. 
A quick hint: add texture to your render using a dry brush before it is completely dry. You will get that sandstone feel to your rocks.


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## bundy07 (Nov 8, 2013)

So thought id see how it fits and looks in the new enclosure, Im pretty happy so far just needs some more trimming and shaping and its ready for cement.
View attachment 300193
View attachment 300192


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## Performa (Nov 11, 2013)

Tryed to view your last few attachments they didnt work bundy07


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## bundy07 (Nov 11, 2013)

Gonna sand and finish tonight should put cement on this weekend.

View attachment 300332


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## bundy07 (Nov 11, 2013)

not sure why my pics arnt showing


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## bundy07 (Nov 11, 2013)

View attachment 300337


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## thomasssss (Nov 11, 2013)

bundy07 said:


> not sure why my pics arnt showing


go to advanced post then scroll down to manage attachments , after clicking on that you will see another window appear , at the top of that you will see a little tab , add files with a green + , from their its pretty straight forward


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## bundy07 (Nov 11, 2013)

trying again


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## DeadlyDanny80 (Nov 11, 2013)

Yeah that worked...


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## bdav70 (Nov 13, 2013)

i followed a popular youtube series on how to do mine, and just used acrylic paint with a few coats of PVA to seal it. The trick for mine was sprinkling a pinch of sand between coats which dulled the sheen of the PVA. came up pretty nicely in the end


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## bundy07 (Nov 13, 2013)

cool do u remember what the series was called


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## bdav70 (Nov 13, 2013)

sure do

reptile terrarium rock wall background

mine looks very similar except instead of grey I went for raw sienna/yellow ochre/burnt umber acrylic paint concoction to replicated desert sand in WA. But all of the steps of foam, tile grout, adhesion, sealing etc. worked flawlessly and my final result is reasonably similar and successful


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## bundy07 (Nov 13, 2013)

awesome will check it out


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## bundy07 (Nov 18, 2013)

ok so I mixed up some mortar and red oxide last night and applied it, this morning I checked it and it doesnt seem to have gone hard it is kinda of like chalk and flakey what could cause this 
I may try another coat tonight and see what happens. I have read to maybe mix the mortar with pva glue or could I use some silicon I got a whole tube of that I could mix with the cement I just think its not bonding maybe


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## Performa (Nov 18, 2013)

Awesome bundy07 its come up great.


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## bundy07 (Nov 18, 2013)

cheers hopefully I can get it to go hard.


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## bundy07 (Nov 19, 2013)

Ok so last night after work I came home to check out my masterpiece......FAIL the cement had gone all chalky and just rubbed off, so after bout 20 mins of getting completely covered in red dust getting it off I started again, only this time I mixed it a bit wetter and added a heap of pva glue.
Success completely hard this morning and looks great prolly put another three coats on and then paint some texture with black paint then ready for seal.


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## bundy07 (Nov 28, 2013)

Hey guys does anyone know if that crommelin pond sealer is thick and if it sets hard Im only asking because I have put two coats of mortar and oxide on my rock wall and it is hard but still spongy like i can feel that there was foam underneath otherwise how can I make it a bit more solid.


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## DeadlyDanny80 (Nov 28, 2013)

bundy07 said:


> Hey guys does anyone know if that crommelin pond sealer is thick and if it sets hard Im only asking because I have put two coats of mortar and oxide on my rock wall and it is hard but still spongy like i can feel that there was foam underneath otherwise how can I make it a bit more solid.



The pond sealer is not thick & quite watery but apply three Coates allowing decent time to dry between each coat & it will certainly assist greatly in solidifying your background...


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## Lawra (Nov 28, 2013)

If it's still spongy I'd suggest putting more layers on. Crommelin's is thin/watery and even though it sets hard it's meant to be applied on a rigid/flat surface.


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## bundy07 (Nov 28, 2013)

yeh it is hard but if I put enough pressure on it I can feel the foam, It shouldnt be a prob with the snake but yeh prolly smash some more coats on it see how it goes


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