# TV Cabinet Conversion - background... A lil help please?



## Skippii (Feb 16, 2013)

Hey guys

So as some of you know, I'm in the process of converting a TV cabinet into an enclosure. The whole project hit a bit of a stand-still over the last couple months, but I'm back into it now!

I wish I'd taken more pics up until this point just for funsies lol so I could look back at the whole process.. but I plan to start taking some now. At this point, not a whole lot has been done. I've installed a radiant heat panel in one end (Still need to get a cage for it), two air vents (one at the hot end one at the cold), and I've sanded and given the inside a couple coats of clear varnish. Nothing too groundbreaking! 

For the background, I've decided to go with an aged slightly crumbly looking brick wall. I've always loved the look of brick, and I think once I get the old brick wall going and add in a bunch of plants and some climbers if i can find any, I'll almost have a secret garden vibe (That's one direction I'm considering at the moment anyway). I'm still not quite decided on the brick colour, anyone want to chime in with some suggestions? I was initially thinking your average red brick, but there are definitely more out there to choose from.. There are different sandstone shades, whites, light greys, dark greys.. Guess it might end up being a bit of trial and error as far as finding the right colour.

So far I've only gotten as far as cutting out some styrofoam "bricks", texturing them with a soldering iron (outside in the fresh air with a mask of course.. TONS of fumes! Also, there was a green ant situation that wasn't overly enjoyable..) and temporarily sticking them to the back wall with a small amount of sticky tape to see how they'll all fit together (As pictured). Just need to number them now so I know where each piece belongs haha much like a puzzle 






(Sorry about the quality)

Obviously I'm still going to shave some edges off some and wiggle them all around to get them sitting right before gluing them to anything. This is just a basic layout.

Can anyone tell me what kind of render I'm going to need? I vaguely remember seeing in another thread, someone had posted a picture of the render they currently had. I believe they mentioned something about render with acrylic, but I can't for the life of me find that post!

I'm also curious as to some paint brands or types people have been using, though that's not a huge worry. There's a lovely little art supply store in Cessnock where I'm sure I'll find what I need.

Then there's the issue with the sealant. I've heard of too many peoples' lovely backgrounds ending up with an almost blindingly shiny finish. Are there any sealants out there that aren't going to do that? I think I'd cry haha. I have heard it's good to sprinkle a little sand into some of the coats of sealant, does that help significantly?

Ta guys, any help would be HUGELY appreciated. I love creative projects like this, but when it comes down to finding the right render or sealant? Yeah, not my strong-suit lol I have no experience here whatsoever.

x


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## J-A-X (Feb 16, 2013)

This is the pic you were thinking of, and yes, it had the acrylic added

I'd suggest having a few bricks 'sticking out' a little, it will provide a climbing spot  

I don't know why but I keep seeing a 70s lounge room with "feature brick wall" 

How very retro


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## sharky (Feb 16, 2013)

Lol, skippy you do know you can buy big sheets of plaster board that look EXACTLY like those bricks. We have the same stuff attactched to the outside of our house (See attatchment) It's really just a thin board with fake 3D bricks, it looks great 
Sorry, I had to mention that  It's looking great so far though! Keep up the good work! Any non-toxic water based paint should work a treat


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## J-A-X (Feb 16, 2013)

As for sealant quite a few have used 'crommelins' (not sure on the spelling) pond sealer and say its not shiny, but i still have half a bucket of pondtite so I can't say if it works


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## Skippii (Feb 16, 2013)

Fairy Godmother to the rescue! I was hoping a DIY thread would catch your attention  was wondering if it had been you that posted the original picture I was thinking of. 

I have been considering how I could make a basking platform or climbing spot, still working on exactly how I'll do it though..

haha 70's lounge, I like it! Definitely another direction to consider. Maybe I could give him a basking sofa.

Anything to say as far as reducing the shine of sealants?

x


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## Skippii (Feb 16, 2013)

Oh, of course you answer my sealant question while I'm responding.. You're trying to make me look like a goof, aren't you! I'm onto you now.....


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## Skippii (Feb 16, 2013)

sharkyy1o5 said:


> Lol, skippy you do know you can buy big sheets of plaster board that look EXACTLY like those bricks. We have the same stuff attactched to the outside of our house (See attatchment) It's really just a thin board with fake 3D bricks, it looks great
> Sorry, I had to mention that  It's looking great so far though! Keep up the good work! Any non-toxic water based paint should work a treat



lol yeah, I'm aware this stuff exists. I want to make my background from scratch, and I also want it to look a little more run down than the brick sheeting you can buy.. That stuff looks too perfect, no character. 

Thanks though, I'll have a look out for some paint and see what I can find


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## Gruni (Feb 16, 2013)

Just go to your nearest Bunnings and ask for a bag of acrylic render. I can't remember the brand I used now but it would be in my thread somewhere although I didn't take a pic of the bag. As for the sealent mine went shini but now that it is almost together it still looks fine.


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## smileysnake (Feb 16, 2013)

Gday mate I am doing the same thing with my enclosure although I am not using a sealant just render then paint over it that will do I think just hoping he doesn't poo and pee over the walls or I just wipe it off with f10 wipes


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## Gruni (Feb 16, 2013)

Oh and Skippii, I meant to say before as far as a starting point it looks really promising. Brick looks have a lot of potential and look great if the thickness of the bricks varies noticably as that gives you more of the look you were talking about.


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## Skippii (Feb 16, 2013)

Thanks Gruni! I'm definitely planning on bringing some of the bricks out a little further than others, add some more character and some extra climbing opportunities. I still want it to be a fairly simple background, nothing too crazy haha hopefully I can get the look I'm going for.


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## smileysnake (Feb 17, 2013)

here is a couple of pics of mine havent finished painting yet and another idea for a sealer you can a spray on glue which im going to try otherwise i use liquid sandstone then paint over that hope this helps


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## Skippii (Feb 17, 2013)

smileysnake said:


> here is a couple of pics of mine havent finished painting yet and another idea for a sealer you can a spray on glue which im going to try otherwise i use liquid sandstone then paint over that hope this helps



Looking very cool, smiley! Wish I was up to that point.. Long road ahead for me lol. Definitely show us when yours is all finished!


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## smileysnake (Feb 17, 2013)

yeah will do still along way to go this is a long term project as i have no room left in my house for it when finished...so dont know what im going to do when done....good luck with yours its coming along nicely skippii.....


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## bigjoediver (Feb 17, 2013)

To remove the shine from sealer just buff with some steel wool. Get the stuff they sell near the sandpaper etc not a scourer from the supermarket.


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## RedFox (Feb 17, 2013)

On my DIY rocks, hides and walls I used Dunlop acrylic render from bunnings. It was the cheapest they had and comes in a bright yellow packet making it pretty hard to miss. It was 20kg for around $17. As for sealer I used the crommelins clear non toxic pond sealer. I can't remember the price but I got a smallish tub and that did 4 layers on a 4x2x2 rock wall, 4 layers on multiple fake rock sort of things and 2 large hides with some still left over. Ditto the render.

I don't find the crommelins gives off too much shine so a light rub with some fine steel wool is all it needs. 

Brick looks really good and a secret garden theme sounds excellent. Why didn't I think of that?


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## Skippii (Feb 17, 2013)

RedFox said:


> On my DIY rocks, hides and walls I used Dunlop acrylic render from bunnings. It was the cheapest they had and comes in a bright yellow packet making it pretty hard to miss. It was 20kg for around $17. As for sealer I used the crommelins clear non toxic pond sealer. I can't remember the price but I got a smallish tub and that did 4 layers on a 4x2x2 rock wall, 4 layers on multiple fake rock sort of things and 2 large hides with some still left over. Ditto the render.
> 
> I don't find the crommelins gives off too much shine so a light rub with some fine steel wool is all it needs.
> 
> Brick looks really good and a secret garden theme sounds excellent. Why didn't I think of that?



Ta! I'll be popping down to bunnings on thursday to pick up the render and sealant, and *hopefully* some paints. It's good to have some names of brands other people have had success with, I feel more confident if I know other people have had a good outcome with the products I'm using.

haha the secret garden idea didn't come to me right away, I was originally going to do like a brick wall with floyd's name written on it with graffiti style writing, and maybe an Oscar the Grouch style "trash can" hide at one end, not sure about the other end. Was kind of thinking like a grunge kinda look. After thinking it over though, I decided I really did want to give him a bunch of plants and things, which didn't fit with my original idea. A brick wall didn't really scream rainforest, and then it hit me.. old wall, some ivy type vines and plants, maybe some wisteria... Definitely a secret garden vibe there. I just *hope* it turns out as well as it looks in my mind.

Thanks for all your help so far everyone! I've been busy working on extending some of the bricks for climbing and a small basking platform today. Still doesn't look too exciting, but once i get it all stuck down and rendered/painted/sealed, throw in some plants and a snake, hopefully it'll all come together.

Pictures to come in the next couple days.

x

The graffiti style writing I was planning to use (was a pain to do haha couldn't find my thicker artline pens):


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## Skippii (Feb 17, 2013)

Oh forgot to ask as well.. Lighting! I've seen some people use these LED strip type deals for lighting up the enclosure (just for viewing, not talking heat lamps). I had a look at one video on youtube, and they seemed to be using some kind of device to power the LED strips, instead of just having a power plug. Can anyone tell me where I might get some LED lighting from (preferably something I can just plug into a regular power socket)? I'd love if I could just tuck the lighting neatly behind the top lip of the cabinet.


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## RedFox (Feb 17, 2013)

I'm sue it will look great when it is finished and if not you can always to plan B... a 70's style living room. 

As for led lighting. I got mine from Ikea. It is one of those ones with that just stick into the top of the cage and can be cut to size. It was meant to be used for mood lighting so has a colour change sort of wheel. You can get the led strips off eBay for under $10 then get led connector then the power point converter for I think all up $30ish. I believe Gruni has one of those maybe try PM him if he does look at this thread. 

My Ikea lighting cost $59 but it is really cool.


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## Gruni (Feb 17, 2013)

Tried the steel wool with mine and it grabbed like velcro so I decided the shine wasn't so bad... :lol:


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## justin91 (Feb 17, 2013)

I got a 12V strip of car led's off ebay for 10bux. Didn't come with a power plug so I just found an old 12V phone charger that was pumping out about 1.06amps, wired them together and worked like a charm.

I'm not a sparky or nor do I recommend doing this if you don't know what your doing. Always get somebody who knows electricity to do your wiring.


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## justin91 (Feb 17, 2013)

Gruni said:


> Tried the steel wool with mine and it grabbed like velcro so I decided the shine wasn't so bad... :lol:



I agree with Gruni here. I don't mind the shine either. Brings out the color in my wall IMO.


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## Skippii (Feb 17, 2013)

Ahh you guys are awesome. Thanks a bunch for all the advice so far, I'll definitely be using a lot of it.

So as promised, I've got a couple new pics. Nothing overly thrilling, just a couple quick progress shots (spent quite a chunk of today mowing the grass and recovering from a silly spider bite, that'll learn me to wear little ballet flats while mowing! Still, got some of the background done earlier).

Alright, basically what I've done is trace around the "bricks" I wanted to extend onto some more styrofoam sheeting. Then I cut the pieces out and scribbled on the backs where each piece went on the wall so I knew which piece belonged with which and how many pieces were going to make up that brick. The further i wanted the brick to pop out, the more layers i traced and cut out.







I then went outside with all the cut up pieces (didn't want to cut the styrofoam outside, those fun little pieces of "snow" are incredibly bad for the environment, especially when they end up in the ocean.. So I made a mess inside instead!) matched them up with each other and glued all the pieces together. They looked pretty rough at this point, but I fixed them up a bit with a soldering iron.






Once I'd fixed up the edges with the soldering iron, it was back inside to sticky tape them all onto the back wall of the enclosure again to see how they all look. I stuck them on very roughly, so some of them look a little skewed, but I'll get them sitting better when I eventually glue them onto the backing.






I cannot wait to have this all finished haha, it's definitely more of an undertaking than I was expecting it to be! I'm sure it'll be rewarding at the end though 

x


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## justin91 (Feb 17, 2013)

Looking awesome buddy. I'm so jelous I didn't think of this idea


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## bigjoediver (Feb 17, 2013)

If you search aquarium led light strips on eBay there are lots that come with plug packs ready to go. And in different colors.


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## Skippii (Feb 18, 2013)

bigjoediver said:


> If you search aquarium led light strips on eBay there are lots that come with plug packs ready to go. And in different colors.



Ah great, thanks! That makes things a little easier


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## Gruni (Feb 18, 2013)

If you know someone with a soldering iron, Jaycar have some good setups as well. All I had to do was solder a plug onto the LEDtail plug lead and it runs off a 12v plug pack. Took me about 2 mins to solder up and there is no danger like when you try to wire up 240v stuff. In this case it either works or you soldered it the wrong way around and need to unsolder and reverse what you did.


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## Skippii (Feb 18, 2013)

We've got 2 soldering irons lol one for soldering, and one for melting plastic/styrofoam/other art projects. I'll definitely check out Jaycar and consider giving this a go! Cheers Gruni

x


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## Skippii (Mar 4, 2013)

Alright guys, no progress pics just yet, I've been fighting off a nasty infection for almost the last week, and still busy with work. So not a whole lot has happened with the background.

Today I decided I'm feeling well enough to hop up and do a little work on it. I also decided that since the cabinet has an incredibly inconveniently sized lip on the top and sides of the front opening, there was no was no way I could make a background the size of the back wall and fit in through the opening. So I've made the choice to build the background directly onto the back wall. May or may not be ideal, but it's what I'm going to do, if nothing else it'll be a learning curve.

What I've done today is I removed all of the styro-bricks, sanded the back wall up a little to give it a rougher surface for the glue to stick to. I then stuck all of the bricks back onto the back wall with little pieces of sticky tape and wiggled them into place to where I was happy enough with them. 

I then went along, row by row, taking off one brick at a time, removing the pieces of tape, dabbing on some liquid-nails style glue and re-placing them where they belonged. _(Note: after pressing each glued __brick into place, I then pulled it away again allowing oxygen to get into the glue, before pressing it back onto the wall. I've heard this helps the curing process)_

haha I'm sure there's probably a more efficient method of getting the wall glued into place than what I've done, but it's worked for me!

So that's where I'm up to now, which is why I'm not posting any progress shots today: It looks much the same as when you saw them last, the tape has just been replaced with glue!

I will be posting up a couple pictures showing the glue I've used, as well as the render and sealant I bought from bunnings. I've not yet got the paints, but I'm hoping to grab some at the end of the week and I'll throw up a picture of those as well. Seeing pictures with specific products has definitely been a help for me during the process so far, as I'm a very visual person. So maybe it'll help someone else that stumbles upon this thread.

One question I do have though.. I didn't even think of this until it was too late haha. Will my acrylic render (with added PVA glue in the first coat) stick to the thin wooden parts in between the bricks? I realise I likely should have put a thin sheet of styrofoam onto the back wall and stuck the bricks to that. If it's going to be an issue, I'll just have to go in between the gaps with something before rendering it, not a huge deal. I'm such a goof sometimes  Anyway, let me know.

Thanks again for all your help so far, guys! You've been invaluable. I'll keep you updated, and also throw up some pictures when I start rendering.

x


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## Gilmatic (Mar 4, 2013)

RedFox said:


> On my DIY rocks, hides and walls I used Dunlop acrylic render from bunnings. It was the cheapest they had and comes in a bright yellow packet making it pretty hard to miss. It was 20kg for around $17. As for sealer I used the crommelins clear non toxic pond sealer. I can't remember the price but I got a smallish tub and that did 4 layers on a 4x2x2 rock wall, 4 layers on multiple fake rock sort of things and 2 large hides with some still left over. Ditto the render.
> 
> I don't find the crommelins gives off too much shine so a light rub with some fine steel wool is all it needs.
> 
> Brick looks really good and a secret garden theme sounds excellent. Why didn't I think of that?




Did you get the sealer from bunnings as well???


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## Dutchy88 (Mar 4, 2013)

Just render what you can and then before you paint it buy some paintable sealer and paint over it when you paint the whole thing. Done


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## Dutchy88 (Mar 4, 2013)

Also one thing I forgot if you sprinkle some sand on the sealer when its wet, that way when you paint it, it won't stand out


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## oOLaurenOo (Mar 4, 2013)

If your worried about anchoring the rock wall onto the wood get some screws and just screw them into the wood all over the wall. Make sure they aren't to long. When you render over the top the render will form around the screw heads and anchor the whole thing onto the wall really well.


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## Skippii (Mar 4, 2013)

Thanks for your responses guys 

Just to clarify though, I'm not worried about the "bricks" not being stuck on strongly enough, this glue sticks like you wouldn't believe haha. What I'm concerned about is whether or not the render will stick to the wood well enough. I feel like I heard somewhere that it's not ideal to render over wood, because wood shrinks and expands depending on the moisture in the air and it can cause issues with the render. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it makes me nervous. I really should have thought of it before I stuck everything down, but the goofball that I am, I went and forgot!

I'd like to work out a way to seal the wooden bits between the bricks before actually rendering over the whole thing. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Ta 

x


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## oOLaurenOo (Mar 4, 2013)

Yea I meant use the screws to attach the render to the wood. I would worry about puttying anything over the wood. I attached my rock walls straight to wood and I have had no problems.


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## Skippii (Mar 4, 2013)

Alright  guess we'll see how it goes then! For now I'm just waiting for the glue to cure properly before I put any render over anything. I work tomorrow and wednesday, so the earliest I can start rendering will be thursday. I'll keep you guys updated!

x


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## J-A-X (Mar 4, 2013)

I hope you're feeling better skippii- I'm the worst patient I always want to jump up and do something only to set back my recovery so it takes longer to be back to normal 

You're not thinking very clearly  
The render on the timber will be fine, the temps won't cause enough flex to be of concern, 'paint' some straight pva onto the timber and it will stop it sucking the moisture out of the render to quickly. 
Then use a thin coat of pva, water and render to "paint" the mortar. I've rendered straight on timber with no drama. 
As a side note to Dutchys comment about sealing then painting… paint first … sealer goes on last . That way when you have to use a bit of elbow grease to remove smeared poo, you won't smear the paint  

Take things slow until you're firing on all cylinders or you'll wind up making silly mistakes (done that)


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## Skippii (Mar 4, 2013)

JaxRtfm said:


> I hope you're feeling better skippii- I'm the worst patient I always want to jump up and do something only to set back my recovery so it takes longer to be back to normal
> 
> You're not thinking very clearly
> The render on the timber will be fine, the temps won't cause enough flex to be of concern, 'paint' some straight pva onto the timber and it will stop it sucking the moisture out of the render to quickly.
> ...



Ahh thanks Jax, I can relax now haha. Honestly though, how is it that you know SO much about DIY projects.. I swear you should have your own TV show, I'd tune in!

I don't plan on doing any more on it until at least the end of the week, I've got work to worry about over the next couple days.. Not looking forward to it, as I'm still not quite 100%, but I can't afford to miss any days right now so I've got no choice but to go. Hopefully the infection doesn't decide to make a comeback.

I'll hop onto the PVA glue on thursday, and hopefully start rendering on the weekend.

Thanks again, you're a lifesaver

x


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## J-A-X (Mar 4, 2013)

TV show ? Nah I've got a great face for radio.
I've been around a few years (cough cough) and made plenty of mistakes! I openly admit I'm no professional, and have a stubborn streak that won't let me be reliant on others to get something done ROFL
My best advice:
1: Ask questions
2: stalk you-tube (great for demystifying powertools) 
3: read the manuals / instructions of anything you use
4: Be confident
5: be proud of you accomplishments, no matter how small. You now have a new skill

If all else fails call 1800- DIY GODMOTHER. 

AND POST PICS !!!!


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## HarleyD (Mar 5, 2013)

hey there mate! I use Tile grout on mine personally, you can get the little coloured bags from bunnings for about 6 bucks each, The instead of using a sealant i find after 4 coats or so of tile grout, just a basic acrylic paint seals it quite well! no shine, and best of all u can colour it how ever u like! ..start with your darker colours then slowly work up too the finishing 'dru brushing' and highliting to reall make them pop!..if you go to my profile and look at my pics, there's a pic of my last custom tank with 6 feet by two feet or fake rock / canyon wall..hope this helps! let me know how ya go =)

Harley.


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## HarleyD (Mar 5, 2013)

This will tell you everything you need to know! 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDUH5B7I790

Harley.


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## kagarrampton (Jul 24, 2013)

oOLaurenOo said:


> Yea I meant use the screws to attach the render to the wood. I would worry about puttying anything over the wood. I attached my rock walls straight to wood and I have had no problems.



But don't you think that using screws would give it a dull look?? And if I'm not wrong then it would be in the living room isn't?? it can be done as firstly try to screw the render then once its done we can put some solution or material that is used to fill those wholes that would be made by fixing those screws like this, I had used this method while refurbishing my used office furniture and believe me it really works!!  
I hope my suggestion would definitely help you.


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## oOLaurenOo (Jul 24, 2013)

Lol, yea it would look dumb if you could see the screws.  if you are going to render it inside the enclosure just put some screws through the foam sticking out just a small amount and them render over the top. The render will form around the screws and after a couple of layers you won't even be able to see where they were. But like I said, silicone was all I used and it worked a treat. I guess it just depends on how tight the fake wall sits, how heavy it is (will the weight break the foam and pull it forward) and how much pressure will it be under with animals crawling all over it


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## justin91 (Jul 25, 2013)

That's why you screw it from behind. I just used the remainder of my liquid nails and a couple screws from behind. Obviously the screw wasn't thicker then the thickness of the cabinet, the ply the styro is on and the styro itself


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## Skippii (Oct 2, 2013)

It's occurred to me recently that I really put things off when I'm dreading them.. It's taken me months to get up to where I'm up to with the rendering. And I'm not even quite finished! So close to being finished rendering that I'm hoping to knock it over so that I can start painting this weekend.

Anyway, I decided to get off my ___ and get some hideous pictures together for you guys. Honestly, once I started rendering it, this thing looked shockingly bad. It's only now starting to come together and look like something remotely acceptable to the eye.. haha (though I'm still not overly happy with it)
One disappointing thing that I really should have expected, was I lost all of the texture (pretty well) that I painstakingly etched into the styrofoam with a soldering iron months ago. All gone.. At least I'll know what to expect next time (assuming I decide to work with render again).

So this is the render I used, nothing earth shattering... Just some acrylic render I picked up at Bunnings.






I know this stuff looks like septic sludge or Shrek soup, but I assure you it's render. For my first coat, I wanted to colour it in some way, so that it would be easily visible which areas still needed additional coats. Problem was, I had nothing to colour it with, so out of desperation I ended up dumping in some imitation saffron.. Yeah.. I'm really not sure why an orange powder that stains everything yellow would make this stuff go green, but there you have it. Imitation saffron makes render go green.










Of course, once it dried it yellowed out quite a bit (still a slight green tinge), and actually looked kind of cool here, from a distance. But this was only the first coat and was very thin and crumbly and awful up close, plus it hadn't really taken between the "bricks". I noticed once I started on the second coat I started to lose a lot of my brick texture, which made me die a little inside (mostly because of the amount of time it took to texture all the bricks, not to mention risk of toxic inhalation I faced! lol)





This is a few days ago, when I decided once again that I'd been putting it off too long and started rendering again. I don't know if anyone else made as much of a mess as I did (these photos really don't show the extent of it), but boy did I make a mess. I made a mess that my friend's 3 year old kid who splatters half of every meal against the wall/floor/furniture and ends up wearing the other half would marvel at.




[And yes, in the picture above, that was a cake-icer.. I was having a hell of a time trying to render in between the gaps. I tried several basters, syringes and cake-icers. Broke all of them, plus the 5 brushes I destroyed... Go team!]











At this point I'm really not overly pleased with how it's turning out, it's lost a lot of it's definition and texture, but it might still be redeemable once it's painted and covered in plants! I'll get some more pictures of it once the rendering is finished and all dry, and I've done a proper clean-up around the edges. I'm looking forward to painting, hopefully I can do something interesting with it. I just want this rendering to be behind me! Dreadful stuff :shock:

_ Any suggestions as to brick colour for when I start painting?_

x


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## smileysnake (Oct 3, 2013)

looking really good skip....i painted the in between the bricks black for more definition then used a grey colour for the bricks with spots of black and lighter shades of grey lol....then i will try and use some green for a moss kind of effect just go with what you like colours and shades will always vary and you can always paint over if you dont like it..just pick a brick and experiment.....good luck


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## Woma_Wild (Oct 3, 2013)

Dutchy88 said:


> Just render what you can and then before you paint it buy some paintable sealer and paint over it when you paint the whole thing. Done



I sealed last and sealed everything, Using a pond sealer. There are a few brands like PONDTITE and CROMMELINS. 

Reptiles may poo in the ground but they can and will walk over it. 
Sealing enables you to clean enclosure and hides thoroughly. 
Urine will seep thru timber and it does warp laminate over time. 

I wanted a natural looking enclosure so I googled Tanami desert and found photos for ideas. For a sandstonish look, on my last coat of render, I went over it without re loading more render on my brush. Hard to explain but it gives a good surface texture.

hope some of above helps. 
Your wall looks awesome.


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## Lawra (Oct 4, 2013)

Hey *Skippii* it looks good  if you want more texture on your bricks I'd suggest lying the cabinet on it's back and sort of sculpting the render on each brick. Not thickly of course and use pva glue in the mix. The consistency should be thicker so it doesn't flatten out too much. 

It looks good - don't give up


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## Skippii (Oct 4, 2013)

Thanks guys, you've all been a huge help! 

I've actually started painting tonight (and in my usual fashion, I've made a huge mess in the process.. luckily, water-based acrylics are much easier to clean up than render), and it's coming along quite nicely I think. 

I'll post up some pictures when I've got the base colour on all the bricks, hopefully tomorrow. Afterwards, I'll be going around painting between all the bricks (and of course, more pictures), and hopefully doing a little dry brushing to bring out what little texture remains after the onslaught of render that took place 

I decided to go with just your basic red-ish/brown brick colour, and I'm glad I did.

x


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## Skippii (Oct 4, 2013)

Ah what the heck... Here's where the painting is up to at this point:





It's scruffy around the edges right now, but I'll neaten it up when I paint in the "mortar" between the bricks. I'm also still tossing up whether or not to attempt painting some kinda moss.. I'm tempted, but at the same time I'm nervous I'll muck up the whole thing. Something to consider I guess.

Oh also, I obviously still need to do some cleaning up around the edges of the render, there's still some render where it shouldn't be! I've noticed it rubs off pretty easily when it's thin like that (probably because of the smooth varnish). I'll get this thing finished yet! 

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## Woma_Wild (Oct 5, 2013)

You should have a look on YouTube under model train landscaping. There are some awesome technics. They use acrylic also.


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## Skippii (Oct 5, 2013)

Will do! Any video related research will need to wait until the 11th though. I've currently gone over my depressingly low download limit, so I'm on dial-up speed until the new billing month. Basically means nothing (and I do mean nothing, not even google pages) wants to load for me, I end up waiting a VERY long time for most pages, and video won't even load at all.

Anyway, this is just a quick update to let you guys see how the base colour is looking [Feel free to ignore the lousy picture quality!]. I'll finish up getting the base coat onto the remaining blank bricks either tonight or tomorrow, and then I might have a bit of a practice at dry-brushing to kill some time. On Monday, I'll pop out to the art supply store and pick up the grey paint I stupidly forgot to buy the other day :facepalm: so that I can neaten this whole thing up by painting in some "mortar" between the bricks.





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## Skippii (Oct 6, 2013)

Starting to get that really aged-brick look I was after, so that's good I guess. The colouring looks slightly different (a little richer/redder) than this in person, the lighting in here is just quite yellow, so the fail-boat camera doesn't pick up the red very well. Still, this gives you some idea how it's coming along.






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## ronhalling (Oct 6, 2013)

Hey Skippii, I wish you would stop being critical of your artistic ability, as far as i am concerned and i daresay the rest of our crew here at APS that looks "FANBLOODYTASTIC", have you had a look at it under the lighting that will be in it ??? i think you will be pleasantly surprised at what the light and shadows will do to it if you have not done so yet. I think the reason i like it so much is the fact you have gone away from the usual mundane rock wall look and created a very large as life brick wall (not that rock walls don't look good as well) it is refreshing and very well thought out and any critisism is only in your head. If i may put forward 1 small bit of advice it would be that from this point do not over think what to do with it next coz anything more than painting the mortar at this stage might detract from it's simplistic beauty.  ......................................Ron


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## Skippii (Oct 6, 2013)

ronhalling said:


> Hey Skippii, I wish you would stop being critical of your artistic ability, as far as i am concerned and i daresay the rest of our crew here at APS that looks "FANBLOODYTASTIC", have you had a look at it under the lighting that will be in it ??? i think you will be pleasantly surprised at what the light and shadows will do to it if you have not done so yet. I think the reason i like it so much is the fact you have gone away from the usual mundane rock wall look and created a very large as life brick wall (not that rock walls don't look good as well) it is refreshing and very well thought out and any critisism is only in your head. If i may put forward 1 small bit of advice it would be that from this point do not over think what to do with it next coz anything more than painting the mortar at this stage might detract from it's simplistic beauty.  ......................................Ron



I think this is one of the best compliments I've ever received for any of my little art projects, and it means a lot. I do tend to be critical of everything I make, as far as I'm concerned nothing I do ever quite reaches its potential. Apparently that's a bit of a mixture of perfectionism, low self-confidence and just a touch of OCD  

Anyway, thanks again for your encouragement and suggestions. I actually really love the look of aged brick, for a while I was considering doing up one of my bedroom walls (as a feature wall) with faux-bricks. But after seeing the amount of effort that would take, and the fact that I likely won't be in this room for all that much longer, it's probably not going to happen haha. So as soon as I decided I wanted a background for one of my enclosures, I already knew it had to be brick. I'll keep in mind what you've said, about keeping it simple. I suppose I probably should ditch the idea of painting in a little "moss"?

I haven't actually installed the lighting into the enclosure yet, so I haven't seen how it will look under the light. I'm going to go with a warm-white light, so hopefully it plays up the warm tones of the "brick" and gives it that nice cozy look.

You're a good egg, Ron. Stay that way  

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## Skippii (Oct 6, 2013)

Oh also, for anyone that may be curious, these are the paints I've used so far. Tomorrow I'll be getting a light grey for the mortar. These are just cheap non-toxic water-based acrylics from the little art supply store. To apply the paint, I used a combination of small (1/2 inch), soft paintbrush and just a cheap sponge from the grocery store.





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## Skippii (Oct 6, 2013)

A quick photo from earlier, when I was attempting to dry-brush a little to bring out some of the texture. I added a little more red after this photo was taken, but the texture still looks very similar up close.





I can't wait until I can get my hands on some grey paint to go in between the bricks a little, then I'll just need to seal it! And to think, both Floyd and people that look at it in future will never know the work that went into this thing...

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## Gruni (Oct 6, 2013)

Looking good Skipii, personally I would have done the mortar sections first and the brick surfaces second but I'm sure you'll pull it together.


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## Skippii (Oct 6, 2013)

Gruni said:


> Looking good Skipii, personally I would have done the mortar sections first and the brick surfaces second but I'm sure you'll pull it together.



Ta, Gruni. I was actually tossing up which to paint first, but I ended up accidentally forgetting the paint I need for the mortar, so that (plus my impatience to start) kind of made the decision for me haha. I'm actually happy that I painted the faces first, because I noticed to get the edges of the bricks I really needed to press the brush/sponge into the mortar space. I've got a finer brush I'll be filling the mortar in with. It'll be a slow process, right up close filling in the spaces, but I'll make it work.

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## Gruni (Oct 7, 2013)

Based on model building experience, if you ever do it again prime it all in black then do the deep spaces and work your way up. Even with pressing your sponge in there it would not affect the deepest spots where the mortar is as you can see by all the white in your pic. But that is the beauty of doing this. a) there is no one right way to do it b) you learn a heap on the way c) even if there is an 'easier' way you can still pull off a really great looking result. 

Looking forward to seeing it all done and with plants or whatever decorations you use. I think it would be cool to see what someone could do with an air brush on somthing like this by finishing it of with some grungy graffiti and make it into a bit of a back alley scene with a dumpster hide and a pallet stack... Hmmmmm


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## Skippii (Oct 7, 2013)

Gruni said:


> Based on model building experience, if you ever do it again prime it all in black then do the deep spaces and work your way up. Even with pressing your sponge in there it would not affect the deepest spots where the mortar is as you can see by all the white in your pic. But that is the beauty of doing this. a) there is no one right way to do it b) you learn a heap on the way c) even if there is an 'easier' way you can still pull off a really great looking result.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing it all done and with plants or whatever decorations you use. I think it would be cool to see what someone could do with an air brush on somthing like this by finishing it of with some grungy graffiti and make it into a bit of a back alley scene with a dumpster hide and a pallet stack... Hmmmmm



Okay okay, I will bow to your superior painting wisdom and keep that in mind next time  but this time I'm going to have to mess around with what I've got and see how it turns out.

Just out of curiosity, did you just come up with that back alley grunge idea? Or had you read my older posts on this thread about that? It was actually one of the original directions I was considering, I even drew up Floyd's name in graffiti style letters haha, and was considering trying to make an Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street) style trashcan hide etc. But I couldn't figure out how to recreate the graffiti writing onto the brick (plus it took long enough drawing it by hand with that silly fine-tip pen, and it's not even coloured yet). So instead I was thinking maybe a secret garden style theme. Still, nothing's set in stone yet!

If you've got any ideas for the graffiti, considering I'm a graffiti nub lol I'd love to hear 'em.

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## J-A-X (Oct 7, 2013)

GO SKIPPII 

Never give up ! Sometimes we lose enthusiasm, and that's fine. 
You're on the home stretch - 
paint it all one solid colour or paint the 'mortar' first.
After painting the base coat on the bricks, lighten that color and drybrush some highlights, then lighten it again and do the final few highlights. You'll be amazed how a little bit of drybrushing will make the whole thing look a lot more lifelike. 

For the highlight colors, you don't need much paint at all so don't go mixing up cup fills, or you'll waste it.


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## Skippii (Oct 7, 2013)

haha Jaxii, I think you missed some of my posts. I've already started painting it, and contrary to everyone else's painting wisdom, I painted the brick faces first :facepalm: Mostly because I accidentally forgot to buy the paint I needed for the mortar, and was too impatient to wait..

I've practice a little dry-brushing, to try and bring out some texture, and it didn't come out too horribly which is nice  have a look on page 4, there are some pictures of my painting attempts there. I'm considering trying a little more dry brushing, and still tossing up whether or not to add any mossy spots.

As always, thanks fairy godmother 

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## Gruni (Oct 7, 2013)

So it comes down to patience grasshopper... forgot the paint? Put it on hold or mix some of the paints you have and create a paint. Like I said there is no one right way and it looks great and will look super when you are finished. 

As for the idea I did read your earlier posts but that was MONTHS ago and I didn't remember any of that it was just something I thought of when I looked at your latest pics and why I said someone who is handy with an airbrush as you can get that spray can look using one.


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## Skippii (Oct 7, 2013)

I've been wanting to get this thing done for months haha I could be patient no longer! And yes, I went to the art supply store and was so fixated getting the right bricky reds/browns etc, that I completely forgot to get the white paint. I've got black already, so the plan was to mix up my own grays and experiment by adding tiny amounts of various other colours to get what I'm after. There's no way I can get a good grey colour with what I currently have, and it looks like the art supply store may be closed today for a public holiday *insert rage face*.

Yeah, I can see why my "brickwork" could make you think of the alley-way scene  so far I've intentionally designed it so that I can leave it until towards the end before deciding which theme I want to go with. Right now it's between the secret garden theme, or the grunge alley-way theme, and I can see either working out if done right. Or I was even tossing up still going with the 70s Lounge idea Jax joked about months ago haha of course, it'd be a bit of a dilapidated lounge with bricks falling out of the wall. Still, I can just see Floyd basking away on his little sofa or taking a nap in one of those old TVs with the rabbit ear antennas.

I've never used an airbrush.. Difficult to use? Where might one come across an airbrush? Hell, I don't even know what an airbrush LOOKS like! 

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## J-A-X (Oct 7, 2013)

You can get an airbrush to suit from bunnings (where else LOL) 
Check the 'air tools' section. They're not ideal for fine art portraits but will do what you want. Play around on some scrap paper and I'm sure you can pull something reasonable off. 
Bunnings also sell kids poster paint, so you can grab some white paint while you're there. 
Don't forget to water down the paint and strain it through old pantyhose before putting it in the airbrush  
And No, I pretty sure bunnings don't sell pantyhose !!


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## pythonmum (Oct 7, 2013)

Bunnings may not sell pantyhose, but KMart does and may even sell the paints you need. The one near me never closes, so always there for those weird items you need at odd hours.


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## ronhalling (Oct 7, 2013)

Skippii my dear you are most welcome, please don't ditch the idea of painting in a little moss, how many old brick external walls have you seen that are entirely virginal ?? when the lighting goes in there may be some overly bright spots that would benefit from moss or maybe a little mortar overfill, before you finish it off take a few photo's of different external brick walls in different lighting, especially check out the mortar and it's intrinsic variations with everything from dogs peeing on it, repairs and years of wear and tear, it will really amaze you when making comparison's. Believe me when i say everyone that has attempted a project like this no matter how big or small knows exactly how much work goes into it, I myself am contemplating doing a background for my new enclosure for my spotties (when i build it) but the amount of work involved has me feeling a bit trepidatious and therefore have put it off so many times my wife calls it my head project coz it is only happening in my head,   ..............................Ron


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