so me and the girlfriend decided to get each other snakes cause they are awesome. And because I don't know how to do things in moderation and without going over the top. This is where we ended up.
They are both 10 month old diamond pythons, there is a larger enclosure been built to comfortable house them when they are bigger.
Any questions feel free to ask.
Starting with a basic box from melamine offcuts I had to fit my desk perfectly.
Baby tubs
Painting.... Learned the hard way that melamine doesn't take paint very well without a good primer to make it stick. So this is the second paint job.
the faux wood look is achieved by yellow/beige undercoat, followed by splotches of orangey/peach. Then a thin and streaky mahogany stain over the top to give it the grain pattern/colours. Finished with a few coats of varnish to protect it
Forgot to take more photos here. The background was achieved with expanding insulation foam (2x 750g bottles), and then some carving by knife to give them a basking ledge and to make sure the little containers would fit.
once the foam has set and been carved, I covered it in 2 layers of grout (about 2 kgs of dry grout before mixing).
To achieve real looking rock, after a base coat, apply bright colours that are rockish. and do the same colour but much darker in all the deep cracks and undersides of rocks...
Installing the lights, 2 regular sockets are for UV flurecants, 2 big holes are for the heat globes and room for a protective cage so the snakes cant get burnt.
Getting the mini enclosures ready.
The programmamble timer/thermostat on the back
Fixing up a few last things
TA DA! The "depth" of the paint is achieved by using a dark browny/red extremely watered down to go over everything, which will a) pool and sit in the crevices to make them look deeper, and b) will be transparent over the top of the bright colours to mellow everything out and give it a bit more complexity and to blend all the colours.
Not seen here is the final highlights achieved by the top sides and high-spots getting a nearly white redish colour, using a very dry brush and lightly patting it on the surface with almost no paint
Photos from when we were putting them in:
They are both 10 month old diamond pythons, there is a larger enclosure been built to comfortable house them when they are bigger.
Any questions feel free to ask.
Starting with a basic box from melamine offcuts I had to fit my desk perfectly.
Baby tubs
Painting.... Learned the hard way that melamine doesn't take paint very well without a good primer to make it stick. So this is the second paint job.
the faux wood look is achieved by yellow/beige undercoat, followed by splotches of orangey/peach. Then a thin and streaky mahogany stain over the top to give it the grain pattern/colours. Finished with a few coats of varnish to protect it
Forgot to take more photos here. The background was achieved with expanding insulation foam (2x 750g bottles), and then some carving by knife to give them a basking ledge and to make sure the little containers would fit.
once the foam has set and been carved, I covered it in 2 layers of grout (about 2 kgs of dry grout before mixing).
To achieve real looking rock, after a base coat, apply bright colours that are rockish. and do the same colour but much darker in all the deep cracks and undersides of rocks...
Installing the lights, 2 regular sockets are for UV flurecants, 2 big holes are for the heat globes and room for a protective cage so the snakes cant get burnt.
Getting the mini enclosures ready.
The programmamble timer/thermostat on the back
Fixing up a few last things
TA DA! The "depth" of the paint is achieved by using a dark browny/red extremely watered down to go over everything, which will a) pool and sit in the crevices to make them look deeper, and b) will be transparent over the top of the bright colours to mellow everything out and give it a bit more complexity and to blend all the colours.
Not seen here is the final highlights achieved by the top sides and high-spots getting a nearly white redish colour, using a very dry brush and lightly patting it on the surface with almost no paint
Photos from when we were putting them in:
