New Mac Enclosure (TV Cabinet)

[Gruni]

No idea, I bought a big piece a year ago and still have quite a bit left so I don't think I'll need anymore for the new setup. It was quite cheap though and I just bought it at Bunnings.

 

[Gruni]

Fresh photos to come later this afternoon as we painted the rockwall today and to my way of thinking it looks great! After staring at it for a while we think it looks a lot like 'iron stone'. 8)

But before I call it a day I need to ask Mum... How many coats of pondtite do you give the finished job?

 

[J-A-X]

I give it 4, then a light rub with fine grade steelwool to knock back the shine ( under the sandpaper at bunnings

Use the same pressure you would use wiping down the kitchen bench tops

15 minutes from question to answer, is that a new record ?

 

[Monitor_Keeper]

I give it 4, then a light rub with fine grade steelwool to knock back the shine ( under the sandpaper at bunnings

Use the same pressure you would use wiping down the kitchen bench tops

15 minutes from question to answer, is that a new record ?

Must be, yeah I tried this method after you recommended it and it works nicely, about to update my thread tonight!

 

[Gruni]

Cheers, I had a feeling one simply wasn't enough. I also wouldn't have thought to rub it back, I already have a big ball of te steel wool from when I restored/customised my electric guitar.

 

[J-A-X]

Well off you go then !

I expect pics tonight

 

[Dutchy88]

Me two stop going to work gruni and start gettin this enclosure done

 

[Gruni]

I'm a bit miffed with the pics as they don't do the colours justice but here you go gang...

The red/brown ontop of the charcoal...

Adding some grey...

Lighter brown...

Light grey highlighting...

First coat of pondtite applied...

Just watching Top Gear and then I'll duck out for coat #2 of the pondtite.

 

[J-A-X]

Pondtite's great it dries really quick.
You're on the home stretch

Photos rarely do justice, although I have found I get better pics by having a light facing into the tank and no flash, sometimes the flash pulls the wrong colour forward.
All else fails throw it on the PC, use your editing software and change brightness, contrast and saturation until you get something that looks close to what the eye sees.
You'll find it looks different again once it's in the tank, with greenery, shadows etc
That's when you step back and puff your chest out because

YOU DID IT !

 

[Gruni]

Those pics are all with no flash but taken in the carport. I am happy with the real life product.

 

[Gruni]

Just went out and put the second coat of pondtite on and it struck me that it has really brought out the reddy/brown that we used and we've lost some of the grey. I'm curious to see if that changes again when I rub the shine back a bit?

 

[J-A-X]

The lighter colours will probably come back a bit when you get it in the tank under lights don't panic yet !

 

[Gruni]

Ther's no panic, it will be what it is as once the pondtite is done I'm not about to start with paint again... :lol:

 

[Dutchy88]

Looks good mate I found with mine I rubbed back the ponditie abit but its still shiny I don't wont to take it off completely also if you stand it up and hold a light on top it looks different brings out all the shadow looks really good

 

[Gruni]

For Mitch's sake I revisited the 'fake ceiling', it was the VCR shelf and we put a front on it to close the area where the face of the device would be visible. It has in addition to the front there is still about 10mm to the roof of the cabinet but there is a lip which stops access for the snake to that so there is 95mm from the surface of the shelf to the roof, the shelf is 15mm from memory. I lift it in place at the back and rest it on two shelf supports while I feed the cables where they need to go then lift it up at the front and insert the other two supports and lower it back in place.

Then as it was storming here I took the chance to take some snaps of the wall temporarily back in the enclosure, some with flash and some without. The ones without flash are slightly fuzzy.

Then to see how the greenery would affect things I sat it kind of in place, the only thing not in the last pic is the astro turf.

So, two more coats of pondtite and a rub back to beat the shine a bit and it's more or less one except the fiddling with the plant bases, which I seem to be procrastinating on for some reason.

 

[J-A-X]

Needs a vine

 

[Gruni]

A friend is going to spotlight on Friday and is going to look if they have Ivy but I'm not sure yet if I want to add it afterall. I don't want it to get too congested in there and just make it to hard to get her out when I want her.

 

[J-A-X]

Wrap it around the branch ! You'll like it
you've got a lot going on down the bottom. IMHO I think it needs something a little higher too

 

[Gruni]

Fair call, I hadn't thought of wrapping it around the stump. Kathy nodded knowingly though. :lol:

 

[justin91]

Looks good mate. I was going to try fake turf again for my spotteds jungle theme but I'm thinking maybe bark or kitty crumble this time. Something different. Been staring at fake turf for months now. It was convenient having a spare. Easy to clean so i dont know. I'll have to see what yours looks like with turf. Looks good so far mate.