D.I.Y. 3D Background - How To - W.I.P.

[DarkSoul]

Here is how it currently looks, with the application of some more moss, and heavy brushing to blend it in.

I think this actually looks pretty good, the way the moss turned out, But I would really like opnions from others out there who have actualy seen moss growing on stuff underwater, and give me some honest thoughts on it, as well as how I could make it look better, or what else might be done to further improve or refine the look of it.

These pics are a little blurry, But they were taken with the flash turned off, with a light held over the actual piece, and when the flash is turned off the camera suffers from shake real bad for some reason. they are the best I can do with no flash, and are most accurate to its colours and what I actually see.

 

[Rbishop]

Looks good.

 

[ct-death]

Bravo DarkSoul!!!

Looks fantastic bro!

Where did you come up with this idea? Very well done...Almost makes me want to start over!


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:idea: :dance2: :clap: :bowing: :joe: :bowing: :clap: :dance2: :idea:​

 

[DarkSoul]

Bravo DarkSoul!!!

Looks fantastic bro!

Where did you come up with this idea? Very well done...Almost makes me want to start over!


.

:idea: :dance2: :clap: :bowing: :joe: :bowing: :clap: :dance2: :idea:​

I was actually watching "How Its Made" on Discovery, and they had a segment on how they make fake bonsai trees, And I seen how they went about gluing and applying the moss to the trees, So I went and did much the same thing

A few refinments, and blending and This should be about finished.

I laos need to add the blue LEDs

 

[samsmom]

Nice background

Just a newbie question, you used acrylic paints, 1.00 in the squeeze jars? And 1 more 'what is sheet moss'? I personally liked the look of the green paint with the yellow moss over top, it seemed to give it depth. Nice work :look:

 

[DarkSoul]

The moss is green, and shreded to death.

Yes the paints are the $1 Crafters Acrylic Paint, and there is no paint under the moss.
The moss, is just that, sheet moss... also sold at the dollar store, or most craft stores.

I covered over the green patch of paint, and just glued the shredded moss on.

just brush a light layer of white school glue over the parts where you want to cover with moss, and sprinkle the shredded moss over the glued area, use lots to cover it, and then press it in with your fingers.

Once the glue is dry, brush off the excess with a soft brush, then with an extremely stiff brush, brush the rest down to achieve a natural look.

The stiff brush i used was just a stiff bristled, small artists brush, that had glue harden on it.
It worked perfectly

Do understand that I will be using an epoxy to seal this all up, and most likely these are NOT aquarium safe products Im using, so I wouldn't dare put them into the tank without it being sealed up with marine epoxy first.

I will post some more pictures tomorrow, as well as the sheet moss I used.

 

[samsmom]

AHH. thanks that clears it up for me, 'preciate that

 

[DarkSoul]

As promised, Pictures.

Here is the sheet moss, and paint that I used. Anyone following this thread, should basically just skip the spray painting that I did, and just go right with this paint (black, White, and Peacock Blue for the base colour, and Black, Red, and Brown for the highlight)

The sheet moss looks a little brown, because I've taken alot of the green matter off of it already.
Shredding was done with a small food processor, and the moss was shredded to a powder.... I basically annihilated the moss.

This is the Marine Epoxy I ordered from "Polymer Products" on ebay. Max Bond LV A/B. 32 Oz, which hopefully should cover my entire piece.

I have also made some changes to the intake system, I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough water flow to my dual 2213's through that single hole on the left of the background, and also painting/sealing the inside of that cave was going to be impossible, plain and simple.

What I did was borrow the heatgun from work, and melt a channel in the back of the foam, leading to the intake tube channel.

Hopefully this will allow enough water to be filtered, as well as allowing me to seal up the inside of that cave from inside

That's all for now.... more to come as things progress, stay tuned for the next great installment, same bat time, same bat channel.

 

[samsmom]

So following your lead I have discarded the idea of the flexible background, really who needs the ability to make multiple backgrounds when I only have 1 tank? Not only that the Rhino Liner is probative in cost, I still need fish. So finally my question, did you seal of concrete cover the back of the Styrofoam? Thankx

 

[DarkSoul]

I havent sealed it yet..., Im going to be adding some LEDs into my UGF uptake tubes, so that the bubbles coming out will look really cool (blue )
This mod will not only take some serious thought and planning, I also need to wait for the LEDs I purchased, to arrive.

Once I am finished, I will only be sealing up the front of the background, IE all the painted and cemented stuff.

The back of the foam board itself will be coated with silicone to "glue" it to the glass, and the same with the sides.... you dont want ANY water getting behind the foam, as it will go stale, and release toxins.


I dont know how much rhino liner costs, But marine epoxy isnt cheap either.
I paid $40 CAD all said and shipped for 1 Liter of the stuff.
$17 for the product, and $20 something for the shipping.

this should JUST barely get my background coated and sealed.... a Large tank would require probably a gallon, and that runs about $80 for the product alone.