Wow! I never realized that it could look so good and realistic. Can that be achieved with just stryofoam, paint and epoxy?
Epoxy for painting a background?
- Thread starter ejmeier
- Start date
I don't know...
That is what I am trying to find out. Those were "Back-to-Nature" backgrounds, popular in Europe, yet unavailable over in America.
Here is their link:
http://www.on-the-rocks.se/england/index.shtml
All they say on how they made their backgrounds is: "The Back to Nature backgrounds are made from a special blend of polyurethane. This material together with a special method used for achieving the desired colors in the backgrounds makes it possible to keep them in an aquarium for a long period of time without any adverse effects."
Pretty vague... But I have seen DIY projects that look close to this, and they use polyurethane foam to form a mold, then use the foam again to create the actual background. Then they just painted it and sealed it.
I imagine that to get these deep 3d effects you would need to do mulitple layers; maybe on for the rocks, and another on top of that for the tree. I'm still trying to figure it out....
That is what I am trying to find out. Those were "Back-to-Nature" backgrounds, popular in Europe, yet unavailable over in America.
Here is their link:
http://www.on-the-rocks.se/england/index.shtml
All they say on how they made their backgrounds is: "The Back to Nature backgrounds are made from a special blend of polyurethane. This material together with a special method used for achieving the desired colors in the backgrounds makes it possible to keep them in an aquarium for a long period of time without any adverse effects."
Pretty vague... But I have seen DIY projects that look close to this, and they use polyurethane foam to form a mold, then use the foam again to create the actual background. Then they just painted it and sealed it.
I imagine that to get these deep 3d effects you would need to do mulitple layers; maybe on for the rocks, and another on top of that for the tree. I'm still trying to figure it out....
Would it be possible to use a real piece of driftwood and real rock as a mold? Then it would be just a matter of colour, texture and sealing.
Not sure I completely understand what you mean?
Do you mean use the actual tree in the tank? (I thought we covered this already.. )
If I understand right, you just mean use the "real deal" to make the MOLD, right?
If so, then yes, this is exactly what I was planning on doing. My post above sounded kind of vague I guess. What I meant was to make a mold from polyurethane foam using the actual items you want to duplicate in order to form the mold. Then transfer this "female" component into the "male" one by foaming the mold that was originally formed.
Here is one link that comes close to what I am trying to do:
Part 1
Part 2
The only thing I don't like about that background is after he seals it, it looks way too glossy.
Do you mean use the actual tree in the tank? (I thought we covered this already..
)If I understand right, you just mean use the "real deal" to make the MOLD, right?
If so, then yes, this is exactly what I was planning on doing. My post above sounded kind of vague I guess. What I meant was to make a mold from polyurethane foam using the actual items you want to duplicate in order to form the mold. Then transfer this "female" component into the "male" one by foaming the mold that was originally formed.
Here is one link that comes close to what I am trying to do:
Part 1
Part 2
The only thing I don't like about that background is after he seals it, it looks way too glossy.
Yes Ej, that is exactly what I was thinking of.
I agree about the glossiness of the finish. I have 1" thick rocks in my tank that I have epoxied together to form retaining walls for different levels in my tank. When I used the epoxy to glue them together, I coated the entire rock with epoxy. It has an unnatural glossy look to it. There are ways to 'matte' down the finish so it isn't so shiny. I will get back to you on this.
I agree about the glossiness of the finish. I have 1" thick rocks in my tank that I have epoxied together to form retaining walls for different levels in my tank. When I used the epoxy to glue them together, I coated the entire rock with epoxy. It has an unnatural glossy look to it. There are ways to 'matte' down the finish so it isn't so shiny. I will get back to you on this.
I don't quite understand why someone would use epoxy to seal paint in the first place. I thought the whole point of using epoxy paint was because it is durable and aquarium safe. If this is the case, then why would you need to seal it? Or if I were to seal the background, then couldn't I just use regular paint?
