# My first fake rock attempt



## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

Hi all, 

Another fake rock thread!  

but if there is anyone who still likes to see people make stuff then I hope you will take a peek and comment 

I am going to eventually do my entire two 4x2 bearded dragon vivariums but am having a go on a smaller scale first to see what pitfalls I am going to encounter on the way. 

I have almost finished the polystyrene modelling and after one more rock pile to support the rear left section I will be ready for grouting 



















 

This is for my corn snake so he can use the height of his vivarium and it will also provide another hide for him that I have made  

Any comments, hints or tips on what I have done so far and what is to be done are most welcome


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## Corsetts (Dec 8, 2008)

Fantastic :2thumb:

Funnily enough, we had our first go today, I'll try and get some pictures up later


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

yh i was looking at some of your posts of the other fake rock posts  I love the avatar XD

Just going to eat dinner then make some more mess. Need to make the final rock support to go in the left hand side and spread out a bit to look awesome then on to grouting. 

Im goign to grout it in four pieces, the top left bit, the two rock supports and the plateau on the right, then paint, then construct it in bits in the viv as whoever made the viv I bought didn't leave room to get the glass out ¬¬


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## Corsetts (Dec 8, 2008)

I have a viv that the glass won't come out of, I can't beleive how annoying it is!

Here's our effort, well, mainly the Wifes TBH.
All I did was bought the stuff and did the blowtorching afterwards, hopefully she'll have chance to do some grouting tomorrow when the glues set.

The plan is to just PVA sand all over it when it's done, instead of painting it, so it'll look like sandstone. Hopefully 

It's not a full build, just something to go in afterwards.

















(Hopefully this works, photobucket seems to be down and it's the first time I've uploaded direct)


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

thats awesome  and im noting a fair amount less mess ¬¬ lol we covered the front room. 

And what blowtorching??

I didnt have a hotknife and needed to do the stair details very delicately on the top piece so I got my mini blowtorch to heat the stanley blade  worked a treat XD


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## Corsetts (Dec 8, 2008)

Mess wise, I think that was before we really got going :lol2:

This is quite a big, crude structure so I gently went over the whole thing with a blowtorch to give it more structure


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## Camuk (Mar 4, 2008)

Glad I am not the only one with the front room covered!


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

UPDATE:

first layer of grout has been done just to play with the grout really get a feel for it so have grouted half the stuff, realised i need a lot more grout! Also It said mix 3 parts grout to one part water but this was really thick so used more water and it got a bit runny 
like emulsion runny is this too runny?


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

hey guys, where do you get your grout/where is the best place for cheap grout? Screwfix have 5kg bags for 8.50 ISH

Mapei Keraflex Grey 5kg - Screwfix.com, Where the Trade Buys

Can anyone best that?


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## Durhamchance (Mar 21, 2008)

This is only just cheaper:

Cerafix Wall Grout White, 5010383063245

This works out to be £1.66 per kg, screwfix is £1.70 per kg : victory:

I've used 1 bag on 2.5 coats of my build- so 1 more bag should finish it off :2thumb:


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## alan.mn (Apr 5, 2010)

I was thinking of doing a fake rock setup for my corn. Planning on doing a 'rock' hidey hole 12"x12"x5". Would it be ok to put a heat mat inside it, taped to the viv floor? Will use a stat to control heat.


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

erm, I cant see why not, depending on the heat of the mat, though why would you want to? I just stick my heatmat under the newspaper substrate and that will be going underneath mine, it just means one half of the viv is gently underheated and there is a hide down there, and eventually a hide up top right in the cool end so. 

Also, UPDATE:










Its grouted about three times over now, one more coat to finish all the places ive missed in the difficult decals and we should be ready to paint I think.


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

Durhamchance said:


> This is only just cheaper:
> 
> Cerafix Wall Grout White, 5010383063245
> 
> ...


U got a linky to your build or post pics on here?

And how many coats did you do?


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## Corsetts (Dec 8, 2008)

Looks awesome mate :no1:

Ours is pretty much done, I'll hopefully put a seperate thread up tonight, save hijacking yours :blush:


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## Durhamchance (Mar 21, 2008)

anadalite said:


> U got a linky to your build or post pics on here?
> 
> And how many coats did you do?


Its still in progress :2thumb: The fourth and last coat of grout went on the basking area last night and I've started to paint the back & sides. Its slow progress as I work full time. 

I'll post pics when its finished : victory:


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

Corsetts said:


> Looks awesome mate :no1:
> 
> Ours is pretty much done, I'll hopefully put a seperate thread up tonight, save hijacking yours :blush:


haha id be honoured if my thread was hijacked


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## fuzzzzbuzzzz (Apr 11, 2010)

Hi,
Anymore news, seems to be going well?


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## anadalite (May 20, 2009)

hey mate, 

yeah reasonably its all done with a few coats of grout probably one more coat of waterproof grout and fill in any gaps in the bits and i can paint it. 

Its taken me so long because i have two issues now, do i paint it for a red chiny ish look with pva coating or sand pva it for a sandstone look . 

I am concerned about cleaning out the snake and obv the effect of washing the fake rock. 

Any ideas would be great and maybe i can move on soon and get it done.

also how to affix it,

I cant put it together completely before hand because the glass for the viv doesnt come out (i didnt build it!!!) so need to be put together in bits 

am thinking of using dowel rods and not glue them 

wonder if itl hold?!!


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