# my custom H.incei communal build



## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

hey guys im just in the process of building my H.incei communal build just thought i would keep you posted on my progress over next few days while im building it.

Started off with some insulating polystyrene from Wickes, £3.49.
then got a big bag of scraps from homebase, a tub of unibond tile grout to cover to get rock effect, and some builders caulk to stick poly together.










fist off i got my poly and started roughly working out what size i wanted my rocks i used a really sharp long Stanley type blade to cut through, and used the blade to sculpt and shape pieces to look more natural



















i then used the builders caulk to stick the peices together i went for a rock face type look with plent of places for my H.incei to hide and develop with their webs. I also used long bbq wooden skewers and put 3 through whole structure to give more stability .
once this was dried and stable i then used a paint brush and began paint on a goood thick layer of the tile grout onto my rock face.










I am going to be touching up some bits of grout this afternoon then maybe by tomorrow get started on the painting and then onto the finishing and sealing, so keep watching if your interested and ill keep you updated over next few days.
cheers


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## JayW (Dec 14, 2010)

What silicone you using? I had so many problems with the kind I was using.


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

silicon for what mate? you mean to stick together poly rocks or what im gonna use to stick whole thing in to tank?



JayW said:


> What silicone you using? I had so many problems with the kind I was using.


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## Paul c 1 (Sep 30, 2009)

Good thread... looks like things are coming together well... let us know how you get on.
-P


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## JayW (Dec 14, 2010)

brucepanther said:


> silicon for what mate? you mean to stick together poly rocks or what im gonna use to stick whole thing in to tank?


I must of read it wrong lol. I just re-read over and your usinng builders caulk. Sure it said silicone haaha.

Looks good. Got some patients to work with poly


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

yeh the caulk is alot easier to work with when glueing them together and just use a ultra sharp blade to do all your sculpting a lot less mess, i should have posted a pic of me doing a failed attempt as i decided to use a dremmel with wire brush attached to sculpt and me and my cat were covered from head to toe in poly dust not good was finding it in my fro for days! lol.


JayW said:


> I must of read it wrong lol. I just re-read over and your usinng builders caulk. Sure it said silicone haaha.
> 
> Looks good. Got some patients to work with poly


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## snowgoose (May 5, 2009)

brucepanther said:


> yeh the caulk is alot easier to work with when glueing them together and just use a ultra sharp blade to do all your sculpting a lot less mess, i should have posted a pic of me doing a failed attempt as i decided to use a dremmel with wire brush attached to sculpt and me and my cat were covered from head to toe in poly dust not good was finding it in my fro for days! lol.


I find the best way to cut poly is to use a hot wire cutter. It eliminates the bits of poly goin everywhere and leaves a nice clean cut.

As for shaping, this can also be done using heat, just heat something up and hold it near the poly and it will melt near the heat, then simply grout over


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

yeh the hot wire's aint too bad i was gonna buy one but way to expensive and for the sake of a bit of mess i just get the old blade out! lol.



snowgoose said:


> I find the best way to cut poly is to use a hot wire cutter. It eliminates the bits of poly goin everywhere and leaves a nice clean cut.
> 
> As for shaping, this can also be done using heat, just heat something up and hold it near the poly and it will melt near the heat, then simply grout over


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## pirez (May 3, 2009)

Lookin good so far!


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

brucepanther said:


> yeh the hot wire's aint too bad i was gonna buy one but way to expensive and for the sake of a bit of mess i just get the old blade out! lol.


I managed to find one for like £5...just ran off a 9v battery. I'm sure it was eBay. 

I'll see if I can mind and post a link, but it was a good few years ago now that I bought one.


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

if you can find one and show me i would be very happy! sounds like you got a deal there.



GRB said:


> I managed to find one for like £5...just ran off a 9v battery. I'm sure it was eBay.
> 
> I'll see if I can mind and post a link, but it was a good few years ago now that I bought one.


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## snowgoose (May 5, 2009)

GRB said:


> I managed to find one for like £5...just ran off a 9v battery. I'm sure it was eBay.
> 
> I'll see if I can mind and post a link, but it was a good few years ago now that I bought one.


there's a cheapo one for not much here > Expo 743-60 Hot Wire Cutter for Expanded Polystyrene

I use my soldering iron with a home made wire attatchment


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

yeh i have looked at those but the problem is with them that you cant cut into the foam from the front and sculpt there only really good for cutting sides off.



snowgoose said:


> there's a cheapo one for not much here > Expo 743-60 Hot Wire Cutter for Expanded Polystyrene
> 
> I use my soldering iron with a home made wire attatchment


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## mickoh (Dec 20, 2008)

*haveyou tryed*

i know petrol is at its highest at the moment but this will cost you about 10p + the syringe Get some petrol and a syringe. Mark out the shape you require with a felt pen suck up some petrol in the syringe and squeeze along the line you have marked and you have the shape you require 
ps do this outside and dont smoke and if you do this and set yourself on fire you dont know me right


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## garlicpickle (Jan 16, 2009)

mickoh said:


> if you do this and set yourself on fire you dont know me right


do you have some kind of arson fetish :gasp:


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## mickoh (Dec 20, 2008)

*it only burns when you*

it only burns when you light it and set the beast free :lol2:


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

just an update on my communal tank build got the paintwork done for my fake rock face.

did my undercoat first with a nice natural brown, used spray paint










then started on my texture colors and just played around getting the right look used grey and browns to get a dirty effect.



















once that dried i took a really light earthy off white and apllied to my brush then wiped all of it off with a paper towl, with little that was left on the brush i did a dry brush effect to hihglight the rockwork and give a realistic look.




























once this was dried i applied a Matt floor varnish that has a low voc content but it will be sitting out side the tank for a week or two so any fumes that are present will go away.

next up will be adding some live air plants and some dried moss to the rockwork and fixing to the tank, also going to be adding a few live plants to tank so will be going through setting that up with correct drainage ect,..
Cheers


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## JurassicParking (Nov 20, 2010)

off topic but i love the fact you have comic book characters behind a glass cabinet. 

nerd props


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## OGRE1987 (Nov 24, 2010)

*Artwork!!!!*

Great work mate,...finished results looks nuts!!!!:2thumb:I can truely say thats its given me the inspiration to make my own features and backdrops for further projects!!!!!And its good that you have documented the process too so that other people like myself have some idea of the process!!!!!


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

thanks i take much pride in my Marvel figurine collection, lol.


JurassicParking said:


> off topic but i love the fact you have comic book characters behind a glass cabinet.
> 
> nerd props


no worries im glad it has given you some inspiration and that you find it helpful, if you need any help when you get started let me know. 
cheers!


OGRE1987 said:


> Great work mate,...finished results looks nuts!!!!:2thumb:I can truely say thats its given me the inspiration to make my own features and backdrops for further projects!!!!!And its good that you have documented the process too so that other people like myself have some idea of the process!!!!!


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## Stelios (Aug 28, 2009)

Looking good mate, wanna see what the finished set up looks like.:no1:


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## Brandan Smith (Nov 17, 2010)

very nice cnt wait to see finished product


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

just a applying a few coats of varnish, will be applying around 4 coats so it is 100% water proof as i dont wanna risk it seeping through when my T's are in, been buying a few plants for the tank but wanna get some nice mosses aswell although i think they need to be kept quite damp and i dont want to promote mold growth in tank so will be looking into this a bit further.
anyway here is a couple of pics and this particular varnish is a homebase brand and looks like pva glue when you put it on and dries clear and hard, it smells very little and is low in toxins which is good for your T's!



















cheers


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## Brandan Smith (Nov 17, 2010)

very nice hehehe well if i decide to biuld a display tank might pay you to biuld it instead hahaha


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

lol, with all the messages i been getting im seriously thinking of maybe taking some orders for these as i have plenty of time on my hands and quite enjoy making them, thinking of getting a lot more creative with future builds and incorporating more features like skulls, tribal masks ect..



Shandy said:


> very nice hehehe well if i decide to biuld a display tank might pay you to biuld it instead hahaha


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## Pimperella (Sep 26, 2006)

Mr Pimp says :'Thats really good mate! Impressed' 



back to me.
He built 'Helms Deep' with his boss at Gamesworkshop in Manchester. Ended up taking it to Games Day and it toured some of the larger shops and Leeds Armoury and a Lord of the Rings Convention at Picadilly Hotel in Manchester.

It was bloody huge!! Took many man hours and skill. But god he is proud of it. Can't wait for him to get the garage up to start his workshop.


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

sounds awesome if you got any links to it let me know would love to see that.
cheers


Pimperella said:


> Mr Pimp says :'Thats really good mate! Impressed'
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Nick Masson (Nov 8, 2010)




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## the_viper (Aug 18, 2010)

looks amazing, saw the top of the first pic and didn't read the writing and thought you were going to say you started with a can of beer lol


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## Baldpoodle (Apr 18, 2007)

looks nice but for spiders I don't know? will have to wait and see when they are all settled in.


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

I think it will be fine dude its for an Incei community and those guys love to web everything and anything so it should be as good as any other tank decoration really?



Baldpoodle said:


> looks nice but for spiders I don't know? will have to wait and see when they are all settled in.


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

Heu guys right i think im pretty much done on my rock face build, i have had it outside few a few days to get rid of fumes and such and also gave it a quick blast with the hose.

still got too get it into the tank yet and get the plants and bit and pieces in the viv done but dont worry ill be posting soon as i get that bit done.

so here we go























































i used some dried sphagnum moss and used my trusty old hot glue gun to fix a few bits here and there, also i bought a few airplants from the garden center they came in little net bags and were loose so all i had to do was fix them on with the glue gun. Then i just took a peice of fake plant and glued this in also to add a few more hiding areas. 
And hey presto im quite pleased with results just gotta get the rest of the set-up sorted in the viv now!


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## Jozza85 (Feb 28, 2011)

Really cant wait till this is finsihed it looks awesome!


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## xjak3yx (Nov 8, 2010)

woww this looks really cool! reminds me of when i used to spend hours making scenery for warhammer. this has definately inspired me to create my own decor for my spiders/reps

are the plants on the rock you made plastic?


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

No the plants are real airplants they are a low light little dry plant that dont require much water just a mist every now and then so pretty ideal for a T enclosure! 
you usually get them in garden centers on bits of bogwood but i got mine in little bags which was cool.



xjak3yx said:


> woww this looks really cool! reminds me of when i used to spend hours making scenery for warhammer. this has definately inspired me to create my own decor for my spiders/reps
> 
> are the plants on the rock you made plastic?


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## Paul c 1 (Sep 30, 2009)

Looks really good... If I could suggest one thing I would recommend getting some more moss on it.
-P


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

Lol, already on it dude i got a bag of the stuff to go on yet but my bastard glue gun broke half way through!
bloody typical, :lol2:


Paul c 1 said:


> Looks really good... If I could suggest one thing I would recommend getting some more moss on it.
> -P


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## xjak3yx (Nov 8, 2010)

brucepanther said:


> No the plants are real airplants they are a low light little dry plant that dont require much water just a mist every now and then so pretty ideal for a T enclosure!
> you usually get them in garden centers on bits of bogwood but i got mine in little bags which was cool.


ahhhh brilliant..i was wondering do those plants need soil/water ect. its good they are low maintanence. great idea to fix them on the decor..top work!


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## brucepanther (Feb 28, 2011)

yeh you can pretty much fix these plants to anything, just using hot glue gun or silicone that's how you usually buy them in shops. im surprised more people don't have em in their tanks as they don't really grow much but can be fixed to anything! 



xjak3yx said:


> ahhhh brilliant..i was wondering do those plants need soil/water ect. its good they are low maintanence. great idea to fix them on the decor..top work!


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