# This will have to do



## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

ok i cant get the rest of the pictures off my old phone but as you know fake rock sculptures are made from polystyrene and grout here we go this is after the grout had dried i began painting. 
then i began to build up the layers to make it as realistic as possible (and as i am a doorman and not an artist i think i did ok).

then i had to epoxy resin the whole thing and test the flow of the water down the water fall it took 4 coats of resin and a 600 litre an hour pump.

then once everything was adjusted to flow naturally it was dismantle time with the pump sysrem and off to see loobylou to save my life and fit my runners and glass. after that was done i done a week of testing temps and humidity levels etc and now achillies has been in for about three weeks.


another of achillies hiding in the big cave under the volcano thing.


andanother on top of it 


like i said befor sorry i couldnt get the rest of the step by step pictures up i really wanted to do a whole start to finish thing. but please give me your views on my first ever viv build :2thumb:


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## bladeblaster (Sep 30, 2008)

looks cool mate


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## 15060 (Feb 17, 2008)

Rencey, its bloody amazing........John and I were very impressed with the internal features, thats one lucky CWD!


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## suey (Aug 21, 2008)

Very impressive, it looks really good, well done! 

The family have all had a good laugh at my attempts. :blush:


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

suey said:


> Very impressive, it looks really good, well done!
> 
> The family have all had a good laugh at my attempts. :blush:


luckily this was my first attempt and it went100% to plan although the plan was in my head. and this one is 4' tall 3' wideand 2' deep but gonna do an 8' tall 6' wide 3'deep one for razor to run around in as she looks depressed achillies has a stylish new room lol:Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## reptiles_galore (Aug 13, 2008)

looks really amazing well done


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## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

i thnk you have done an amazing job. ! :no1:


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

ephiedoodle said:


> i thnk you have done an amazing job. ! :no1:


thank you i am very pleased with it and so is achillies funny thing is i built this and even then achillies does not want to stay in it so i have it open and bought a 100w power sun and put it in a desk lamp and achillies can either stay in the viv and bask or run riot in my room and bask lol but since it's completion achillies does spend a bit more time in the viv


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## Spence1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Looks great mate, well done :2thumb:

Alex


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## nikki.n.tom (Dec 21, 2007)

it looks brilliant.can i just ask what resin did you use?And where was it from?
thanks nikki


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

nikki.n.tom said:


> it looks brilliant.can i just ask what resin did you use?And where was it from?
> thanks nikki


the order number is gel1400 from jbl stevens it is an inert epoxy resin (completely non toxic when cured) it has uv blockers so it will not break down in direct sun light and it can withstand any amount of humidity it took me months of research to find the right resin lol £35 for both resin and hardener and i have enough left fo another three or four of this size build (only have one other lizard tho lol).
hope this helps you out


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

where do you live? been trying to do something like this for ages and always goes wrong :bash:
hint...........:whistling2:


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

without going to indepth in watford lol would love to do another one am about to do razors tank gonna do a huge aztec ruin type thing just got to find the time lol


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

Rencey said:


> without going to indepth in watford lol would love to do another one am about to do razors tank gonna do a huge aztec ruin type thing just got to find the time lol


 i cant seem to get it right lol


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

that was my first attempt and i am far from artistic i throw people around for a living lol what are you using i used polystyrene a hacksaw blade for cutting it (blade only) i used swimming pool grout applied with a sponge and painted the resin on it is fairly easy especially if i can do it lol i will try and sort the other piccies out and try and talk you through it if you want hun?????????:2thumb:
or if you aint too far away will happily give you a hand


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

well i got the polystyrene and a stanlyknife grouted it with erm grout let it dry and it turned out to look like a badly made cake so i gave up (well the cats used it as a scratching post to top things off )
of you could talk me through it that woiuld be great as i live in leeds


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

is it a whole viv thing like mine (mine is solid to the viv due to the waterfall plumbingand electrics) or just a peice. if it is just a peice send me some piccies of what you want and some measure ments of how big it has to be and i will try and do it for you if you want??????


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## shell2909 (Jun 30, 2008)

well i would like it to be on the wall but i cant move my beardie so it would have to be made outside the viv 
your quite far as well arent you? also if distance isnt a problem how much would you be looking at? it would be 4ft length by 4ft height :blush:


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

got bored here are a few more piccies.


i like this one


but this is so sweet lol


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## ephiedoodle (Oct 22, 2008)

that last pic is so sweey.
i miss my cwd.


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## animal addict (Jun 1, 2008)

thats brilliant - for some-one who says they arent artistic you got the paint effects down brilliantly - thats the one thing I cant do - I can make it no probs but paint effects - gah!!! ended up covering my paint job in sand with a bit of gold paint to highlight then sealing!! Brilliant jobby you have done!!


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## MSL (Jul 30, 2007)

That looks fantastic, love the waterfall and paint effects.....

That is really impressive...well done you!


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

thank you, you should of seen how many times i actually painted it i put around 15-20 layers of paint on this thing every time i wanted to smash it lol then after a while i drybrushed on the high lights sat back and thought it aint too bad actually lol but thanks appreciate everyones comments : victory::no1:


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## rich.harrington (Sep 14, 2008)

Mind giving a walkthrough on the painting part? Some of the colours on that look perfect for rock waterfalls, so i'd be interested to know what you used.


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## cacoonkitty (Aug 10, 2008)

yep me too, id be intrested to see what you used from start to finish couldnt you lista step by step written demo?? like what you did to start it off, what was your base layer wood or plastic?? did you waterproof the wood?? ecte ect: victory::no1: looks bloody amazing!!!!!! lucky cwd bet she loving it!!!


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

a black a brown a yellow a green and a white poster paints from hobby craft they was 2 for £1.
i painted the whole thing 2x black then 1x brown then 1x green then dry brushed yellow then mixed brown and little bit of green and painted it (it took between 15 and 20 coats) seriously all you got to do is start dark then as you work lighter use less paint on the brush but a couple of coats and when it all looks like a huge lump of crap dry brush your high lights in and if you are resining it go lighter than you think as the resin makes it dark.
hope this helps you out


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## scot (Oct 13, 2008)

*greattttttt*

Hi that backing looks great, in fact amazing. Mate:notworthy:


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## jay102 (Jun 20, 2008)

*thats great*

this is a great background wish had the guts to do this.


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## jay102 (Jun 20, 2008)

*how cool is that*

hi there how cool is this background how did you go about doing that then pls tell


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

cheers mate


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## Chimp (Sep 23, 2006)

thats brill you just inspired me to build my own mini retes stack


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## tim89 (Dec 8, 2008)

wow, thats sh*t hot mate! and one dappa CWD you have there too


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## spikemu (Jul 5, 2008)

DUDE !!!!!!!!

that is amazing !!!!!!!!



would you be able to take a photo of the whole viv ??? 

you are the most artistic doorman ive heard of lol 
maybe you may be able to combine those 2 things and make millions lol 

seriously that is one VERY VERY VERY lucky CWD


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

it is up in here some where but here it is again.

and thanks for the comments:2thumb:


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## spikemu (Jul 5, 2008)

WOW that is AMAZING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble::mf_dribble:

soz i just saw it after i asked lol soz :lol2:


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## Rencey (Sep 5, 2008)

a couple more of the floor to show how the rock and bark mix looksquite natural.


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