DIY 3D Background - 20G

[andres]

just a little input-if you take a metal coat hanger and heat it up with a blowtorch-you can use it to cut thru and mold styrofoam but you need to either duct tape the ends of the wire and/or wear some thick leather gloves-the ones for welding work real well-or youll burn the skin right off your fingers.

Hmm.. I may try this on my next background.. Seems like it would be much smoother.

 

[TheFishJunky]

hey do you have water in that tank yet?I'm real curious if it would kick up and float if you hadn't siliconed it to the bottom of the tank???otherwise,I wonder if the cement adds much weight or if you would have to jam it into the tank really tightly to avoid it from kicking up outta the tank???

 

[andres]

hey do you have water in that tank yet?I'm real curious if it would kick up and float if you hadn't siliconed it to the bottom of the tank???otherwise,I wonder if the cement adds much weight or if you would have to jam it into the tank really tightly to avoid it from kicking up outta the tank???

Yup, its filled up. It floats for sure. I put a very liberal amount of silicone on the back of it before I put it in. If you wanted it to sink, you would have to put SEVERAL coats of cement on it. I put 3 coats on mine, and with such a thin layer of cement you need silicone for sure.

 

[Yanbbrox]

Yup, its filled up. It floats for sure. I put a very liberal amount of silicone on the back of it before I put it in. If you wanted it to sink, you would have to put SEVERAL coats of cement on it. I put 3 coats on mine, and with such a thin layer of cement you need silicone for sure.

Or cut another hole in the back and insert a weight to hold it down

 

[andres]

Or cut another hole in the back and insert a weight to hold it down

Hmm.. Good ideas for the next project. Thanks for all the responses, heres some sort of final pictures.. (Sorry about the crappy pics)

flash:

no flash:

Edit: Plants look fake, its real- hornwort

 

[a_c_arnold]

Magnets would never hold the styro down unless you used very thin styro and put tons of cement on it. It's nearly impossible to make anything with styro that will sink. I have magnets holding a suspended styro DIY rock from my hood, but they are only really necessary when I do water changes. The bouyancy of the styro holds it in place most of the time.

 

[famous323]

very nice 3d back round guys, what degree of difficulty would you guys rate this project @

 

[a_c_arnold]

The backgrounds are simple they just take patients. If you have a little artistic imagination, the carving part is actually pretty simple and it never really turns out exactly like you imagine it. Just take a knife and some styro and carve away. The cement covers a lot of the fine details and flaws and blends everything together. I prefer coating the background with drylok concrete sealer to give it a more durable finish and the drylok can be colored in order to vary the shades of greys and browns.

 

[famous323]

The backgrounds are simple they just take patients. If you have a little artistic imagination, the carving part is actually pretty simple and it never really turns out exactly like you imagine it. Just take a knife and some styro and carve away. The cement covers a lot of the fine details and flaws and blends everything together. I prefer coating the background with drylok concrete sealer to give it a more durable finish and the drylok can be colored in order to vary the shades of greys and browns.

kind of afraid of the chemicals in the cement/sealer! any defects at all?

 

[a_c_arnold]

None, I've even seen a thread where a guy contacted a rep and they worked together to seal a DIY concrete tank with the stuff. I've done backgrounds with and without the Drylok and I won't do another one without the sealer.