D.I.Y. Rock Backdrops

[Phatturk]

Hi All,

I am STUCK!!! I am building a new cage and I am trying to make a D.I.Y. Rock backdrop but the coco bedding isn't sticking to the silicone, if you can believe that. Is there some trick to this? I hadn't ever thought this could even happen but it is. I add the silicone from a gun and add the coco bedding within 40 sec of applying the silicone but then it drys and it all can just be brushed off and I am left with a Black shinny rubber backdrop. It looked great last night when it was wet but now it's all screwed up. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[Matthew]

you would ave been better off with a epoxy than silicone. but any way did you tamp the coco bedding into the silicone or just spread it ontop of it. In order for it to really adhear to it it will need to be tamped into the silicone.

 

[Phatturk]

Tamped? I am not sure what you mean by that but if you mean like smear I did do that and in some places it worked but for the most part it sucked. Epoxy? you know where I can get a gallon or so of it? The only epoxy I have found here comes in little tubes like toothpaste and costs quite a bit.

 

[Matthew]

By tamp i mean did you push the coco bedding into the silicone. and as for the epoxy i know you can order it on line.but yeah it isnt cheap.

 

[Marc10edora]

I have no experience with the cocco bedding method. So I can't help you with that. If all else fails, check out the rock wall that I made for my cage. It is posted in another forum http://diychatroom.com/showthread.php?t=8381
There is a short written tutorial in there if you scroll down. Good luck.

 

[rozdaboff]

The cocofiber will not stick to the silicone if it is even slightly moist. It needs to be bone dry. Lay it out in a thin layer on a warm, dry day - or bake it in the oven in a thin layer.

Also - you need to do the silicone/coco method in small sections; otherwise, the silicone will start to "skin" - and you won't get as good sticking.

 

[Scotty]

Hi,

Here is rock backdrop in one of my morelia enclosures.

It is made with expanding foam (don't know what you call it in the US), then cut and sanded to shape.
You then apply a latex sealer, followed by spraying with paint and literally throwing different colours of oxide onto it, the oxide sticks to the paint. Sand can also be added to give it texture and there you go....fake rock.

 

[LaserGecko]

I can't go into too much detail about the specifics, but I own a contractor's course in faux rock work. If you want really good looking fake rock (not to say that the above doesn't look really good), fleck it up a bit.

To practice, get a piece of cardboard. Take a big, old paintbrush and dilute some old latex paint to varying strengths with water. Then, dunk the brush, knock off the excess, and fling the spray onto the cardboard with a flick of your wrist. You want a really fine mist of droplets. Let it dry between coats and change colors or dilutions. You really don't need that many different colors since you dilute it to different strengths. You vary the size and density of the dots by how far away you stand and how hard you fling 'em.

Pretty soon, you will swear that you'll start to see a 3-D surface on the entirely flat cardboard.

If you look really closely at real rock, you'll see that it's all speckled in some way or another, some moreso than others. Granite is pretty much entirely speckles and most faux rock finishes can be made with no "base coat" whatsoever.

This also helps to add the randomness of nature into your designs.

I'd better shut up now before the men in grey suits come to get me.

Marc, give it a try with your already stunning background (if it's not in use yet) and I bet you'll see it literally POP to life.

 

[Phatturk]

Well Rozdaboff seems to have hit the nail on the head. Thanks a lot buddy! I didn't realize how long it takes for this stuff to dry completely. For me it is going on 5 days and still it is not totally dry yet. So I dried some in the oven and it works great, Thanks for the info!