How to make this on a smaller scale??

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Haha tho wouldn't mind a bobcat or a tiger in my back yard at some stage in the future. Tho don't think feeding it would be easy, unless the postie messed up. Lol
 
at the risk of sounding like a nutcase. it wouldnt be that hard ! everything on that site you can do yourself with the same technique that is popular with most of us here, - - foam and render ! just literally on a smaller scale.
i noticed in one of the shots they have got reference pictures taped to the front of the enclosure, its a great idea and stops you getting side tracked. just make your enclosure the size you want and make the 'furnishings' the right size to fit :)

if you do go ahead make sure you post up pics :)
 
at the risk of sounding like a nutcase. it wouldnt be that hard ! everything on that site you can do yourself with the same technique that is popular with most of us here, - - foam and render ! just literally on a smaller scale.
i noticed in one of the shots they have got reference pictures taped to the front of the enclosure, its a great idea and stops you getting side tracked. just make your enclosure the size you want and make the 'furnishings' the right size to fit :)

if you do go ahead make sure you post up pics :)

See i was thinking of making the theme part outside the enclosure inside a wooden frame so once its ready i can just slide the whole thing into my vivarium that i already have. ( So the box frame will be 2mm boards put together to make a box ) so its a perfect fit inside the inner walls of the viv.

Yeah i'm making my own references up to combine a few ideas into the one design. Tho as i live in a flat my space to do things are quiet limited,lol but once I get all the things that I need, i will be making a start..might take me a while but ill get there lol

Of course ill put pics up of my project :)

So was thinking styrofoam and expanding foam, cover the lot in wall plaster and sand down cover in grout then paint the whole thing and cover in a sealant????
 
Skip the plaster, it won't achieve anything and could cause adhesion problems with grout.
Acrylic render is cheap, easy to mix and apply, gives a strong coating, you get good coverage with one coat, a second to touch up thin areas and use the second coat to finish in a texture that suits. You can leave it rough and grainy, or smooth it as it dries to give a quite smooth finish. You can add texture and features with some imagination and basic household items.

You can add waterproof agents to acrylic render as you mix it, or use a liquid sealer later

If you want a smooth, fine texture, I'd consider using grout over acrylic render.
 
Skip the plaster, it won't achieve anything and could cause adhesion problems with grout.
Acrylic render is cheap, easy to mix and apply, gives a strong coating, you get good coverage with one coat, a second to touch up thin areas and use the second coat to finish in a texture that suits. You can leave it rough and grainy, or smooth it as it dries to give a quite smooth finish. You can add texture and features with some imagination and basic household items.

You can add waterproof agents to acrylic render as you mix it, or use a liquid sealer later

If you want a smooth, fine texture, I'd consider using grout over acrylic render.


Cheers mate for your advise and tip there, see as im a complete newbie to the whole building a theme idea its good just to throw out the idea of materials i was going to use for it, and to see what you guy's use! :)

What is acrylic render anyway? is it like a cement or sumthing? Coz for the smooth bits i want i can use a texture roller of tree bark to make the effects that i want ( im the type of doing it right first time lol )
 
Yeah, It's a cement based product. Comes as a dry powder, mix with water. Follow directions on the bag, but just mix a small tub full at a time (1kg ??)

Easiest way to apply it is to use a sponge and wipe it onto your Styrofoam base.
Use a paint brush to get into any small crevices etc.

It's cheap, so do some experiments on scraps of Styrofoam

A few ways you can change the finished texture

As it dries, use a peice of a thick plastic shopping bag, smooth the surface to give a 'granite' texture. Wait until It's quite firm to touch

Use a paint brush to brush away small grainy lumps and sandy bits as it dries for a sandstone texture. You can add some texture this way to make lines in the surface to look like layers.

Use a soft dust brush to dab the surface while wet to give a rougher texture. You can smooth any Sharp pointy bits off as it is drying with a paint brush, and smooth with plastic bag again, but gently so you keep the base texture

To create a creased slate look, scrunch up a plastic shopping bag and smooth it into wet, fresh render with a sponge, let the render dry then carefully pull the plastic out. This leaves random creases, and a quite smooth surface. Be careful not to bury creased bag to deeply into the render, it can get trapped in the render and be hard to remove.

You can also stick pebbles or rocks into the wet render.
 
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