two in one Christmas present. Hectic DIY

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Nah, see above, but make it months not weeks :(

Hoping to spend a chunk of this weekend on it. :shock:


It looks like Jesus carved this out for you
Not finished yet ? I'm dying to see it finished.
 
Now that scarey cyclops face is gone ^^^ I managed to do a bit more on this :D
It's darker than I want at the moment, but it should dry a bit paler, and a lot of the coloured pigment will wash off too.

IMAG0379.jpg
 
I've used acrylic render, most of it will get two coats, but I started with a spatter coat before render, so the first coat of render went on fairly thick.
where the water feature is will have three.
 
This is amazing ! Incredible work ! I wish my dad would help me build an enclosure haha
 
Any updates?


Updates? Well, Christmas came and went! I'm now aiming for Christmas 2013! :lol:


I've actualy done a bit this week, I've got time off with my boy, so we're trying to get it done.
Will post some pics later.

- - - Updated - - -

I've nearly finished framing up the front and base sections of the enclosure.

View attachment 278441

IMAG0506.jpg

I've changed plans a bit as this has developed, I have to cut and change some of what I did previously.
The cabinet will be three sections.
It will have a base, which will include a pond for the water feature, a sump filter system. It will be glass on two sides plus the front, it will be fully sealed in case the water feature leaks in any way.

The back section as in previous photos will be cut to sit on to the base, otherwise it stays the same.

The front section in the new photo also lifts off the base. It will have a curved glass door in the centre (It's from an old shower screen that inspired me to kick this project off). It will be glass on the front, mostly glass on the sides with vents top and bottom on both sides.

So now I just need to finish some wood work, get some glass cut to size, seal and paint all timber, seal the tank section and set up the filter system, finish building some rocks, finish rendering it all, wire up and fit lights, CHEs, thermostats, LED lights, find some logs and vines etc!!!!!

At the pace I'm working, should be done by Christmas 2016! :lol: Lucky EWDs live a long time!
 
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so progress is still slow on this :? I'm studying full time now so don't have much time at all to look at this :( should be studying now!

I've sealed up the base with polyurethane water-proofing ready to make the tank section, I scored a sheet of glass to make the tank section in the base, then busted some of it cutting it up so now I didn't have enough to finish the base! grrrrr ebay to the rescue!! :lol:

Oh well, I had enough to silicone some in and progress on some of the fake rocks so the water fall rock section is close to finished.

No pics, ran out of time last time I was working on it, will put some up soon.
 
Reading through this thread I must say I'm keen to see the finished product... I'm a big EWD advocate & it looks like one hell of a palace your putting together for them... Nice work
 
a few pics


this one showsmy sump filtration compartment, it has a removeable "rock" lid over it. Its the last part of my water fall and hides the filtration part. I still need to add some glass and finish of a bit of pipework.

This one shows the tank section, the blue poly styrene still needs to be shaped then rendered to finish of the rockery in and around the tank

a larger view, you can see the sump section, covered with its lid and part of the water feature

you can see a hole in the floor, all parts of this will be hooked up with valves to a single drain outlet for easier cleaning.
the rocks in the pond will have lots of crevices for yabbies and feeder fish to hide in

still some rendering to do. I picked up some cheap glass the other day, so next thing will be to finish the glazing of the base so I can seal it all up and do some testing.

the base has all been sealed with polyurethane bathroom sealant so it will be fully watertight.
 
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hah! I hope not.
I've had a water feature in my current enclosure for a couple of years now, it uses a sump filter and stays surprisingly clean. I change the water every couple of weeks. I've set it up to make draining it as easy as possible, then glass etc will just need an occasional wipe down.
I intend to have the enclosure as a living ecosystem, it will have live plants (hopefully), live peat moss/soil mix etc and live insects, live worms, live fish, live yabbies etc. I've experimented with it a bit and hope I'll be able to get it to work so cleaning will be minimal, the insects and bacteria etc take care of a large part of "cleaning"
 
the blue is high density polystyrene, it is very firm, you can saw it and carve it and sand it smooth with sand paper. when it is melted a bit with heat, it ends up with a shiny smooth hard surface
most of the rest of this was done with normal white polystyrene.
all of it I picked up from working on building sites.
 
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