I think I might have my ambitions mixed up with my capabilities

[1woma]

Treg- did you see the link to the ruins im sort of copying? its fantastic and very real looking. your pictures have been very useful.....i will post pics forr help as i do it but probably wont be til next week at this stage, will play with the little tubes i have here for now on some cardboard like Jax sugested ( my kids will be happy that means the purchase of fruitloops lol the only cereal eaten here coz i cook breaky every morning). I wish i had made a little wall for my 30x42cm lass tank as i went, then i could have practiced on there. i also spent ages on you tube yesterday watching clips on making and painting rockwalls for help and ideas. even just the spay on paint in different colours looks very natural in the end so i guess if i stuff this i can always do that

with the tree stump, i have been thinking about adding a coat of rendering a brown base thick so i can shape it a little, but worried about making a mess of my bricks, they look good at the moment , the render in the gaps has really made the bricks stand out.

thanks for all your help guys

 

[J-A-X]

Mask a bit of newspaper to the bricks, and the floor. It will stop any wayward render. Hunt down a cheapy Afro comb, it's great for the sort of detail you're after. Lay a thickish layer, let it semi dry then drag the comb down the trunk with enough pressure so that when you paint it you will still make out the scratch marks. El cheapo scrubbing brushes - the really stiff ones- work well too. You will need to remove any little balls of gouged render if there's too many.

I wouldn't feel too bad if your end result doesn't look quite like Rox'n'lix one, her sister did it and she is a professional set designer. she worked on the Hobbit and the tv series the pacific And she also used a photo for inspiration so I dont think you have to worry about stealing anyone's ideas LOL

 

[1woma]

I didnt have brown oxide so i just used the render without any colour and i'll paint that later... i didnt have an afro comb either but i used some chopsticks to do it and it looks ok. I picked up some paints yesterday so im hoping i can get started on the painting side of things today. i had a play on some cardboard yesterday an feel a little better about it, i used to much red in my trial pieces but thats ok i wont when i do the wall and i wont rush it like i did the cardboard lol. Its so cold here, my intention was to get up at 5am with hubby and start painting but i didnt drag my butt out of bed til about 7am. Im going to give it a go today coz next week is school holidays so my house will be a crazy house. i'll add some photos as i go today

 

[J-A-X]

its amazing what you can find to use sometimes, chopsticks would have done the job nicely. I was up at 5am and it was a dazzling 2c up here in the hills. by 7 i was at work in the warm

im glad the cardboard has given you the confidence to proceed. when you paint the render you can water down the paint a bit so you dont get such a solid patch of colour. the render sucks a lot of the moisture in so you get a more subtle colour and as a bonus your paint goes further.

good luck with the school holidays, keep them well away from the enclosure in case their inner picasso gives them the urge to be creative.

 

[1woma]

Yeah the 3 yearold has already made his mark on the enclosure.... i found him in there when it was just the foam and he was picking pieces off ... atleast its fake rock and doesnt matter if there are odd bits missing lol.

thanks for all your advice jax, you seem to ease my mind b4 each next step.

treg... will be making great use of your thread today

 

[macka86]

just joined and love this site and want 2 say thanks for all the good advice everyone

 

[J-A-X]

Yeah the 3 yearold has already made his mark on the enclosure.... i found him in there when it was just the foam and he was picking pieces off ... atleast its fake rock and doesnt matter if there are odd bits missing lol.

thanks for all your advice jax, you seem to ease my mind b4 each next step.

treg... will be making great use of your thread today

Aaahhh , 3 year old are fun - wouldn't do it again for quids !

glad i have a calming influence on someone ! as long as its working LOL

make sure you have a camera handy.....

just joined and love this site and want 2 say thanks for all the good advice everyone

welcome aboard Macka, glad you are finding something useful, are you working on a project at the moment, if so we want pics.

 

[1woma]

Aaahhh , 3 year old are fun - wouldn't do it again for quids !

glad i have a calming influence on someone ! as long as its working LOL

make sure you have a camera handy.....

me neither.... i have a 10 year gap between child 2 and 3

and i think that 3 year old has gotten to my camera to battery's r flat again ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok i have got all the way to the spray bit and im scared.... looks like an army uniform lol but im hopefull it will all work out in the end.... or i can always paint over it and start again.

welcome macka86

 

[J-A-X]

take a deep breath my dear. be brave. it will all come together like magic. spray it all, walk away and dont look at it again until tomorrow. - it takes some time away from it to realise how good it looks.

 

[Treg92]

whoa, i leave the thread for 24 hours and everything goes crazy!!!!
congrats on starting to paint, and don't stress, remember rock looks like anything, basically. but as jax said, wait for it to dry before you judge it, mine looked a lot better once dried at that stage. i am actually quite distracted as i am currently babysitting a baby beardie at the moment (for 3 weeks for a school teacher), and he is super awesome, i love him. i think when i go to give him back my heart will break

 

[1woma]

ok so this morning i put some darker grey and lighter grey and it looks great, needs more green moss though. I probably should have left more showin through ... but i was pretty heavy handed with the greys so will have to add some more later. I havent done the green ink and still have to paint my tree stump /roots today. im glad hubby wasnt home when i did it, he would have been horrified to see it all army paintish lol. im so amazed at how it all came together, thanks treg, thats jax it would be very monotone and plain without your help..... im in such a hurry to finish this lol and i dont even have a snake to fit it LMAO

hey jax btw your " stone cold" comment got me thinking is that a hint, your not doing a wrestling background are you?????? seems an odd question if you r not a wresting follower but there is a guy call " stone cold steve austin" lol

 

[J-A-X]

At least you'll have a tank ready when your baby wants more room. That's better than a rush job. I'm glad your happy with the way it's coming together. Don't go to heavy with the moss and think about where it would stay damp and shady (if it was real) to figure out where to paint green.
Now all we need is an updated pic LOL.

And no, I'm not a wrestling fan

 

[1woma]

At least you'll have a tank ready when your baby wants more room. That's better than a rush job. I'm glad your happy with the way it's coming together. Don't go to heavy with the moss and think about where it would stay damp and shady (if it was real) to figure out where to paint green.
Now all we need is an updated pic LOL.

And no, I'm not a wrestling fan

daughter is getting batteries and bread as we speak so updated pictures to come very soon


ok here it is, i cant work out how to put these in order but i think you can tell which r before and afters going to paint the tree stump and vines today, i cannot wait

 

[macka86]

iv got two going one is 2.5 long glass front cabnet which i wnt for gippsland water dragons (havent got them yet if there is any one can help)but im starting one from scrach soon 4 my jungle he is about a meter and half and just finished my turtle tank will put pics up so on PS them pics look so good good work

 

[Treg92]

that is looking insane, good work with keeping the mortar between the bricks a different colour. it looks really good.

 

[J-A-X]

I've got to say it .... "I told ya so"

All it takes is a bit of faith in the process. Sometimes you've just got to create a little chaos to create order.
Now youve got to figure out where to place the moss - I grab a torch, hold it where your light will be and see where the shadows are, and put a dot of green as a marker

You're on the home stretch and have created something awesome, just don't rush to the finish line

 

[1woma]

thanks guys... i expected a "i told you so... coz you did, and you were very very right

Treg, your thread was so helpful- the grout lines were done a shade darker than the rest to make them stand out but i think it may have been a waste of time coz after i masked and painted the Bricks they would have been a different colour anyway

im putting the first coat on the tree and roots now.... i found some cheap browns in the newsagent this morning

LMAO i still cant believe it looks like it does so so happy, i mite even do a full lass front now:lol:

 

[J-A-X]

I bet it looks better "in the flesh" artificial light including camera flash seems to bleach the colours, I've never managed to get a photo that looks like it actually does to the naked eye, a bit of brown drybrushing on the tree and vines and I reckon you can start on the next one ROFL

Masking the mortar would have made the edge of the bricks to straight, these are "Ruins" not mass produced perfect bricks

 

[1woma]

Your Right ist is hard to get the photo to match its IRL colour.... the brown has absorbed into the cement and it is much less BROWN and the bricks r darker than they look. I cannot wait for it to dry so i can dry brush the tree and vines.

Hmmm what to do for my next one?????

 

[J-A-X]

Patience is the one thing that can't be taught, and if you're impatient like most of us, go ahead and start drybrushing, the colours will blend together quite well while it's still wet giving a more natural look. Go grab your brush

As for what to do next, there have been a few guesses about my future one that should give you some ideas. How about a flintstones one, it's still rock and you done alright so far with them.