# DIY Styro Background For Year 12 Art Practical



## kingofmalawi (Mar 9, 2004)

Hey guys well im 18 years old and im from Australia im in my final year at school and for one of my art practicals *** decided to do a diy styro background. I have had a look all over the web for designs and methods on doing this and i have decided to go with round looking boulders in a dark grey colour.

i bought a 100 mm thick piece of styro n cut it to size. To carve the boulders i used a pen knife a chisel scissors and a ruler. And then i used a heat gun to smoothe and harden the the surface and make the valleys deeper








almost finished carving









different view

I got the tank second hand for free from my old primary school its seen better days but as its only for an art project it doesnt matter too much. I get extra marks for sourcing materials and other things besides its my first try at a diy background and im just kinda following my own guidelines and will learn from my mistakes for when i do one in a display aquarium at home

here is a view of it in the tank with no concrete on it










first layer of concrete


























the first layer was a pretty thin coat and it didnt cover the whole surface im just using regular sand and masonary concrete for the mixture.

second layer


















this is as fas as *** gotten feel free to give me ideas or ask questions and just general comments i hope for it to be completed in about 2 or three weeks as i have limited time to work on it


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## imusuallyuseless (Dec 28, 2005)

Looks good so far :thumb:


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## BurgerKing (Jul 1, 2008)

lookin good


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

looks good so far


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## kingofmalawi (Mar 9, 2004)

thnx guys


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

How very smart of you to do this for a grade. I'm like you, I would want to do a practice one first because you know the next time you do it, it's going to be even better and since you're doing it anyway, why not get a grade on it. Yep, killing 2 birds with one stone, I like it :thumb:

When I first started seeing these backgrounds I thought I'd like to do one (maybe because I'm kinda artsy and crafty :lol: ) anyway after a while and way more fish, I decided I wouldn't want to loose the tank room they would take up. Less tank room = less fish, but now that I'm looking at yours (I haven't seen one for a while) I'm thinking, it doesn't HAVE to take up that much room.

This one looks really good and I'm sure you'll get a good grade on it but here's my suggestions for your next one. The one I'd like to have :wink: 
Notice on this one how all of the stones pretty much stick out the same distance (back to front)? What if just some of them were carved away more so they didn't stick out as far as the others? What about rocks sticking out on both ends and maybe along the top but more in the middle have it carved out more like a big cave? That would give more room for the fish and I think it would look really cool too. Just some ideas for ya to think about because I'm sure you'll do another and then maybe another and another 

This one is looking really good. Are you going to use 2-3 colors on it to make the rocks look more realistic? Or do you think you'll have the time on this one? Can't wait to see it done. Like I said, I'm sure you'll get a good grade. Great job! :thumb:


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## Dno (May 13, 2008)

Hey man its looking good, iam in Aus aswell and i am also doing a DIY background but on a much larger scale(8 foot long), i found using the bagged render mix easy to use, i also add some hydro crete to my mix to water proof n bond it. oh n for the silicon to glue it on the back use the Selleys "glass" silicone sealant - clear, (for windows and aquariums). Bunnings sell it for about $7bucks a tube.

Heres a link to my DIY http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... c&&start=0

If you have anyother questions feel free to ask.

Cheers Dno.


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## kingofmalawi (Mar 9, 2004)

thanks for ur in put and advice guys ill be sure to keep in touch. I added my third coat today just using plain rendering concrete without sand. This dried out very quick so i decided to paint it on with a very watery slurry with black oxide added. After it was sortve dried i scraped some of it off to reveal the grey layer undearneath this gave it a very cool two tone effect i cant wait till it fully dries to see what it will turn out like i will add pictures soon


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## fishwolfe (Mar 27, 2005)

i'm a big fan of rounding/tapering the edges of the b.g. so you don't see the stryo from the sides of the tank.looks neat so far.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Good job. :thumb: What else will you be adding to the tank for display when you go for your grade?


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## balachel (May 24, 2008)

looks really cool can't wait to see the finished product i just did one for my 10 gallon fry grow out tank


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## Buckeyereavis (Jun 20, 2008)

cant wait to see final product... 
kudos :thumb:


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## kingofmalawi (Mar 9, 2004)

will post pics with fish soon[/url]


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## Snakes to Cichs (Dec 29, 2008)

Sick stand


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## bgko (Oct 24, 2007)

Nice Background. The stand is a great idea gives me some ideas, well done. Artists inspiring other artists. Thanks for sharing.


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## joiseymike (Feb 8, 2009)

This is truly Sofa King cool. Awesome work on the background and stand!


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## kingofmalawi (Mar 9, 2004)

lol excuse me not understanding ur slang im from australia haha what is sofa king cool


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

lol, Sofa King Cool. Say it out loud to yourself


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## kingofmalawi (Mar 9, 2004)

only just realised after i wrote that so far king - as in me (cool) haha thnx heaps


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## mikesl (Nov 12, 2003)

nope, that's not quite what "sofa king" cool is meant to allude to 

it's a nerdy (i use the term with utmost respect and pride) way to say so f***ing cool.

cheers


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