# DIY background



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

I'm trying my hand at my first 3d background and am at an impasse. I'm not sure whether to just use drylock to coat the styrofoam, or to use cement. I picked up a bag of commercial grade crack resistant quikrete from Home Depot (orange bag) but I'm not so sure how that will come out. I want to use the quikrete but am afraid it will remove a lot of the rocky texture detail I created. the layer will have to be thin but I'm not too confident that it can. That's what makes me think to use drylock instead. Anyone use the quikrete in the manner I'm speaking of with success? I'll post a pic of where I'm at so far as soon as I figure out how.

Edit** I just tested a small piece of styrofoam with the quikrete that I bought. that stuff wont work. How about mortor mix? For it to work, I think i would need the type that isn't pre-mixed with sand.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

Here are some pictures of where I am at so far. I carved everything out with a box cutter and bread slicing knife. The texture was created with a torch. I still have some touch up where some of the Styrofoam was siliconed together (need to blend them better), and to remove burnt bits of Styrofoam when I got a little torch-happy. BTW, this is for a 55 gal Mbuna tank. I'm also going to make some more rocks for other hiding spaces in front with the excess Styrofoam chunks left over. Criticism and advice is welcome as long as it's constructive. Thanks.


----------



## Agridion (Sep 8, 2010)

opcorn: I like the design and texture so far.


----------



## aussie pride (Oct 5, 2011)

Very nice background. It could only look better in one of my tanks  haha kidding, but seriously, I am really liking the beginings of that background.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks! I'm really pleased with it so far. I just need to figure out how I'm going to coat it. I'm looking into thinset mortor mix. I read an article on mixing the thinset with acrylic polymer and water. It can be "painted" on so I should be able to keep the layers thin and retain the detail. Only downside is it says to allow weeks for it to fully cure so that's one of the downsides. Has anyone tried this method? If so, any advice?


----------



## Agridion (Sep 8, 2010)

Take this as a grain of salt since I have no experience in this what-so-ever but from what I have read many people suggest using Drylok instead of Concrete as a coat on Styrofoam.


----------



## Andy Somnifac (Jun 1, 2005)

You can mix up the concrete thin and use that. I'd do that in a couple of coats.

As you said, the downside is that you have to allow it to cure. The upside is the ability to color the concrete, and paint it with concrete dyes to give it a (hopefully) more natural looked.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

Andy Somnifac said:


> You can mix up the concrete thin and use that. I'd do that in a couple of coats.
> 
> As you said, the downside is that you have to allow it to cure. The upside is the ability to color the concrete, and paint it with concrete dyes to give it a (hopefully) more natural looked.


yeah I definitely want a natural look. I think using the thinset mortor with a fine grain sand will give a natural looking texture and feel. this way might take some help from the wife while I'm at work thought too because it says to keep the mixture moist as it cures to avoid cracking. the thinner the layer, the thinner it will dry out and crack. :? She'll have to use a spray bottle to give it a light misting throughout the day. Luckily it is cooling off outside so it shouldn't dry too quickly, I hope.


----------



## Andy Somnifac (Jun 1, 2005)

I used Qwikcrete Qwikwall and misted it before leaving for work in the morning, then a couple times in the evening, and mine didn't crack. I gave it 3 days or so before I filled it to soak/leech. 3 days soaking with rock salt, drain and fill with water and more salt to soak for another 3 days. Then drained and filled and I'm on day 3 of that one. Will drain tonight and allow it to soak for the rest of the week then I'll test the pH to see what it's doing to the water.

Not the look you're going for probably, but this is mine before soaking:


----------



## littlejoenc (Jan 11, 2005)

Use the Drylok, You won't regret it. You can color it like cement, It last longer, and so much easier to work with....I have BG's 5 or 6 years old that still look great..Just be sure to get get the latex and not the oil base...Good luck..


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

Andy Somnifac said:


> I used Qwikcrete Qwikwall and misted it before leaving for work in the morning, then a couple times in the evening, and mine didn't crack. I gave it 3 days or so before I filled it to soak/leech. 3 days soaking with rock salt, drain and fill with water and more salt to soak for another 3 days. Then drained and filled and I'm on day 3 of that one. Will drain tonight and allow it to soak for the rest of the week then I'll test the pH to see what it's doing to the water.
> 
> Not the look you're going for probably, but this is mine before soaking:


quikwall you say...I'll have to look into that. And yes, I'm going in a different direction with mine but yours looks good nonetheless. and curious. You said you are soaking it in water with rock salt. What's the purpose of the salt?


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

littlejoenc said:


> Use the Drylok, You won't regret it. You can color it like cement, It last longer, and so much easier to work with....I have BG's 5 or 6 years old that still look great..Just be sure to get get the latex and not the oil base...Good luck..


I think i'm going to wind up testing both ways out on some styrofoam scraps and see how they come out...probably wont happen until this weekend though, unfortunately. Do you have any pictures of yours?


----------



## Andy Somnifac (Jun 1, 2005)

bdublu said:


> quikwall you say...I'll have to look into that. And yes, I'm going in a different direction with mine but yours looks good nonetheless. and curious. You said you are soaking it in water with rock salt. What's the purpose of the salt?


According to the article in the library, the rock salt/water softener salt is supposed to aid the curing process.

Using the Qwikwall was also taken from the same article.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

cool, I'll check out the article, thanks.


----------



## SoDakJeep (Mar 21, 2009)

Go with dry lock trust me. I have done both and quick crete doesnt hold up over time. The paint is a lot better you can cover thinner and once you have a good coat on you can use krylon spray paint to add shadows and other colors. Concrete for me cracked over time as I moved rocks around to clean tank ect...


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

My only real concern with using drylok is that I'm not good with painting. I want to have a realistic look and feel. I just do not believe I personally will be able to duplicate that using "paint". Otherwise, I would love to use the stuff if nothing else for the ease of applying it and not havin to wait for curing time.


----------



## littlejoenc (Jan 11, 2005)

Painting it with Drylok or cement, Either way It's going to be the same thing with both..
The looks will all depend on what colors you use...
this is a couple pics


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

I picked up some drylok (wow that stuff is pricey!) and mortor mix last night and tested a few squares of stryrofoam to see the difference. I've only applied the base coats with charcoal-colored tint. Tonight I'm going to highlight them with the buff-colored tint and see how they come out. I'll post some pics tomorrow.


----------



## swamphntr (Oct 21, 2011)

Highlighting.. try mixing lighter charcoal and dipping the first 1/8 inch of the bristles in it and very lightly sweeping the brush over the high spots on your background. It give the rock a natural worn look on all the high spots. There is no artistry to it just a light touch. To me the two example pics the colors look forced and unrealistic.

I was obviously going for a slate look here. Start dark and work lighter very sparingly with tiny amounts of paint. You dont paint each high spot again your very lightly whisk the brush to only catch the high spots. The buff color highlights were done last and needed the least amount of paint and strokes.










If I were trying for a granite look I would reverse the colors from light to dark to give the dark speckeled look on a light background.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

swamphntr said:


> Highlighting.. try mixing lighter charcoal and dipping the first 1/8 inch of the bristles in it and very lightly sweeping the brush over the high spots on your background. It give the rock a natural worn look on all the high spots. There is no artistry to it just a light touch. To me the two example pics the colors look forced and unrealistic.
> 
> I was obviously going for a slate look here. Start dark and work lighter very sparingly with tiny amounts of paint. You dont paint each high spot again your very lightly whisk the brush to only catch the high spots. The buff color highlights were done last and needed the least amount of paint and strokes.
> 
> ...


I like the technique you used. looks very realistic. As for my project, I decided to go with the a thinset concrete to coat it. I liked how it looked initially but then I went with too thick of a coat for the second coat and lost a lot of the detail I wanted to retain. Looks like I'm going to be starting over.


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

ok, sorry I haven't updated in a while but my background is complete. I also ( in the last minute) decided to tackle UGJ setup. Overall, I'm pleased with how it came out. The first pic is of my tank before the new background...










and the the final product:










though I did lose a bit of the detail from the plain styrofoam in the first few pics of this thread, I am still happy with how it came out. I did use a thin coat of concrete for the texture of it all, and coated it with charcoal tinted drylok. I then stippled in some drylok tinted with charcoal and buff mixed together, giving me a muddy color, the stippled in some light gray, and finally light buff. Sorry about the crappy cell phone pics but it's the best I have for now. Hope I did well!


----------



## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Nice job it looks like it came out good :thumb:


----------



## bdublu (Jul 4, 2011)

Thanks Steve. I'm going to try to get my wife to take some clearer pictures with our regular camera. I can't work that dang thing.


----------



## ChadRamsey (Mar 12, 2010)

well done. great job on the color.


----------

