# Using play-doh for a DIY background



## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

I was just curious if anyone has tried to use play-doh to make their background. I was thinking it would be rediculously easy to mold and it sinks. After you finish modeling your background let it dry out and harden then cover in a layer of cement and paint. Has anyone tried this or think this is a good idea?


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## Gino Santangelo (Nov 26, 2008)

You must be kidding. Anyone that knows about playdough knows its only good for cooking.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

well whatever cook it to harden it, it doesnt matter I just wanted to see if anyone has tried this or if anyone thinks this is a good idea?


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## coldfusionpower (Oct 9, 2008)

i have the same idea last time .. i've done something similar but not with tank .. i made a gauge cluster panel for my car. playdough for the design and instead of cement, i use fibreglass. first i use the resin+hardener to make it solid, wait until its cured ... use releasing agent on top the project and then use a very small woven and thin fibreglass mat on top of it .. around 2-3 layers.. wait for it to cure and took it out ..


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## zugbug (Dec 12, 2005)

its been awhile since i've used play doh but doesnt it dissolve in water?


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## sleepy09 (Jan 15, 2009)

> its been awhile since i've used play doh but doesnt it dissolve in water?


Not it sealed with something that is fish tank safe. He might be on to something here, who knows.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

ya you seal with cement just like one or two layers but I tested the play-doh and is sinks so screw the foam next time im trying play-doh I think it will work. The foam is a pain in the a** to get to sink right. I guess when i build my 75 gal diy I will post with how well the doh works although it will be at least a month or so.


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## zugbug (Dec 12, 2005)

sleepy09 said:


> > its been awhile since i've used play doh but doesnt it dissolve in water?
> 
> 
> Not it sealed with something that is fish tank safe. He might be on to something here, who knows.


Should have figured that..duh... that would be a heck of alot better than working with styrofoam or that spray foam. You could make playdoh structures attached to some eggcrate then coat with a light layer of cement. Got me thinking to


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## rogersb (May 21, 2007)

You can also make your own play doh on the cheap. I forget how, we used to do it as kids. Something like salt, flour, water and...drawing a blank here. Someone with kids help me out.


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

rogersb said:


> You can also make your own play doh on the cheap. I forget how, we used to do it as kids. Something like salt, flour, water and...drawing a blank here. Someone with kids help me out.


I think it was White glue... like Elmers


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## cevvin (May 2, 2008)

Try this page out, scroll down. Lots of recipes, might have to try them out.

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/play-doh-recipes.html


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

well im glad I got others thinking of the possibilities here. Imagine the detail you could give of with play-doh,I can't wait to try this I am getting excited


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

Here is a link on how to make play-doh at home, there are like 6 different ways listed on this site, for those of us who forgot how to make it.
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/art/playdough061699.html


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

No matter how well you concrete it or paint it, would you want it leaching back into your tank if there's a pinhole? Maybe baking it would cure it or something, like ceramics. I've got no idea. But seems the amount it would take to do a background, it would be cheaper just to do Styrofoam, if floating is an issue, just do a damp sand mold and cement. 
It may be safe, but if it's not sealed, you might get the yellow, blue, red, or whatever else colors they have now and end up with a brown tank. It'd be cool to see how it goes if anyone wants to try it.


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

the products from "homemade" play dough may actually work fairly well. If baked or dried they could be painted and then sealed with an epoxy. The materials themselves are not in themselves really toxic. I wouldn't want them in teh tank but I don't think a pinhole would cause any undue illness. Might be something to look into for smaller projects first such as caves or rocks just to play around with.

Nature's Playdough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the playdough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange. _(heh, for some reason i though vitamin supplements lol)_

Basic Playdough

4 cups flour
1/4 cup powdered tempera
1/4 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon oil

Mix together flour, powdered paint and salt. Mix water and oil, and food coloring if desired. Gradually stir the water and oil mix into the flour mix. Knead the playdough as you add the liquid. Add more water if too stiff, more flour if sticky.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

How about the recipe for making a mold for an engine block? Rounded (play) sand if you can get it (as opposed to "sharp"), molasses, and oatmeal flakes.

The sand without sharp corners comes from places like sand dunes, so the wind has rounded off the sharpness. Mix in molasses and oatmeal flakes until the sand has a "play-dough' consistency. It will take a near perfect impression of rocks and driftwood you press into it. Lay pieces of styrene sheet over it and then melt them together into the form with a hobby heat gun. Once cool, pull it out and with a little cleaning and touch up it should be ready to paint. No worry about trapped "dough" leaching into the water or going anaerobic and giving off hydrogen sulfide gas.

I've done both of these things, but not together. I used the sand forms to make aragocrete pieces and it worked great. They only needed to be about half an inch thick so they weren't heavy at all. Melting styrene was done helping my wife with one of her craft projects. It goes by gravity so you won't get the detail imparted to the aragocrete, especially on anything vertical at the time of the melting.

People have also used macaroni and pasta as a form to get lots of surface texture and holes, but if it's too cooked, it's mush, and if not cooked enough, it will expand and possibly crack the structure. Plus some of it gets trapped and who wants old macaroni in their tank? Rock salt works better than pasta for most people who have tried both, but it takes much longer to dissolve than you'd expect, days, weeks, or longer.


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

Hey McDaphnia, can you make a video or picture collage of the process? Possibly a list of where to get the items and the paints you can use for detail on the polystyrene cast?


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

Ok so if you look at the link I provided there is one that is a homemade "clay" playdoh I think that would work best. Also I dont believe you can bake playdoh as I am told it will crack so it will have to sit out to dry but that can only take like 3-4 days. and as far as your leak problem playdoh is non-toxic and it only has a color if you put dye in it. If you make at home use no dye and no probs with your hole situation. Also for the person who said this would be expensive look at the products used to make it homemade very cheap to make large quantity.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Rivermud said:


> Hey McDaphnia, can you make a video or picture collage of the process? Possibly a list of where to get the items and the paints you can use for detail on the polystyrene cast?


 River, like I said, I have used this casting method to make aragocrete pieces very light weight and highly detailed. The styrene is stuff my wife has used for craft projects. I don't do many photos and no videos so far. Still have one waiting for warm weather, when I expect to see what happens when using a power washer to strip silicone out of a couple old 75 gallon tanks, if I get a volunteer with a video camera. As to paints on plastic, I think the Krylon Fusion might work. It has been mentioned here and the majority opinion seems to be it works; only a few people have had flaking/chipping problems with it. That could be surface prep, or the type of plastic.

The styrene sheet comes in clear, white, and colors. You can get it at model railroad hobby stores and at craft stores like Catan's. You can also find tools and stuff there to shape it if you want to go that way. They also have paints, but I would question how fish-safe they'd be. 
opcorn: You could also reverse-engineer styrene sheets out of styrofoam scraps. opcorn: There was a utube where they used acetone to "de-bubble" the styrofoam. They showed one participant right by the open container of acetone and plastic, then a little later showed her passed out on the stairs. :roll: IOW, buy the sheets.


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

What about making the rocks out of playdoh. The way you want them. Then make a cast of the rocks using plaster. Now you have a perfect replica of the rocks. Then you would have to "cast" the final piece from the plaster mold. This would remove the playdoh from the equation. The final piece could be made from acrylic, cement,fiberglass etc.. Once the "mold" is made you could also make many copies of the same BG. Much like a similar post by joey020283. But when he made the fiberglass mold it was in reverse of my idea. His detail was created by the exterior side of his fiberglass. In this method you would use the side against the playdoh to create all detail. Tell me if this idea would work??
:?


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

Mcdaphnia said:


> Rivermud said:
> 
> 
> > Still have one waiting for warm weather, when I expect to see what happens when using a power washer to strip silicone out of a couple old 75 gallon tanks, if I get a volunteer with a video camera.


 :lol: :lol: :lol:

For some reason that nearly brought me to tears laughing. opcorn:


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

R-DUB said:


> What about making the rocks out of playdoh. The way you want them. Then make a cast of the rocks using plaster. Now you have a perfect replica of the rocks. Then you would have to "cast" the final piece from the plaster mold. This would remove the playdoh from the equation. The final piece could be made from acrylic, cement,fiberglass etc.. Once the "mold" is made you could also make many copies of the same BG. Much like a similar post by joey020283. But when he made the fiberglass mold it was in reverse of my idea. His detail was created by the exterior side of his fiberglass. In this method you would use the side against the playdoh to create all detail. Tell me if this idea would work??
> :?


Why not simply make a mold of a real rock at that point?


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

I dont want a mold I like my rocks to be individual.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I3lazd said:


> I dont want a mold I like my rocks to be individual.


 Most of the molds mentioned are one-use molds, so your rocks would still be unique.


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

sounds like extra steps that dont need to be taken


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

I think you missed the point of my previous post. I was stating that it did not make sense to make a playdough mold to make a mold with plaster of paris. Simply use a rock to make the mold from. The idea behind the playdough is to make something you would normally not be able to since you can form it in any shape you like.

Mcdaphnias idea using polystyrene has some merit for making instant molds of anything you like. You could feasibly use it as a repeatable mold for a number of things using the plaster of paris as well. I've often thought about making a clay sculpture, a very large cave formation similar to the one in the DIY articles. Firing clay isn't cheap or easy however. Playdough is cheaper except for hte fact that sealing it may end up costing a pretty penny.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I3lazd said:


> sounds like extra steps that dont need to be taken


Try making some rocks, caves, and backgrounds and you will see that the time saved by using a mold makes the extra steps well worth it. Plus if someone has less than artistic genius, the end product will be useable. Having to perfect a freehand technique may mean throwing out several first attempts, wasting time and materials that could have been saved with a few extra steps (AKA adequate preparation). I have some castings that would have taken much longer to create without a mold.


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

you could use real rocks and playdoh to create the mold. Real rocks maynot be feasible when you must build around pumps, filters overflow towers etc... The two in combo could create the desired effect. Using playdoh as the entire base is not feasible IMHO. Shrinking cracking sealing rotting all are better done with styro. If styro has bouyancy issues then silicone it down to the bottom or back of the tank. Trying to weight down styro with cement is a pain in the a$$. Plus you lose all of your detail. That just my opinion. Good Luck!


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

see I want to create a background that is removeable and silicone is not an option that is why i want it to sink


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## R-DUB (Jun 3, 2007)

Make the playdoh model/plaster mold then "cast" the entire thing from lightweight concrete. I think you would get the best overall design that way. I do think that the playdoh idea for a master model is a great idea. Even modeling clay would work well. I think my next project after I finish the 180 will be to overhaul the 30 gal in this manner. Good Luck!


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Rivermud said:


> ....Mcdaphnias idea using polystyrene has some merit for making instant molds of anything you like. ....


I was not suggesting using the styrene as a mold. The mold is the playdough or sand mold. The styrene if you use it instead of aragocrete is the background. Styrene is lightweight, sturdy enough to hold a shape and texture, paintable with compatible paints, and not outrageously expensive.


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

ahh, well i infered that you could also use them as molds to cast in. Since they would set to the shape of whatever you made you could then say pour plaster of paris in it and let it set up. giving you a pourable mold of whatever you formed the styrene to. .. just kinda running with the thought..


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## Grey Legion (Apr 11, 2005)

So after reading this entire string of posts, I have only one question.

If you used play doh, shaped it into a rock shape and covered it with cement, would you simply not have a rock?, one you could go outside and find?

Instead of all the fumes, chemicals, and being locked in my basement for hour after hour, i just get some real rocks.. :lol:


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## I3lazd (Dec 29, 2008)

your real funny did you read the whole post cause im not sure you did, people evolved this thread into rocks but my idea is to use it for a DIY background which collecting rocks and cementing wouldn't do the job I want. I feel I could make a "sheet" of playdoh like 4" thick then carve out rocks,cave,crevices, etc. then let it sit out and dry then cement. You see this thread is not stupid you just need to actually read :thumb: . We are not idiots on here re-read the thread legion.


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## Rivermud (Nov 22, 2004)

To answer the original question though....

Yes you could feasibly use playdough. The home-made kind is not what you'd call toxic but you would want to try to prevent it from leaching out just for good measure. You could also use the playdough as a form to set the polystyrene with. You might even be able to use the polystyrene as a mold at that time to pour concrete or plaster into that you could then seal or paint as you chose depending on what you used and what you want. Sealing the playdough might end up more expensive that a traditional style of diy background.


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## Grey Legion (Apr 11, 2005)

I3lazd said:


> your real funny did you read the whole post cause im not sure you did, people evolved this thread into rocks but my idea is to use it for a DIY background which collecting rocks and cementing wouldn't do the job I want. I feel I could make a "sheet" of playdoh like 4" thick then carve out rocks,cave,crevices, etc. then let it sit out and dry then cement. You see this thread is not stupid you just need to actually read :thumb: . We are not idiots on here re-read the thread legion.


Geez, easy there tiger..

Of course I read the entire thread my comments were based on the 'rock" aspect not the background, never called anyone stupid or idiots those are your words not mine. My points are very valid and my only question was why make a rock when you can simply grab one. I am sure you see the humour and logic in that..

I understand your idea completely. Please be sure in future to read replies completely before lashing out at people..


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