Ruins

numbat1000

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Messages
98
Does anyone know how this ruins enclosure was made? I found this picture online, I'd love to make something like it.
 

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xTimx

Arachnoknight
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
187
you can easily just make these out of pink foam board. i'm guessing he used little chunks and shaped them. then just apply some acrylic paint to them with an acrylic sealer. tedious if you ask me but could be fun :)
 

numbat1000

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Messages
98
Thanks! Yes, it is quite tedious, but worth it, I feel. However, would acrylic paint be harmful to the live inhabitants of the tank?
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,044
Thanks! Yes, it is quite tedious, but worth it, I feel. However, would acrylic paint be harmful to the live inhabitants of the tank?
It's a little labor intensive but can be worth the effort. The trick as I saw it done was taking a large slab of foam board of the right thickness. That's the hard one. A half inch thick may be very hard to find. The one I saw was 2 foot by 4 foot. He then took a razor knife and straight edge and cranks out several hundred blocks in about 15 minutes. Wasn't too careful getting straight lines which added to the character as in that picture. Then some rough sandpaper and each block gets neatened a bit and 'aged'. Last, spray painting from a distance, being a bit sloppy again. First black to give contrast to deformities then a brick color in the case of the one I saw.
All in all, he ended up with about 400 'bricks' in the space of an hour.

If you're shy of toxins in acrylic paints you could always dip the blocks in a thinned water based latex house paint. Very low toxicity.
 

numbat1000

Arachnosquire
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Messages
98
Thanks all, this really helps. Hopefully I will have time to make something soon. This could look really cool with a scolopendra or tarantula crawling around it. XD
 
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