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Tom mentioned in a previous post that I was building a chuck display cage. Well, I finally finished the rockwork that will be the background. It's taken an insane number of hours to complete this portion, but I'm happy with the results.

Tomorrow I will start adding the foreground--substrate, boulders, plantings, etc. I can't wait to finally see it come together. Now I have to start thinking about which chucks to put in there.

Best,

Mark

DrSeward.com

Here's a detail photo of some of the rockwork.

Mark

DrSeward.com

From this angle it looks real. Very nice job with the stain-very natural. I can't wait to see the finished produce with lizards included. Definately go with the ater.
an a pair of petrosaurus thalassinus would look awesome in there a long with the chucks. They would make great use of that back wall.

N/P

Where did you learn your techniques. I've got several DVD's from JPJ technologies, as well as Erik Kinkades book on Artificial Rock Waterfalls. I just haven't had the time to apply anything. I love the work in your cage though. It looks great.

How did you apply your rock coloring, or was the whole struction done outside of the cage then positioned in? Looks great!

John Eddington

Hi John,

You can read below the basics of how I applied the color. I just made it up as I went. I'll have to look up those references you mentioned. I'm sure they will help for any future projects. I emailed JPJ Tech a while back for some information about getting their DVD's and never heard back from them, so I never pursued it further. I ended up just making it up on my own. I looked at real rock faces to see how minerals in the rock leach out and oxidize, staining the rock face. Then I tried to duplicate what I saw.

Mark

Hopefully it is not down for good, but it gives you the source. This guy has incredible work, and uses a very interesting technique for the structure or armiture of the rock, and his textures ideas are very interesting.

http://www.calyx.com.au/fake_rocks.html

His keithtutor.com site is currently down though...

This site is very good too...

http://www.rockandwater.com/

I have not got the new edition to his book, but have read the first book.

Honestly I have learned the most from JPJ mail-order DVD's. they put me to sleep a lot of times, but he covered everything I wanted to know and more. His rocks look fabulous. The price is pretty steep, but I do think it was worth it considering the number of DVDs and information covered. I feel like after watching these, I would be wasting my time attending any hands on sessions. The materials are too inexpensive to waste money on seminars, really.

I would try them again. JPJ sent me fliers about every month, and the finally offered the DVD's and manual for just under $400. That got me off the fence, so to speak.

Your rocks look very nice, but if you should ever want to dig in deeper and see what else is outt there, look into those sources.

John E.

Nice work!! Is this something that anyone could do or did you have it done for you? What is it made of?

Anyone could do it (it probably helps to be a tad insane, though). I just started with the idea of what I wanted and made it up as I went along.

I cast sections of the rockwork in a mix of portland cement and sand with some fiberglass fibers added. After assembling the sections on the back wall of the cage, I stained it with acrylic concrete stains (four different colors) in an attempt to make it look like granite. Most of the stain was applied using a toothbrush. I flicked tiny droplets of stain on small areas at a time with the toothbrush, blotted it and continued the process building up the various colors in alternating layers. This technique did a good job of duplicating the look of granite and creating the appearance of depth in the finish. I also used natural sponges, small artist brushes and an air brush.

The staining alone took about five days straight, so my technique is not something to be attempted by the faint of heart. The cage is large enough to stand up in with a footprint of about 9 X 4 feet. So, a project on a smaller scale could be accomplished in a much more reasonable period of time.

Awesome job! Please post some pictures when you have the project cocplete so that we can see how it looks with the animals. Did you have any luck with breeding your chucks?

Thanks.

I haven't produced any yet, but I plan to this next season. I have a couple of adults that should go.

Mark

OR thats some BIG TIME ROCKS ! Hahhaha just wonderful, SUPERB job, looks so natural, the chucks will love it, I love it, anymore room in there for me? LOL

GREAT JOB !
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