# Tree Trunk Construction Journal



## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

Hello everybody.  Since christmas is coming soon, I told my mom I wanted a tank! lol. Of course she said, "You can't have anymore." I'm slowly getting her to change her mind so I can start on my next project. I'm hoping to get a pretty nice sized tank, preferably a 65 gallon, 29 gallon, or a hex of some sort. Anyway, the next frog that I'm aiming to get are some _D. reticulatus_. Now, keeping in mind that these thumbails are terrestrial and semi-arboreal, I'm going to go for a forest floor look. As of now, I'm trying to "somewhat" create a tree stump with roots. So far this is my progress:

This is the "skeleton" of the trunk - basically just trying to get down an overall shape that I would like to create. Styrofoam is 3/4" and stuck together with hot glue. It becomes pretty darn sturdy after drying.









Next, is the applying of the good stuff. The GS is still expanding and drying. I will have to wait until after work tomorrow to begin carving the crevices, boles, etc. and smoothing the surface.









** I really don't know how this will actually turn out - I figured I would give it a try just to see what happens. Experimenting won't kill a man if it's for a good reason. The measurements as of now are 13"x13"x15"H. More updates to come soon...


----------



## Josh_Leisenring (Jun 19, 2005)

Hmmm... looks good so far; I'll hafta keep an eye on this to see how it comes out 

- Josh


----------



## Fish_lover0591 (Dec 16, 2006)

I think this will come out great keep us posted i might use your idea when i set up my 55 gallon


----------



## RGB (Jan 15, 2006)

Very cool, i've been wanting to do this for quite a while but don't have a viv large enough for it to be practical. Keep us updated on your progress.


----------



## Frank H (Nov 3, 2005)

Im working on something similar. Im stumped on what to coat this with. I used black silicone and some bark, but it doesnt look like I planned. What do you plan to cover the GS with?

The shape looks awesome so far, Great job!


----------



## pigface (Apr 28, 2006)

How about , Sand it down to a shape you like then use the flevopol method with some ground up bark and peat and then put some bark like texture in it with a wire brush or knife and put some moss on it before its completly dry ?


----------



## OneTwentySix (Nov 11, 2004)

You know, that looks really nice, I'd definately like to try it some time. I wonder, though, if it might work better if you used baked bark taken from fallen trees, firewood, etc, and placed it into the the hardening great stuff; that'd be pretty simple and would probably look really nice, though I don't know how it'd hold up to water. Alternately, you could cover it in silicon perhaps and instead of putting coc-fiber, etc, on, you could put the bark pieces.


----------



## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

I'm going to look into some different materials and textures to cover it. As of now, I carved out the final body.


----------



## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Looks good so far keep us updated.


----------



## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

I like it, I like it! :wink:


----------



## sweety (Oct 10, 2006)

looks great. i will try something like that after the holidays.


----------



## Frogtofall (Feb 16, 2006)

Me likey, me likey!


----------



## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

Check out Brent Brocks site, he made an amazing fake buttress that came out great.


----------



## costaricalvr12 (Oct 5, 2006)

Looks great! I now know what I will do in my next viv... 

Maybe you can get something out of this:
http://www.bbrock.frognet.org/Making%20 ... 0vines.pdf


----------



## costaricalvr12 (Oct 5, 2006)

You can also check this, it is the thread, it has a couple picks of it in use:
http://www.dendroboard.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 302#174302


----------



## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

Ran into a little problem... My mom threw the stump away thinking it was just a glob of goo.


----------



## sbreland (May 4, 2006)

parents.... :roll:


----------



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

I feel your pain. Thats pretty close to how I lost a centerpiece of manzanita I was intending on using!

One the wood texture, it will be interesting to see what you figure out. I'd personally make the thing either really big so nearly divide the tank or just about 1/4 of the trunk and incorporated into the background.


----------



## joeyo90 (Nov 5, 2006)

ouch...


----------



## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

That's just tooooo sad! I'm sorry dude, truly I'm sorry!

Why do women always have to feel they have to go around and clean things up all the time. My mom did it to me when I lived at home, my wife does it to me now! I'm a neat freak, too. It's not like I go around throwing stuff here and there. I lay one simple thing down, poopsie there to move it or throw it away. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Come on, really ...... a glob of goo! CLEARLY is was a work of ART! I hope you show this thread to your mom and she reads about the master piece she managed to trash!

Well, back to the drawing board as they say!

Seriously, I urge you start over and redo it. You were onto something REAL great.

All the Best!


----------



## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

WOMEN?????

My husband does it all the time for me.... I have yet to do it to him, so don't pin it all on us :roll: :lol:


----------



## schegini14 (May 17, 2006)

tyler said:


> Ran into a little problem... My mom threw the stump away thinking it was just a glob of goo.



Its time to move out... :x


----------



## Josh_Leisenring (Jun 19, 2005)

Aw, geez... that GS ain't cheap, either... :roll:


----------



## Nuggular (Apr 8, 2005)

Holy Crap!!! What a [email protected]#$*&!!! That totally sucks man. Looks like you need to make your mom more aware of what you are working on. She just threw away a great start to a great piece of art. I wanted to see it finished. Darn the luck!!!! :evil:


----------



## titan501x (Dec 7, 2006)

tyler said:


> Hello everybody.  Since christmas is coming soon, I told my mom I wanted a tank! lol. Of course she said, "You can't have anymore." I'm slowly getting her to change her mind so I can start on my next project. I'm hoping to get a pretty nice sized tank, preferably a 65 gallon, 29 gallon, or a hex of some sort. Anyway, the next frog that I'm aiming to get are some _D. reticulatus_. Now, keeping in mind that these thumbails are terrestrial and semi-arboreal, I'm going to go for a forest floor look. As of now, I'm trying to "somewhat" create a tree stump with roots. So far this is my progress:
> 
> This is the "skeleton" of the trunk - basically just trying to get down an overall shape that I would like to create. Styrofoam is 3/4" and stuck together with hot glue. It becomes pretty darn sturdy after drying.
> 
> ...


How much did it cost to get as far as you did?


----------



## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

About $17 which includes the GS, Silicone, and Styrofoam. I never got a chance to put silicone down though.


----------



## titan501x (Dec 7, 2006)

wow, thats really not bad.


----------



## Guest (Jan 1, 2007)

Geese, and I was enjoying this thread too. Please try it again. 
I know what you al mean by women throwing stuff away. They'd throw us away if they ever realized they didn't need us.
Ooops, said too much.


----------



## housevibe7 (Sep 24, 2006)

blah blah blah :lol:


----------



## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

AHHHH...that sucks.

Right after I moved out of my parents house (a number of years ago) my mom sold all my old atari cartridges... I still give her crap for that.


----------



## DartMan (Nov 29, 2005)

kyle1745 said:


> _...my mom sold all my old atari cartridges..._


Man did you just date yourself! You must be like 40-something!!!!!

Oh yeh, I had one of those, too .......... and I'm 41.


----------



## tyler (Feb 23, 2006)

I use to love atari with the duckhunting game and the orange remote-gun. But of course, Super Mario on SNES was amazing.


----------



## MartinShaver (Dec 20, 2006)

Atari didnt have the duck hunt or the orange gun, that was the first Nintendo. 

Atari had such classics like Pac-man, Q-Bert, missle command.


----------



## OneTwentySix (Nov 11, 2004)

And Pitfall! too! God, I used to love playing the second Pitfall!, what with it's actual music and stuff. It was the one game my dad used to actually play, and I can still remember watching him beat it. That game was so advanced for its time . . . ignoring the fact that by the time I found it, the NES era was in full swing and it wasn't nearly as impressive as it should have been.

I still even have the manual somewhere. =)


----------

