This weekend I began making practice removable background root systems, very similar to the method posted by Raf on Dendroboards. The only difference is my mixture. I’m using Titebond III Ultimate Wood glue, mixed with very finely ground peat moss.
Here is my very 1st trial attempt. I used electrical wiring at first, but ended up cutting them out since the mixture will not adhere to it. I also unknowingly added the rope before coating it in the mixture. That was a mistake, and it works much better to dip it in a bowl of mixture, then to drape it on top of the main root structure once it has been coated.
Almost finished after 2nd coat...
Here is my 2nd attempt. I will be putting more detail on this one, and have thought out the design a lot better. I cut out a 17x23” piece of exo-terra foam as the backboard. Hopefully it will be easy enough to slide in and out of an enclosure. I used the large black pvc as the main root frame, then used hot glue to attach the remaining ½” waterline piping together.
Also before adding the thin tubing lines, I made sure to roughen the surface. The Titebond slurry was having difficulty sticking to the tubing on my first attempt.
Then I hot glued the lines in place.
1st coating of expanding foam before carving....Once cured, be sure to remove/roughen up the skin. The mixture will adhere 100 times better this way. I also smeared some foam onto the thinner tubing, and made sure to fill the ends of the tubes.
That’s all for now!
Root System Backgrounds
Linear Mode
