How to build a castle 101 (24 pics)

O

OhMyGecko

Guest
Finally! Katelyn and I have our Castle for Nessie done airing and we went ahead and put the Castle in her tank.

With out further adue I give you "el castillo de las estrellas ,which means "The Castle Of The Stars"!

How to build a castle 101-

You will need Polystyrene aka styrafoam that you can find at home depot or lowes and liquid nails cawking to glue the pieces together. We first drew up our floor to fit the tank and then cut out 2 pieces of it (one for floor and one for the ceiling and then added 4 inch high walls. We made two openings, one for the stairs leading to the ceiling for a great view point when hunting and the other to her hide. We also cut pieces to fit the edges of the ceiling for the Merlins to fit on top.

Bare construction with Liquid nails. (go nuts with the liquid nails, you can't use to much).

101_1268.jpg


101_1272.jpg


101_1275.jpg


101_1277.jpg


We let the Liquid nails dry for a few hours before starting the grouting process. We used a non-sanded Bright White grout ( you can use any color or add acrylic paint to get the color desired.) We first started off with a very watery grout mixture to get into all the small crevises. We applied 3 coats of a watery grout.

101_1280.jpg


101_1281.jpg


We then added 2 coats of thick grout to fill up any big gaps and to get rid of connecting lines from the styrofoam. At this point you can start added texture and layering really thick grout to areas you want for added looks.

There I am.

101_1284.jpg


Once you have all the coats of grout on and the desired look, go ahead and let it dry for a good 24 hours. Here is the castle with all it's coats drying.We coated ALL SIDES including the bottom. The bottom you have to do last so you can put it on its side to dry.

101_1287.jpg


101_1289.jpg


101_1291.jpg


101_1297.jpg


Once the grout was dry we made a nice pink color and LIGHTLY brushed the sides of the castle to get the paint to stick only to the parts that are sticking up. To do this, you have to have barely any paint on your brush. wipe practically all of the paint off the brush. It ended up giving a nice pink look to the castle.We then decided to put some nice little accents like stars and little emeralds. I'm sure you can figure who's idea the colors and accents were. :p
( We used Mod Podge to glue the accents)
101_1299.jpg


Katelyn putting her skillz to work:

101_1300.jpg


This is with everything MINUS THE MOD PODGE SEALER.

101_1302.jpg


We let it sit over night before starting the sealant coats. We used watered down mod podge in a spray bottle. It works great. We put about 5 coats of sealer all around. We waited about 30 minutes to an hour between coats. This part should only take you a few hours or a day to do. On the 3rd coat we added some glitter to give it a sparkly look when the light catches it.We then let it air dry for 5 days.

101_1303.jpg


101_1304.jpg


101_1305.jpg


101_1306.jpg



101_1307.jpg


101_1309.jpg


Here are the final results!!! In the new tank!


El Castillo De Las Estrellas

101_1338.jpg


101_1342.jpg


101_1341.jpg


101_1336.jpg


There ya have it!!! Thank you for looking!

Anthony & Katelyn -
 
O

OhMyGecko

Guest
building it took about 3 days and then we let it air dry for 5 days, so a week and a day until it could go into the tank.
 
O

OhMyGecko

Guest
Thanks! Um, maybe 2lbs. suprisingly light once it all dries all the way through.
 
F

fayefaye5

Guest
wow thats awesome !!!!

funky idea, i love the gems and jewels
 
O

OhMyGecko

Guest
Thanks! Nessie is enjoying it. Right when I was in the middle of doing the post, Katelyn spotted Nessie at the very top of the castle and now she has been hanging out in it all night and day so far. Temperatures are finally getting stable in it. That's the only problem so far, it takes awhile for it to get nice and toasty in it.
 
L

leonewbie

Guest
Thats so CUTE! looks like something i would put in one of my tanks :)
 
L

Lene

Guest
Thats a Sweet looking Castle! Your leos are so spoiled....thanks for sharing!!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Chibii

A Bright Reptile
Messages
266
Location
Holland
Sweet looking, i have seen a lot new home made hides and you people bring me to new ides to work out C:
 

Visit our friends

Top