WIP 5 gal desk viv Urban Decay - Orchid Board

penguinfarmer · #1 10-29-2011, 03:05 PM

A little something different with a viv than your natural biotope. Went for a post-apocalyptic dystopian concept with nature overtaking the decrepid. I initially cleared out my old dartfrog 29 gal with intentions of doing something like this large scale, but I decided to practice a bit on a 5gal desktop viv first.

It's still a work in progress, but I'm happy to announce I am ready to start planting. I just want to have it running a bit so I can gauge temperature and settings. As of now, temps look to be around 84 degrees with a sub CF fixture. I order a Coralife T5 nano fixture with 2 CFs so will have to do tests with that.

The build coming soon.

penguinfarmer · #2 10-29-2011, 03:05 PM

Help me plant it in this thread as I try to decide what to fill it with in here:Mini mini orchid suggestions
I have some sellaginellas and tiny tillandsias that will work, just need the orchids!!

fishmommy · #3 10-29-2011, 03:07 PM

OMG that is AMAZING!!!!!
you are truly talented!

what are the conditions in terms of temp, temp variation (day/nite/season) and humidity? That will help to determine what will bloom in there successfully.

penguinfarmer · #4 10-29-2011, 03:23 PM

Here, is one of the old billboards you would see in a neglected station. I struck gold and found a really old cosmo mag during spring cleaning. There were numerous layers of hilarious old-school tampon and sex psychics ads, but alas you never see them. I used small sheet of styrene as the back which won't deflect in moisture like other plastics, and just had fun gluing magazines on top of magazines, then taking a blade and some sandpaper to it to strip layer upon layer. I coated it with Allchem's Virtus clear coat to keep it from further fading and weathering beyond recognition. I've used this on items submerged in water and boat repair before and it’s mollsucicide-free. Even the little strips of paper are now as hard as plastic so it should stay put for some time. Frame is just some styrene scale channels airbrushed with alclad II chrome lacquer, and then carved and painted with rust.

Simple false bottom to create the platform and hide the pump. It’s a small Sunterra 2”x2”x2” 30 gph pump.

Back of tile wall. Normally I would just silicone it straight to the glass, but I needed access to the back to weave clear fishing line between the groutlines of the tile to hold the creeping fig.

The actual platform. I used concrete, with some extra sand to give it a rougher texture, as you would in real life with the formwork and plastic mesh replacing rebar. Only did half so the other side can secretly hide the dirt for planting. I neutralized the concrete slab for about a weak to limit the limestone runoff. I drilled small holes so I can fit just a minute amount of soil and riccia in between making it look like grass in between cracks.

The yellow caution platform is just some weathercoated balsa with tacky glue dots to simulate the bolts. Painted yellow then cleared.

penguinfarmer · #5 10-29-2011, 03:27 PM

I'll get back with the temperature readings when I get the Coralife fixture to test it out. It has two CFs, but it is on a stand with two fans running underneath so it may actually be cooler than what I'm reading from now.

Somethings not shown are behind the tilewall are slabs of scrap tree fern/epiweb. So if the hole is only 1 or 2inches, everything can grow as large as it wants behind. On the platform if you can see, it is actually an L where the left side will hold some terrestrials. Some styrene dividers are siliconed on the bottom to prevent the water from oversaturating the clay and sediment.

The other half of the build pictures is loading as we speak.

My inspiration (Tokyo Gensu project):

Being from NY, I went with the subway theme. Searched all over Home Depot and Lowes for a plain white mosaic tile that I can alter and play with, but found this single 12x12 tile that resembled some of the tile mosaics in various stations.
First attempt, I went overboard with the weathering and graffiti layers. Naturally, I would just spray paint these with a needle tip cap, but with it holding live plants, I was worried about how enamels could potentially harm the plants. So, I dusted off the old iwata and airbrushed some stuff with thinned water based paints. All that work and didn't use that half.

Either way, it was some decent practice and decided to use the other half of the tile and simplify it with just some rendered hard water stains with some tags here and there, and let the plants add that extra dimension. Then had some fun with a chisel and hammer, breaking and cracking one tile at a time.

Here is the subway sign which is nothing more than some painted styrene using vinyl lettering stencils. Ft. Hamilton was the stop I got off to get home as a kid, though the station looks nothing like this.

A lot of rusted objects, but no rust in itself. It would have been easier to just soak metals in a water, vinegar and bleach mixture to let it speed-rust naturally in a few days, but again, I was worried about potential water run off with iron ore possibly affecting the plants and pump. So everything here was plastic painted and applied with a neutral base and powdered copper pigment to add the actual texture of rust instead of just the color.

Paul Mc · #6 10-29-2011, 06:19 PM

OMG! This is AMAZING!!!!!

fishmommy · #7 10-29-2011, 06:33 PM

if you put some creeping fig in there it will vine all over your background and could look pretty cool

Daethen · #8 10-29-2011, 06:38 PM

I love it and can not wait to see it finished.

Paul · #9 10-29-2011, 08:42 PM

Very cool, Pf! But if I may make a criticism/suggestion? The lettering on the sign is too "new". Having at least some of the letters 'chipped', and/or parts of some letters missing (perhaps even a whole letter) would lend itself to the air of old age and disrepair. Perhaps a touch more graffiti on the wall as well.....

penguinfarmer · #10 10-29-2011, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishmommy

if you put some creeping fig in there it will vine all over your background and could look pretty cool

Yes I have some oak leaf creeping fig. The main reason I didn't silicone the wall was so I can weave clear fish wire through the grout lines to hold it in place.

As of now, I have creeping fig for the background
selaginella unicrata to appear as a "bush"
various mosses and tillandsias

left plenty of room for orchids as I search for the right ones.

Even with two fans going and 1" vent in the rear, the humidity is around 80% thanks to the water feature. That should be knocked up a bit during misting.

I'm debating whether I would like an aquatic in the foreground. Something thin to simulate reeds?

Paul, I'm open to all criticisms. I know exactly what you mean on the sign. I carved the edge to simulate that chipped effect where you see the metal under layer you see in real signs. I can do a tad more chips around and in between letters, but for the most part I want to preserve the integrity of the letters for sentimental reasons. I want to see Ft. Hamilton when I work.

I debated whether I wanted to use the older serif fonts, but decided on the MTA Akidenz since it pops more from the older background than the blue and beige tile mosaic lettering.

For the graffiti, I do want to add another piece as well. A fuller piece [what we call throwups in the graffiti world, yes I was a vandal]. Where do you think it would be best? I'm leaning toward the right side since the left hole in the wall will be the featured orchid. Also, the color of the piece should coincide with the orchid bloom itself.

For the pieces not installed yet are debris pieces. I have a small scale rubber tire I either want to use as a planter or stick in the water.
-More rocks and "sticks" from broken tree fern.
-Cut up Metrocards that look like all the cards ppl drop
-Caution tape and paper litter
-Last but not least, I'm looking for a scale rifle. One that sorta tells a story of how the apocalypse has come about whether it be zombie takeover of anarchist war.

EDIT.. one more suggestion my friends have given me. RATS. big NYC man-eating rats. I gotta sculpt several of these.

O yeah, more pics coming soon and of course, the 29gallon version..