Post #565856 by Slacks Ferret on Sat, Nov 20, 2010 9:04 AM

Thanks again for the comps.

Tikiyaki: I love that swinging moai saloon door, but I think I want something that blocks more of the ugly storage hallway(which, eventually, will be mostly behind curtains)...plus, those doors look like they would need to be carved by someone with more talent than I.

Wayfarer: I had to look up what you were talking about...my knowledge of nautical terminology is about as good as you can expect from a Prairie Boy.

TorchGuy: The lava rock is pretty easy to do. I asked a friend, who used to help fabricate movies sets, what she would do. She asked if I was gonna do it with water, and I said no, so she suggested this method:

First- hot glue styrofoam to the wall. Cut away any styrofoam that doesn't look like lava rock, and then, if you desire, you can add Spray Insulation foam from a can (Like "Great Stuff").

I then covered everything with about 3 coats of white glue (Elmer's school glue) over top. After that, you add a nice 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch layer of Drywall Putty/Compound/Paste (it makes sense to add a bunch of black pigment to the putty before you use it).

Let that dry a bit (but not too much) and then use the bristle edge of an old broom to add tiny holes allover the "rock". I then randomly added some bigger holes and painted the whole thing black with acrylic or latex paint.

If you try this, I'd love to see photos. And keep in mind, this isn't the waterproof method for constructing water features.

Right now I'm using a VERY similar method for finishing off the palm tree trunk. I guess you could say I like using this method. I'll post some progress photos of that real soon.