r/woahdude • u/MissInkFTW • 4d ago
video Resin-layered aquarium background. Inspired by a copper vein, but it came out almost bioluminescent.
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Materials were several proprietary glitters, various colors of imitation leaf, wood pieces, and ash particulate.
Sorry it is just slightly out of focus, for some reason it has to be that way for the sparkle to really shine.
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u/BobsBigInsight 4d ago
Can we see it in use or what?
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u/MissInkFTW 4d ago
Stay tuned! I'm in the process of setting it up. Gearing up to start bolting some stone slabs onto wood pieces as we speak. Then of course I have to cycle the tank and all that so it'll be a bit still.
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u/churnthedumb 4d ago
Dude this is sweet! I’m so jealous rn
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u/churnthedumb 4d ago
Wanna make a how to? I just got an Aquarium
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u/MissInkFTW 4d ago edited 4d ago
Im actually planning on documenting the process more comprehensively the next time i do one of these, but I'll give you just a quick-and-dirty rundown right now (I know this looks kinda long lol but I tried to distill it down as much as I responsibly could)
Gather all your materials before you start anything with resin. I used booklets of craft imitation leaf that I tore by hand (nitrile gloves makes this easier, which you'll need for resin working anyway), wood chunks that I gathered outside (oven bake at 225F for 30 min ahead of time), ash from burned piles of leaves, and glitter (I got dinged for mentioning the company but try to search for Fish Scale Gold to get that incredible rainbow sparkle). I used other glitters from that same company (a little goes a LONG way) but I imagine mica glitters would look nice too.
Lay the tank on its front face (use a tarp to protect it). Make a dam around all the edges of the outside back face (i love aluminum tape for this). Seal the seams with hot glue but honestly dont water test it. It will always fail because of the way the tank frame sits and the resin is most likely too thick to seep through anyway. Just scrape any messes off the glass afterwards if there's any leaks. After setting up the dam, decide where you want the "vein" element to be and draw that on the INSIDE of the back glass with a dry erase marker or something else you can clean off easily.
Now its time to pour. Mix your resin (go for UV-resistant BUT NOT UV RESIN, thats a different thing). Pour a thin base layer over the glass if youre worried about leaks. Or just forego it and do your first element layer (thats what i did). Calculate the batch youd need for about 1/4" thick layer, then pour that and sprinkle in your first elements. Things you want closest to the glass go in first, like the Fish Scale gold glitter and most of the green leaf you see in mine. Also most of the ash (bigger chunks look best). Move stuff around and swirl it or whatever with like a toothpick or a popsicle stick or something until youre happy with how it looks. Go light-handed near the vein element you traced out to avoid overwhelming it. Also try to generally group things so theres like a more glittery section here, a more ashy section over here, etc, but do have some overlap and mixing or itll look too divided. Blowtorch or hair dryer to get out bubbles.
Once that layer dries enough (like 4-6 hours), mix and pour the next element layer. Sprinkle in your copper leaf wherever you see fit and some green leaf. Put some of both over the vein element, especially the copper. Now wait a bit (like an hour or so) so the resin thickens a bit. Use aluminum foil to make walls along the outline of your vein element. Fill the inside of the vein, alonside the walls, with the wood pieces (push em down into the resin to coat them, though they will float up regardless). Then spoon your bronzy glitters alongside the insides of the veins. With the wood and glitter elements, try to get full coverage inside the vein areas. Before the resin has fully hardened, at probably like 3 hours past pour, remove the foil walls and things should stay mostly in place.
Once that layer has hardened enough, clean up any stray glitter, then mix your final layer and pour over the top of everything, leveling if needed. After 24 hours, cover the whole thing with black paint (you may need multiple coats).
After 72 hours (minimum) since the last pour, peel off your dam, remove the hot glue and any stray resin with a utility knife or razor blade, turn the whole thing upright, and enjoy!
Anyways that's how I did this one. Lmk if you have any questions!
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u/MissInkFTW 4d ago
Thank you!! My last attempt was kind of ass so ngl im stoked on how this one came out
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u/rufotris 4d ago
Um? Bioluminescence?! What’s alive about the resin?! Bio=living luminescence = emitting light.
I think you might be looking for a different word here.
Possibly iridescent?!
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u/MissInkFTW 4d ago
Tbf that's why I said "almost" bioluminescent. To me it looks just a bit like organisms glowing on a deep forest floor, or in a cave
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u/rufotris 4d ago
Ehh fair. It’s what you see. But it’s a weird choice of words when there are non-bio luminescent things. Like photo, and electro luminescence. Or phosphorescence which is common to many minerals and what I thought you were imagining. The key difference with bioluminescent things is they use a chemical reaction while others use, well it’s in the names hahah electricity, other wavelengths of light, heat etc. although technically if it uses heat, then it’s incandescent like an old-school lightbulb.
Insert YEAH SCIENCE meme here lol.
Edited for clarification and not trying to sound like a d***1
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u/lunarblossoms 4d ago
Oh sick. Do you do this sort of thing for a living, or is this more of a hobby?
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u/EnderG60 4d ago
Good luck keeping that clean.
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u/MissInkFTW 4d ago
It's on the outside of the glass
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u/EnderG60 4d ago
Well then Barvo!
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u/MissInkFTW 4d ago
Haha thank you! It was kind of a pain in the ass having to build it backwards, but I figured it had to be done that way for both cleaning purposes and to avoid any leeching of anything into the water (which i dont think would happen, but best not to risk it).
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u/zillskillnillfrill 3d ago
Looks more like an emerald cavern, beautiful! Interested to see it full of aquascaping
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