Well lets start by saying that I did these a little different from the ones everyone seems to like in pictures that I've posted of my LGs cliff homes.
This time I started with a container for a moist hide/egg laying box.
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I sprayed a loose circle around the container, let it set up a bit then sprayed another one on top of that, kind of stepping them in and up the container. Don't use plastic wrap/bags under the container. Great Stuff foam doesn't seem to set up as well on it. I peeled plastic off two days later and inside was still sloppy, I slide a piece of glass under the container, and started to cut the top, which was dry. The bottom center(which ended up under the container) is still setting up.
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A kind of nice thing did happen because of the plastic to glass switch over. There was almost a natural cave when I cut into the bottom to make a ledge type hide which will lead into the moist hide.
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Just to give you a comparison and idea of size of this.
When cutting the stone effect I'm just refining the "steps" some what. I shave/peel the shiny skin off areas that I want to keep that kind of rounded look. I cut some deep grooves like what would happen if water ran over the area, I do this in a couple areas, usually where I had funny shapes in foam... areas that don't work as other rock formations. I didn't put any real stone ledges in this one just because its small in size compared to the other ones. It is going to have a real stone/tile top.(norton box just to give you an idea of what I mean)
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This is removable, so is the lid of the container, that bit was a little tricky to do.
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I outlined the top of the lid, trying not to put too much on, cut any that stuck to the base piece, and worked a low spot in the wall to allow entry to the well.
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I'm not sure if this is going to be the final shape for this but we'll see how I like it in another few days.
If this ends up being my final choice of shape then, once the bottom spot hardens I'll take it off the glass, then grout it and voila finished. I've condensed the amount of time spent Carving on this one, as it sits probably 2 or 3 hours just carving it, I'll also spend about that long grouting it as I'm going to cover everything that's foam, the inside floor of the well will be covered with silicone and small pebbles or something similar.
Well I hope this helped explain how I did this as best as I can. I'll post some pictures as I grout it, or make any real changes, and of course the finished hide.


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first is obviously incomplete, while the other is finished, and both cliffs finished in tank (4ft x 1.5 ft x 2ft) 

I did do a couple minor changes to it, but the basic shape and size is still the same. I decided not to make the entry in the side but thru the top. I decided to change the location after using a box with it in the side and the little diggers kicking the filling out all over the place. I still don't have a nice piece of stone for the top, but I'm still looking...



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