The FrankenHood

So it isn't the prettiest, but it is very functional. And I was able to make it out of random scraps around the garage.

The wooden part of the hood was cut out of two 11x1 peices of scrap pine. It really only consists of 6 peices all together. The the front, the top, the two sides, and two short peices to rest it on top of the tank. After lots of measuring and cutting, the assembly was easy. Just predrilled holes and used 1 1/2 inch wood screws into the end grain. Not the best, but it works.

To hide the fact that it is really cheap wood and to keep it from falling apart while being exposed to saltwater 24 hours a day, it was painted. Why be boring and make it black. Home Depot sells some great faux painting supplies. This one is the easiest, just spray and you get an automatic marble speckle effect. What they don't mention on the box, but do inside on the can is that you should pre-paint the whole peice a base color. I didn't. I was impatient. You can see some wood underneath if you look real close. The inside of the hood was painted metallic Silver. Sure it's not a real good reflector, but it looks nice. I then put about 6 coats of Crystal Clear enamel over the whole thing to keep it very water proof.

The white part of the top is actually metal. It was from an old shelf unit that fell to its deathe earlier this year. It was cheap and available which made it a good desperation find. However, it turns out to be a really good idea. It disipates the heat real quickly and makes grounding your lighting system a real breeze. :) It made the construction really quick as well.

The front needs to be upgraded. It is just a peice of fiberboard. it does block light, but is not stiff enough and certainly not pretty enough. I have a peice of 1/4 clear acrylic that will be cut to fit shortly. I think I may reverse paint a pretty picture on it just to make it different. :)