Hi everybody!

Frequent followers of PineappleTea towers and our swimsuit based antics will be aware that we haven't posted much in the last year. You may also know about our recent quest for a gungetank (see here: https://umd.net/forums/a-stealthy-gunge-tank-made-from-scaffold). This thread will hopefully address both these points, and maybe give you some ideas along the way? Maybe.

First off, a little heresy - basically gungetanks *suck* (Fight me. Come on, fight me)... well ok they are amazing to sample now and again but pretty crap to own as a small time hobbyist. The reason being is that aside from changing sitting/kneeling positions, maybe the colour of the slime, there really isn't that much you can do with them and no matter how you design it they usually take up a *huge* amount of space.

So sadly the "Slop Drop II" went in a skip last year, as well as most of our messy props (slime itself went over Tea) while we worked on the new space which was to become our new studio...

While we have a bunch more space now it's still limited (about 2.5m x 2.5m including some camera space) so we were looking for something compact yet spacey, adaptable, quick to setup and with a bunch of improvements from our previous adventures. Basically:

to tall walled pools. for nuru massage mat
Some yoga/exercise foam mat thingies to save our dear sweet knees
Lights! Decent lights! 3 of them (left, right, above)
Photography backdrops/holders to prevent splashing our lovely walls
Screw it, lets buy a new camera while we're at it
Quick to put up and pull down, easy to hide

And finally, maybe... mayyyybe... instead of the gungetank, maybe an open "conceptual" gunge tank off to the side *behind* the backdrop with a pipe that leads over the area. This will allow us to gunge someone with gusto but will also mean they're not trapped in an unwiedly constructon that's difficult to access. This would also mean that we could get some really tall shelves that hold the gunge but are stealthy and don't need to be built/taken down whenever we get messy.

So, with that in mind, a plan was hatched (some concept drawings and how it all turned out are below). Eagle eyed watchers will see a big ol' plastic pipe leading above the action. This is one long pipe, a 60 degree bend, and a cap which can be attached on the other end of a plastic tank.

This then goes onto the massive shelves with a sneaky attachable holder which means we can put the box away and anyone vanilla who has a look at our shelves is none the wiser.

We've just gone and tested the tank (probably with maybe under a 1/3 of what the max the setup should be able to hold) and results were... pretty good I have to say. Check our profile if you want to see more on that one...

On the sordid topic of coin, the setup (minus camera and shelves) cost the following:

Massage mat £40
Pipes £40 (though may increase if we activate MAXIMUM POWER)
Yoga mat thingy £40
Lights £40
Backdrops £30
Backdrop holders £70
Box £10 (But again may increase, maximum power etc etc)

Making a grand total of around £270. About the cost of a 2 hour train ride really...

So there you have it. Conceptual gungetank. New studio. Try it yourself.

Steve here (Tara's bloke)

Yes, gungetanks are pretty much... same old same old. Fine if you have the room, but otherwise they 'can' take up a lot of space for pretty much the same result every time.

I have built some in box section aluminium that pack flat under a bed in a couple of minutes. But the biggest pain to hide is the gunge tank itself.

Your plastic box is the usual solution. If you get a decent quality, heavy duty storage box, you can 'warm' the base panel with a blowtorch (keep it moving) and depress the base into a slight cone shape. This helps it drain all the gunge.

Our gungetank is now built into our shower. Nobody knows it's there.
Thick baked beans and goo... leave the plug in the shower and empty it down the loo.
Thinner, water soluble goo (porridge etc) just goes down the shower drain.

It's never blocked yet in many years.

I think I mentioned it before. It is a tank in our loft (we have a ladder, so access is easy).
The tank has an electric valve and the exit is disguised a 4" extractor fan (which works!).
I made a fibreglass tank.

People have asked for a build guide. I must do that at some point.

A full aluminium framed. collapsible (wing nut assembly) gunge tank is totally possible if that is what you want and for a reasonable cost.
The money comes in for the polycarbonate side panels. But you can just use polythene.

Have fun with your setup!

Edit... attached is a quick sketch of our shower setup. I'll take some pics when I get a moment.

Wow! This actually really cool! Ah I think you raise a good point about how limited and cumbersome a Gunge Tank can be. Your photos indicate this a very cool innovation.

Holy shit.... a loft is a really good idea. We went for a really tall set of shelves with a box on top but that's a way better evolution. Now if only we had a loft to do it...

Just think of the volumes...



That is also a really good idea... may have to try that with a heat gun


Hopefully our first proper "gameshow" type use of it will have it looking bananas.

Interesting topic - I think a lot of us tend to imprint on something when we're young, which then becomes the definitive thing in our mind. E.g. look at how many videos involve the phrase "I don't know"; since I never saw the original TV program, that means nothing to me, but I realise that other people like it. In my case, I really like gunge tanks, but I can acknowledge that I'm viewing them through nostalgia goggles, so it's worth thinking outside the box (or tank).


Out of interest, how do you fill it? E.g. do you carry full buckets up the ladder, or do you mix it directly in the tank (using the showerhead)?

This sounds amazing. Please show us pictures!

Tara here. Both. There is a mixer tap in the airing cupboard that leads to the loft tank.
We adjusted that when first installed to be warm water (actually kinda hot) and then I can use it o mix directly in the tank (porridge etc).

But, if it's baked beans or something, then I just take a bucket or 3 up the ladder.
It's a proper 'Pull down' ladder, so it's pretty easy, and the tank is just to the right of the hatch, so I don't even need to get off the ladder to fill it.

Husband is a build wizard, so these things are easy to use.

Only tiny issue might be if a plumber went up there and wondered why there was a tank But, seeing as we are not supposed to have a water tank, why would anyone ever go look.

Anyway..... my house and all that

Tara xx

Wow! that sounds like a DIY masterpiece,puts the rest of us to shame. I've still got tiling to finish in the bathroom let alone a built in gunge tank.

I'll get Steve to start a new thread on this, I feel we are hijacking pineappletea's thread here

Tara xx