Hi , I’m making my first stream that will run into a bay. I bought a pack of artificial water today at the craft store becasue they had a 50% off coupon. I’ll go back tonight and get another because I don’t think 13.5 ounce will do. Anyway what color do you suggest to paint the stream bottom and then feather up the sides. I know I’ve read in MRR where people paint them almost black, but that seems to be when using thick amounts of artificial water. I can’t afford that much water at this time. Also this is for a kids Thomas ho set, so maybe it should be more bluish? Open to your suggestions, and tips when using environtex type water. Thanks, Dave
It really depends on a lot of things.
A fast moving mountain stream might be darn near clear, whereas a slow moving shallow creek might be more green. A deep creek might be more blackish, and a fast moving stream might be picking up a lot of sediment, so it might be a muddy brown. Also, is this spring, summer, fall or winter? Lets take for example a generic small creek for study purposes. An early spring creek has a lot of snow melt in it, so it’s probably pretty clear for the most part. A late spring creek has a more muddy appearence if it’s fast moving (from spring rains), a more bright green if it’s slow (from new plant growth). In the summer time it’s more of a dark green (older plants) and in the fall it’s more blackish (dying plants and grayer skies overhead). It stays that way all winter until the cycle repeats. And thats just one kind of creek.
I know, that didn’t help a bit, did it?
OK, a good rule of thumb for a summer stream is a dark, dark green in the middle and more and more muddy towards the edges. Throw some rocks in and you’re in business. The darker you make the center, the deeper it’ll look. And remember, fresh water is rarely blue. Salt water, yes, fresh water, not so much.
Depends on how deep of water you are trying to replicate.
Here (yes it’s a tad too blue), I used Delta Creamcoat craft paints, Prussian Blue and Territorial Beige. Mixing in some Charcoal or Black with the Prussian Blue would have been better. I added the shine and waves with Acrylic Gloss Medium.
Here, because I wanted to simulate shallow water, I prepared the creek bed with talus and course ballast. Then, I covered it with a clear sealent called Lexel.
Here, I used the same talus and ballast bottom, but used Enviro-Tex for the water. I added the ripples with Acrylic Gloss Medium after the epoxy had set.
One word about Enviro-tex. Make absolutly sure that the water course is completely watertight. Enviro-tex will find the smallest pin hole and leak out.
Nick
My creek bed is made of plaster cloth over ply and foam. How / with what do you seal it ? Thanks, Dave
Paint, gloss medium, varnish, etc. If your plaster is sound, then the paint should seal it enough to keep the envirotex in. If the water runs to the edge of the layout you have a larger problem. I used waxed paper backed up by 1" foam tightly screwed to the fascia through plywood blocks. The foam conforms to small surface irregularities and the waxed paper helps to seal (and keep the envirotex from sticking to the dam.)
Good luck,
Karl
I haven’t actually done this, so wait to see if the old timers contradict it before you proceed.
From the reading I’ve done, the basic rule seems to be “do it like nature does”. Paint the creek bottom the colors you would expect, if the water were suddenly removed from a real creek. Then tint the still liquid “water” a combination of the real water’s tint, and the effect from sky reflection.
Obviously, there are a lot of variables here. Your water may not be deep enough to match the real thing, so the tinting my have to be more intense to make up the difference. Also, shallower water will not affect the bottom colors as much, so those may need to be less intense to compensate.
Since these epoxies tend to be a pain to remove, dried or still liquid, we plan to experiment heavily before committing to actual pours on the layout. A one foot by one foot scrap of two inch foam should be large enough to "construct two or three “creeks to nowhere”. Plaster cloth, goop, mud, sand and rocks, then paint to prepare, then pours of actual envirotex followed by gloss medium, finally finished “whitecaps” is the plan. We will keep detailed notes on the exact paint mixing and “water” tinting through two or three attempts, one after another to use the lessons learned from each, before deciding on the process to be used on the layout.
I have some experimental techniques in mind for rapids and waterfalls, and will detail them after I see how they work in actual practice.