Hi All,
I am at the point of putting the water in my river. Need advice.
Can you tint or color envirotex? What would you use? Also can you pour envirotex in thin multiple layers?
Has anyone used Woodland Scenics realistic water? How did that work? I heard it will give a concave surface. Any one experience this?
Are there any advantages of one over the other?
Can WS water effects be used with envirotex?
Thanks
Bob
W.L.W.R.R.
I have tinted Envirotex Light with acrylic paint and Testors enamel. I only takes a drop to make a big change.
I was not happy with the effect I was getting by painting the base and adding clear Envirotex Light so I added some blue to give it some color. I still did not like it so I figured that I could always change it later and added a couple of drops of black acrylic to the Envirotex that was already poured before it had a chance to set. I added it to the center of the pond and swirled the black mixture around creating the illusion of depth and taking away the fake blue look. It still dried hard as nails and I can’t see any bad effects from it.
I have used Realistic Water and although it looks good it never seems to dry as hard as Envirotex light. I will not use Realistic Water again.
Joe
Yes, you can tint Envirotex. I use a drop or two of cheap acrylic craft paint per ounce of mixed Envirotex. That leaves the “water” colored a bit, but still pretty clear. It will harden just fine. I’ve also mixed in considerably more paint, to the point where it was opaque. At this point, though, it looked more like green glass than water.
You should use multiple thin pours. I like about an eighth of an inch per pour. If you pour it too deep, Envirotex will cure with bubbles embedded in the “water.” Unless your are modelling a hot spring or waterfall, this will not look right. I tint each of my pours differently - darker blue at the bottom up to light green or clear at the top. The water looks more realistic this way, as it gets slightly “cloudy” towards the bottom.
I’ve never used WS Water. Some people say that it doesn’t ever completely harden, and it attracts dust more than Envirotex. Since I’ve been happy with Envirotex, I see no reason to switch. You can use WS Water Effects (a different product) on top of Envirotex.
You can get Envirotex at craft stores like Michaels or A.C. Moore. Go to www.acmoore.com and find the coupon. You’ll usually find one for 40 or 50 percent off one single item. Since Envirotex is relatively pricey, this will save you a lot of money. Michaels will accept the A.C. Moore coupon.
Thank you for your replies.I think you have answered my questions.I’m glad I didn’t go to WS realistic water before checking with you guys.I also aprciate the tip on the coupon.
Thanks again,
bob
I use kitchen food coloring to tint the Environtex Lite. I also pour in layers, never over 1/8" at a time and let it dry overnight. I use my wife’s hair blower to remove the bubbles after pouring – the instructions suggest blowing on the surface, but the hair blower works for me.
I posted this previously in the HOn3 thread in Geberal Discussion.
When it comes to water, I always use Envirotex, without coloring it. When I did the rivers and streams on my layout, here is the process I used;
Use extruded foam for the river bed
Make sure the river bed is as level as possible, so that epoxy resin stays where you want it when it comes time to pour
Detail the river bed with plaster rock castings, talus, real dirt, fallen logs, etc.
Use india ink, diluted with alcohol or water, to color the river bed. Brush on more coats to make it darker in the areas you want it to appear deeper
If required, build a duct tape dam at appropriate locations where you plan to pour resin. Resin will find any pin hole leaks in the river bed or the dam, so make sure there aren’t any
Use a foam compatible eposy resin, like Envirotex
Pour resin in layers no deeper than 1/16 - 1/8th of an inch - make sure you have good ventilation, as fumes are an issue
After resin cures use a brush and gloss medium to make small waves and eddies, and gloss medium paste for larger waves and eddies around rocks, obstructions in the river, etc.
After gloss medium dries, dry brush waves with white acrylic paints, in appropriate locations; just hit the wave tops
Apply more gloss medium to provide final seal coat to river
Periodicly clean with damp wash cloth to maintain sheen; if scratched, brush on a new, thin coat of gloss medium to refresh
I use Envirotex Lite, which is what I find at the craft stores. I’m not sure if an earlier product is still available. From a post here some time back, I believe that the “Lite” formulation gets rid of most of the “bad fumes” problems of the original Envirotex. In any case, I had no odor problems at all with this stuff.
This time of year, you might want to be careful not to provide too much ventilation. It’s not the air quality that will hurt you, but rather the pollen dust that will float in from outside. If you happen to do your pour on a “bad pollen day,” you could end up with dust particles embedded in your water surface. Consider using a cardboard box top over the pour if you think this might be a problem.
I need some advice too… how would I go about using Woodland Scenics Realistic Water to model rain on my layout?
([:D])
I’ve used EnviroTex Lite to do a river. There is no problem with fumes or odors. my wife is very sensitive to odors and VOCs and she didn’t complain about it at all.
If you shoose to tint the EnviroTex, I would keep it very subtle. The majority of the depth should come from the paint job done of the riverbed.
As has been stated, make sure the riverbed is level and there are no pin holes for it to leak out of. It will find the smallest pin hole and flow out. The use of dams at the edge of the layout is required unless you want a major mess.
Bob, I use WS Realistic Water and haven’t had the problems others say about it not drying hard or attracting dust. I like it because it’s a one-part product–just pour it on–and it has no bad odour. I haven’t tried tinting it, but as others have stated, the colouring of the water is all in the painting of the base. There have been many articles in MR and I’m sure many threads in the forum on how to paint the base before pouring on the clear “water.” Basically it’s black in the middle feathering out to lighter and lighter colours to your earth colour at the banks. I’m sure someone more experienced than me can give you better instructions on that. One product I would stay away from is the one that comes as amber coloured pellets that you heat on the stove until they melt then pour into the river bed. I tried that one. Never again. I ripped it out (it came out rather easily) and went to Realistic Water. Sorry, I forget the name of the product.
Jwhitten, to create rain puddles on the street, try patches of Gloss Medium. Varnish would work, but it may turn yellow with age. Just plain old white wood glue might work too as it dries clear. Try them on a piece of scrap wood painted your street colour before putting them on your layout.
I want to thank every one for their input.I made a small river for experimenting on,made from card boardand covered with plaster cloth to try using your ideas before doing it on my layout.Rather do a practice run before doing my permament layout. Practice makes perfect.
Thanks again.
Bob
A river bed doesn’t have to be level with Environtex. My river drops 4 inches in six feet. I just made a lot of very shallow pours and coaxed the Environtex along with a sharpened dowel. It wants to run downhill, but a little bit “catches” on each pour. My river is probably 3/8" deep most of the way, but it is deeper at the low end. I used Sculptamold “rocks” in the river above drops to create rapids, and painted the river bed darker below the rocks to make it look deeper. I also used aquarium filter fiber dipped in the Environtex at the drops to make it look like turbulent water.