How deep do you guys recommend modeling water (small river) to give it a realistic look?
Often the depth can be determined by what colors you paint the bottom of the river…with darker colors suggesting deeper water. The colors become lighter and more rocks are visible as you get closer to the shore.
I assume you’re modeling the Colorado Rockies. Most of the rivers or stream banks are very rocky with less water depth (in comparison to the Mississippi River) so you should also consider that the water runs through rapids and contains lots of sediment. The Colorado River, for example, is deep in places but also has rapids…some areas are crystal clear and others are very brown. The depth of your river is generally dictated by water width and the slope of the riverbank down to water’s edge.
I use the 2-part Enviro-Tex. Just follow the instructions on the side of the box…it’s easy. I do not make rivers (streams or creeks) very deep because thicker Enviro-Tex takes much longer to dry and tends to crack.
I’d check out Mike Danneman’s book for some ideas Amazon.com: Scenery for Your Model Railroad (Model Railroader): Books: Mike Danneman
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It’s the Arkansas River at the D&RGW hanging bridge I’m talking about. I don’t know how deep it is, but I think it’s not that deep.
Faster flowing mountain rivers are fast and relatively shallow. It will be a challenge to get “the look”, but if you paint it up well, pour a two part epoxy, and then ripple it with a layer of gloss medium that is dabbed with facial tissues to get the ripples and wavelets, it should look good.
Again, preparation of the river bed will be 80% of it. You will have to place scale rocks and the odd boulder, and the shading will have to be right.
This is on Hwy 24 north of Buena Vista CO on the Arkansas River.
You’re right,electro. It’s not that deep. I live on a cliff on the bank of the Arkansas (I’m about 40 miles downstream from the hanging bridge) and depending on the season you could often walk across it and not get your knees wet. It is a little deeper than that at the bridge, and as Crandall says often lots of small rapids.
I hope someone will have a specific answer to your question though. How deep to model? An inch? Six inches? I’m wondering the same thing.
Yes please tell me guys how deep I must model it. Will 1 inch be enough?
Six inches would like 43 feet deep in HO scale !! [:O] If you paint the riverbed properly, you should be able to give the illusion of depth without really having the depth.Using Enviro-Tex I think for a river you would only need maybe 1/4" to 1/2" tops. BTW it’s better to use several thin pours, rather than one big deep one.
FWIW I’ve good luck on a flat surface, painting the “water” on and using acrylic gloss to add the water sheen and ripples/waves. Easy and no smell like resin produces.[V]
All of my lakes, ponds & streams are only about 3/8th’s of an inch deep for rivers & some streams are only about 1/8th of an inch. The depth is brought on by the colors of the bottom up to the banks at the edge. The last pour of whatever I use is always a gloss to get the reflections off your surrounding scenery. I’ve never used invirotex in all the years I’ve been modeling. The thing that you have to look at is; If it’s not what you want on the 1st pour, add another different color & pour it again. I have some ponds that look real deep that are only about 1/8th of an inch thick. Then I have some that I didn’t like the color combinations & started all over again. These are thicker. I use a lot of rocks around the edges to hide any imperfections & then add reeds, small bushes, & other scenery & that also gives your water depth. Everyone has their own idea’s & most of them were trial an error. You have to just get in their & try something, even if it’s wrong. You can always start over & sometimes the 2nd, 3rd & 4th times makes what you wanted. LOL
Larry
Do you have any pictures to show me of your finished water?
Here is one of my river. I put small rocks in the bottom and did not paint anything. the river is only about 1/8’’ deep. hopes this helps. Mike
This one is of my pond / small lake, it is about 1/4’’ deep
Hope this helps. Mike
EL, you would make no more than two 2 mm thick pours of your epoxy. Even that would be a bit thick, but not objectionable. Remember, you must then add a 1-2 mm layer of gloss medium to get the wave effect and the ripples or rapids. You could bet away with only 2 mm total (!) if you had the painting done well below it, and wanted a deep, slow river with no boulders lurking in the depths. But you will model a very fast, shallow stream with lots of “white water” around partially submerged rocks and boulders. So, the easy way was the first way, but you won’t have an easy time of it. You will have to take your time and play with arrays of rocks and shrubs. Then, add enough epoxy to partially submerge the rocks (hint- pick rocks that are flat on one side and bulbous on the other. Lay the flat side down on the painted surface, and let the epoxy flow around and over the higher portion to create the real look). Also, when you go to dab the gloss medium over the epoxy, you should cover each little rock that is NOT fully submerged with tape to keep the tops looking dry in the sun… just like in real life.
This is going to require a small practise piece, EL.
Here’s a scene where I dabbed Enviro-Tex paste directly to the surface of black & green painted table top with a small paint brush, lifting slightly to create the rapids effect. The pond is no more than 1mm deep and was done by dabbing paste, not pouring resin as I’ve done elsewhere on the layout.
I think you have done very good work there, Cam! Would it be possible to post a photo with a bit better focus? Maybe it is just me, but I have trouble seeing it clealry.
Thank you for the compliment. I tried to enlarge the photo as I posted it but couldn’t get it any bigger. I could send it as an email in the original size which is much larger and easier to see all the details. Plus I have other views of the stream and pond if you’re interested…
Cam… You’ve got some amazing water going on there ! Please, post more photos so we can be inspired by your excellent work.
Lots of great advice here!
Remember though the the term “small” river is subjective. Here in the Hudson Valley a small river is 200 feet across and 15 - 20 feet deep. Our creeks vary from 30 feet across and six feet deep to about that size. Anything less is a stream or brook.
Choose your scale size from the area that you are modeling. And yes, you can use color to give the illusion of greater depth.
Long story short. 1" is plenty, maybe more than you need unless you are putting boats into (not on) the “water”.
Please, post more photos so we can be inspired by your excellent work. Timothy
Thanks but I cannot take all the credit. The layout belongs to my buddy although I did alot of the water, rock cliffs and shorelines…help’s been needed as he’s gotten older.
Here is a picture of the Ca Zepher heading your way, winding along the Feather River. 
The river is painted to get the depth and I applied realistic water about 1/16 thick, used mat gloss and mat medium in the rapids after I roughd up the water with glue, the whitwater is extreamly light and is an off white(cream) Being the Feather has lots of moss and algie I went a blue green and I thijnk I capured it as per my pictures of the Feather.
Here’s Barger Run on my layout:
The rough opening is about 2 inches deep. I then built up the bottom using drywall mud, WS course ballast and several grades of talus. I used WS Realistic Water, poured in two 1/8" pours (1/4" total) for the water.
Nick