hi,
i am getting ready to build my 6x10 ho layout. would like a pond or small lake on it. have been reading lots of MR mags on making these and thought about placing a mirror in the bottom and pour my liquid. in most lakes and ponds you see a reflection of the surrounding area. this might be a great idea or a terrible mistake. all the articles suggest a dark painted bottom. sounds like a good idea to me to try this mirror idea. anyone tried this approach yet?
thanks,
michael
The liquids are typically clear. If you just pour them over a mirror, it will still look like a mirror. When poured flat and left to set, products like Envirotex give a glassy-smooth surface, which will have some reflective properties, and will look more like water than a mirror.
Harold Minky (hminky, I think, but I can’t seem to access the member list right now) has successfully used one of those aluminized mylar balloons (like they have a flower shops) to make a small reflective pond.
Hi Michael No I haven’t tried it, and I really don’t think I would. But maybe if you could have a trial run first - something you can ditch if it fails. You can get a very convincing reflective surface using epoxy resin, or even varnish [which I used for my river] painted over a dark greenish base, paler around the edges where it gets shallower. My river is only reflective when viewed from ‘ground’ level. I think it would be unnatural if reflections were still prominent when viewed from above - from that angle you’d be much more likely to see the bottom of the pond, or at least the colour of the water, rather than reflections.
Links to a couple of views of my river, one from above, one from ground level.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/553/Little_Glenmore_137.jpg
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/553/sept6_011.jpg
Just my thoughts. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Mike
Here’s Harolds balloon project.
Bodies of water do not reflect anything like 90% of light nor produce even a faction of the reflected images as do silvered mirrors. While employing a mirror as the basis for a body of water is fine and classic for Christmass, under-the-tree toy train layouts, they will severely compromise the believability of any scale model one. Water reflects only a small fraction of incoming light and is much better represented by various pourable resins available from hobby shops and craft stores.
CNJ831
Stick with the tried and true methods of modeling water. In nature, shallow water is transparent and you can see through to the bottom. Deeper water is more reflective. In the model world, our ponds don’t have the same scale depth. The whole body of water is usually very shallow. We simulate the additional depth by making the bottom of the water feature gradual darker as we get away from the shore. Near the shore, the bottom should be the same shade as the bank but gradually darken it, transitioning to dark greens, midnight blue, or even black near the middle. Blend the colors so the transition is gradual.
Mike, wow! That looks great! What type of varnish did you use?
-tom
For shallow creeks and streams, I usually make a detailed bottom and then use a pour-in resin like Enviro-Tex:
For larger bodies of water, I normally use a painted bottom, covered with acrylic gloss medium:
Nick
thanks for the info. i’ll go with the tried and true method
Thanks, Tom. I used High Gloss Polyurethane clear varnish - Estapol was the brand.
Mike
mikes river does look good. just about done with mine, i still have some brush and deadfall
to put in it. i used Minwax Polyacrylate varnish 4 coats the way it reflects the pile trestle
looks very real, and the brush cleans up with water.
I’ll add the image below in regard to the comments I offered in my earlier post. The river here was made using Woodland Scenics “Realistic Water” product. I feel it did a nice job, with no smell, and is highly adaptable.
CNJ831