This week’s Model Railroader e-mail had a link to this Josef Brandl article, “Make a realistic lake for your model railroad,” with tons of pictures…
http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=1126
This makes a nice addition to a PDF Library when using a freeware program like CutePDF.
QUESTION: What water “works” for some of you?
Thanks for the link! Very informative.
By far the following method works better than anything I have seen on posts, magazine articles and from the art supply departments. The original source of any water I simulate is a home improvement product, Minwax makes a water-based “polycrylic” sealer that I use in the following steps to create rivers, lakes and the rest.
1.) Minwax Polycrylic is water soluable, one step ease, fast drying, won’t crack as it dries and is ready in about 2-3 hours at room temp for more layers.
2.) I have used the product and in fact saw an article from several years ago in Model RRer that showed the use and application, I had forgotten about the article until I went to use the product on wood finishes for my military diorama frames.
3.) Rivers, streams waterfalls, rapids and more can be built using a foam base, wooden base and sand or pebbles and made to look very realistic. The acrylic product when mixed with an acrylic paint blends very well to make water scenes. Also, I have used it without mixing with any colors into it.
4.) Poured into a streambed with a sandy and rocky bottom and the affect was superb! I can say in all honesty that this is the best system yet and without promoting the product itself, when poured in layers of about 1/4 inch deep and bulit up it looks real.
5.) This is among a few more home improvement products that I have read about and continue to use from time to time that work on dioramas with a very high cost effectiveness. Bulk is always better than buying a small amount of an art product and this is good for those who need lots of something.
Best of luck with this and all the acrylic products.
john
Hi johncpo,
I am almost finished with my river bed and was going to use Environtex or similar product for the water. I didn’t want to get into mixing resin and hardeners if possible.
I have a can of MinWax Polycrylic in my shop. Is the MinWax just as good as the Environtex? Do you have any photos?
Doc
Minwax - one step - fast drying - no cracking - Neat!
How deep and how many layers? How much do Minwax layers add to depth perception?
I just finished the creek on my layout except for some touch-up along the banks. I used EnviroTex topped with some acrylic gloss gel medium for ripples. I like the way it turned out. Pictures on my web site.
tgindy,
Sorry for the delayed response, my wife had me doing some Christmas chores and that’s OK because the kid’s are more important than model building.
Answering your questions; The depth of Minwax is measured only by the # of layers you pour in at one time and the drying time.
Drying time is about 2-3 hrs between layers and pouring a second, third…layer depends on how deep you want the stream or whatever to look. I have High desert into the mountains terrain so water would not be readily available.
I’ll attempt Photobucket" one day soon as I now have a digital camera (phone) which is actually pretty good when the image is cleaned up using Abobe Photoshop. I still shoot film exclusively but the Cell phone camera works to see down inside at the “eye” level as if one were standing on the track of the layout.
I had an older digital camera and tried that method, it is very realistict and you can see the image of your work much better.
The best,
johncpo
I use Environtex Lite for water and have been very pleased with it. I have seen other products used, but none of them looked very realistic to me. Environtex can be colored with food colors if you prefer a blue or green tint. Pour in shallow layers and let dry between coats.
Know the delayed feeling. My internet was knocked out for the last two days due to ice storms.
The Minwax idea really does look like a good direction to plan in the plan!
You guys ought to try Magic Water sold by Walthers. Great stuff, easy, and no nonsense.