Hello all,
I have a question about modeling large bodies of water. I have a river section approx 1ft. x 4 ft. that was modeled using Woodland Scenics plastic pellets which looked great for about 4 years until it started to crack. I tried melting again , but very quickly the cracks returned. I finally gave up in the past year and ripped it up. I’m considering using Woodland Scenics water that pours, but I’ve also heard some negatives about this, such as cost and shrinkage.
I would appreciate any thoughts as to how model a river of this size so I don’t have to rip it up again.
Thanks!!
Rob C.
People in the States talk aboout Envirotex, a two part resin, and it seems to work well for them. In Canada, there are several products, but I used a Swing Paints product called Nu-Lustre 55. You get, in each case, a bottle of resin, and a bottle of hardener. You mix 'em very thoroughly, and then pour the mix on a sealed lake or river bed. You needn’t rush. Nu-Lustre took over 45 mins to begin to set. You don’t need much, just enough to cover everything by about 3 mm or 1/8", give or take.
I’ve been using the WS pourable water on my layout with good results. Though I don’t have a river quite your size, I do have a section where two rivers meet to form a reservoir about 3’x1’. I used the WS water in it and have had no problem for about two years, and since I have a garage layout, it’s prone to quite a few temperature changes during the year. I’ve heard similar stories about the water pellets cracking over time, but so far, haven’t heard anything negative about the WS pourable water.
Tom
I’ve used the WS Realistic porable water product for a river on my layout about 2/3’s the size of yours. I had excellent results and after two year observe no visible changes.
CNJ831
I’ll be posting how I do water in the Scenery FORUM CLINIC on here tonight in case you’re interested.
Because we don’t have here in Europe good resin products such as Envirotex, following it’s the way I have made a 6x2 ft port water on my layout.
After the bed of my port was make, I brush on it an acrylic gel medium (found in artist store) which give me the texture of water, ripples and waves; after it hardened I sand it carefully to break donwn the small pics of gel and then vacumed the area.
Second, I bru***he color of the water using enamels colours, on the gel and let it dry for a couple of days.
Third I brush generousely on it three or four coat of polyester resin and between some coat I correct the color of the water by brushing acrylic gloss medium with some black or blue or green following my taste.
It happens with a water of 4 to 5 millimeters with some riplles and waves which it’s easy to control on a big surface.
Acrylic gloss medium and acrylic gel are both great ways to make water as long as the layer isn’t very thick (basically painting gloss onto a flat surface you have painted water colors).
Acrylic medium, if applied very thickly, can take days to dry … just be aware of that. Envirotex will set up in about a day or so even in thick pours. So for places where you need thick water (pours over a scenicked riverbed), envirotex goes a lot faster.
You can order envirotex from Scenic Express, complete with dyes (go to: http://www.sceneryexpress.com and order their catalog).
WS realistic water is great!!! It is flexable and slef healing and will not crack or shrink. The old pellets were terrinle. I used them on my first layout and they shrank away from the edges within a year and cracked all over within two.
Ron