I’m not happy with the finish that I got with envirotex water. I just poured it and its like a mirror finish when it dryed. Is there any technique to rough up the surface to get some ripple surface to it.[:(!][:(]
Brush on some Gloss Medium ( Modge Podge ) , Swirl your brush strokes , it will go on milky white but it will dry clear , but it will add texture , and if you are not happy with areas go back and do it again .
Also if you want larger waves you can use clear silicone to add heavier texture .
Yes.
You can paint over it with Acrylic Gloss Medium. The medium will hold the brush strokes, so the technique is to make the brush strokes simulate the ripples that you want. You may also be able to use WS water effects. Not the WS water that is self leveling, but the stuff that is thicker and will hold a shape.
RR–
I’ve never used the Envirotex water, but I’ve used the WS Realistic Water, and what I do is wait until about three hours or so after the first pour and then dapple the ‘water’ with a paint brush, while the water’s still relatively pliable but starting to set. It usually dries with a ‘ripple’ effect after that.
I don’t know how long it takes your Envirotex to set up, but you might just try another thin coat and ‘stipple’ it before it sets up solid.
Hope this helps.
Tom
While I’ve not tried it, I’ve read that you can “stipple” (poke it with the end of a brush) the surface when it starts to set and get some retention of the “ripples”. With the Woodland Scenics water you heat in a pan, use a hair dryer on high to blow ripples in it. Sounds kinda risky to me, but I’ve seen pictures of the result in both instance, and they seem to look OK. With the stipple technique, use a cheap throwaway brush, with stiff bristles… The blowing air idea might work with the Envirotex, as well, though you wouldn’t need heat. Air from your air brush compressor might do the trick. I’d practice on a test pond, first. Remember, YMMV…
Yes, there is a way. You pour the material, cover it, and leave for 10-15 minutes. When you return, all you are looking for is tiny bubbles near the surface. Blow very gently through a soda straw with the lower end near, but not touching, the surface. Takes two minutes at most.
Then, about every hour after that, you take a flat-tipped screw driver and press the blade into the surface. Do this in three or four random places. Watch to see how long it takes for the crest you created to flatten. Once it seems to hang there for more than two full minutes, continue to do these surface jabs at random places until the entire surface is wavy. It still may be that some of them may flatten, but many/most will not by that time and you will end up with a wavy surface.
One of envirotex’s great weaknesses is the fact it sets up mirror smooth.
I discuss how to add ripples to the stuff with acrylic gloss medium in my Scenery Forum Clinic, giving you a nice rippled effect like this:
(Click image to enlarge)
Much more realistic! [swg]
Or great strength if you’re doing a standing water in a ditch as I did recently. [:)]
Can the Gloss Medium be ‘poured’ in 1/6" to 1/8" layers similar to Envirotex? I have a small river that is 6"-8" wide and wanders about 35" back behind a bluff. It will be pretty still water; I was planning on using Envirotex and pouring enough layers to get to about 1/4" thick.
Jim Bernier
I wouldn’t do that. It might not dry correctly if at all. It is designed to be brushed on. Multiple coats are fine. Use the envirotex. After it dries, brush on three coats of gloss medium letting each dry before applying the next.
Good point … more correctly, I should say “if using envirotex for modeling larger bodies of water or modeling moving water, adding ripples with acrylic gloss medium makes for more realism” … but for mud puddles and other small patches of standing water, the typical envirotex mirror smooth finish is more correct.
Has anyone had problems with Woodland Scenics water products receding or pulling away from the surfaces they were applied to after it cured? I have seen it happen in a few places on some people’s modules/layouts, so I have been leery of using it. I wasn’t there to see how it had been applied and that might be the key factor. I have been told if you use stuff you heat up that after periods of time it keeps shrinking and needs to be reheated to flow back out to the edges again.
Might I suggest creating a small sample body of water and experimenting with adding “after market” ripple and wave effects using gloss medium? It takes some practice and you may have only one good opportunity on your actual layout project.
Dave Nelson