I made my harbor last night and included some shallow and deep areas. I don’t get my camera until next week so can’t post pictures until then.
Here’s the problem: In the shallow areas where I placed small rocks amidst sand and gravel, the Envirotex crept up over the rocks and all of them now look wet. I’m unsure how to correct this, but no one but me would probably notice. Modelers often correct this flaw along the banks by simply pouring more gravel but out in the water, this isn’t feasible if you want small rocks to be partially submerged amongst the gravel farther from shore. I think I’ll take Envirotex to court and sue them (just kidding).
could you cut or scrape it off? you could paint the rocks mat again whatever colour they where? I would try to use chemicals though, might spread. ;-DD
Where Envirotex crept up on my banks and rocks, I’ve just painted out the shiny stuff with a suitable flat paint. You could also use some Dullcoat brushed on.
Bob’s solution is the best you can do now. Check out some of his published photos.
For future reference “paint” the part of the rock you want not to be “wet” with rubber cement before pouring the Envirotex or any other “water”, then peel it off after the water has set up.
Get your lawyer to E-Mail Environtex to see if they have a suggestion for a fix! [;)][:D]
Tell those model people no more water skiing and big wakes until the water is dry!!!
Will
I’ll agree with Nigel that Bob has the best (and perhaps easiest) solution. Of course, like you said, most people won’t notice but then it is often the things that only I notice that bugs me the most.
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As a result the rocks came out nice and dry / dusty / dull looking, just like they should. This is a very easy fix.
Although the rubber cement trick is darn clever, it does sound like a lot of work and you need to get the level water line just right ahead of time or you could end up with some rubber cement “under water” if you aren’t dead on with your sense of what’s at water level.
Repainting the envirotex creep with a flat color mix is really simple and fast, and looks dandy.
NOTE: Envirotex sets up mirror smooth, which isn’t typical for streams, rivers or anything larger than a pond size body of water. To add ripples like you see in the photo above, stipple on a layer of acrylic gloss medium over the top of the enivrotex. The resulting rippled surface will look much more realistic than mirror smooth envirotex.
I mixed Crayola tempera paint and plaster 50:50 and then painted it onto the rocks down to the waterline after the envirotex set up to hide the einvirotex “crawl”. Here’s a link to the Crayola tempera paints so you can see what I’m talking about: http://www.reuels.com/reuels/product7914.html
I keep black, brown, blue, and yellow on hand. From that combination of colors, plus using the plaster as white, I can mix most anything I need as far as a scenery powder color to use as dirt or weathering on rocks, track, structures – you name it.
By including the plaster in the mix, a light misting of water will fix the weathering in place better than pure powder alone.
Envirotex High Gloss Polymer Coating is primarily a craft product. Some LHS’s may carry it, but it would be mostly found in craft shops. It comes in a two part liquid kit, the resin and the hardener. It is mixed in equal quantities, then poured into the area where you want your water to be. It hardens overnight to a nice glossy finish, with almost no smell. Deeper water should be poured in several thinner layers.
Not only do they sell the envirotex, but you can also get dyes to make the water have a color. In the scene shown above, I not only painted the bottom of the pond shades of blue green, I also poured the envirotex in three layers … 1 layer with a couple drops of blue and green dye, 1 layer with a couple drops of green dye, and 1 thin layer with one drop of yellow dye.
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This gave convincing deep pond look that you see here.
Joe, your craftsmanship is just amazing. That pond looks so realistic, I wanted to jump in!!..either that or go dig out my rod and reel…or my 30x30…but hunting season isn’t “on” right now.
Wonderful work, just wonderful.
