On my previous layout which I built back in the 1980s, I used two different times of material to simulate water. One produced a smooth water look which I used in a stream and the other created a rippled look when it cured without me doing anything to it. The downside was that it crept up the bank of the pond slightly when it cured and had a slightly orange tint to it on the edges… This was about 30 years ago but I’m fairly certain Envirotex was the material I used to create the smooth water look but I can’t remember what the other material was and I can’t find a reference to it in any of my old scenery books. Does anyone know what kind of material I am talking about and what brand name(s) it is sold under today?
WalMart crafts section or your local arts 'n crafts store. Look for either Mod Podge Gloss Medium (not the matte medium…you want shiny water!), or ask for gel gloss medium which is like white cold cream. Spread thinly, stipple it with the side of a brush, and forget it for about three days. Go back and see if any white tips remain.
This is an example of my water. First, two part epoxy over a painted flat and sealed bottom. I mixed a tiny drop of Hauder Green and a pinch of plaster of Paris powder into the epoxy mixture. When it was tap dry, I covered the surface as described above with gel medium. This was imaged outdoors on a diorama.
Sounds like the material in question may have been polyester resin. It has a one-part resin to which a small amount of catalyst is added for curing. Various plastics suppliers still sell it, and it remains a commonly used product.
If you’re considering polyester resin solely because of the ripples it creates, perhaps epoxy resin with a coating of Mod Podge or acrylic gloss medium would work just as well.
This creek uses epoxy resin with a coat of Mod Podge gloss.
That sounds like what I might have used. It seems to me that it was a two part mixture but it’s been so long ago I really can’t remember. I have some Mod Podge Matte but not the gloss. I have several water features on the last section of the layout and I am going to use the epoxy resin for the still water and I think I’ll experiment with the Mod Podge first before looking for the polyester resin.
Very nice work. This is the look I am going for. I am creating a cove off of a lake which will be on the backdrop much like you have. About the only difference is that I will have a concrete highway bridge across the entrance to cove but other than that this is pretty close to the scene I have in mind.
Nice work in making such realistic water. How to prevent the water from ‘creeping’ up the sides and having the orange tint?
Also, what did you use for the sub-roadbed? I have 2" insulation foam for mine, and how to prevent that from seeping through onto the carpet? Should I first put down some plaster of paris or similar material?
Cheers!
Absolutely you need to waterproof the bed of your water feature with some kind of material. There are any number of materials that will serve that purpose including plaster of paris. I would suggest you do a test pour with a small amount of water first to see that the bed will hold water. If it doesn’t leak then you can be confident whatever you are using to simulate water won’t leak either.
In my case above, I simply covered the dry plywood river bed with a single application of craft paints, the kind in the small squeezy bottle from WalMart’s craft section. Once it dries, the craft paint forms an effective barrier. As for creep, yes, some will take place, but I use a two-part epoxy manufactured by Swing Paints called Nu-lustre 55. It creeps very little up my ground goop banks comprising a mixture of fine vermiculite, plaster of Paris, and Portland cement in a ratio of 4/3/1 respectively.
Note that I used masonry dye powder to tint the ground goop. It looks much too white otherwise.
It creeps no matter what. I use paint and/or brushed-on Dullcote to eliminate the shine wherever the resin creeps, or coat it with more ground cover if needed.
My subroadbed is a mixture of hardboard spline and plywood, and a scenery shell of plaster was complete before I added any water features.
I just used some cheap latex flat paint to seal the bottom of my river scenes.