Unfortunately I am not in a position to address either of your concerns. Maybe Rob can comment at some point. Cheers.
I saw on a video somewhere using a heat gun to remove bubbles from something. It might have been epoxy resin. Not sure if it would work on water products for model railroads or not.
Also, I saw this video the other day and loved the realistic water effects that this guy achieved: http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/video/wintertips
Woodland Scenics has a bunch more videos on getting realistic water with their water products. Don’t know if you’ve seen them or not, or even if it matters since you said you were going to use Mod Podge.
http://woodlandscenics.woodlandscenics.com/show/video/c/water
I haven’t noticed this at all. I typically make one application of Mod Podge and get plenty of definition to the ripple effect.
This is one application of Mod Podge…
…and so is this. If you want taller waves acrylic gel medium can also be used, and it’s somewhat more controllable than silicone, especially as it’s water soluble.
I’m not sure how to address your experience, Mike. Maybe I get different results because I apply heavier coats?
Rob,
Maybe the bottle was old or defective? Or does Mod-Podge have several versions of the product and there’s a specific one that works like others say?
I painted the stuff on in multiple layers, figured it might start building up once it got a few coats on. And it did, sorta like the mild ripples in the first pic right above.
Whitewater like in the second? Wasn’t going to happen short of maybe 50 coats? That’s when I tried the cake decorater’s silicone and SHAZZAM! instant whitewater. Huge whitewater in fact, enough so you rather have to restrain yourself TBQH or you overdo the effect. It sure made that waterfall easy though.
If the small whitewater in your second pic is one coat, then I’m inclined to think I got some bum stuff. I may try it again in that case, although I still have half a tube of silicone and no real project due that might need it, although I might try it if I ever refresh the Rio de las Animas. I wanted subtle effects there and just didn’t think the silicone was low-key enough to control effectively. The M-P definitely seems to be more subtle, the bottle of it I got was just too [soapbox] subtle, but effectively subtle would be another matter.
This also points out how important it is to have different techniques and materials in your scenery arsenal. Although art is a dirty word for some in the hobby, scenery inevitably shades into art, if for no other reason than the materials and techniques are quite similar. Artists can get away with painting variations on a scene over and over, while model railroaders need to be able to convincingly string together a series of related but distinct scenes to be credible, so a variety of tools is a good thing to have, especially if you were bored in art class and fear repeating that experience on your layout.
I agree with you Mike. Here’s another product that I’ve had good results with. WS Water Effects, I dabbed it on my Magic Water after it hardend with a brush. I finished by dry brushing with white paint.
**Grampy…**I have taken the liberty of posting another of your pictures that realistically displays water and is a great scene.
Hope you don’t mind.
Bob
No problem, Bob.
Never tried a heat gun, but one’s breath removes the bubbles from epoxy resin, a small handheld propane torch works better with larger pours and no spit gets in the “water”, neither works with mod podge or gloss medium.
The W.S. Water Effects made for some nice “water” falling from my drainage culvert and like gloss gel medium didn’t bubble, but found it to be stiffer with less working time than gloss gel medium. The polluted drainage canal itself is poured epoxy resin.
Followed the TerranScapes water effects technique with gloss gel medium for my harbor “water”.
https-::www.youtube.com:watch?v=vol7P8oHAk4
Regards, Peter
Your filthy ditch looks disgusting [+o(]…perfect! [tup][tup]
Wayne
Grampys,
If you like the looks of my water, I gotta be doing something right. Thanks![:D]
Peter,
Things are looking murky, an effect that seems simple, but takes a bit to get just right.
Rob,
I finally found the last of my tube of Decorator’s Solution Dimensional Silicone, Part # DS3801020M. Here’s a pic.
I think the term Dimensional denotes it’s special quality versus most silicone. Instead of tending to flatten or run, like the stuff usually does, this stuff tend to stay where you sculpt it. It is food safe, but don’t get the uncured stuff in your eyes. It’s pretty benign as they go odor-wise, far less stinky than the rivers it decorates were. The tube suggests using food coloring, but I used acrylic paint and it worked great.
I also found my Mod-Podge. Containers seem OK, no signs of freezing, a problem sometimes in the Midwest. Maybe I was expecting more. I was slinging it on thick as I could and for somethings, like the wakes from the bridge pilings under the waterfall, that worked fine. For whitewater, the DS silicone just worked wonders for me. &
How thick would you estimate your single coat to be? It might help to have a rough idea when I being to apply it to hopefully optimize the result.
Thanks guys. Did several 1oz test pours with resin dyes, yet the final turbidness and color of the canal came about by accident. Multiplying the test dye amount x 6 for the main 6oz pour was in error, before half the dye was added the mix was already darker than my test piece. Considerrd aborting the mission, but instead stopped adding dye and made the pour. Luckily the darker murkiness turned out looking better than the test piece. Though still a believer in experimentation and dry-runs, sometimes just winging it turns out best.
Thanks and regards, Peter
I just apply blobs of the stuff with a soft brush instead of making brush strokes. I don’t know how thick it truly is, but it’s thicker than if I brushed it on like paint. Experiment and see what you get.
okie dokie. Thanks!
It sounds like some people pour their water material and then spread it around, and agitate it or brush it to get waves etc.