Rivers

Dusting off the old N-scale locomotice and cars and getting back into MR after going to hobby show this weekend. Any advice on what material to use for rivers, streams etc. Using carved out foam for the “valley”.

Thanks, and I love the forums. Lots of good info.
[8D]

Woodland Scenics makes an easy-to-use fake water product called “Realistic Water” that some folks here have reported great success with.

I use matte medium, which is easy to apply and use and for correcting mistakes. A good alternative is WS “realistic water” whlch gives good results.

Cliff

I used Acrylic Gloss Medium. Easy and relatively cheap to use. Here are my results (in N scale):

A Pond:

A Stream:

Looks great, Bruce! How thick is the gloss medium layer?

Thanks. It’s about a quarter inch at most (uniform). The key is how you paint the bottom of your body of water that gives the illusion of depth. Darker colors in the middle transitioning into lighter colors at the edges is the key.

Bruce,
How do you apply the acrylic medium? Pour?
Harold

Acrylic Medium handles (and looks) a lot like standard white glue - it’s thick. For small areas, I carefully brushed it on. For larger areas, I started with a manageable glob in the middle and used a bru***o spread it around. Don’t get carried away with too much, because you only need a thin layer. Also be careful not to get it on anything that is not under water. Although Acrylic Medium is water soluble, it’s a real pain to completely remove off areas you don’t want it on.

Anyway, it dries to a glossy clear surface. If you don’t like the way it turned out, just repaint the bottom over the dried Acrylic Medium and try again. I used cheapo Apple Barrel Acrylic (water based) paints.