Some questions about working with 'water'

[jacon12]

I’m in the process of building a small pond using Woodland Scenics Realistic Water and Water Effects, which I’ve already purchased. I’d like to place a few of Scenic Express’ cat tails and reeds in the water along the edge and I read on their website that these items are made with a wire stem for ‘easy placement’ and they recommend using Goo II for doing this. This sounds to me like I’ll be making little holes in my pond bottom and that doesn’t seem like a good idea since I’ve taken great pains to completely seal the area. At least I hope I have.

So, does anyone have experience modeling things like this in their lake or pond and if so what method did you use?

The next question is about Woodland Scenic’s Water Effects. Can it be used to ‘cement’ the cat tails etc to the bottom, and how is it used to make ripples on the pond?

Any pictures you may have of your water area is appreciated also!

Thanks,

Jarrell

[MisterBeasley]

I used short tufts of field grass for this ditch:

I poured all the water first, and then added the grass at the edges. I put it in place with Aileen’s Tacky Glue, which works great for this. The tacky glue is thick enough right out of the bottle to hold the grass up and in place. It goes on white by dries clear. One additional nice thing about doing it this way is the way the grass hides the edges of the Envirotex, where it tends to creep up the sides.

Thanks for pointing out the Scenic Express cattails, by the way. I’m planning a marshy area, and some of them might work out very well there. And, as always, I can’t wait to see another one of your pictures.

[dknelson]

I can’t speak to the WS water product but can testify that the two-part Magic Water material (which has worked well for me) finds every little tiny gap and opening. So your instincts not to push holes in the botton to place the reeds and cattails is right on target. I am thinking the most miniscule bits of modeling clay should hold the reeds in place (and can be colored to match the bottom) - they only need to hold it long enough for the water to harden, after all. Bits of ground foam “grass” pressed into the clay can look like algae or “seaweed” as we used to call it as kids, at the base of the reeds and cattails.

Dave Nelson

[jacon12]

Thanks for the tip on the glue and also for the photo, Mr. B. By the way,are those the field grass tufts from Scenic Express?

Jarrell

I used short tufts of field grass for this ditch:

I poured all the water first, and then added the grass at the edges. I put it in place with Aileen’s Tacky Glue, which works great for this. The tacky glue is thick enough right out of the bottle to hold the grass up and in place. It goes on white by dries clear. One additional nice thing about doing it this way is the way the grass hides the edges of the Envirotex, where it tends to creep up the sides.

Thanks for pointing out the Scenic Express cattails, by the way. I’m planning a marshy area, and some of them might work out very well there. And, as always, I can’t wait to see another one of your pictures.

[jacon12]

Thanks Dave! You’re right (hadn’t thought of it before), but whatever you put in the water only has to be held long enough for the ‘water’ to dry.

Jarrell

I can’t speak to the WS water product but can testify that the two-part Magic Water material (which has worked well for me) finds every little tiny gap and opening. So your instincts not to push holes in the botton to place the reeds and cattails is right on target. I am thinking the most miniscule bits of modeling clay should hold the reeds in place (and can be colored to match the bottom) - they only need to hold it long enough for the water to harden, after all. Bits of ground foam “grass” pressed into the clay can look like algae or “seaweed” as we used to call it as kids, at the base of the reeds and cattails.

Dave Nelson