I’m trying to develop a technique for modeling my lake, and shore line. The bank is already scenic ed. The lake bottom Masonite has been primed and sanded several times. I’ve tried, with a brush to simulate depth of water. I use craft paint because my wife has a zillion bottles in all colors. I left variation of color thinking this would be a correct look
The base is a light blue-ish gray latex primer.
Questions"
#1Can I and should I spray this bottom color with my dual action Internal mix Badger air brush for?
#2 Can I tint the realistic water with craft paint.? How much should I use?
Sure hope you all will point me in the right direction. Thanks [bow]
Have you sealed the bottom of your lake? It has to be leak proof, the water products will find any little place to excape. I used plaster of paris to form the bottom, about a half inch deep. I then took my earth color paint and did the shore line, a dark olive green for the depths (small, slow moving water) then used my brush to blend the two together for the in between depths.
I used Envirotex and was very pleased with the results. I did tint it slightly with a few drops of craft paint (enough so you can see a definite color) in the first pour. A little less in the next two. And just because I wanted it all to look a little cloudy, just one or two drops in the top pour. For clear, fresh water, it seems most folks do not tint their top pour or two. The size of your lake will determine how much you have to put in each pour.
One thing I did read AFTER I had poured the Envirotex was that you should prepare your base, put in any scenic items (logs, rocks, etc), but DO NOT pour until the rest of your scenery work in the area is done. This is to keep the surface nice and clean. I have kept a bag over it for protection, so far so good.
I started “Moose Bay” with flat pink foam, and dug out a depression. It’s naturally uneven.
I covered the floor of the bay with plaster cloth, maintaining the large-scale irregularities but getting rid of the small bumps caused by gouging the foam. I sealed that up pretty well with white glue, and then painted the base with dark green and black acrylic craft paint. Then I began pouring Envirotex Lite. For the first couple of pours, I added black and blue craft paint, so the base was heavily tinted. I used real sand around the shoreline, glued in place like ballasting track.
I made subsequent pours a bit less tinted, and used lighter greens. This variation of tinting gives the water more apparent depth. It also makes the water darker and more opaque as you go down, so the image is more believable.
It’s important to remember that Envirotex and other water products will “climb up” the edges of the lake or pond. In this case, the Envirotex “climbed” up the sand banks, which made the beaches look wet even above the water line. Here, it’s perfect, but in other cases you can hide the edges with a bit of ground cover, talus, or, as I’ve done here, with tall grass.
I’m a big fan of putting trees, rocks and foliage around the water’s edge. In general, the surface will be flat and highly reflective, almost like a mirror. If it reflects a tree on the shoreline, it adds to the illusion.
Stopping the creeping is very hard to do. I try to keep the water mix short of banks etc, then push it in as close as possible. If some still creeps up I carefully paint over it.
First, how are you going to keep the Realistic Water on the masonite, it flows.
Second, yes you can tint with craft paints.
Third, why spray the craft paint when a simple brush will do a fine job. Much easier to clean up.
Not sure about being able to use craft paint in an air brush, but I would think it wouldn’t be fine enough. Maybe somebody has tried it and will answer.
First, how are you going to keep the Realistic Water on the masonite, it flows.
Not sure about being able to use craft paint in an air brush, but I would think it wouldn’t be fine enough. Maybe somebody has tried it and will answer.
Cowman
Thanks for the response. If I get this lake done properly I’ll post a picture. There will be a 1 1/4 " tall clear plastic wall down the center of the lake which will contain the water and all so contain any loco that may jump the track and go careening down the embankment. [:-^]
As for the air brush I thought the paint might be a problem. Didn’t want to plug up said air brush.
My thread kind of got high jacked. [:-^]
Here’s an alternate method for a lakeshore scene, in this case Lake Erie:
…and an aerial view, courtesy of Secord Air Services:
However, a high view from this angle shows a little too much [:$]
The “water” is Durabond-90 patching plaster, worked with a drywall knife to create swells, waves, and some low breakers. Using a fairly stiff mix, even the curling waves weren’t too difficult to create. After the plaster had fully hardened, it was brush painted with flat interior latex house paint (a dirt brown for the shorline area and a grey/green for the deeper water. After the paint had dried, PollyScale Reefer White was used to create whitecaps, then the whole water area was give three coats of water-based high gloss urethane. This creates a very durable finish.
