Has anyone used water based acrylic paints to color their lake/river bed? I noticed, when I began pouring WS “Realistic Water” into my lake, the white latex paint underneath began to bleed through (or the acrylic separated/dissolved?). The latex paint was dry for a week before I applied the acrylic paint, and the acrylic only had one day to dry before I poured the water. Should I have let the acrylic dry for a few more days? The first lake I ever poured, I used spray paint to color the bottom, and had no problems after just one day of dry time.
So now what do I do??? I have the water poured, and the lake has a streaky white bottom! Is it possible to paint over the “water” and pour more layers?
I used acrylic paint on wood putty that I had used to make and seal my lake bed. The paints held fine when I poured a two-part epoxy for the water. However, once the water stuff dries, yes, you can just paint over it, and then add another layer.
Many modelers use Envirotex, but I used Nu-Lustre 55 from swingpaints.com. It was an excellent product.
I have painted the WS realistic water between the layers with various acylic paints to simulate algae, suspended sediment and critter trails. I have never had any trouble doing this. The only reason for this has to be a reaction with the particular brand of paint. If house paint, did it ever freeze or maybe too old?
I use the WS stuff for a while but am not that thrilled with it. After time it seems to continue to shrink and the surface becomes uneven. I am going to go back to using Envirotex, it does a great job and stays that way.
The latex paint is about 2 years old, and was never froze. I stirred it very well, and it seemed in great condition. Thanks for the info. Should I wait until the “water” has dried completely clear (usually a week), before applying paint on top of it? Thanks.
Are you sure it’s the white paint you’re seeing? I’ve found that in high humidity this stuff turns very milky. If that’s the case, then it will clear up on its own eventually. If it really is the paint, then that’s a problem. Why is there white latex paint underneath? It’s usually best to use earth colors or black for a riverbed (especially black for depth). Good luck!
I heard that you should use latex paint to seal the lake bed so the water doesn’t soak into the wood…
I had painted two coats of acrylic paint over top of the latex, first a dark blue, then almost black for the bottom, leaving the dark blue toward the top level of the lake. You can actualy make out brush strokes of the acrylic over the white latex. Milky is not the condition… I can clearly see the bottom. It’s been 3 days now, I will attempt to color over top of the existing water. I have about 3 more layers to pour. Thanks again.