Ok…With my first layout…and getting started…I would like to use real water for my lake and rivers…has anyone every used this method?[:)]
Unless you are modeling in a larger scale (like G maybe), using real water, believe it or not, would look out of scale. You also have to consider the extensive preparations on your layout to make it water tight, and to recirculate (& filter) the water so it does not go mucky.
I would strongly recommend you go consider the many water modeling methods available. It’s much easier, will look much better, and will be maintenance free.
Real water has been tried, but just about everyone who has tried it gave it up–it’s a maintenance nightmare, mars your scenery and your trains, ruins electrical connections, and makes an area you want to keep nicely dry (your layout area) damp and humid. Plus, real water doesn’t look real in a scale setting. About the only exception is mentioned above–large-scale or garden layouts.
I suppose it could be done. Though the cost and upkeep would offset the final product. Mabruce and jetrock brought up my two concerns with it. Another would be that you would need a pump to clean the water so it would stay clean or to move the water(ie.waterfall) which would add another cost and yet another thing to go wrong.
If you haven’t already look at the last two months of MRR mag. Each one has a great article on modelling realistic water which is cheap and if done right looks great.
I did see a webpage where someone used real water. It was awhile ago but I will go back and see if I can find it.
Andrew Miller
I saw an O scale layout that used real water, and it didn’t look right, IMO. The water moves to fast in scale, and looks bad when everything else is moving much slower. A good, realistic model looks better than the real thing in my opinion. The other problems already mentioned also…
Real water is hard to maintain, attracts bugs, gets stagnant and above all doesn’t look right except in large scale outdoor layouts.
If you want nice looking water, use envirotex or acrylic gloss meduim. They look more realistic than real water for indoor layouts. Judge for yourself:
Acrylic gloss medium water on the HO Siskiyou Line
Joe:
Outstanding work (as always)! I also used Acrylic Gloss medium. It may not as nicely detailed as yours, but I think it worked pretty good (for N-scale [;)]):
Water will give your layout a more realistic view and its not that hard
MA:
Nice pond!
Did you use acrylic gloss medium on the stream too? Painting it around all those rocks was probably kind of tedious …
I have used matte medium and two part epoxy’s in the past for water but this time (I just got some on sale at hobby lobby) i’m going to use the woodland scenics water and water effect…the two part epoxy worked well but you had to pour fast and get out of the room so that the fumes don’t get you and you end up with only two functional braincells…the woodland scenic stuff sounds like the way to go and soon i’m going to give it a try…i’m going to paint the deep parts of the river black…feather in the banks with tans and raw sienna…add a few rocks here and there…then pour the woodland scenic water in 1/8’ layers…after it dries i’ll then put in waves with the water effect stuff with a small paint brush…Chuck[:D]…
I did use acrylic gloss medium on the stream. And as you guessed, I had to carefully paint it in around the rocks. The biggest challenge was to keep some of the larger rocks partly “dry”.
I agree with everyone here. There are issues with real water. I’ve used Enviortex two part resins, and they do work, but they do smell when curing, and if you don’t get the 50:50 ratio just right, it may never dry! I was skeptical at first with the Woodland Realistic Water (for the base at 1/8" applications) and the Realistic Water Effects for the ripple effect. (It comes on as a white paste, and the thicker the application the longer the transfer to a clear look - trust me it does turn clear, but 1/8" or thicker can take at least 4 weeks to cure - a light dose clears in 24 hours) There’s no smell, and I will use this from now on!
Andy Reynolds
I once read an article about using rippled glass for water, and I think it’s pretty practical for large bodies of water. That’s how I intend to build a small lake on my layout, and the advantage of this method is that you don’t have to wait for anything to cure, there are no spills and it looks just as good as gloss medium or whatever you use (at least it looked like that in the photos I saw)