Let's See Your Water Effects

Taking a dip at the local watering hole behind J Frank's Market...the waterfall flows strongly from melting snow in the mountains above.  The heartly town folks have been know to cool off there on the hot summer days and night...

Here are some different camera angles of the lake on my layout.  This is beveled plexiglass over painted plywood.  The plywood is painted with lighter blue paint around the edges and gradually becomes darker toward the center to give a gradual shallow to deeper effect.  The idea came from my friend Randy Harrison.  ( Click on photos to enlarge and more detailed viewing. )

Patrick, that blue water lake sure looks inviting...great rock formations too...!

I used the Woodland Scenics product.  Painted the river bottom first, don't recall exact mix of colors, just kept trying different combos until it seemed right.

Great looking stuff fellas, some shallow river here

Some of what I did it’s probably the wrong way but I enjoyed the project.

Magic water, if I recall, tinted with blue paint.

Fishing lines made from stretched hot glue strand with glue gun and held in place on pond with a tiny dab of CA glue at each end.

Water fall and "waves" made with a strip of WS Water Effects laid on wax paper, striated with 3-4 toothpicks held together by hand, dried overnight, lightly painted semi-gloss white, then peeled off and CA glued in place.

                                                Don Smiths water scene -

@Capetrainman posted:

Patrick, that blue water lake sure looks inviting...great rock formations too...!

Thanks Capetrainman!  

Lemax #614621 - Water Paper on unfinished plywood. Layout and idea based on Ritchie C. photo. Docks by Lemax, canoes by Woodland Scenics and the lighthouse was painted by one of my daughters.

Charlie

@trumpettrain

Pat - Thanks for the mention in your post on this topic. The idea of how to create a water effect was not mine originally. It was suggested by a longtime friend, Charlie Vega who at one time in his work life was employed by an architectural modeling shop. He told me to take a piece of Luann plywood, paint it the color/s that you want your water to be and, once the paint was dry, lay a piece of randomly rippled sheet acrylic on top of it. The rippled acrylic is the type of material that is used in shower stall doors or outdoor table tops. It is simple but extremely realistic. Here are some photos from past layouts that I have done using this technique,

Randy, I really like that idea and the finished product looks great on your layout!  Thank you for sharing.

Pic from the top of the hill looking over toward South Main Street...

Joe, I know you're asking f r photos of different methods, I have noneyet, but two take offs of Andy's rippled acrylic is shower door glass, untreated so it can be cut to shape (look this one up for proper terminology) and if you're dealing with smaller ponds Hobby Lobby sells 12 x 12 sheets of patterned glass in the stained glass section.  Larger ripples, smaller ripples, different patterns that can be useful.

Marklin of Sweden toilet paper plus diluted white glue equals realistic water. This technique is on YouTube:

After it dried, I added acrylic paint and several layers of Mod Podge. Arnold

Water filled quarry under the mainline bridge.

I have a bascule bridge that is literally a couple of inches in front of a wall. It needed a raison d'être but there was very little space.

With a small piece of window glass (painted on the bottom), some Mod Podge for the waves,  a mirror, and a backward-printed sign, this was the solution:

Makes absolutely no sense, but nobody ever notices.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Marklin of Sweden toilet paper plus diluted white glue equals realistic water. This technique is on YouTube:

After it dried, I added acrylic paint and several layers of Mod Podge. Arnold

I used the same technique to create my little waterfront scene.

I ended up using sand as a base for the river on our layout. I made a few small square models about 4 inches square trying different colors of paint on the river bed. I also tried 2 or 3 different products for the clear water, including 2 part resin and Michaels clear acrylic. I ended up using 3 coats of the acrylic.

@WP posted:

I ended up using sand as a base for the river on our layout. I made a few small square models about 4 inches square trying different colors of paint on the river bed. I also tried 2 or 3 different products for the clear water, including 2 part resin and Michaels clear acrylic. I ended up using 3 coats of the acrylic.

@WP

Your water effect is SUPERB and it shows the major flaw in my technique using the sheet acrylic. Using your method, you can have rocks protruding above the water's surface. I have admired this technique for years but could not figure out how you get the rippling effect. How do you do that? A "How To" video would be a big help for me, a "monkey see- monkey do" kind of learner.

Thank you.

@Randy Harrison posted:

@WP

Your water effect is SUPERB and it shows the major flaw in my technique using the sheet acrylic. Using your method, you can have rocks protruding above the water's surface. I have admired this technique for years but could not figure out how you get the rippling effect. How do you do that? A "How To" video would be a big help for me, a "monkey see- monkey do" kind of learner.

Thank you.

Thank you Randy. Actually, the ripple effect sort of happened on its own. In my first trial I tried doing what several people had written about their water modeling, which was to sort of put the liquid on thick (or pour it on) and then let it dry. The end result for me was terrible. So I had to remove it all. Then I put a thin coat on the river bed and let it dry thoroughly. I repeated this 3 times. And these were my results. I suggest trying some small samples like 4 inches square. I did 3 or 4 samples, painting the sandy river bed in each square in different colors. If you try this, let us know your results.
John

@WP posted:

Thank you Randy. Actually, the ripple effect sort of happened on its own. In my first trial I tried doing what several people had written about their water modeling, which was to sort of put the liquid on thick (or pour it on) and then let it dry. The end result for me was terrible. So I had to remove it all. Then I put a thin coat on the river bed and let it dry thoroughly. I repeated this 3 times. And these were my results. I suggest trying some small samples like 4 inches square. I did 3 or 4 samples, painting the sandy river bed in each square in different colors. If you try this, let us know your results.
John

@WP

John:

Bravo on your artistic work!!!! So, just to make sure I fully understand you, what I am reading is that you did nothing extra to the last coat that you applied and the ripples just happened? Thanks for any validation or further explanation you can give.

Scene under construction…. ripple glass over painted plywood….Welland Canal water. Easy to dust. Won’t scratch. JohnA

@Randy Harrison posted:

@WP

John:

Bravo on your artistic work!!!! So, just to make sure I fully understand you, what I am reading is that you did nothing extra to the last coat that you applied and the ripples just happened? Thanks for any validation or further explanation you can give.

That’s correct. The gloss acrylic (bought at Michaels) dried that way.

Waterfall is a photo I took of 'Looking Glass Falls' in nearby Brevard NC that is over 60' high and right off the highway - easy to see. 1st is my painting

My 1st layout here in CA included a great mountain with a waterfall and a couple of pretty visitors enjoying the cool water on a warm CA day:

I see that there are many great ways to model water.  I just finished (mostly) the first water on my layout.  I used Epodex deep pour epoxy.  This is the type used for "river tables" and such.  It is perfectly clear, but can be colored.  There are no bubbles to deal with!!   The deep pour epoxy takes 3 days to get to the point where it isn't sticky.  My water area is approximately 2 ft x 4 ft.  I painted the wood, then carefully leveled and dammed up the area. The area needs to be perfectly level or all the material runs to one side.

I did two pours 1/8" thick instead of one pour 1/4" thick.  I had not worked with epoxy "water" before and did not want to risk using all the material in one pour.  That turned out to be a good idea - the epoxy leaked out in places where water would never go.  I managed to slow the drips and put several containers down to catch the epoxy.  I periodically dumped them back into the "water" area.  After eight to ten hours, the dripping stopped. The first pour was glassy smooth.  Hot glue isn't good enough the seal the edges, I will use something else next time.

The second pour dripped a little, but not much.  At 30 hours after the second pour, the epoxy began to develop a slight texture.  The texture remained and gives the water a much more realistic look.  I asked Epodex customer support about the texture (and how to duplicate it).  They said it was probably due to making two thin pours with the epoxy made for deep pours.  They have a crafting epoxy that is similar but dries much more quickly.  I was told that the craft epoxy would not behave that way.

I thought about having a moving rowboat (using magnets) AFTER I had finished the water.  The wood and resin are an inch thick, but there is still a possibility it might work using a magnet out of an old computer hard drive.

couple small streams need to add more water.

Had to come back and add my finished river to the photos. Three layers of Mod Podge over painted base.

@NJCJOE posted:

Had to come back and add my finished river to the photos. Three layers of Mod Podge over painted base.

I'm a big fan of Mod Podge, very pleasant to work with. Arnold

Here's a sneak peak of my first try at this. I still need to make it "move".

Dave

Dave- your River looks great! I think it’s fine as is! JohnA

I'm new at this, and I intend to do a river effect that will not be of a "moving" type of look. Has anyone combined the use of the acrylic as a base, and then poured the other modeling liquid over it? I would like to capture some detail along the shorelines on both sides, but not with any stones or debris that a shallow river would have. Specifically, it would be the East River in NYC from under the Hellgate Bridge across the layout to the side. This would be about nine feet including a curve. Ideas?

@452 Card posted:

I'm new at this, and I intend to do a river effect that will not be of a "moving" type of look. Has anyone combined the use of the acrylic as a base, and then poured the other modeling liquid over it? I would like to capture some detail along the shorelines on both sides, but not with any stones or debris that a shallow river would have. Specifically, it would be the East River in NYC from under the Hellgate Bridge across the layout to the side. This would be about nine feet including a curve. Ideas?

I don't have the answer, but would second (and slightly extend) your request. I'm at the other end of the scale, with just a small pond made out of a sheet of plastic (may be acrylic, don't know for sure):

I've considered covering the top of it with one or another of the available "water effects" liquids to improve the appearance. Has anyone tried pouring over some type of plexiglass base? If so, any advice?

@John A posted:

Dave- your River looks great! I think it’s fine as is! JohnA

Thank you kindly JohnA!

Dave