Strange Occurence with Realistic Water

Tell visitors that it's a monster Moray eel!

Looks like the reflection of a really bright rainbow.

Looks like the "clear" may have reacted chemically and/or lifted some pigment. Or maybe the "wet water" penetrated deep, and reacted with plywood glue. Maybe seal the paint with light coats of clear, made by the same company, first. Or use a different paint? Mixing "paints" from different companies can lead to some pretty wild issues. Was the blue a woodlands scenic product too?

Was the blue paint fully cured before adding the RW, and was it a type of paint that is waterproof when dry?

 

Otherwise, under moist condition, different color pigments in paint can separate and cause the individual colors to show. This property of mixtures to separate and flow at different rates is made use of in a field of chemistry called chromatography.

 

 

...or it could just be color bleeding through from the material below the pond.

 

Looks like a fisherman in a row boat would be just the right size to cover it up.  

 

Jim

Just tell everyone that it's an algae bloom (AKA Red Tide).

Paper chromatography, brings back memories of Mr. Heggemanns I.P.S. class, 13 years old and access to chemicals!

 

Jerry

Given it isn't Nessie, it sounds like some of these descriptions of chemical reactions

could be the problem.....a paint-over would be unsatisfactory...so ripping it out may

be it...(although I'd try to add a shallow layer on top, of the same mix, to see if that

obscured that effect before going to that trouble)

The paint was a simple blue acrylic craft paint. It was dry for several days before I added the water. I'm a high school math teacher - chemistry wasn't my strongest subject! I never thought about a chemical reaction.

 

I guess it will have to take the role of some mythical creature, although I like the suggestion of the rainbow reflection.

 

Thanks for the input!

I find many acrylics quite "soft", even with a full cure it may "bleed" when exposed to epoxy's(I assume the "water" is a resin mixed with a hardener) or other "hot" topcoats. Sealing with a clear coat (even a soft one) is so the epoxy doesn't react with the pigmented layer is what I would do. But there is a chance, it too may react in an unknown way, but the chances are much slimmer.

I now have my own bad reaction example, I went out and painted my layout shelves today after my post here. Without my knowing it, before I started a bead of sweat fell from by buddies brow onto the shelves. He saw it and wiped it dry quickly. But once the olive green, oil paint dried, I had a 4 inch long grey streak. I recoated it, thinking it was just a missed spot on the grey primer. Once dry, it was grey again! Having painted for a living once, I knew what it was, and called my pal to confirm the sweat drip, and the wipe. Sanding and denatured alchohol, and/or mineral spirits, a re-prime, and new olive coat, should remove the contaminate for me.

I don't see a good sanding, etc. helping you much. But how about a fishing boat or two, anchored and tied together, over top of it? Or a boat pulling scrap out of the water? Lily pads? Over all, unless it drives you nuts, Ive seen every color of the rainbow embedded in mother earth, under water too. Look around a large body of water or two from a map programs satellite view. Lots of strange things going on in some. (last time I did it, I found the pilings of a failed 1800s Mich. Central rail bridge running across the Detroit river, Grosse Isle, Mi., to Amherstburg, Ont. Canada)(I.e. a new fishing spot to try.)          

Fishing boat with a blood tainted chum line!

BINGO!....Ah.. I think we need a bigger..... pond.

On your painted shelves, apply a coat of shellac, let it dry, then try the paint again.

Sanding and wiping is faster for me at this point(done). Was still thin,with nice hard old cure under the soft spray primer. I use thin coats even with oil base, and Penetrol for smoothing. No brushstrokes, it looks laminated or sprayed. And grey is out now. But the alcohol in the shellac would have most likely bit well. I didn't just slop latex, I applied top coats and finished wood. Private libraries worth double my house. But no one knows all the tricks, so thanks Dave.