Water on the layout....

Great shots !   So is it the water or the boat that has been cut ?

Excellent model train photos. These photos look like my favorite place to go fishing on the Detroit River.  See link below.

http://www.jwwestcott.com/

Great looking job, what did you use for making the water?

Thanks guys!

Dan and Mike...the "water" is made from a sheet of shower door glass.  The tug is a Lionel tug and just sits directly on top of the "water"....

Alan

Very Nice Alan, I hope it's one of the plastic shower doors.

Thanks Mike....actually it is un-tempered glass.  There have been some great topics over the last few years here on the forum about this technique...

Alan

Alan,

Saw this last night.  I had always wondered how you did it. Shower glass, What a great way to give the illusion of water using out of the box solution. Also the fact its easy to clean.

Hi Alan,

Great shots of these water scenes!!!!

Thanks, Alex

Those are great looking scenes Alan. I had used shower glass on a previous layout and was very pleased  with the results. You have inspired me now to change my water scene back to plexiglass from painted aluminium foil.

John....I never thought of using painted aluminum foil!  If you come back to this thread, could you post a picture?  I am also looking forward to Alex's method where he is using black plastic bag material as a base for the water. 

Thanks,

Alan

Alan,  you are the standard of how to do it right.  I admire your great work and talent.  You got greedy and went through that line a few times and received extra talent.  Thanks for sharing.

Alan, I'll have to do it next week as I am with my granddaughters in Maryland this week.

I used ceiling light panels called crushed ice. I painted the underside camo green. They are masked with newspaper right now, or I would have pictures. I found out that it does scratch, and doesn't look as good as Alan's, but is acceptable. I got the idea from Dennis Brennan in his excellent scenery book. I just substituted for the glass.

Awesome Alan!

"....you all have inspired me to dust off the water" Pretty funny, Alan. Always a pleasure to see your water, dusty, or otherwise.

Very Nice! And ingenious at that!!

Thanks again guys!  Of course the idea of using shower door glass was not originally mine.  I saw it used years ago by several HO modelers and then more recently by Dennis. 

Marty....I had to go through the line MANY times to keep up with guys like you and others on this great forum!  Every once in a while I have to go through again for a booster shot...LOL!!

Alan

Alan your harbor like the entire layout is superb.  You said the glass was untempered.  Is that so you could cut it to size?  Where were you able to find untempered shower door glass?

Both, your boats and the water look so realistic. What a great layout! 

I'd also be interested in seeing Alex's black bag method.

Matt

Good job Alan

Best place I know of to get shower glass door is Habitat For Humanity stores

Clem k

I thought I  would  provide a little history to expand upon what Alan said above. In the Lionel 1950's paper back book, Model Railroading, a suggested way to create water was to: "Get a piece of heavy gauge glass glass and paint the underside or a paper underlay with blues streaked with white."  John Allen used a clear sheet of glass over a cut out above a detailed lake or river bottom.  In my research, the only published use of shower door glass that I have found was mentioned in a layout article in the January 1989 Rallroad Model Craftsman  magazine written by Phil Chiavera. He used a neighbor's cast off shower doors painted green on the reverse side.

So, while I don't claim to have originated the idea of using shower door glass for water, I believe I'm the first one to provide a complete "How to" in my book, "Realistic Modeling For Toy Trains-A Hi-Rail Guide" which has popularized its present use.

You guys have "wet" down to a science.  Nay, 'tis fine art.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Alan and Dennis very nice work. Like the wet -glass look.

Alan,

What type of paint and color(s) did you use to paint the underside of the glass?  It looks great!

Joe S

Beautiful job.

Good luck, john

Again...thanks for the replies and questions!

Coach Joe...yes, I used untempered glass so that it could be cut to fit the area that I needed covered.  I ordered it from my local glass shop as they only had tempered shower door glass in stock.  It only took a couple of days for it to arrive...

Dennis...thanks for chiming in here...I was hoping you would do so as your application of the technique is absolutely first rate!

Joe S...I actually used smooth masonite on the layout surface, which I painted, and then set the glass upon.  I felt it made the "water" look just a little deeper...  I went to my local Lowes and looked at the paint samples finding one that resembled a color I wanted and just had some paint mixed to that color. 

Thanks!

Alan

clem k posted:

Good job Alan

Best place I know of to get shower glass door is Habitat For Humanity stores

Clem k

AKA "Restores"......

The water shown in these pictures is just impressive....