cheap way to make realistic lake water

ok depending on the size of your lake...i would go for a clear casting resin.....first of all you will have to paint the base of your lake black to give the appearence of deep water....lightening to dark earth and finally a sandy shore colour at the edges of the lake....then you can pour on the clear casting resin.. which will give you when cured a nice flat calm type water surface...you can produce ripples and smaller waves in the resin as it is setting with the blunt rounded end of a paintbrush [kept wet]. and tease the ripples and waves into it..or you can use a hair dryer /blow dryer...to acheive much the same effect...........clear casting resin .is reasonably priced...about $15 for a half litre...and a lake about 1 cm thick should suffice......
REGARDS.......

ah clear casting resin were can i find the stuff bcause it sounds like a great for my water and ill send you pics when its done!

most art supply stores should stock it....and i would appreciate the pics ta!

Yeah duckman can you please send me the pics of your model when your done. I'm 14 and I do models for a long time too. I really want to see how your model turns out. My e-mail is alexdenisenko@hotmail.com. Thanks a lot. See you on the web.

I have used parafin wax to create water, or at least that is what I think it is. Because I was looking for a cheap way to create water when I came across this water system that uses these wax "cakes" and some of these coloring pelets. Also it came with this bottle of what I believe to be gloss-cote. I have tried it and it works prety good. Just make sure that you have a good seal on your corners. You could probobly get some wax and pour it and then maybe paint over it with some glossy paint. But that won't show much depth especialy along the banks. But its cheap and it should work.