| Stopped in at my hardware store to get some fiberglass/epoxy resin, but the guy there said that all of their epoxy/fiberglass resins had a heavy yellow/brown tint. So he pointed me towards some stuff called Envirotex (For giving countertops a thick clear top coat) that is completely clear. The box says to pour no more than 1/8" at a time, and that it needs about a day and a half to cure in prime conditions. I did a test pour last night, and it's already hardened so much that short of gouging it with my fingernails, it can hold up to the touch. I'm guessing that the instructions are for obtaining a near perfect look on a counter, but if I were to go ahead and pour about a half an inch at a time (need to build up to roughly 1-1/2, would it really mess up my results? Question Two: Since the water goes off the edge of the dio, obviously I need a temporary wall to hold it in until dry. My dad, however had a different idea. He though that maybe I could make some clear plexiglass walls the height the water needs to be, seal the seams with clear caulking and then pour my water and leave the plexi walls permanently. If I used temporary walls, I don't know how I would keep the resin from sticking them on permanently, so that looked like my best option. I went ahead and bought the plexi and clear caulk. Does anyone see any flaws with this plan? Final Question: And finally, does anyone know what this envirotex stuff is made of? I want to color my bottom layers slightly to give it a depth look, for example make each layer as you go down be slightly darker brown, to show dark pond water/silt at the bottom. I'm not sure what to color it with though. I've got acrylic paints, artists' oils, water colors, food coloring dye, maybe I'll do some tests. If anyone has experience with resins and knows what's best to tint them with, I'd love to hear it, to save me some time and resin. |