Looking for the best WATER material........

Went to my LHS today and all they carry is the Woodland stuff, thankfully i passed a craft place, on the way home and figured i give em a shot. Long shot payed off, the sell this product for filling vases with fake flowers and this 2 part resin, that dries crystal clear. I am so thrilled ! Now i just have to play with it and see if i can mold it some as it's drying or if i can just add a layer of e-z water to the top of it, and detail that. Unless anyone has any good ways of giving resin wave effects, i'm all ears.

This past year I got out of my normal venue of modeling 1/48th modern jet aircraft and decided to build up a railroad trestle modeled after one which was on a now defunct Colorado narrow gauge line named the Rio Grande Southern. This project, needless to say, like the majority of my endeavors, rapidly evolved to include an HO scale (1/87th) vintage 2-8-0 steam engine, tender, and box car. The engine and tender, which was a metal kit, caught my eye at my LHS which mainly carries model railroad supplies. Since I had made up my mind that a stream had to be incorporated into the trestle diorama, after all this was to be a setting high in the Colorado Rockies, I asked the four or five model railroaders sitting around about how to best construct the stream. They all agreed that Realistic Water, put out by Woodland Scenics, was my best bet. Since I wanted to depict a swift moving stream, I also used Water Effects, by the same firm. After I dug out a 1/2" stream bed below the trestle in my 3/4" pine base with a router bit chucked into a Dremel I laid down some plaster cloth, also suggested by the RR modelers, and painted it with various shades of Testors to simulate the bed of the stream. Once this was all dry I added small rocks and twigs with super glue. Then I added the realistic water at the suggested rate of 1/8". This was allowed to dry for 24 hrs before adding another 1/8". When I got the stream to the depth I desired I added ripples and white caps with Water Effects to give the affect of a swift moving stream. I used an old, stubby 0 size paint brush to apply the Water Effects. Once I had the stream to my satisfaction I touched up the white caps with both flat and gloss Testors white paint. To my pleasure the end result was worth the effort. Patience is definitely the key here; you cannot hurry the drying time of either Realistic Water or Water Effects. There is some shrinkage with the Realistic Water, but this is rectified by the layering, 1/8th" at a pour, of the product. I would recommend talking to railroad modelers when you decide to build up a scenic diorama. These four or five guys at my LHS must have 100 years experience in building dios and were most helpful. There was some good natured bantering from them when I explained I was mainly into modeling 1/48th jets, but they were most helpful and when they saw my finished dio they said I had a decent looking stream. In addition, both the Realistic Water and Water Effects come with excellent instructions and suggestions on how to simulate swift moving water or calm ponds/lakes. Hope this helps. For my first attempt at an HO scale railroad dio I think it came out halfway decent.
Forgot to mention that if you cannot locate Realistic Water or Water Effects at your LHS both are obtainable from Micro-Mark.
Dick McC

Have you looked into two part pourable resins? You pour equal amounts of resin and hardener and it sets up clear. It can be a "hot" cure though and can possibly melt a plastic hull. The stuff can also be pre-dyed (micro-mark sells it). One thing to remember is the tempeture outside when your pouring it. I set a tanker in a setting, mixed and poured the resin, it was too cold, the result is that four years later the stuff is still "tackey"!!!!! Gives a great wet effect though, hard to transport to the model show! I'm more familiar with acrylic gel. You can sculpt it, dries clear. paint the beach sand, the deeper water greenish/acqua, then the deeps bluish/black. smear the gel on for coverage, sculpt waves and let it dry. you can see through it. now paint the waves as you see fit, cover with more gel. when you finally get it where you want it, paint the water with future. You;ll use an artists plastic trowel as much as a brush. use acrylic paint and everything (gel & paint) cleans up with soap and water. Of course let every coating of whatever dry before a new coat of gel or paint. I liked mud pies as a kid too.......
G.L.

none

I myself am trying to model water. I have been searching the web aimlessly for days.

There is a product out called realistic water, ez water, made by woodland scenics. The problem i'm having is they only recomend you pouring 1/8th inch deep. Now this would be fine for smaller scale models but larger scale it just isn't enough, no matter what you can do with shading and other eye tricks.

I am looking for a product that i can pour at least an inch or two deep. even if i have to do it in increments, i don't mind the time it will take i just don't want a clowdy haze to form between layers.

I remember a product that was out a few years ago, for kids.... it was a small fish tank that you add real water and this packet of dust and it turns the water into gel, and you can stick in fake fish and stuff, add bubbles, the works. This would be a great product, but my concerns would be does it melt like jello does after a while, can it be sealed to keep it's form?

I am modeling a beach scene with a water fall. The layout is 2' x 4' x 6" ... my water fall is 4'' tall, 2' wide and about 16'' long, the beach is about 2' x 2' tapered to nothing, like a real beach. with an open area to fill with water i am trying to get a depth of an inch and a half. The top of the water i would like to get waves, and ripple effects as well. Perhaps a few surfers in there.

Any ideas folks?

If you're already into construction, you may not want to wait this long, but the November FSM has a great story about a water-making technique that uses aluminum foil and (of all things!) decoupage glue. The issue will be coming out at the end of this month for subscribers (10/5 in stores).

I've used acryic gel medium to creat water scenes - it's a white, gel like substance with the consistency of pudding. I've used it to model spray when a seaplane lands by laying a coat of it on crinly wax paper, letting it dry then removing the paper. It drys clear and can be easily painted