Creating a River – Using Envirotex Lite

[richhotrain]

In designing my new layout, I planned for a large urban river in one corner of the layout, A series of bridges span the river connecting an isolated manufacturing district to the mainline layout. This river represents a portion of the South Branch of the Chicago River and measures 30” wide and 12’ long, the HO scale equivalent of a 217.5’ wide by 1,044’ long waterway.

 

I experimented with a number of different techniques to create the “water” and finally settled on Envirotex Lite. This required slightly in excess of 1 gallon of 2-part epoxy, covering approximately 30.5 square feet of river bed. Envirotex Lite comes in a variety sizes ranging from 8 ounces to 128 ounces (1 gallon), so there is a quantity available for the smallest size pond to a very large body of water such as mine.

 

To construct the river bed, I installed 1/2” plywood, primed it, and then painted it with latex paint. I had to build the river bed in sections and cover the seams with wood filler and the edges with paintable caulk. From what I read, the epoxy will find the smallest pin hole, so I was careful to seal the seams and the edges. Here are some photos thay show the progression of the river bed build.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Envirotex Lite is packaged in two bottles, an epoxy and a hardener, in equal proportions. I mixed a pint (16 oz.) of each together into a quart (32 oz.) of mixture and added 1 ounce of acrylic paint to the mix.

 

 

 

 

I stirred it in a large mixing bowl for 1 minute, per instructions, and then poured the mix into a second large mixing bowl for another 1 minute, per instructions. I am not clear as to why the instructions say to pour the mix from one mixing bowl to another mixing bowl mid-way through the 2-minute mix, but I was not about to tempt fate.

 

 

 

After 2 minutes of mixing, I immediately poured the entire mix over an 8 square foot section of the river bed and spread it over the entire 8 square foot area with a paint stir stick, making sure to cover all of the edges. I spent some time beforehand studying this video which I found extremely helpful in understanding the entire process.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsUlXnvWaYQ&t=248s

Once poured, you have 25 minutes working time to spread the mixture. With my wife mixing each 1 quart portion, it took me about 12 to 15 minutes to cover the entire area, 1/8” deep. The 2-part epoxy mix is self-leveling, and the mixture is thin enough to work with and, at the same time, thick enough to control the flow. Bubbles will form as the mixture is spread, but most will disappear on their own. By breathing over the poured mixture, the rest of the bubbles will disappear due to the effect of the expelled carbon dioxide.

Over a period of 4 to 6 hours, the mixture will cure to the point that it is tacky to the touch, and after a period of 12 to 18 hours, the mixture will be hard to the touch. A permanent hardening occurs after a period of 48 to 72 hours, depending upon the temperature and humidity in the layout room. The mixture should be covered during the first 6 to 12 hours of the hardening period to prevent dust and other particles from sticking to the surface. One benefit of Envirotex Lite over the original Envirotex is that there is no odor associated with the Envirotex Lite mixture.

 

Here are a couple of photos showing the final results.

 

 

 

 

 

I am extremely pleased with my decision to go with Envirotex Lite. My one reservation is that the final result is a perfectly level, glass like finish. This may appear unrealistic for some because most bodies of water have some movement. However, the South Branch of the Chicago River is a highly controlled body of water that is closer to calm than turbulent, so I may just be content with the result.

 

If I change my mind, I will add some appearance of movement by adding a layer of acrylic gloss gel medium. But I will decide that over time. For now, I am sticking with the Envirotex Lite as the one and only pour.

Rich

[mbinsewi]

Looks great Rich!   I'm finally a glimpse of your layout. 

Mike.

[richhotrain]

mbinsewi

Looks great Rich!   I'm finally a glimpse of your layout. 

Mike.

ahh, yes, you are a glimpse of my layout, Mike.  

Thanks, glad you like it.

Rich

[PennCentral99]

Looks good. Since you painted the surface of the wood (bottom of the water), do you think adding paint to the mix changed anything? Especially since the water is only 1/8" thick? Did it creep up along the edges anywhere? Although you got a perfect pour, anything you would do differently?

Terry

[richhotrain]

PennCentral99

Looks good. Since you painted the surface of the wood (bottom of the water), do you think adding paint to the mix changed anything? Especially since the water is only 1/8" thick? Did it creep up along the edges anywhere? Although you got a perfect pour, anything you would do differently?

Terry 

The reason that I added some paint to tint the mix is that when I prepared a test sample I could see some small imperfections in the painted base. I didn't want to risk that in the actual pour. Another reason is that I had seams in the wood at 3 foot intervals and even though I carefully sanded the joints, I wasn't going to take any chances on the painted seams showing up. That said, the sample pours without the tint looked pretty darned good.

I really didn't notice any creep along the edges. I was concerned about it beforehand, but it didn't happen.

The only two things that I might do differently if I had it to do over would be accessibility and water movement effect.

Regarding accessibilty, I do have one popup hole on the opposite side of the aisle. Initially, I had built a second popup hole but I removed it in the final build. I could have used that second popup hole during the pour.

Regarding the water movement effect, I knew in advance that the epoxy is self leveling, so I wondered from the start if the calm appearance of the water would look unnatural. In the end, I like the look and I found prototype photos to support it, but over time, if it bothers me, I will add some gloss gel to create the appearance of water movement.

Rich

 

[mbinsewi]

The only part of the river I have seen the most, is the East/West section along Wacker, I think you have the color perfect.

Mike.

[richhotrain]

mbinsewi

I think you have the color perfect.

Ooh, that makes me feel good. I researched long and hard to find just the right color and then computer matched it at my local Ace Hardware. The first time that I created water under a bridge on my old layout, I used Royal Blue. That never did sit well with me. Thanks, Mike.

Rich

[wp8thsub]

Nice work Rich.  I like it.

[joe323]

Great job!

Now does this part of the river get the green dye on St Patty's day?

[HO-Velo]

Nice waterway.  Any river traffic planned?

Regards, Peter

[richhotrain]

wp8thsub

Nice work Rich.  I like it. 

Thanks, Rob. Good to hear from you.

Rich

[richhotrain]

joe323

Great job!

Now does this part of the river get the green dye on St Patty's day? 

Thanks, Joe. 

Fortunately, the South Branch of the Chicago River does not get the green dye. If it did, that would require another pour at the beginning of each March, then another pour after March 17th to restore the original color. The depth of that river bed is 4" from the ground surface, so after 16 years I would be in big trouble. 

Rich

[richhotrain]

HO-Velo

Nice waterway.  Any river traffic planned?

Regards, Peter 

Good question, Peter.

I have a nice tug that will be placed in the river after I clean it up. The tug took a beating when I surgically removed it from the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water while demolishing my old layout.

I also plan to add a barge under that warehouse building so that I can make use of that pillar crane sitting front and center.

Rich

[HO-Velo]

richhotrain

nice tug

richhotrain

add a barge

Oh yeah, a tug and barge would look great.  Lots of watercraft possibilities.  

Having acrylic water effects or not can be a quandary of sorts, either way looks neat. Water effects depict action and kinda help hide dust build-up, but a tranquil water scene with those beautiful reflections is somehow soothing.

Thanks and regards, Peter      

[BigDaddy]

Looks good, I would have been scared to do that big a pour.

[richhotrain]

BigDaddy

Looks good, I would have been scared to do that big a pour. 

Thanks, Henry.

That's why it took me two weeks to finally make the pour after I was actually ready to do it. I was scared. A big part of my problem was accessibility. I could reach a lot of it from the aisle and some of it more remotely from a pop up hole opposite the aisle. But, for some of it, I had to crawl up on the layout.

Had the pour failed, I don't know what I would have done. It would have been a gallon and a quart of sticky slop just laying there under the bridges. Not fun.

Rich

[selector]

As I stated in your other thread, Rich, this is very commendable and realistic.

If you think you'd like to try some variations, say on a small diorama you might wish to create some time in the future, and you'd like to create a more wind-driven surface, or maybe some turbidity in the water, I have some suggestions. Please let me know when/if you get there.

I'd be pretty puffed up if I made a scene as nice as yours.

[richhotrain]

selector

As I stated in your other thread, Rich, this is very commendable and realistic.

If you think you'd like to try some variations, say on a small diorama you might wish to create some time in the future, and you'd like to create a more wind-driven surface, or maybe some turbidity in the water, I have some suggestions. Please let me know when/if you get there.

I'd be pretty puffed up if I made a scene as nice as yours.

 

Thanks, Crandell. I will keep that offer in mind.

Rich

[ROBERT PETRICK]

Hey Rich-

Looks great! Glad you got it right on the one and only shot.

Thanks for the detailed explanation and the YouTube link.

One question though: do you have the secret formula for the color paint you got from Ace? I can go down to the local store and try to get a color swatch that's a pretty close match and take it into the 5000k lighting of the layout room and see what's what. It's kinda hard to tell from the photos on my laptop or smart phone screen.

Thanks.

Robert

[richhotrain]

ROBERT PETRICK

One question though: do you have the secret formula for the color paint you got from Ace? 

I bought the paint at my local Ace Hardware store a few years back. The problem with Ace is that it keeps changing brands every few years so sometimes it is impossible to match prior cans of paint without some sort of computer matching.

Anyway, the brand is Royal Interior Latex Flat, and the color is "Green Forest". I do notice from a Google search that the Royal line of paints does seem to be available from some vendors other than Ace. If you cannot find it anywhere, I can always send you a color sample that you can computer match.

Rich