I had good luck doing my pond with Envirotex, some time ago. Now I am thinking of doing a small stream coming down a gentle slope. I have seen photos of streams that appear to be moving along, gently splashing around rocks as they make their way down hill. What I need is a way to replicate this appearance. Since the Envirotex and similar materials flow down hill, I don't see that working, unless I tilt the table while it cures. I could form the bottom, put in the gravel and stones then brush a gloss coating on until it looks like the surface, but that sounds like a pain when I come to rocks and stuff in the stream that is partly submerged.
Any thoughts and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Richard
I built this swamp with "terraced" water areas. It's not a slope, but rather a series of steps, so the water has a place to collect. Here, you can see two small "dams" of styrene I used to hold the upper layers in place.
A few days later, I removed the dams and added enough Envirotex so that it flowed down a bit. Enough remained on the sloped surface to give it a wet look. If not, gloss paint would do the job.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
When I first bought a package of the Magic Water two-part product, which I happen to think does an excellent job, before committing to my actual stream bed on the layout, I created a small example using a chunk of white beadboard, hollowed out with the Woodland Scenics hotwire tool (in a well ventilated area) and painted and scenicked, and tried various stream bed surface and vegetation ideas I was toying with. I sealed up the two ends and applied the product. It is a sort of very small diorama.
I used green ground foam to capture the look of a very weedy stream bed and it looked great.
Anyway, it later occured to me that that length of styrofoam could be placed on a slight angle using a wedge or shim, and, with appropriate scenic blending which shouldn't be too difficult at all, capture the look of a stream going down a slope. There are various products available to add to the top of the hardened surface to give it the appearance of splashing and movement, with some white drybrush highlights for emphasis. Woodland Scenics itself makes such a product, and so do some others. Indeed clear adhesive caulk or gloss mediums can be used as well.
It might call for some pondering about how to replicate the look of a sloping stream when it is sitting dead flat at the time the product is applied, but that is how I would accomplish what you seek to do.
Dave Nelson
I build dams at appropriate locations along the stream channel, which allow the resin to form a series of mostly level steps.
Several such dams are visible here. I used clear acrylic caulk, which goes on white as shown. After the first pour of epoxy, I add to the existing dams where necessary and/or create new ones to further control additional pours. Dark brown was airbrushed into deeper areas of the creek to impart depth when viewed through the resin later.
Once the resin has fully set, I add whitewater effects using acrylic paint. I keep lots of photos nearby and avoid going from memory. Both sets of rapids here have the clear caulk dams under them.
Epoxy will creep up the banks. I touch up any such areas with flat paint matching my rocks or just plain flat finish like Dullcote.
The resin here was tinted with a few drops of Testors olive drab military paint.
Since epoxy sets with a smooth surface that doesn't look like moving water, I add ripples with gloss Mod Podge. I prefer the working characteristics of it to acrylic gloss medium.
Mod Podge goes on like this. Note that it's stippled into place with a jabbing motion and not brushed on like paint.
Here's the finished creek. To the right of the caboose you can see the change in creek level above and below one of the caulking dams.
Rob Spangler
Without wishing to redirect this useful thread, let me interject a word of thanks and congratulations to Rob for his efforts here (and elsewhere). Your modeling is great, Rob, and your helpfulness is greatly appreciated. Now: is your sagebrush something you've created with common materials, or is it available as we see it in these photos? (I'm surprised at how many Western scenes lack it.)
Michael Moore
Thanks, Michael.
erosebud... is your sagebrush something you've created with common materials, or is it available as we see it in these photos?
It's simple. I use 3M synthetic steel wool or paint stripping pads that come in gray. This is cut and/or torn into small pieces, which are skewered onto toothpicks stuck into a scrap of foam to hold them for the next steps. I spray on Super 77 adhesive, then coat with AMSI "Eucalyptus" or Accurail "Sagebrush" ground foam. The finished bushes are removed from the toothpicks for installation on the layout after the glue dries. I then re-use the foam sheet and toothpicks for the next batch.
Let's see if tonight I can stay online long enough to get a word in edgewise. Been having modem troubles according to the screen, but it seems to come and go, even if not reset at the unit
Thank you all for your replies.
Had thought of terracing, using small falls, but kind of wanted a less drop/level, drop/level look. Seeing how the clear silicone works for more frequent, short dams to create the downward progress looks promising.
Though I did my pond right on the layout and I like the way it came out. I think I will try this on a separate piece of foam. If it looks good, I'll Install it, may even use a bit of an angle, as mentioned. If not I'll try again.
With these thoughts in mind, I will include a stream in the scenic plan for side two of my little layout.
Thanks again,