Hi!
We have been remodeling our O gauge layout and have, for the first time, included a river bank. Now, comes the hard part....making the actual river.
Would appreciate some "hints". Our objective is a very inexpensive and simple way to accomplish the task. Since the layout is post war classic toy with Plasticville, it does not have to look authentically scenic, just to give the appearance of a river.
As always, many thanks.
That doesn't have to be the hard part.
I built this river bed from plaster, smoothed with drywall compound and sanded. I painted the bottom using photos of rivers in the area I was modeling using acrylics. The "water" going on at the back is a layer of gloss Mod Podge (from a craft store) stippled in a wave pattern with a soft brush.
Here's the finished river. This is just what the Mod Podge looks like when dry. Nothing to the river itself but Mod Podge and paint.
Rob Spangler
Rob:
Very nicely done.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I used a two-part finish quality epoxy, in two pours, and then topped it with gel gloss medium that I stippled over the smooth epoxy surface. I painted the river 'bottom' first, though. It was simply plywood.
This is an example shot outdoors on a diorama.
You could just paint the bottom and go with many layers of Gloss medium.
Selector: rrebell: Thank you.
I like Envirotex Lite. It's a craft store product. It seems expensive, but the first thing to do is to go on line to www.michaels.com or www.acmoore.com and find the weekly 40%-off-one-item coupon. If you wipe off the tops of the containers and replace the caps properly, it has a very long shelf life.
I had great fear and trepidation creating my first water scene. As it turns out, it's relatively easy. I still think that it's the best water I've done.
As everyone says, it's all in the base preparation. I also like to add a bit of acrylic craft paint (a couple of drops to a typical pour) to lightly tint the resin so that it gets cloudier as you look down in it.
Since Santa Fe mentioned a ferry landing, this is a different scene by my car float:
I painted the base flat black here, and used a lot of green tinting in the resin. This gives the illusion of deeper, dirtier water that you wouldn't want to swim in.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.