Thanks chutton01!!! Your quote explains a lot. I wouldn't call dust particles "placed items" yet they stick to Realistic Water as well as anything.
Hornblower
After skimming thru the Woodland Scenics FAQ concerning Realistic Water, it's like Realistic Water really wasn't ready for prime-time.
hornblowerSeveral months after that, I discovered that a figure had fallen off an adjacent structure into the tank. By the time I finally discovered the missing figure, it had partially sunk into the seemingly hard WS water leaving a large dent in the surface. You'd almost swear that this stuff comes back to life whenever anything touches it (Beware the Blob!).
Realistic Water is meant to stay flexible and pliable to discourage cracking. Therefore anything that is placed on the Realistic Water surface will leave a mark. Although, the Realistic Water is self-healing and the indentations may lift, the water surface will never be completely hard enough to place items on it without sticking. If indentations do not lift, pool denatured alcohol in the indentation and let it dry naturally. It may take a few applications for the indentation to self-level.
I tried to use the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water product on an open-top water tank project several years ago and it has taken most of that time to fully cure (if it is indeed finally cured). I mixed it per the letter of the instructions and poured it no more than 1/8" thick but it never fully hardened. Yes, the surface became completely dry to the touch and the pour seemed hard in a day or two with a nice glossy surface. However, I wasn't comfortable with the curing time and so I put the project on hold. Months later, I discovered that the WS water had actually absorbed the dust that had fallen into the tank, totally killing the glossy surface. Several months after that, I discovered that a figure had fallen off an adjacent structure into the tank. By the time I finally discovered the missing figure, it had partially sunk into the seemingly hard WS water leaving a large dent in the surface. You'd almost swear that this stuff comes back to life whenever anything touches it (Beware the Blob!). I won't use this product again. All water projects since have used Mod Podge Gloss Medium with great results.
I use the old-style casting resin, the kind that comes in the blue-label can with a small sidebar of catalyst (can't find my last can right now and the name escapes me.) Get it at Michael's or Hobby Lobby, etc. It's the stuff they make the clear cast paperweights out of with insects, etc stuck inside them. Not cheap (about $30/can) and stinks pretty well for a few days (consider your roommates' reaction before starting ) but the stuff holds up well.
The pick below is of the Animas River crossing below Silverton. It's sometimes called the "$50 River" because it took two cans to finish it when done about 20 years ago. It's as nice as the day it was finished, although looks a little dusty in this pic.
Note that you can do nice, deep water and easily embed all sorts of 3-D stuff in it, like the deadwood piled up against the upstream side of the protection around the pilings.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
erosebud, I have used Magic Water and WS water effects and have not had any of the bad results you experienced. I used a paint brush and stippled the WS effects on the Magic Water and the ripples stayed exactly the same dry as when they were wet. My streams are going on 8 yrs. old.
Sounds a little like Modge-Podge, which some recommend. Keep applying and it'll eventually build up...maybe.
I found something that works well in a single application, silicone cake decoration molding compound. It's food grade, so not nasty like some silicone is to work with. It's clear, but you can add whatever color you want, so easy to make whitewater.
A couple of the creek effects.
Some additional effects going on with Cascade Falls, but did use some of it here:
Having used Woodland Scenics Water Effects I can say that the stuff is both thick and stiff and flattens out hardly at all after curing, but was used on top of Envirotex epoxy that had cured for several days. I have no experience with Magic Water, but can only guess that maybe it wasn't completely cured and that somehow effected the water effects?
Regards, Peter
After (finally) achieving success in pouring a creek using Magic Water and letting it cure for 72 hours or so, I added some ripples and rapids with Woodland Scenics Water Effects as seen in David Popp's series on the Thin Branch. By the next day, however, the ripples and rapids have all but disappeared, flattened out and transparent to the point of invisibility. Any idea how this happened and how to overcome it?