Vallejo makes a line of water effects that I have used with 100% satisfaction.
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Now for the bad part: These are made for miniature modelers and diorama builders, not model railroaders. This means they come in small quantities, and are quite expensive. If you are doing a sizeable water body, this might not be a financially viable option.
On Envirotex... a friend of mine was making a lake in his garage, and he poured the Envirotex and went inside. While he was away, a giant moth landed in the Envirotex and tried like crazy to get out. He went all over the surface.
The result looked amazing! I wish I had a picture, but that insect did all the hard work for making the water effects.
True Story.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Have not tried thinning the WS Water Effects nor Gloss Gel. If the water area isn't too large I would imagine that smaller ripples could be had with a small brush, the long working time would help. Maybe get a technique down with some experimentation.
This is my attempt at simulating choppy harbor water done with Gloss Gel over plexiglass, I'm sure the results would have been the same over Envirotex. Took me a few tries to copy a technique and the only tool used was a narrower than normal popsicle stick. Tedious work for sure, but for me the lack of bubbling made it worth the effort.
Regards, Peter
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
Thank-you for all the replies.
Given that WS Water Effects is quite thick, is it possible to thin it down with water before applying it? I just want to create the effect of slightly rippled water, and I've already bought the stuff.
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
I've used WS C1212 Water effects on top of cured Enviro-tex Lite with no ill effects. The stuff is IMO very much akin to Gloss Gel medium in being quite thick with a long working time, but lends itself to simulating choppy water or waves better than small ripples and undulations. Gloss medium or Modpodge is good for the smaller effects if you can live with lots of small bubbles.
The C1212 makes for nice falling water.
I haven't used the Woodland Scenics Water Effects product, but I have done a lot of things with Envirotex Lite. I have tried to break up the flatness with Modge Podge to get some waves and ripples. It works fine, but I am disappointed in my artistic skills at getting the look I really want.
Envirotex Lite was developed for things like the tops of bars. It is very hard and tough, and as long as you let it cure completely I don't think you'll have any problems with interactions.
The "Lite" part, by the way, refers to the chemical odor. The original Envirotex had a strong odor given off during curing. I don't think you lose anything by going with the newer product. It's just as hard. That is to say, it's not like "Lite" beer.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I've got some Enviro-tex Lite curing on my layout at the moment, on the log pond scene. Given that it's perfectly flat, I'm thinking of adding some water effects on the top to create the effect of ripples. I mean, real-life water isn't perfectly flat.
To this end, I'm thinking of using something along the lines of Woodland Scenics Water Effects on top of the resin to give the effect of ripples. This will be applied once the resin has fully cured.
Would there be any problems/interactions between the water effects and resin that could cause problems?