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Water color

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  • Member since
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  • From: Harrisburg, PA
  • 660 posts
Posted by hbgatsf on Saturday, November 6, 2021 8:19 AM

richhotrain

I barely had any leftover mix from that 1 quart pour, so the Envirotex Lite calculator was dead on.

Good to know.  Thanks.

Rick

Rick

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Posted by richhotrain on Thursday, November 4, 2021 10:52 AM

hbgatsf
 
richhotrain  

Thanks, Kevin. It took 5 quarts of mix to cover a 12' x 30" area. It was nerve wracking to say the least to work quickly over such a large area. 

Rich 

 I am interpreting this to mean that you did the pour all at once   If that's correct did you use their calculator to figure out how much it would take?  

I did use the Envirotex Lite calculator which indicated that I would need 5 quarts of mix. So, I purchased a 1 gallon kit (1/2 gallon of each part of the mix) and a 1 quart kit (16 ounces of each part of the mix). 

I began with the 1 gallon kit. Following the instructions, I mixed the two parts together for 2 minutes and then completed the pour. That left me with 20 to 30 minutes working time.

So, I then mixed the two parts of the 1 quart kit for 2 minutes and poured that mix so that it merged with, and blended in with, the previously poured 1 gallon mix.

That left me with sufficient time to complete a satisfactory spread of the 5 quarts of mix, including the removal of air bubbles. I barely had any leftover mix from that 1 quart pour, so the Envirotex Lite calculator was dead on.

The area was pretty large, so it took two photos to capture the entire pour.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by hbgatsf on Thursday, November 4, 2021 10:33 AM

richhotrain

 

 
SeeYou190
 
richhotrain
he photos below show the painted base before the pour and the same scene after the pour. 

That looks good Rich.

-Kevin 

 

 

Thanks, Kevin. It took 5 quarts of mix to cover a 12' x 30" area. It was nerve wracking to say the least to work quickly over such a large area.

 

Rich

 

 

I am interpreting this to mean that you did the mix and pour all at once.  If that's correct did you use their calculator to determine how much was needed?

Rick 

Rick

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  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, November 1, 2021 3:37 PM

I also believe in both base painting and tinting.  I generally carve my water features from the sheet of pink foam.  Then, I cover the cut up foam with plaster cloth to smooth it.  I paint the plaster cloth base with washes of acrylic craft paint.

I usually do several thin points of Envirotex.  I don't have large areas to cover, so a couple of ounces suffices.  I add a drop or two of acrylic craft paint to each batch.  I vary the tinting from darker to lighter as I first pour the lowest layer.  The darker tinting, not very dark, really, gives the deeper water a more murky look while the shallow water is almost clear.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by kasskaboose on Sunday, October 31, 2021 8:59 PM

Different ways of doing waterbodies.  I made about four small lakes on my layout to replicate southern VA. Initially, I was worried that the water looked like an industrial accident with various shades of a toned down slime green.  I looked at actual lakes and many are that murky color. 

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Posted by selector on Sunday, October 31, 2021 2:17 PM

Thanks, gentlemen.  It seems, from all the examples, that there really is no one way to do pretty much anything in the hobby.  Just some imagination, some good materials, and a willingness to try something, refine it, and if it's still a bust...well...you know...Plan B.

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Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, October 31, 2021 1:33 PM

doctorwayne

Great looking results, Rich, and likewise for your scene, Selector.Thumbs UpThumbs UpThumbs Up

Wayne 

Thanks Wayne, much appreciated. I was prettty pleased with the overall results.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by doctorwayne on Sunday, October 31, 2021 1:04 PM

Great looking results, Rich, and likewise for your scene, Selector.Thumbs UpThumbs UpThumbs Up

Wayne

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Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, October 31, 2021 6:05 AM

SeeYou190
 
richhotrain
he photos below show the painted base before the pour and the same scene after the pour. 

That looks good Rich.

-Kevin 

Thanks, Kevin. It took 5 quarts of mix to cover a 12' x 30" area. It was nerve wracking to say the least to work quickly over such a large area.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, October 31, 2021 6:03 AM

selector

Here is what my 'river' looks like outdoors on my diorama: [click on the image below for an expanded view]

That looks absolutely great.  Yes
 
Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, October 31, 2021 6:01 AM

The Milwaukee Road Warrior

Wow that looks great.  (Same for Docs pics using a different method.)  And I think it perfectly illustrates original question.  It almost looks as if you could have gotten away without tinting the resin at all and the greenish paint underneath would just show thru.

Edit: actually, your river color reminds me a little of my time living downtown in the west loop.  Every St. Patty's Day the river was especially green Wink 

Thanks, Andy. I wish that I had taken photos of the samples that I poured to show the effect without tinting the Envirotex Lite. It looked OK, but not nearly as good as when I tinted the mix.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by selector on Saturday, October 30, 2021 11:55 PM

I always advise tinting with just a couple of drops of acrylic craft paints in a batch approaching half a liter.  More volume, add a couple of drops per half-liter of the eposy.  I would never pour more than enough at a single pour to cover the surface more than about 1/8-1/4" deep.  You can correct as you go, mix another batch, and pour it over the cured previous pour.

I also add Plaster of Paris powder to create turbitidy, just a pinch between thumb and forefinger, maybe 1/4 tsp.

I use Hauser Green and yellow to create the look of the greenish/grey river near my home town in south central British Columbia.  

The pour will be like glass on its surface, but only if you cover it well and don't let anything touch it, or airborne solids land on it.  If you'd like a more realistic appearance, spread a thin layer of gloss medium, like Mod Podge, over the cured top surface and then stipple it with the side of the applicator foam or brush.

Here is what my 'river' looks like outdoors on my diorama: [click on the image below for an expanded view]

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, October 30, 2021 11:31 PM

richhotrain
he photos below show the painted base before the pour and the same scene after the pour.

That looks good Rich.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Saturday, October 30, 2021 7:59 PM

Wow that looks great.  (Same for Docs pics using a different method.)  And I think it perfectly illustrates original question.  It almost looks as if you could have gotten away without tinting the resin at all and the greenish paint underneath would just show thru.

Edit: actually, your river color reminds me a little of my time living downtown in the west loop.  Every St. Patty's Day the river was especially green Wink

Andy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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Posted by richhotrain on Saturday, October 30, 2021 8:17 AM

The Milwaukee Road Warrior
 
richhotrain

I used Envirotex Lite for the Chicago River on my layout. So, the river runs through an urban enviroment. I painted the plywood base before pouring the Envirotex Lite.

I did some sample tests first and then decided to add a few drops of color to the Envirotex Lite before making the actual pour.

Rich 

For color: do I need something special or will a drop or two of acrylic paint work fine in envirotex? 

I poured Envirotex Lite over a large area, 12' x 30", but I only used a few drops of paint into the mix. If you use too much paint, it will look like you just poured paint, so it takes ever so little paint in the mix.

My pour added up to 5 quarts of Envirotex Lite mix but, again, very few drops of paint. I will look for my notes to find out how many drops I used.

The photos below show the painted base before the pour and the same scene after the pour.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Saturday, October 30, 2021 7:05 AM

richhotrain

I used Envirotex Lite for the Chicago River on my layout. So, the river runs through an urban enviroment. I painted the plywood base before pouring the Envirotex Lite.

I did some sample tests first and then decided to add a few drops of color to the Envirotex Lite before making the actual pour.

Rich

 

For color: do I need something special or will a drop or two of acrylic paint work fine in envirotex?

Andy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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  • From: Dearborn Station
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Posted by richhotrain on Friday, October 29, 2021 8:02 PM

I used Envirotex Lite for the Chicago River on my layout. So, the river runs through an urban enviroment. I painted the plywood base before pouring the Envirotex Lite.

I did some sample tests first and then decided to add a few drops of color to the Envirotex Lite before making the actual pour.

Rich

Alton Junction

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Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, October 29, 2021 7:51 PM

The Milwaukee Road Warrior
I'm just soliciting opinions here: is it better to tint the entire mixture or to just paint the Quikcrete underneath and let that suffice? I'm leaning towards the former not the latter.

I'd guess that you could get decent results with either or with both.  While I've used pourable "water" in the past, I prefer using Durabond patching plaster for the "water", and painted-on colours (and a clear finish) for the type of water that I'm trying to represent...

Wayne

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Posted by SpaceMouse on Friday, October 29, 2021 6:28 PM

I would do both. First I'd paint the concrete, then I would add a drop or two of brown pigment to your resin. Not a lot. That water looks pretty clear.

Of course, you are not modeling the LA River so you may want the water more stained.

Chip

Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.

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    November 2019
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Water color
Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Friday, October 29, 2021 5:57 PM

I was just looking over one of the previous threads on "pourable" water.  I picked up some Envirotex Lite for modeling a small section on my layout that will have three circular culvert pipes discharging into a concrete lined channel.  My double track main will run over the top of this.

The only real life scenario I can think of is the Los Angeles River, tho I know there are plenty of other lined channels out there.  The LA River is usually pretty dry - or even completely dry, but I'm not wanting to model that.  I would have the channel holding water on the layout.

I have some acrylic paints as well as Quikcrete concrete patch that I'm thinking I will use to form and lay the "concrete" channel.  I'm wondering about color:

In most pictures I've seen the water running thru a concrete channel looks anything but clear.  I figured I would need to add some drop of color to the Envirotex when its poured.  But then I wondered if it would actually look better to leave the Envirotex clear and simply brush on some browns and greens (under the resin) to give the appearance of times of lower water when perpetually moist concrete starts to stain and grows moss or algae.

I'm just soliciting opinions here: is it better to tint the entire mixture or to just paint the Quikcrete underneath and let that suffice? 

I'm leaning towards the former not the latter.  

In these pictures for example, you can see that the river is shallow, yet there are greens and browns underneath.  How to best replicate this?  Again, I will have a deeper river than in these photos with no bare concrete channel showing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73417912@N00/5224394836/in/photolist-8XEoz3-cZUNSm-VSySb4-yAYRVh-UNRuor-2d65YyN-8ZLiVH-2ejMjWx-CWhtyJ-dyAxbv-VYRiwF-zeaQVA-7ni717-23zDU2M-8nMy5p-bs8Ghb-bmfGSk-9iemvx-yyLjK3-2hP8a4M-2deT9k1-qePZY-2ekXyYp-23JtkPB-2ekXFVv-QzDzRP-84pNVE-2ker9MB-XxXRAc-2egkmws-2egk1bC-2cX83Vi-2ekXD6c-2kerzgY-nEBouU-2kerzgT-23JtQYP-8nCveU-2cX7Str-2kerzfW-2ifC6Hd-2ker9QY-2kenjBr-2kerzcV-rN3p3c-2h1dSCD-27GhZte-J35gji-2khTW3C-2kftG6v

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jalcornphoto/4784059803/in/photolist-8hKyiH-pPqZ5x-CmK7Pr-2djgKdj-QxyBjk-2eeMBs8-WdzYyw-VuMSMc-VtAXUp-XNkWoi-Tdf26b-VuMSYe-WKmAY3-VqT7dL-YPwYLX-VqT7sd-r1n5qh-UQwj32-VGjxrj-yyLdvu-S5BdfL-2cGEwX7-2ekXrDz-HxGMye-23NSf2z-2cVVvkn-2cU7bEM-2cRZ4tt-oHhdcz-a3PGx7-2d2waqH-7VGo5N-8suJwx-zecmDu-QqN1Wg-2e7sGGs-yB4CcM-2djgHxL-2dNAhmz-2b341Hm-o4TH8c-o8ARBT-2hP8aUz-2cX7wWR-oUi8ds-di5HNf-QzDpsx-o6J72q-2ddHw3L-2khQF3j

 

Andy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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