Hello,
I am almost ready to pour my river and was wondering if anybody has ever attempted to color/tint Woodland Scenics realistic water before they used it to get a muddy/dirty water effect.
thanks
Drew T.
There should be no need to tint Realistic Water.
If you paint the surface on which the Realistic Water will be poured, the fact that Realistic Water is poured in a thin layer should definitely provide the effect you want.
Rich
Alton Junction
I use Envirotex for my water. I respectfully disagree with Rich about coloring the water material itself, though. Yes, the most important part of making good-looking "water" is base preparation and painting, but tinting the material itself adds to the appearance of "depth." For shallow trackside ditches I use a muddy brown-green tint. For deeper "water," I do multiple thin pours, working gradually from dark brown-black low layers to light green or clear top layers.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
When I add color to Instant Water, I just add a few drops. A little goes a VERY long way. You don't want to make it opaque, which is very easy to do accidentally.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Off topic:
I am glad to see that I am not the only person who has begun to transpose letters as I have gotten older. I usually try to blame my computer.
MisterBeasley I use Envirotex for my water. I respectfully disagree with Rich about coloring the water material itself, though. Yes, the most important part of making good-looking "water" is base preparation and painting, but tinting the material itself adds to the appearance of "depth." For shallow trackside ditches I use a muddy brown-green tint. For deeper "water," I do multiple thin pours, working gradually from dark brown-black low layers to light green or clear top layers.
Disagreement so noted Mr. B.
It will be interesting to see how this thread develops and the various opinions on tinting Realistic Water. I had tinted some samples before i actually poured Realistic Water but concluded it looked better (and more realistic) untinted.
Phoebe Vet When I add color to Instant Water, I just add a few drops. A little goes a VERY long way. You don't want to make it opaque, which is very easy to do accidentally.
Yep, that is a concern that I would have about tinting. Maybe the OP should experiment with tinting some samples first to see if he likes the results. That would be the best way to find out.
richhotrain Yep, that is a concern that I would have about tinting. Maybe the OP should experiment with tinting some samples first to see if he likes the results. That would be the best way to find out. Rich
Yes to both Rich and Dave here. The amount of tinting is critical, and the amount of paint required is very, very small. I did a number of test-pours of Envirotex, with various depths and tints, before I got over the fear factor of doing it for real on my layout.
I haven't used Realistic Water but the high gloss resin I do use is probably very similar, and for deeper water I always tint it.
On a couple of waterways I've begun with a brown tint followed by green, followed by blue-green. I like the depth it gives. With only small amounts of acrylic paint you don't lose any gloss.
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
Here is a pic of WS water that I messed up with too much tint
and here is a pic after I re poured without tint and with a re done base
Muddy puddles on my layout - tinted with raw umber and a dash of white
Use Magic water and tint it with enamel (Floquil) . Use a toothpick drop per about 30 ml of pour. Pour it in thin layers. Also have used fine ground covers.
this is pond. Has paint above plus some very fine ground covers. Done in thin layers of about 1/32-1/16"
the stream portion flowing into pond. Used clear caulk, then poured magic water over caulk. Pardon the unfinished scenery
model in O. the Western NY and Ontario Railroad
I have a question for those of you who tint Realistic Water.
How do you do it? Do you take a sample proportion and add drops of paint until you find the right tint and then add tint to an entire bottle of Realistic Water?
I ask that because it is difficult to impossible to know in advance how much Realistic Water you need to pour.
I add just a few drops of paint to the bottle and stir it with a 1/2 inch flat drill bit.
I almost always use the entire bottle. If not, what's left will match what I used.
These are some of the best water scenes I've seen, thanks everyone for sharing the photos---they have given me some excellent ideas for future modeling projects that will be coming up shortly.
Wayne
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
I've used blue and green tinted Realistic Water poured in layers over a painted depression. I start with black in the middle and move toward brown/tan at the edges. I'm happy with my results.
My method works great for making waterfalls as you get some color into the falling water rather than just opaque white.