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Gloss Varnish to Represent Pond Water?


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Hi all, I have this feature on my layout which initially was going to be a war memorial or statue, then I decided on a sunken garden, and now I've settled on a pond with a footbridge.

 

I have cut a circular hole about 50mm across and about 12mm deep.  This has been boarded over from the underside and I have filled it up with some waste cork and old ballast, so as to lessen the depth of the hole.

 

I have painted the ballast and partway up the side walls of the "pond" in a very dark brown, and am intending to use the varnish pictured as water, with the hole filled in and the paint applied I would say the depth of "water" would be 5mm.

 

Before I go ahead though, does anyone have any tricks up their sleeves regarding this sort of venture?  I was wondering if I could maybe use a few pieces of green flock to represent submerged aquatic plants, for example, or adding flecks of plastic or glitter as fish?  That kind of extra interest.

 

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I'd be very grateful.

 

Cheers.

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Am I right in thinking you plan to pour the varnish to a depth of 5mm?  If so, I would advise against it - it wil probably never dry.  I have certainly used gloss varnish to represnt water, having painted the river bed appropriately, but I have not painted the bank sides to look as if they are under water.  I found that the important thing was to get the bed of the river/pond correct - ie the colour required and shading as necessary to suggest depth, then simply paint several thin coates of varnish, letting the paint and each coat of varnish dry thoroughly before applying the rest.  Practise on a mock-up to make part of the bottom look as if it is the sides of the pond - not done exactly that myself but I am sure that is the way to go.

 

As it happens, i am starting a new layout with a shallow boating lake where I may need to do something similar.  half-submerged old tyres form buffers around the edges, so I may need to represent the submerged half of the tyres among other things.

 

Harold.

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Cheers Harold, maybe I am being a bit optimistic trying to achieve that depth (5mm) - even with layering and drying would probably take a few months!  

 

My main goal was giving the illusion of depth, and adding a bit of visual interest with plants and submerged rock etc...  

 

I have seen water represented by gloss varnishing a dark brown/green piece of board, as you mentioned, and this can look effective.  It is something that I can do quite easily in this instance,  so maybe that's an option.  

 

Cheers, Ray.

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Maybe look at some of the products designed to replicate water such as Woodland Scenics "Realistic Water" (I am sure others are available). It is more expensive than varnish but you are only doing a small feature so it should not be prohibitive.

 

I have used varnish in the past and never been entirely satisfied with it. It is designed to be applied in thin layers and applying a deep pouring leads to problems such as shrinkage and not drying evenly. Use something designed for the intended application and you will probably get more satisfactory results.

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Thanks, I wasn't going to pour the varnish in one hit, but I take your point about the drying and the availability of other products more suited to the task.  It's just that I had this small amount of varnish leftover from another job and was keen to find a use for it!   As the "pond" itself is only very small, I'd like to avoid forking out for the woodlands scenic stuff if I can.

 

I have read of people doing the same with PVA glue and paint elsewhere on the forum, but that tends to be better suited to murky waters, canals etc...

 

At this point my money is on cutting a round disc from plastic, painting that brownish green and then applying varnish.  It's a compromise and not what I originally envisioned, but I think it's the most sensible solution. :unknw_mini:

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I've made ponds and rivers using varnish, as above many thin layers, paint leave a couple of days (more in a cold shed), paint and leave repeatedly. One thing though.. have a piece of card what ever you are using as the water, to place over the top to keep the dust out.. (especially if you have a cat or dog.. Their hair gets everywhere :( 

 

 My next waterbourne project is a ferry sitting on a see through sea of depth around 30ft (in 2mm scale), quite how I'm going to manage that one realistically I'm not sure yet..

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Thanks, that's all quite reassuring - thanks for the pic too.  I am able to lessen the depth of the pond, simply with the addition of more ballast material, I'm leaning in this direction the more I think about the project (!) 

 

I have already added some aquarium gravel to represent rocks, am on the lookout for "plants" and one or two "fish" now - maybe slithers of foil or glitter for them, I've got some iron filings somewhere...

 

My instinct is to use materials coloured more brightly than I normally would use for objects under the surface, so as to compensate for the dulling effect of the varnish (or whatever medium I am to use) and to prevent them becoming invisible.

 

Lots to think about!  :scratchhead:

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Fishes are going to be pretty much invisible in 4mm, unless they are ornamental (goldfish/koi), in which case the local 'eron's probably already 'ad 'em.  I have seen a shoal of upstream migrating suicide salmon done on a Canadian layout though, attracting the interest of a passing bear (who presumably then exists stage left..).  I've used varnish to represent shallow water such as puddles, but depth and clarity need something like 'Realistic Water' which will dry properly and has less surface tension.  Layers can be used to build up submerged detail; rocks, aquatic plants, supermarket trollies etc, but I would imagine you need to pour the next layer before the last one has gone off so that they mix and there isn't a visible light refracting boundary under there.

 

Using brighter colours to highlight underwater detail makes sense but sounds like the sort of thing that requires a subtle approach not to look garish.  Lighting needs to be thought about as well, and if you can arrange it to come in at as low an angle as possible it will be more effective, but overbright will give you unwanted reflections.

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Cheers John, should have mentioned that this is all going on in 'n' gauge!  So I'm only after the impression of a school of tiddlers catching the light - not a scale model! (What a pun!)

 

Anyway, I've just filled up the pond with yet more ballast - so now the bottom is where the high water mark previously was.

 

The plan now is to paint the side wall and bottom of the pond dark brown then pick out the stone detail of the bed of the pond with dry brushed white or beige, prior to adding a water medium.....

 

Looks a bit of a mess at this stage!

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Edited by Ray Von
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