Rivers and Streams

[woko]

Having never attempted water before and faced with the fact the I have to build a river for my Dads model railway layout, and that the club require an extensive river on the new extension to the 4mm scale layout I figured I best do some tests to see how this resin malarkey works, and whether it is a total ballache to get right or pretty reasonable at creating water effects.

I wanted to give epoxy resin a go, as I had seen quite a lot of successful looking rivers in magazines and online that had used this method and it looked pretty convincing in the pictures. So I opted for a  simple 1-1 ratio resin mix, as didn't fancy on my first attempt at trying my hand at the different ratio mixes you have out there which will more than likely require a person to have a lot more maths skills than me, and some kind of digital scales to get the correct ratio's right. So keeping it relatively simple i bought a simple resin 1-1 ratio mix kit off T'internet and cracked on by preparing a couple of test bases for the resin to be poured over.

I used some spare insulation sheets I had left over from my studio build, and carved out a river, my first attempt was a bit ambitious and I ended up carving out essentially a Large Valley, realising this was completely unrealistic for what I was looking to achieve i chucked it and had another go and thought I would create a simple river lightly banked either side, and more of a rocky stream you might find in the Lake District. It is important to note that you need to seal this insulation stuff before pouring any resin onto it as the resin will react with it and essentially melt it apparently. So not wanting a saggy river, I covered the insulation in a layer of plaster, this gave me something firm to paint, and create a river bed in which the resin can sit on top of. So I painted up the river beds, added bits of stuff I found in the garden and then primed the lot with a Burnt Umber, sieved some soil on the ground, painted the rocks, added in some small details to break up the base, quickly created some fish... rather large fish I might add in 3d and printed them off to sit in the river bed, I think next time I will go for a slightly sandier river base, and paint the fish a bit darker to provide a stronger contrast between them. I would also like to add some lily pads to the shallows, however I think i may have to cut these out of paper and paint them, will investigate further and see how I go, and potentially add them in next, along with some subtle white water effects on the stream variation.

Hopefully this has been slightly useful to some folks 

[Philou]

So, what was the resin? What quantity did you have to use for the depth you've shown? Did it take long to cure and did it smell?

 

Just asking as I shall have two short river sections to create once I'm on my way.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

[woko]

5 minutes ago, Philou said:

So, what was the resin? What quantity did you have to use for the depth you've shown? Did it take long to cure and did it smell?

 

Just asking as I shall have two short river sections to create once I'm on my way.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

Some great questions Philip

 

I bought 16oz of Resin, it came in 2 bottles of 8oz's I used about two thirds of the resin for these two small examples, it took a good 20hrs to go hard, and I would make a better job of sealing the resin at the ends next time than I did.

I did use acetate sheeting with pva, and masking tape, but one side leaked on one of the models... hence its a little rough. I just bought crystal clear epoxy resin 1-1 ratio mix, i went on that well known site that sells everything and picked the cheapest, they are all pretty much the same price, but this cost me 11 quid, I think In future I  would need 4 times as much for a larger river at this depth, so may make it a bit shallower to bring the cost down. It didn't smell no, but you need to mix it slowly for a good 2 minutes. Slowly mixing so as not to introduce air bubbles, though a heat gun will get rid of any bubbles once poured i found, but you need to keep checking as they continue to pop up over 20mins or so of the resin curing.

I look forward to seeing your river Philip

Cheers

Rob

[Philou]

@woko You'll have a long wait I'm afraid! I've only just set up a new wall plate with its joist hangers and a new beam with supports ready and waiting for the arrival of joists......................

 

Thanks for the info though, it is useful having seen what you did and the quantities you used. I had seen on a video that air bubbles could be a problem - good tip about the heat gun!

 

Cheers and good luck,

 

Philip