Modelling water

[Chris Chewter]

I picked up this months British Railway Modelling (Nov 2010) and I was very impressed by Kingstorre. However the one thing i wished they touched on is how the water was modeled. It was briefly mentioned in the DVD, but not in enough detail to allow me to replicate the method.

 

So the question is, how is it done?

 

Are there any other methods to create equally realistic calm sea effects?

 

Any ides?

[Jenny Emily]

There are probably as many ways to model water as there are to model any other scenery. The methods I've either used or seen used to great effect include:

 

A clear piece of perspex or similar plastic over the top of the river bed. This can then have varnish/colour washes applied to mimic dirty water and depth. The edges of the plastic can be hidden within the terrain of the banks of the water course.

 

Paint the base of a murky stream or canal with different shades of paint - I used Humbrol enamels (#10, #65, #27, #108 and #30 if memory serves me correctly). Over this I then added varnish. It makes for very grotty or very deep water well. It's added advantage is no real depth is required and it can be done direct to the baseboard.

 

Casting resin can be used, though your river/stream bed must be watertight and fairly level for obvious reasons! Not tried this method myself, but seen it done reasonably well.

 

Ripples and small waves can be done using PVA over a flat surface, gently disturbed in one direction when tacky, then painted when dry. Varnish over the top seals it all and adds that wet look. I believe that plaster can be used to get a similar effect. Again, I've seen this done effectively but never tried it myself.

 

I