I've used some Woodland scenics realistic water with fair success on a small dio, but am planning on using the Envirotex Lite product so loved by many US modellers on this site. I just have a couple of questions:
1. What type of paint can I mix with it (Acrylic or oil)?
2. Once it's started setting, how do I go about making ripples, and how long have I got before it's too hard for this?

I have seen the effects of this water (well it's varnish, really) and think it's the most economical way of doing large areas. It's for my Mekong Dio, and will be poured on a piece of perspex, which will have been painted the river colour underneath. I'm hoping the tinted resin will add depth (but as the mekong is pretty opaque, not too much) but more importantly, ripples and wakes. I struggled to achieve this on a test with the Woodland Scenics product as it cured so slowly - and am hoping that a thin layer or two of Envirotex will do the job.
Any comments or tips welcomed!

Thanks

Richard

If memory serves me correctly I believe you can add acrylic paint to Envirotex.
You need to follow the directions perfectly. You will need to pour (depending on how deep you want the Environtex) several layers approx. 1/8" in thickness. Darkest tint=1st layer, going lighter as you go up. This material has to 'cure' fully in a completely dust free environment. It tends to creep up on things in the dio such as trees, reeds, models that are set in the "water"
I have only poured it for a perfectly flat swamp like pond so I have no idea how it 'works' to create ripples/ rough surface.
When I was finished I did notice that it was near impossible to work around the 'pond' without smudging the perfectly glassy surface or leaving fingerprints. I remedied this by pouring a layer of "Future" over the final Envirotex. I used the Future to attach the pond scum, leaves etc. to the surface

Hello,
We use gallons of Envirotex a year for our architectural models. I have to add that Envirotex hates lacquers like Floquil. If you're adding thinner layers over each other then you can work the last layer into ripples and wakes with a fun shaped paint brush. We usually pour one deep layer and leave it over the weekend with a dust cover over it. Another little tip is to use a hair dryer to take out the bubbles that continually surface, but not to much heat or it will form a clear loaf of bread.
Watch out though, it does create some serious heat and will melt anything styrene related.
Hope this helps,
Brian

I used it once for a V.N. river boat supply dio. I mixed in acrylics with each pour, !/8 to 1/4 inch deep. My ripples for the stern were made of acrylic medium gel and the wake was a frezzer bag cut and attatched with the same. You can look down in the water by the dock and see the post and a half sunk sampan dissapire into the depts.

Thanks guys, that's a great help... just a couple more questions on your answers -
...melting anything styrene based - do you mean expanded polystyrene? I'm using a sheet of 4mm clear polystyrene as a base, partly because it's flat, but also to give a tiny bit more depth - and I don't want it to melt... If you think it will, I'll switch to a thin sheet of mdf...
...using acrylic gel - is that the art shop stuff? I have a tub made by Vallejo "transparent gel medium" - does this sound like the same stuff?

As this will be the last part of the dio to be done, I have time to do some tests... which will help. If I have time, I'll post some test shots and results...

Thanks again

Richard

The chemical reaction that occurs when the resin cures causes heat. The caution is in not pouring too much resin (depth wise) at once thus creating a load of heat and/or not suspending too thin a detail out of styrene into the resin (for fear of warpage). I don't think Environtex will create enough heat to warp your 4mm plastic base but I believe I would use something that I know wouldn't be affected....go with the mdf

The Vallejo "transparent gel medium" is their version of the acrylic gel that was mentioned ....it should work fine.
Cheers,
Charles

I just recently purchased and used something called "pour on" or "EZ-pour" or something like that. It is basically resin and hardener, but it is designed to be used for thick (1/8 ", I think) layers of protective coating...like for wood table tops, or whatever.

It was the first time I've used resin, and I was doing a stream. I used some brown(and a tiny bit of green) oil-based craft paints to color it, although it came out a bit too muddy, but not to bad.

I ended up spending oodles of time stirring it, trying to create ripples and waves, etc. I read an article on water effects with resin, and the person said to stir it until it gelled, and then keep stirring, because you wouldn't have a lot of time after it gelled........*Ha*

that was a joke, it didn't work. I stirred and stirred....and stirred. I ended up having leave for the afternoon. Even though it was hardly movable the last time I stirred, it still settled back, and I ended up with a still stream.

Do your homework, and be prepared to spend a long time stirring, especially towards the end of the gelling period. I guess that's the moral of the story. Or ramble....oh well.