Hey all.

Can anyone recomend a brand name of clear two part resin to use for creating water. I used this method in the past but the resin remained tacky. Preferably a brand available in Canada.

What have others done to ensure the resin fully cures?

Thanks
Blake.

Envirotex Lite

should be available in Canada as it comes from over your south border.

Look up my last thread, i recently made a river with it and i am very satisfied. Does not shrink and cures pretty fast ( 1 day)
river

Claude

Since you're in the American continent, google Taplastics and Smooth-on for their clear resins and dont hesitate to contact their costumer support before buying.

Hey Blake, if your resin stayed tacky, possible that you did not have enough hardener in it. I use enviro-tex like Claude and only had a problem once as it was over 1 1/2 years old. Does not seem to have a long shelf life. This stuff is great for water as you can tint it and get that looking through the water effect. Less tint as you pour your layers and you can see objects dissaper into the depths. As Claude said, it doesn't shrink and you can add ripples to it as it dries. If on the other hand you need water for the edge of a pond or such, I have used future floor polish. Takes alot of applications as it evaporates as it dries, but for a very small section works well.

Thanks guys! I'll give envirotex a shot. Looks like michaels carries it up here in Canada.

I'll have figures standing in the water, and it only needs to be about 1/8th to 1/4 inch deep. Do I need to worry about it melting the plastic.

Lastly, what can I use to tint it? Acrylic paint?

unmixed resin is damaged by the cold and freezing temps will make it useless when it is time to use it, so don't keep your resin in the shed.

Blake,
Envirotex is the best thing I have found for water.As Bob said it is pretty easy to work with.I have only done the base and some top waves with paint,so I'm not sure about tint.Drying time is good and is best in layers.Downside,it's not cheap.I'll try to post some pics of older dios,haven't done water in a while.Also NO it won't melt the plastic,Most times I used it for Viet Nam dios with men in the water.

Tom

Thanks Tom!

The water will only be about 1/4 inch think at most, its for a rice paddy. I want to tint it a little green/brown so its gives it a little illusion of more depth...

I picked up the Envirotex today. 44 bucks for a bok, maybe 750ml each bottle. Fortunatly my wife gave me one of her 40% off cupons for michaels.

Probably give it a shot next week. I'll post some pictures once it's done.

I'm looking forward to your results, still haven't worked with "water" yet myself.

Blake ,, the only thing i use for water is casting resin .. you can get it from any fiber glass supplier and comes in many different sizes .
With casting resin its easy to work with, drying speed all depends on how much hardener is added to it and room temp .
When mixed to the normal measurements of hardener to resin it takes about 24 hours to be totally dry and it drys very very clear .
easy way to find it in Canada is do a google search and casting resin and select the pages for Canada, you'll find what your looking for, its how i found the stuff i use .
If you want to see its results check out a dio i'm building called Crossing the gap .

Phill

I use Castin' Craft clear plastic to make water. I have poured it as high as 3 inches in 1 inch layers and the results were very convincing. The product cures fast and produces minimal fumes. It can also be easily colored with acrylic paints.

Hey all

Thanks for your replies.

I picked up some Envirotex Lite from Michaels with a 40% off coupon and did a test pour. It has cured well except for some small bubbles that are only visible from directly above... So a few questions

1) I tinted it with a bit of green to see how it worked. It mixed nicely... now, for a rice paddy that has had a chopper crash in it and a half dozen guys tramping through it I would think churned up brown water makes sence.... So I was thinking for mixing up two batches of brown and pouring them seperatly... one with a little tinting and one with more... The one with more tinding being used to show areas of more recent agitation? Make sence?

2) I followed instructions and blew gently over the surface to get rid of bubbles but not all were removed... any suggestions?

3) Making Ripples.... how have you guys done this. The stuff seems to settle back down even after 3 or 4 hours of curing... any suggestions?

Here is what I will be adding it to. Its only about 1/4 inch deep.



You can see the rest of the pictures here: ROGSMODELS.COM

I know I am late to the party (just joined).

I have heard you can use mold release spray (it keeps separate mold parts from sticking together when making a silicon mold)after you pour your "water" (read, resin). Just spray it on lightly until you see the bubbles disappear. What this does is, is that it reduces the surface tension and the bubbles won't have much to hang on to...so they just pop..