Finally finished my 2nd. dio, deciding to stick with just 2 figures and a kayak after some deliberation and generally sniffing too much glue from making the stream . Just thought I get a tinkle (hehheh) from you guys about how the stream looked. I used a urethane glue, PVC glue and rubber resin combo.
Woodland Scenics cost around $ 200 or more after the exchange rate (Malaysian $) and the Selleys clear sealent was literally a washout (more water references) so after some very useful ideas I got from the guys in this forum it was good ole glue. moderator slodder added the end image tag

Got another photo in my gallery but I thought I give this img thing a try first being a technologically impaired bum. Obviously the photo didn't come out. Can someone help me the techno-idiot how to post images with the post. Thanks.

Nice job! I need to try out that water venture... my only "WATER-works" was this Pzr II in Holland...



John
www.johnneill.com

Go

Hi,




You have deleted the second part ot the tag, it misses - [/img] - after the url of the photo.


HTH

I thinks it's a great looking dio with the correct atmospher to know it's a definitive tropical (just love the mangroves). Pitty the pictures are somewhat grainy.

THe water is absolutely excellent! Maybe the best looking water I´ve ever seen (never thought I´d hear myself say that sentence, lol)

Thanks for the comments guys and mucho thanks, Slodder for helping the techo cretin. Sorry about the graininess of the photos, I reduced the resolution to 800 x 600 so that the file sizes would't be too big but I guess it really blurs a lot of details.

i THINK THAT THIS SCENE IS VERY NICE EXECUTED THERE. The water is almost perfect and could be useful to describe what procedure you finally invented to follow about this. The only thing i d change is the stream line location parallel to the base side. if it was cutting through the base i believe that it would add more drama on the scene. It is a very good work

Costas

Great dio!The groundwork is great and the water too!!

Thanks for the constructive comments and yes, Major Goose the stream would have definitely looked better if it ran diagonally. It was suppose to run slightly diagonal during planning but when it came to execution, well Making water = tough work. Who would think Making water (apart from taking a leak) would be that tough.

Actually the stream was relegated to the back of the dio because I didn't know how well it turned out. Just as well as there were several mishaps. This is how it was made:
1. Painted the stream bottom as usual with the middle darker than the banks (Medium brownish olive brown to light olive brown) after adding the half submerged log and stones and grass reeds. Enhanced the flowing effect by placing debris on the above water part of the partially submerged log and allowing part of the debris to touch the water surface at an angle.
2. Poured a layer of a rubber resin glue used here locally for sticking picture frames and fiberglass. Its a yellowish viscous product with a painful drying time of 6 hrs. or more.
3. This rubber resin glue would have been perfect if it didn't make so many bubbles and wasn't so yellow. Could actually be foregone but it isn't too bad for tropical streams.
4. Painted a thin layer of acrylic olive brown over it to mask the bubbles and to give it a translucent look.
5. Added a thin layer of clear PVC glue (the glue used to join PVC pipes). Get the slightly more expensive stuff but beware the stuff is highly corrosive on styrofoam and plastic as I discovered when I found holes at the bottom of my stream and my retaining wall. Best to cover the walls with putty or plaster first. Drying time around 2-3 hrs depending on thickness of layer. Put it as thin as possible.
6. Painted that again with another even thinner and lighter layer of olive brown at certain areas (especially at the stream centre). Dropped in a couple of tea leaves and spices to simulate floating leaves. Top another thin layer if you have time to kill or if there's nothing interesting on the telivision.
7. Topped it with a clear layer of Selley's Urethane glue. Good stuff. At 4 hrs. hardening time just use a stirring stick and create ripples at around 2-3 hrs after application so it won't level out as much. Be careful to go slow to when mucking it up as it can still bubble. Do not add any paint.
8. Additional water turbulence especially behind or over obstacles (log, stones) can be created by stirring the Urethane layer and applying Superglue before the urethane levels out.
9. Finally a good dose of clear gloss. I used the Gungye Sangyo (don't know if it is spelt right) but I guess Future is even better. We can't get Future here (digusting isn't it?)

Beware the above to be attempted by sado-machoistic, glue sniffing lovers who have poor access to proper certified water making materials (hehheh) such as Envirotex.

Slodder please forgive me for the long write up. I can't help it I'm still suffering from the glue.

Exceptional groundwork !
Not only the water looks good : the mangrove, the cracked mud and the smaller plants look excellent, too.
Be careful about the long-term stability of your river, though. Combining/layering several glues / chemicals on top of each other may result in later cracks, bubbles, etc... even if it looks splendid at this moment.
nice work.

IN KRED I BALL! Extraordinary foilage! How did you make the mangroves?

Thanks for the advice on the glue General Failure. One of the main reasons for ending up using several glues was due to disasters and experimentation rather than a conscious decision. The first layer, the rubber resin was a bit too yellow and had a too long curing time. The cheaper PVC glue actually made a hole in my stream and walls and the thin acrylic paint I painted on the first layer. Its looked as bad as when my toilet bowl got stuck. Urethane glue is the best.
Well I did gain valuable experience from this disaster (not the toilet bowl, though) and I'm keeping my fingers crossed as apart from a slight shrinkage upon drying the glues are stable.
JPTRR thanks for the comment. I wrote something on the mangroves in this tread. Hope it comes out.
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