what is the best way to make water? One way I've heard of is resin. I am, however, a skeptic of this method, since I've no idea on how to prepare resin and am under the general impression that it is tough to do. I have heard, however, that some railroad modellers use small blue-tinted plastic beads that come in bags, and "boil" them down in pots and simply pour them into where they need the water. Is this simply something too good to be true, is it real (if so, who makes it) or, am I just under a misconception thinking that this stuff is plastic while it's actually resin (whoa long sentence there but it's over now ) If such a material doesn't exist at all, then how do I go about with the clear resin? Thanks a million for anyone who responds.

I recommend "Realistic Water" from Woddland Scenics, no heating, no mixing.

This however gives you "flat" water as it is self leveling. If you need "texture" follow up with "Water Effects" same vendor. Check out their website for ideas.

(BIG CAUTION make sure your base is well sealed, like I said this stuff "Realistic Water" is self leveling)

Ahh water - one of the most discussed topics.

I personally have used resin and I find it easy to work with (if you're not coloring it)

Here are some other threads
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/28409&page=1

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/9623&page=1

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/7272&page=1

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/9421&page=1

** Check out the envirotex Pour On stuff in the above thread. Keith reaves about the stuff. I haven't used it but his recommendation come highly regarded.

i Have used the clear resin and it works nice , just needs some care with the heat it gives up not to melt thin foliage.
I am now experimenting with polyester . Thats almost like resin but its a lot lot cheaper . Its used with a small quantity of hardener and so far i have only good results
I ll let u know
I have also used EZ water the heat melting pellets but the heated stuff is kinda hard to handle in detail so need lots of care


Costas

If you go to your LHS and check the railroad section there is a product from Woodland scenics that produces nice water finnishes. DON NOT get the beads that you melt in a pot. They turn yellow pretty quickly and in my opinion look like melted wax. They have a new product in a bottle that is self leveling and dries crystal clear. They also have a water effects product to simulate fast moving water and waterfalls. Well worth a trip to the Hobby shop IMHO>
Cheers,
Bryan

I think the best way to make water is to use clear resin. Here's a diorama built by 'Art Instructor' some five years ago using clear resin to simulate water and wakes :

Woodland scenics realistic water is a simple and effective way to easily make bodies of water. It can be easily tinted by adding drops of paint to it, or stay clear. When it dries, it stays clear (no discoloration though it looks milky white when wet) In fact, I am using it on a panzer diorama I am making right now (if you can wait, I can take pictures of the results to show you)

Check out the November 2004 issue of Fine Scale Modeler there is a really cool feature on making water.......

Has anybody here tried Acrylic Medium Gel?

Cougar

Here is another picture using the Woodland Scenics Realistic Water. Like the guys above say, it dries clear and is easy to pour. depending how "deep" you want the water, you might have to pour it in layers. I think i ended up pouring about 4 or 5 layers for this.

how much is that woodland water?

Francois,
Woodland Scenics web sight list the water for $15.98 and the water effects for $11.98.

It might seem alot, but the bottle is a good size bottle and it goes a long way unless you plan on modeling the ocean. You might be able to find it a couple of dollars less else where.

here's another method by Plasticbattle

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/35013&page=1

i've try this method on scrap plastic and i make a small pond out of plaster of paris..and it turn out okay... guess i have to practise more to master this technique. This is the cheaper alternative so far and yet it's time consuming...be patient with it

How bout a little EZ-Pour? The splash was made with Plaster of Paris, but the deep blue water was all done with EZ Pour....




There are several more photos in my gallery at the following link:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/photos/showgallery.php?cat=13432&ppuser=84&password=&page=1

and how about this stuff? Andrea Artificial Water



Is this resin water?

I hear everyone talking about resin water and I really wanna try it out but I hear no brands....who makes resin water? Which one is easy to work with / good price?

Martin

Spectre, don't go for the E-Z water beads!!!
They turn yellow, and the stuff even hardens before gravity can really kick in and level the stuff.
Just like me you'll get stuck with staircases of water...
Or you need to take out the heatgun, melting the water and the model you put in there....

I'd put my hopes on the realistic water which you can pour straight out of the bottle, or go for the plaster underground with a few dozen thin layers of varnish.. whichworks out pretty fine too, depending on what exactly you want to create.

I'm trying to make a diorama like this: https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/167004#1402948

I have never done anything even remotely like this project, so it sounds like Realistic Water is the easiest way to go about things. Can anyone speak to how much RW I'll need to fill roughly 100 insq?

You will need a lot, a real lot, I've used both resin and the Woodland Scenics products in several dioramas. The Realistic water took more than one and a half bottles to pour an area about 8" x 10" to a depth of 1/4". You will get much more area and depth from a resin product such as Envirotex. The down side to using resin is the heat it generates when curing. You must pour in multiple layers of about 1/8", AND ALLOW AMPLE TIME TO CURE BETWEEN POURS. The other thing is that resin has a strong odor while curing. That is why I tried the Realistic Water. I was doing a 1/35 scale diorama of an Amtrac coming ashore. I got good results with Realistic Water. But I used a lot of it for an area with a fairly shallow depth. I had previously done a diorama of the same size featuring a similar Amtrac sitting in much deeper water using the Envirotex resin. I would not attempt to do the same diorama using Realistic Water because it would take too much of it, and be cost prohibitive. I hope this helps you and answers your question. Al

Yeah I saw the Envirotex Pour-On as well. It seems kinda expensive (compared to RW, but I understand now that the EPO will go a lot farther), so can you say how far say, an 8 oz bottle will take me? I think I'll be needing MUCH more than one 8oz, but just to get a bit of an estimation, you dig?

I couldn't say, I've never used that product. I used the two part polyester casting resin made by Envirotex. From what I saw on the their website the Pour On is for applying a glossy surface and not for casting. I think you may run into the same problem achieving any depth as with Realistic Water. Al

http://www.eti-usa.com/consum/castresn/castresn.htm#easy
Is this what you're talking about? If so, did you use the EasyCast or the "regular" stuff? Sorry for all the questions, by the way...I'm new to any kind of casting whatsoever!

Yes that is exactly what I'm talking about. I am by no means an expert either. I have used the resin in two projects and the Realistic Water in one. It is just that in my experience the resin goes farther. Also, with the resin you can 'float' an object by pouring a layer, waiting til it starts to set, placing the object and then poring the rest of the layers. I used clear plastic 'photo display' boxes (8" x 10" x 1" deep) as my base. I inverted them, then on the inside I built up my ground work, placed the model and anything else, and then poured the resin. The gentleman who did the submerged submarine made a mold that could be removed leaving a clear plastic cube containing the model. Joke shops used to sell a "fly in an ice cube" to be placed in the glass of the victim of the joke. It is the same idea and made the same way. Al

I guess I know what I'll be using for my "water" then! In your experience, how easy is the stuff to work with AFTER hardening? For instance, if my mold isn't completely smooth or some resin leaks into a crevice and leaves a "growth," would I be able to cut/sand the resin and polish it smooth?