Hey all. I was wondering how I would go about constructing a river for a diorama I am building. I think I want it to be a muddy river with trash/rubble in it…if that makes a difference. If anyone could tell me how to do this I would appreciate it greatly.
Good luck guys,
Mark
Woodland Scenics has a product to simulate water. Check out your local R.R. Modeller’s store.
Roberts suggestion of Woodlands Scenics will give you a nice effect. If you feel brave and don’t mind experimenting first, two part resin is pretty handy. Add too much hardner and you’ll get a ripple across the surface. (Mind you this generates some heat so be careful)
Otherwise paint epoxy, celluclay, body puddy, take your pick.
Mike
Thanks…this really helps. Although…I’m stupid and have no idea what your talking about renarts…so if you could fill me in…it would be appreciated.
Good luck guys,
Mark
Stop it, you’re not stupid, I should have made myself clearer.
Clear two part resins are just that. They are comprised of a catalyst and a resin. Or sometimes the catalyst is called hardner depending on the brand. Separately they have a shelf life. Combine them and you get a hard resin. Add too much hardner or catalyst and it will cause a severe chemical reaction (relativley speaking, no explosions or fires) and will cause the resin to ripple. Sort of like a slight current or air blowing across its surface. Part of the chemical reaction of these two components is the generation of heat. Not too hot but enough to soften some plastics and melt foam. And something you should keep an eye on. As it sets up you can create peaks and valleys in it for different effects. It is self leveling so I wouldn’t try to create a waterfall with it or rapids. Some of these resins come with a tint others you can add tinting to them, or they can be painted over. Because of the translucency though you can still see detail underneath, like a partially submerged wing on a downed aircraft, or the river or streams, or puddles bottom.
The other materials, celuclay, puddy, bondo, can be sculpted to make chop, wakes, waves, and waterfalls but must be painted fr the final effect.
The resins are available at craft, hobby, and home centers under different brand names. Read the directions and above all EXPERIMENT before submersing that 100 hour figure or model in it.
Show us the finished project when its done.
Mike
New issue of FSM has an ad for Scenic Water.
The ad says its for Rivers, streams and waterfalls.
Remeltable, pours, flows and sets as you want it.
888-242-8053
www.scenicwater.com
I am not familiar with this product so Caveat Emptor
Mike
Hey, thanks for that detailed walkthrough on the resin and other products as well…It was really helpful. I guess I’ll be doing that experiment soon.
Good luck guys,
Mark
Just ask 617 sqn (SORRY i couldn’t resist it )…LOL …Gregers[}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)][}:)]
[tup][yeah]
If you want to see some really beautiful water work-rivers, ponds, etc., with nitty-gritty details, get your hands on some “Model Railroader” (Kalmbach Publishing plug here~winkiwink~ ) magazines. I have a stack of them given to me long ago, and those guys just go all the way with such things, many times scenes that are just so lifelike you want to live there! Working in HO scale (1/87 I think) shows a fair idea of what a person can do in larger scales, or smaller. HO is really a good transition scale that accomodates inspiration for scales running higher or lower.
Hi there,
I too am a newbie, and had a similar idea. This is my second kit and first attempt at a dio. I opted for the 2 part resin (as described by renarts). Instead of using slightly more harderner, I mixed equal parts resin and harderner. Here are the steps I followed:
- Prior to mixing the resin and hardener, I added a couple of drop of Brown
paint (Tamiya Acrylic). - I mixed equal parts of resin and hardener (for safety/health reason, in a well
ventilated area). - After painting the base various browns to simulate the rivers depth, I poured
the resin mixture. - Once the resin mixture settled/levelled, I used and icecream stick to
ripple the water up. I repeated this every half hour or so until the resin
started to stiffen (approx 3-4 hours) . - At this stage, I kept dabbing the icecream to get a ripple effect until the
resin was set (this stage took around 5-10 minutes)
Note: Do this in a warm area. If it’s too cold, the resin will cloud up. In that case,
submerge the bottles of resin and hardener in warm water until they
clear.
Here is the result. Although I still have much to do here, it hasn’t truned out to
bad.
Hope this helps.
cheers and good luck,
Jurgen.
that looks good, did you just take the end of it and prod the water or did you try pulling to the side a touch?
I want to get to that level of modeling
thanks t2t crash.
Both actually. Initially I gently stirred it. Towards the end when it was setting, I was proding and pulling. Use short jabbing/pulling motions.
i like it! i think i might have to make a base with a creek for my Hasegawa Jeep
I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Good luck!!!