How would I make water if I don’t have that fake water looking stuff?
Purchase some [:D]…otherwise, it depends on what you want to do. I’ve created fake water by simply painting the wood base to look like water. This is very simple and looks effective at smaller scales. I’ve also made water out of putty which you can shape to make waves/wakes, etc and, again, paint to look like water. Equally effective as long as it looks good. In both cases I was creating the ocean, so various shades of dark blue were sufficient.
However, if you’re looking for a transparent style of water then it may be best to invest in some fake water effects from, say, Woodland Scenics or another type of clear resin or epoxy.
Other than that, I"m not sure what else you could use. Hope that helps though.
Jon
Start your cyclotron, add hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the ratio of two hydrogen to one oxygen……
You did ask! [8-|]
Seriously, there have been numerous articles and tutorials published on this, using a variety of materials. You can try searching here. (If you are a subscriber, there may be some available to you for download.) Otherwise I suggest Google-ing. Be sure to include “diorama” and “water” in your search terms.
Just get the color and surface correct. Apply a few coats of Future to get the required shine. Remember water seen from the air looks different than from eye level. All the sand bars, rocks ect. really show up when viewed from above.
One way I have done it on various layouts is to create the illusion by first doing the details under the waters surface. Then overlay the water area with a sheet of clear styrene or acetate. You can use some flat clear to give the surface some sense of texture. Or you can leave it flat clear and pristine looking. Sometimes we oversprayed the clear styrene or acetate with a transparent blue or green to give it contrast.
If you are going to embed something in the water, you need to do some careful engineering to cut out the places where the object breaks the waters surface. Around it you can use a clear drying glue or epoxy.
Thanks for the help.
Appreciate it.
If you aren’t going to use resin, plaster works rather well…
This is plaster of paris “water”… I poured the plaster into a mold-box, then used crumpled foil to make the wave texture. Then I painted it with tempera paints, and then it was brushed with high-gloss Mod-Podge…
Another technique I use for muddy river/pond water that’s still, doesn’t have anything growing up through it, and not clear enough to see the bottom, is just to paint the “water” directly onto the base with a good muddy-brown color, then cover it with a high-gloss varnish or the like.