How to work with artficial water
- Thread starter Starfall
- Start date
No Such Agency
New member
What kind of water were you trying to simulate? Running or still? Deep or shallow? Can you post pics of how it was \"ruined\"?
freakinacage
Well-known member
yeah, some more info would be helpful here
My water was supposed to be a small, running river. Nontheless the gel was supposed to be transparent under the surface since I wanted it in the way fredy has done it here or at the base of his rifleman.
In the end it looked like... nothing. Rather like milk, but not really like milk. Not even like not-yet-dried glue. It just looked awful - not transparent or wet but like partly melted plastic or stuff. It also wasn\'t even but bumpy and had an awfully structured surface. I could not remove it because the scenery was made out of Styropor.
I hope that helps you helping me as I haven\'t got access to a camera at the moment...
Thanks
Salvador
Edit: By the way, I did apply multiple thin layers, but it didn\'t work.
Edit 2: I don\'t work with bad stuff, it\'s a gel Golden Demon winner Anja Klucke also works with, so I guess it\'s my fault that it doesn\'t look like water, just in case you wanted to advise me to buy a better gel.
In the end it looked like... nothing. Rather like milk, but not really like milk. Not even like not-yet-dried glue. It just looked awful - not transparent or wet but like partly melted plastic or stuff. It also wasn\'t even but bumpy and had an awfully structured surface. I could not remove it because the scenery was made out of Styropor.
I hope that helps you helping me as I haven\'t got access to a camera at the moment...
Thanks
Salvador
Edit: By the way, I did apply multiple thin layers, but it didn\'t work.
Edit 2: I don\'t work with bad stuff, it\'s a gel Golden Demon winner Anja Klucke also works with, so I guess it\'s my fault that it doesn\'t look like water, just in case you wanted to advise me to buy a better gel.
Einion
New member
Ah, that\'s good to know. Presumably it wasn\'t cloudy and you just continued adding more right?
At what layer did it become cloudy? What is it? It\'s just possible you got a bad batch if it\'s a reliable product.
The thing used in Fredy\'s example you\'ve posted is probably a type of casting resin, not a brush-on acrylic gel.
Einion
No Such Agency
New member
Yeah, you should probably have used gloss acrylic medium instead of the castable epoxy or whatever it is. You can spread it on and sculpt it with a brush to make \"ripples\" and waves and stuff.
Ebonbuddha
Active member
Woodland scenic\'s water is really good.Never had a problem with it.
This is a product galled \"Heavy Transparent Gel - Gel Denso Brillante Gloss\". Actually a Vallejo one, No. 27591, if anybody is interested.
The description: \"Extra dense acrylic resin. Dries to a transparent finish, is used in dioramas to represent water or ice, or to create volume. For all surfaces.\"
This sounded so perfectly easy...
Einion, I think the first layer was still okay, but already the second one wasn\'t really transparent any more. The third and the following eventually were the end.
I think my layers were max. 4mm thick.
The description: \"Extra dense acrylic resin. Dries to a transparent finish, is used in dioramas to represent water or ice, or to create volume. For all surfaces.\"
This sounded so perfectly easy...
Einion, I think the first layer was still okay, but already the second one wasn\'t really transparent any more. The third and the following eventually were the end.
I think my layers were max. 4mm thick.
freakinacage
Well-known member
show us a pic
I use it too. Don\'t despair; I have the same problem. I think the air can\'t flow well beneath the gel, so it won\'t cure correctly... at first. Let it lie. After two days, it should be transparent. If you get impatient, try making a very small hole into it towards the different \"milk pockets\". This will make it cure faster (hence my air idea). I threw away the first base I did with it, thinkng it was fubar, but then it remedied itself.
Just wait
Might take longer though if you used it on a large area.Let me put it this way:
This is my latest base, with a Rackham Lanyfh to compare the size. Please ignore the \"I hate this model but want it for the tabletop stats\" paintjob.
This layer of dense gel took about two days to dry. I was referring to the single layers when I replied; as I said, I managed to revive one of my eff-ups by poking holes into the opaque \"pockets\" that would not dry completely. My theory is that then air could reach there, setting off the chemical reaction which made it transparent. Maybe it works for you, too. The holes can then be carefully filled with yet more dense gel or just ignored; they are not really that obvious if you don\'t look too close and certainly won\'t be noticed when playing with the piece.
To make the holes I used my scalpel; I don\'t know what effect a drill would have, but I don\'t think it would be a good idea.
This is my latest base, with a Rackham Lanyfh to compare the size. Please ignore the \"I hate this model but want it for the tabletop stats\" paintjob.
This layer of dense gel took about two days to dry. I was referring to the single layers when I replied; as I said, I managed to revive one of my eff-ups by poking holes into the opaque \"pockets\" that would not dry completely. My theory is that then air could reach there, setting off the chemical reaction which made it transparent. Maybe it works for you, too. The holes can then be carefully filled with yet more dense gel or just ignored; they are not really that obvious if you don\'t look too close and certainly won\'t be noticed when playing with the piece.
To make the holes I used my scalpel; I don\'t know what effect a drill would have, but I don\'t think it would be a good idea.
Cool, that looks way better than my first too layers. Nice base indeed, I\'ll try this on one of my ME 5 miniatures.
But this is only a mm thick... For the diorama, I need at least one inch of water! Would be about 40 days... Good lord. Thanks for your advise and example, but there has to be another way?! I mean, the text says \"...or to create volume\". Volume sounds like a cube to me, not like a square.
But this is only a mm thick... For the diorama, I need at least one inch of water! Would be about 40 days... Good lord. Thanks for your advise and example, but there has to be another way?! I mean, the text says \"...or to create volume\". Volume sounds like a cube to me, not like a square.
Einion
New member
Wrong product for this. It\'s not important that someone else has done this with success, it\'s not the ideal thing to use for a couple of reasons. Acrylic mediums should really be put on in layers no more than a couple of millimetres thick (4mm is really too thick) and they are relatively soft at normal room temperature and humidity, meaning that dust can stick to the surface.
You want clear casting resin for this sort of thing to get good results consistently.
This is an additive for acrylic paint to increase the viscosity and to add volume, to make larger applications of paint a little cheaper.
Einion
