Lava base question (not the same old question I swear!)

[Kingloser]

I am working on a large display base for my grand Tournement army it will be multi tiered and the center will have a lava water fall. I have a good Idea of how to transition into the lava but reallly have no idea as to how to make the actual lava fall. I have thought about water effects but don\'t know if I can do the volume I need (and it is expensive if I make a mistake). I was wondering if anyone of the kind posters here had an idea for the type of materials I could use to pull this off.

Thanks.

 

[No Such Agency]

Lava has a high viscosity and would not \"fall\" like water unless it was *extremely* hot (unlikely near the surface of the earth). It is more like pudding anywhere that people can see it.

 

[Yaki]

For a type of consistancy like lava, you could try (do an test portion first) of baking soda, white glue (like elmers), and water to thin the mixture. Mix the baking soda and glue into a paste. If its too thick, thin it with some water until its a workable consistancy. You\'d need to make an armature of the waterfall so it would have somewhere to stick. Once it dries you can paint it.

I suggest you do a test piece and paint it an everything to make sure this would work. I\'ve never tried doing this so thats why I say test it. :]

Its also very cheap.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Is that the kind of effect you are looking for?

You could achieve it by making a very thin mix of Polyfilla (Spackle) and pouring it where you want it to go then, when dry, covering it with PVA and running an old comb through the surface to get the rippled effect.

 

[Silverthorn]

Or use hot glue from a glue gun. It\'s very viscous and keep a shape (it doesn\'t flow). You can add successive layers to create the effect and size you want.

 

[freakinacage]

i agree with mike - although i would add pva to the polyfilla. this will stop it being so brittle and should give it a little give. as well as adhering ot to the base board better

 

[Ogrebane]

You can use PVA and wait till its close to drying before pouring it. Leave the \"Water fall\" on a slight angle (like 20 degrees). use like the back of a paint brush to get the ripples and build it up using more PVA once the first coat is dried. This will take at least a week to build tho.

 

[Orchid Noir]

With the pva could you also try letting the surface form a skin and gently manipulate it to form the ripples the same way the cooled lava on the surface does? Maybe hurry the skin formation with a hairdryer, or whatever, so the stuff underneath stays as ooz-ish as possible.

Or, depending on how much area the lava will have, this may actually be a place you could try some of those crackle finishes, under the primer, for texture.

Just random ideas on the topic, no practical application to back them up yet.(of course both of these possibilities are for the above reference pic)


Edit -
Another thing I meant to mention, Liquitex (and I think Golden) make a super-heavy gel medium in both gloss and matte that is rather comparable to the water effects (the one part stuff), I just started playing with it because it is a)more widely available and b) can be found in larger containers if the needs call for it.

 

[Kingloser]

Excellent ideas thanks for the reponses!