Modeling shallow water

[No Such Agency]

I\'m currently painting up GW\'s Lord of the Rings mini of Arwen and Frodo on horseback. I want to make the base resemble the shallow cobble-bottomed river where her horse is standing when she washes away the Ringwraiths. The base is a standard round plastic 40 mm cavalry base. I was thinking that maybe I could use clear \"gel medium\" that I saw at the art store, but it seems like an expensive choice for such a tiny job. Sivousplay\'s article on his fabulous Ford of Bruinen diorama says he used plaster to make \"foamy-looking\" water, but I\'d rather make it look more transparent/glossy. Does anybody have any secret tricks for this kind of thing?

 

[Errex]

Gloss varnish?

Depending on the depht you are shooting for, you could just apply gloss brush on varnish to the cobbles..

It\'d work also if you decide to go for a painted water look (remember a Thunderbolt Mountain model somewhere on CMON of a Griffon/Eagle rescuing a girl from a teacup?)

 

[sivousplay]

There are several really good options for thin water ... my favorite is Ultra Glo (it\'s really affordable too).

http://www.eti-usa.com/consum/ultraglo/utlraglo.htm

I\'ve used it on a couple of pieces and it\'s fantastic ... Here\'s my first attempt at using it:

http://www.newwavegames.com/minis/contest/postapocalyptic/lgimages/jimjackson1.jpg

The master of it\'s use is DragonForgeDesign. Check out:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/index.php?id=4361

He had some others posted, but they seem to be gone. At any rate, it\'s clear (but you can add a little paint to give it some color) dries hard and is great for very realistic thin water.

It\'s toxic stuff, but just follow the directions and everything should go smoothly.

jim

 

[kevd82]

Woodland Scenics makes a water product called Realistic Water that is very easy to use. They also have a product that can be used in conjunction with it to create water effects like waves. I used it on my miniature id=10952 and found it easy to use and was pleased with the result.

 

[No Such Agency]

Solution!

OK, I hunted around for a bit and I think I\'ve found the answer to my own question! After a lot of futile calls trying to locate some Ultra-Glo locally, I visited the art store and got some Heavy Gloss Gel by GOLDEN. It looks like thick white glue in the jar, but dries glossy, clear and slightly rubbery. It\'s thick enough to apply (with an old brush) as a sculpted surface, like water running over an uneven substrate, but not thick like putty. You can tint it with a VERY small amount of acrylic paint or ink, to make any colour sludge, goo, sewage etc.

To make water for my figure\'s base, I tinted with a tiny tiny dab of Enchanted Blue, so the wet product was a light baby blue colour. It dried with a hint of blue, enough to make the gel more visible (otherwise a thin application is almost completely transparent). To be honest, the whole approach of painting a cobbled pattern on the base didn\'t work as well as I\'d hoped, but this is largely due to my freehand painting skills. A better painter could maybe pull off the trompe l\'oeil more successfully.

Overall though, and the effect was well worth the $13.00 CDN I spent on 8 oz. of the stuff. And there\'s lots left over...

 

[Jericho]

Sounds cool, I must admit. Something that can \"hold peaks\" is just what I\'m looking for... I have ideas for making my Nurgle sorceror blasting a poor SOB charging him through some shallow water. I wanted to have a shockwave through the water to show the sorcerous blast, instead of some actual manifestation of the magic. This could really make my day if I can find some

 

[studio_black]

heavy gloss gel i am going to give it a try sounds good

thanks for the info

 

[by_zeph]

:idea: The woodland scenics realistic water is incredible. The first picture you see on the website is done with the realistic water and the effects bottle. You don\'t have to mix, just pour and sculpt. Paint greens and browns on the base before pouring and create sludge and slime pools. You can also fade from lighter blues to dark in the middle and create rivers, lakes and oceans with depth.

bz

 

[by_zeph]

Almost all train and RC stores carry Woodland Scenics products. Sorry I forgot to include the address.
http://www.woodlandscenics.com/

bz

 

[crakedlamp]

GW published a good book on terrain building a while back it has some good tips on modeling water

 

[No Such Agency]

Update (w. pics)

These are the results of using Golden Heavy Gloss Gel with a slight blue tint. I would have posted these earlier but it was a Christmas gift for my brother, who surfs CMON too... The mini itself is here.