emc@g.cs.cmu.edu (Edmund Clarke) (01/05/86)
From:Jim Clarke care of Ed Clarke Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI I would like to know of some ways to get the effect of water for my railroad scene. I`d preferably like ways that look most realistic. Some that would be good for rivers or lakes. (This is for HO if it makes any difference)
saver@nsc-pdc.UUCP (Steve Averill) (01/09/86)
In article <338@g.cs.cmu.edu> emc@g.cs.cmu.edu (Edmund Clarke) writes: >From:Jim Clarke care of Ed Clarke >Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI > > I would like to know of some ways to get the effect of water for my >railroad scene. I`d preferably like ways that look most realistic. Some >that would be good for rivers or lakes. > > > > (This is for HO if it makes any difference) Modeling Water (HO) ------------------ The best method that I have found for modeling water is to start by making the river/lake bed as realistic as possible. Us hard shell scenery methods and acrylic paints (they are easy to work with and produce a good affect. Paint the river/lake bottom the way you would expected to see it in real life if there was no water there. Add some bottom rocks, logs and even weeds but remember that these items will be weathered to a silvery grey side of the original color. The depth should be less then scale (you can do alot in 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch in HO scale. Let this all dry well before proceeding. The next step is casting resin. There are several brands...they all work about the same. Use the type that mix 2 equal parts, it is easier to mix correctly. It should be reasonable clear but a slight cast wont hurt as you are now going to color this mixture. I have found that you can color it with food coloring or acrylic paint. Some stores sell a coloring dye made for these casting resins. I would try these if they are available. NOTE: You don't want to get the color too dark so go easy! The color you want is likely to be a little difficult to guess correctly. I have found that it should be green with a little blue and brown. BLUE does not look good unless you want an effect like what you would see at yellowstone park or similar natural oddities. I urge you to be very careful about the darkness of the color. When the resin is mixed, the color should be hardly noticeable. Now just pour it into your river/lake bottom. If this is not a flat area you may need to fake some "dams" while it dries. This stuff is designed to flow flat and it will tend to do so!!! If you are doing a very deep pour (>1/4") then you should consider doing 2 pours instead of one allowing the first to dry before starting the second. If you want a perfectly calm lake like you would find if you were the first fisherman out in the morning and there were no wind then just let it dry normally. This rarely looks good though. Some waves are a nice effect. Use a hair drier to heat the resin. This will cause it to "set" faster and will put "waves" in the water. I really like this effect. Now if you want very big waves as in stormy or white water effects, use a stick of wood (anything disposable) to "draw" up peaks in the water. Just poke at it where you want the waves. Keep using the drier till its dry. This may take an hour or so but the effect is well worth it. Have fun. BTW Try a small area about 1/8" deep 2" x 3" somewhere other than your layout. This stuff is very hard to get rid of once you blow it. Steve Averill