Ohio Valley - somewhere between Weirton and Wheeling

[Jaz avalley]

Then I mixed up a thicker batch without any dye. I still thinned it out, but not so much that it self leveled. Then as it set, I would pat it with a popsicle stick soaked on alcohol so it wouldn't stick too much as I manipulated the water into currents and waves.

I think it came out great! Maybe a little too clear.
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I like the texture, I would have added some colour you can still use some semi transparent paints, and where the light highlights emulate that with white. I am not throwing pictures on a great thread like this, but I can start a water thread where everyone can put in their five pennyworth. I personally paint the base, had you wanted to keep the tan colour you like a reference picture might have helped you choose some toning colours. Let me start the thread AFTER I finish reading in case you already addressed this issue :0

 

[Jaz avalley]

Finished up laying the deck, and asked my wife if she had any old makeup powders I could use to weather the boards. She gave me a 4-color freebie from Clinique from probably 15 years ago or more. It has dark brown and copper that I used to add grimey areas. Then I set it all with a few coats of Dead-Flat clear coat spray paint.

I like the results!
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Excellent colouring of the pier

 

[Jaz avalley]

Waterproofing complete, and the first later of paint is down. Looking for honest feedback, please. I'm a little concerned it's too dark.

I'm planning to add some green highlights near the banks to mimic the reflection from the vegetation above.

Any advise?
View attachment 156347

River water looks nice and muddy and murky you need a thin dirty edge to the waters edge in my opinion but it’s got a great tides out feeling

 

[JeffH]

I like the texture, I would have added some colour you can still use some semi transparent paints, and where the light highlights emulate that with white. I am not throwing pictures on a great thread like this, but I can start a water thread where everyone can put in their five pennyworth. I personally paint the base, had you wanted to keep the tan colour you like a reference picture might have helped you choose some toning colours. Let me start the thread AFTER I finish reading in case you already addressed this issue :0

That "Clear Fix" product was great to work with, but I must say I do not believe I would use it again. It has leached out color from all the dyed foam grass and shrubbery. The creek is now a yellowish green. It's not terrible, but it is NOT clear anymore.

 

[Jaz avalley]

The paint was still wet in the picture, so it looks a little less like water now that the paint has dried. I'm having issues with the size of the scene needing painted.

I'm used to counting drops of color as I mix so I can get really close to the same tone if I need to mix up another batch. Or, I just put a few dollops of the various colors I'm mixing onto a pallet, and use my brush to blend them together, feathering in more of one color when needed.

But this application is so large, I'm finding it hard to mix up enough at one time and get the right color. And when I get the right color, it's not enough quantity.

I guess it's just a matter of time until I discover the right mixture in the right quantities. I could use some suggestions.

On another forum, someone suggested I lay down 3 different tones... a dark row of paint in the center of the river, then a lighter color on either side of the center, then an even lighter tone toward the edges. Then use a foam paint brush to blend the lines together.

So... perhaps I'll go and buy 3 samples and get the colors I think would blend together the best? MAybe I'll stop by a Home Depot or Lowes over lunch and pick up a bunch of those color strips. That may be easier in teh long run as opposed to me trying to come up with a blended color I can recreate on my own.

As long as you paint in the direction the water flows you should get away with blue bloody murder even if you do not get a true colours match let them flow into each other

 

[Jaz avalley]

Second attempt. I think maybe I went too far away from brown. What do you all think?

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Then I added some color reflection from the trees.
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I like the brown, but I like the blue Also, when sunny water reflects the sky so blue is often seen, when cloudy you usually see the actual colours, where water is intereferred by pier posts etc you would likely see a little white as the water picks up air.

 

[Jaz avalley]

You have a good eye for colour, and are not bogged down to a single concept, and are willing to change direction, this will help as you pull the whole area together I am adding a few small shots you need to expand to show my thoughts on some of the comments I made.

when I mentioned water rushing past an obstacle.

texture at the edge of the water might be of interest,I purposely left gaps as this captures more light as you build up several layers each with the gaps and I threw in some dirt and ballst

i personally like different colours in water but I did work for their water feature but it is horses for courses your water is a larger waterway and works differently like this cove, being tidal I gave it a completely different approach, adding a specific water modelling glue to imitate waves, the ripples were achieved using one layer of varnish almost dry then adding a second layer the two layers drying at different speeds cause the ripples BUT if you get really warm weather afterwards apparabtly if can melt the ripples although this has survived in my loft that gets hot

often when I photograph I give a clean swipe with a damp cloth it cleans away any dust,and adds a true water sheen, and I photo low searching for reflections, catching those lovely bridges would make for excellent photos

having thrown up pictures after I said I would not I am now sneaking off…..I.ll do the water thread and throw more up..l..unless you get a posses to tie me up lol

 

[JeffH]

I'm day 3 into the final pour. Here are some pics of the progression:

This is immediately after the pour. It took me about a half an hour to pour this. Based on my math, I needed a half gallon of product to make a pour 1/8" thick.

I put 1.75 teaspoons of Woodland Scenic's raw umber colored liquid dye, to yield a 1:48 mix of dye to 48 parts gloss medium.

Again, the gloss medium is white until it cures clear. So it starts out very chalky looking,

Immediately after the pour (21:30 Monday) the white blob is a reflection.

This next picture is 21:30 Tuedsay, so 24 hours into the cure and you can start to see the milky color fading away at the far end.

Above you can also begin to see fissures forming. I believe this is because the product wasn't thinned before using.


This next picture is 07:30 Wednesday, or 34 hours and the chalky appearance continues to fade as the product cures.

The next 2 pictures are from 72 hours (21:30 Wednesday)
You can see where I poured some left over mix into one of teh fissures, in an attempt to make it less "in your face."

More curing yet to go, but the color in the last picture is really good! You can tell I poured it thick right next to the pier in the last picture below as it is still a bit chalky looking.

 

[logandsawman]

I'm day 3 into the final pour. Here are some pics of the progression:

This is immediately after the pour. It took me about a half an hour to pour this. Based on my math, I needed a half gallon of product to make a pour 1/8" thick.

I put 1.75 teaspoons of Woodland Scenic's raw umber colored liquid dye, to yield a 1:48 mix of dye to 48 parts gloss medium.

Again, the gloss medium is white until it cures clear. So it starts out very chalky looking,

Immediately after the pour (21:30 Monday) the white blob is a reflection.
View attachment 157401


This next picture is 21:30 Tuedsay, so 24 hours into the cure and you can start to see the milky color fading away at the far end.
View attachment 157402
Above you can also begin to see fissures forming. I believe this is because the product wasn't thinned before using.


This next picture is 07:30 Wednesday, or 34 hours and the chalky appearance continues to fade as the product cures.
View attachment 157403

The next 2 pictures are from 72 hours (21:30 Wednesday)
You can see where I poured some left over mix into one of teh fissures, in an attempt to make it less "in your face."

More curing yet to go, but the color in the last picture is really good! You can tell I poured it thick right next to the pier in the last picture below as it is still a bit chalky looking.
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Colors look great I can imagine some ducks or geese floating in the bottom pic,

If this were modern day (maybe it is) maybe a crew rowing one of those long skinny boats

GREAT job Dave LASM

 

[JeffH]

Thanks, Dave!

I'm happy with it so far, but it's not as good as I hoped for. I'm getting fissures, which appears to be caused by the product shrinking as it dries.

The person who suggested I use this stuff told me you can pour this stuff as thick as you want, but I think he was incorrect... He also said there is no need to thin it, just add some pigment and pour away, which is also not great advice. This was over on a different model train forum. So now that I'm getting less than desired results, I'm going out of my way to document my experience with all the facts and circumstances so others can draw their own conclusion and hopefully not get buffaloed by someone posting advice that isn't really all that correct. Sorry.. it's got my dander up. A few years ago, I would have handled it in a much less civil way, LOL!

 

[JeffH]

Pics right at 72 hours. It's pretty dry except for the chalky parts remaining. I'd say it's close to 90% there. I keep having to top off the fissures as the product is still apparently shrinking as it cures. Maybe it's something else, but these are live ravines that just keep getting bigger as it cures .

I'm still happy with the results though. I love the color.

 

[JeffH]

I started a pond with some of the left over product. I poured this last night, and planted cattails tonight.

We were getting out some Christmas wreaths and I noticed the floor littered with fake pine needles that shed from the wreaths. I thought what great stuff to make cattails with!

So, I got out my old fly tying jigs and tied me up some cattails. I think they came out great for being free!

The water still needs to cure, but at 24 hours, it was still really simple to insert each plant into the thick mixture.

 

[logandsawman]

I started a pond with some of the left over product. I poured this last night, and planted cattails tonight.

We were getting out some Christmas wreaths and I noticed the floor littered with fake pine needles that shed from the wreaths. I thought what great stuff to make cattails with!

So, I got out my old fly tying jigs and tied me up some cattails. I think they came out great for being free!
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The water still needs to cure, but at 24 hours, it was still really simple to insert each plant into the thick mixture.

Pine needles really have the right shape for some of the emergent vegetation we have around here! Never thought to use them!

By the way, do you recall the brand of that little church by the pond? Something like that would fit on my layout.

The fissure thing - I have seen water features that mimic it. Seems like a major PITA if you are considering redoing the whole river! Not sure I would go that route. I have a couple cracks on my water, understantible as it was poured on a hydrocal base which is supported by paper towels and wire also the wood frame. I chose to ignore mine, they don't show up in my pics...

 

[JeffH]

Yeah, I was really happy when I saw all that litter on the floor. It took a while to make just 11 cattail plants, but it was very therapeutic to spend time creating something useful from trash.

I'm going to stop topping off the fissures and just let things completely cure, then I'll re-evaluate things. I don't mid subtle fissues, they give the water a bit of life... but too many and too deep, and it just looks like a barren mud flat instead of a river, especially up close.

 

[JeffH]

@logandsawman it is an American Model Builders kit

 

[JeffH]

96 hours. I tried to get some artistic perspectives in these pics.

I'm very pleased with the overall appearance!

 

[JeffH]

 

[JeffH]

A couple more