Coloring Water on a Layout

[Tony Galiani]

I am back to working on my new tram project and have prepared a creek bed in one corner of the layout.  I have some clear Woodland Scenics water I plan to use for the creek but I feel it needs to be colored.

On Chihiro Horakowa, I painted the base of the canal a light green that matched the somewhat opaque water I was seeing in the prototype pictures.  I don't think that will work here - the water needs to be somewhat translucent.

If I was modeling the creeks in my area, I would either apply a lot of muddy brown to the water (which is how they look after a heavy rain) or possibly some brown or a bit of green to catch the partly cloudy, partly clear color they seem to have.

Wondering if anyone else has run into this and has any suggestions?  I see a lot of dark blue used but think that only works for seascapes, not so much for small, shallow creaks.  Any ideas appreciated.

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

[cteno4]

Tony,

 

lots of this on YouTube. For creeks it’s such shallow water you may get away with mainly tinting your creek bed the right color as just a thin layer of clear on top give you the transparency of water surface but proper color. Trying to tint water itself can be tough. Another water is gloss artist medium or gloss mod podge as you can just keep adding layers as needed and you can also get a thick gel form to do some riffles around rock. Some dry brushing on riffles helps make them pop a bit. Pouring thicker layers of water requires keeping things very level and dealing with your shore materials and how the instant water interacts with them with surface tension.

 

cheers,

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Thanks for the info.  I have watched a few youtube videos but am still lacking confidence.  It's good to get some additional input.

 

Yesterday I tried using modelling clay on the layout for the first time and, while it seems to have come out okay, it certainly wasn't as easy as all the videos made it seem!

 

Ciao,

Tony Galiani

[cteno4]

Experiment some on little bits of cardboard, that’s my starting point to try new things or methods I see. Then vary some and you will have some sample chips to see which might look the best in place. Just remember to write on the back what you did on each. Several times I’ve put notes on other pieces of paper to later loose the sheet and have a great sample I want to do but not exactly sure what I did weeks, months, or years ago!

 

yeah I’ve never take to clay myself, foam has been easier to me, but I did gobs of foam shaping when young to create rock models for exhibits and then mould forms for casting them. It just feels better to me shaping, and I’m not really much of a sculptor.

 

jeff