N scale modules - Water and Fascia

Hi All,

I am planning a river on the next module I am building for the club layout, the river will be forming a horse shoe in and out of the front of the module with the tracks high above on a trestle. Wondering how to finish the water in the middle of the river at the facia, has anybody got any pictures of what they have done in a similar situation or suggestions to help give me inspiration?

Cheers,

James

 

What are you using for your water? If two part resin like Environtex be sure to create a leak proof dam at the edge or else the the river will flow off the module.

 

On my Kankakee Bridge module, I just painted the vertical "edge" of the water black, to match the rest of the fascia. Unfortunately, I don't have any good photos available right now.

 

I haven't done it yet, but my layout will have a couple of very large areas where water meets the edge of the module. Here's what I was thinking:

Cut the foam at the edge 1/8" inward in the shape of the cross section you want. Use a block brace on the outside with saran wrap or similar on the inside where the water will be. Pour the whole thing. I expect it will take quite a while for the "deep" part to dry and I have no idea if it would shrink. Here's a drawing of what I'm talking about:



I'll be ordering several water products to see which one bleeds the least and contracts the least. I wish I had this experiment done for you already. If it works, you could put fish, old tires, discarded persons, etc. to add a little something unique. I will be doing something like that, but probably old piers, girders, and will have it gravel lined or textured like riverbed in some way.

 

I made a dam out pf masking tape then poured a few layers of Woodland scenics water. Even though i secured the tape very well I still had a few leaks. I scraped the drips off the fascia as best as possible then painted it black. I left the edge of the water clear. In other areas i used envirotex and liked it much better than the woodland scenics stuff.

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showphoto.php/photo/139046/title/sd-70-crossing-the-tre/cat/500

Brian

 

Over the years I've been doing scenery for myself and other model railroaders...and museums...I've decided that there's no reason from either a practical or artistic point of view to cut away fascia to the contour of the river bottom. Seeing the clear resin "water" at the edge of a module or layout does nothing for my aesthetic sense, and is always a nice casting of the dam used to make sure it doesn't leak out on to the floor. Usually, that's some kind of tape, and the resin makes a wonderful, exact copy of the rough surface of the sticky side of tape...wow...great looking (not).

So, for the past 15 years or so, I've been cutting the contours of my Masonite fascia to represent the landforms between my track and the edge of my modules, and I represent rivers intersected by my fascia as just the surface of the water, not the riverbeds. This keeps me from having to dam anything, and I like the look much better.

I use both resin (Envirotex) poured over a painted and textured shallow river bed and, after it cures, several coats of acrylic gloss medium of various thicknesses to represent waves, rapids and water surface texture.

The depth of the "water" is indicated by the darkness of the paint, black being the deepest and a color that is very close to the color of the shore dirt or sand represents the shallow parts. In the area I'm modeling, the rivers are usually green, with lots of weeds in the shallows, flowing in the direction the river is running, but they're somewhere between the really shallow earth-toned edges and the deep black places. I also paint sand bars on inside curves and trailing edges of islands, where they would naturally occur. It's best to go photograph a river to get its character and colors, as they differ from geographic area to geographic area.

One thing that I do is to not apply the edge detailing to my rivers before the Envirotex pour(s). Envirotex has a bad habit of "creeping" up onto everything on the edge forming a meniscus on everything, so I detail what's under the water, but not on the shoreline until after the resin has cured. Then, after it's cured, I'll do the shorline details after painting the meniscus and "creep" with flat, earth tones, applying dirt, rocks, driftwood etc. both before and during my application of coats of Acrylic gloss medium. I'll also insert details into the river shallows I'm making using layers of Acrylic gloss medium, or Woodland Scenics "Water Effects" because it doesn't "creep" up onto logs, big rocks or any other detail inserted into it while it's wet.

If I'm wanting whitecaps, I'll paint them carefully on wave tops using Acrylic Titanium White, then put a final gloss medium coat on everything.

If you don't want a perfectly clear river, use enamel paints to tint the Envirotex (before you pour it) into muddy, polluted or even areas where waste is being piped into the river (after you've poured it) from your evil industries while the Envirotex is still uncured. With a little experimentation, you can achieve some excellent and striking effects.

Although this photo doesn't show the edge of the river meeting the fascia, it does illustrate the Envirotex/Acrylic Gloss Medium technique and using paint to represent depth and contours. I did the rivers and bridges on these modules, and my friend Kelly Newton carved the rock, built the scenery contours and laid the track. Ntrak 2000 standards here.


Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

 

Thanks all who have posted some great shots and advice. I hadn’t decided on the product to use yet, I can easily get hold of the woodland scenic’s stuff in a local store. I haven’t seen the Envirotex stuff but I am liking the look so I might try to source some. The textured Plexiglas glass look is fantastic (and I might use that some ware else) however the river will be at the bottom of a deep canyon in the wilderness so the water will be clear but rough as it comes down over the rocky river bed. Not cutting the fascia down across the river bed itself would make life easer as it is a natural dam, considering the focus should be the tall timber trestle crossing the canyon I guess that will be the way to go.

Cheers,

James

 

I used Woodland Scenics for this section of river. paint on the bottom , then thin coat let dry and paint the rapids and white water let dry , second coat , let dry add somemore white paint for rapids then used WS Water Effects to high light the ripples, white water . I think I did the last part two or three time letting each application dry completly and then photo graphing it to help me see any areas that were either too much or not enuf . Rememeber it is your river and you the only one you need to make happy !
Paul

 

Although I used to pour rivers and lakes, anymore I've found it to be far more trouble than it's worth. Now I just paint a smooth, flat surface that represents the surface of the water, creating depth only with paint color, and then apply various amounts and types of gloss medium over the paint.







While none of these examples (which are all Z scale, BTW) show the water meeting the layout fascia, there the fascia is cut to match the surface of the simulated water, with no attempt to suggest depth. I've not found that doing so adds anything to the scene.

 

Great fly fishing water !!! looks pretty good David