I am part of modular group. Our modules are 2'X4'. I created mountains, divided near the center. Between the mountains will be a narrow water fall, feeding into a widening stream that flow under two bridges. I have used earth tones for the most part on either side of the water. I need to paint the "stream" before using Woodland Scenics water. Any suggestions on "water colors" but I don't want the fakey looking blue/green that I see on a lot of layouts.The length of the stream is probably 16", narrow at the "falls" and widens out to about 6" at the front. Help!
Hi MLPF&S, There are tons of factors that go into choosing appropriate water color, but I think for the most part, the most important factors are the type of water, the viewing angle, and adjacent scenery. First you have to decide whether or not the water is muddy or clear. Mud/sand bed rivers are usually more muddy than stone/rock bed rivers. Also, fast flowing rivers tend to churn up sediment and become more murky as well. You'll want to consider adjacent scenery twice. First to influence the color of a muddy river. If your adjacent scenery has a red soil, a brownish yellow river would be out of place. The second influence adjacent scenery has is the reflection, which ties into the viewing angle factor. If you're viewing straight down, the water will reflect the sky and have either a blueish hue for a clear day, maybe some white for clouds, or gray for a stormy sky. If the viewing angle is more horizontal, however, the water will reflect what is across from it. The color of a dark green Forrest will show up in the reflection. I also find the reflection to be a slightly stronger influence than the base color of the water, unless the water is extremely muddy, as if during a flood. Further more, calmer waters will reflect stronger, where as agitated water and rapids will break reflections up. Also, for agitated waters, remember to include highlights as each ripple will glint the sun. Even on an overcast day, ripples will glint the highlights of the sky. *Note, You mentioned modular group, so painting these highlights into the water might be necessary as event center lighting would not produce the highlights naturally. If you want to set the scene up for photography, these highlights can be left for the lighting department. * Here's a reference example from fellow member COverton. See how his water is depicted almost exactly as I've described above.
Hard to find a better reference pic than the one above! As Mark said, the surrounding terrain will greatly influence how the stream bed would look. Be sure to add any logs or boulders you want before adding the water. I haven't modelled a fast stream before, but I suspect I'd be intermingling greens and browns - nothing too colourful. I'm a big believer in tinting the water itself, although in this river I didn't do that. The river bed was painted dark green in the deepest parts, such as the outside of the bend, and muted creamy pinky/orangey colour in the shallows. It was meant to look like a trout stream. Mike
Excellent explanation, Mark, and outstanding examples of streams above. All I can add is an example of a Pennsylvania mountain stream. The center color is black/dark green, no color added to the Magic Water, riffles are WS Water Effects dry brushed with white paint. DJ.
I goofed when I first did this and used Prussian Blue and various tans... I fixed by adding another clear coat slightly tinted with Wedgwood Green...
